The Twelve Dates of Christmas Read Free Page A

on.’
    She took some hearty gulps of wine and went back to squinting at Seth, misting up the window with her breath. Was that a look of pain? Was that beardy guy patting him on his back out of consolation? Was he wiping a tear? Ha! Thank God …
    No.
    No, he was crying with laughter at something
she
had said.
    ‘You’re not funny,’ Claudia hissed, her fingers curling into claws.
    ‘I reckon he’s laughing at her fat ugly face.’ Billy was standing behind her, tea towel flung over his shoulder, staring out across the street. She half-smiled through the pain.
    ‘What?’
    ‘Yeah, he’s thinking, Bloody hell, what am I doing listening to your drivel, you dumbo. With your boring clothes and your minging hair.’
    Her hair
was
a little boring, if you call ‘no need to style because it looks amazing anyway’ boring. She scrutinised Billy’s face. ‘Minging?’
    He nodded. ‘Minging.’
    ‘I feel sorry for her,’ Claudia said. ‘She probably doesn’t even know how grating that laugh can get.’
    ‘I like your dress, by the way.’
    Claudia had been best friends with her dress at the start of the evening. Now she looked at it bitterly, like you would an apparently friendly co-worker who’s thrown you under the bus in front of your boss.
    ‘Date night gone wrong?’
    ‘Dunno.’ Claudia sighed and had another gulp of wine. ‘It’s the only date I’ve been on in yonks, so maybe it’s normal now for the boy to bugger off half way through.’
    ‘I’ve never been on a date with a boy, so I’m not sure. But it doesn’t sound quite right.’
    Claudia shook her head and gazed outside.
    ‘If you stop staring you never have to see the bastard again.’
    ‘Ah, but I do,’ she choked, finishing off the glass and pouring herself another. ‘I live with the bastard.’
    Billy roared with laughter. Claudia swigged and tried to look affronted, but her features were beginning to slacken as the alcohol numbed them.
    ‘Life’s got a way of kicking you right in the balls sometimes, hey? My girlfriend back in Oz cheated on me; we shared a house but she was my landlord and I had to give her two months’ notice. You’ve gotta laugh … ’
    Something that could have been a sob and could have been a chuckle burst from Claudia. ‘You’ve gotta laugh … ’ She watched the pitiful end to her date, the weight of her own breathing hunching her back until she was resting her cheek on the rim of her wine glass. More than anything she wanted to curl up where she was and sleep. She felt defeated.
    ‘I hate him,’ she whispered to no one in particular.
    ‘I think you should confront him,’ Billy answered. Claudia swivelled her eyes to look up at him without moving. ‘I really think you should. He’s got no right to treat you like that; you should do it now, while he can’t deny it or try to get out of it.’
    ‘I can’t—’
    ‘Yes you bloody can!’ Billy whipped the empty glass from under her cheek. She sat up, startled, and wiped the red-wine circle from her face. She couldn’t confront him, not in front of all those people. She
hated
confrontation.
    But she was a bit pissed.
    ‘Go on, you drunk, bugger off,’ Billy said with an encouraging grin. ‘Go and tell him which bridge to jump off, do it for all us cheatees who never had the courage.’
    Claudia stood, wobbled, and took a deep breath.
    She sat down again. She really didn’t want to face him. What was she going to say?
    Nothing, because she wasn’t going to do it. She would cut through the side streets to the Tube station and avoid him. He never had to know she was there, or that she’d seen him.
    ‘HE SHOULD KNOW I’VE SEEN HIM!’ she declared, standing and knocking her stool over onto the polished floor. The sedate diners looked up from their gelati and vino.
    Claudia swayed and fixed Billy with a hard stare. ‘I AM A WRONGED WOMAN.’
    Billy smiled and passed her a shot of limoncello. ‘Yeah you are. Drink this and go and kick his