Last Christmas by Lily Greene

Author:Lily Greene [Greene, Lily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2015-10-21T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Ella woke up with Fergus’ muscular arms wrapped around her body. She opened her eyes and saw his sleepy face staring back at her. The dark and cozy room smelt of pine and the fading scent of Fergus’ musty cologne.

“Good morning you,” he whispered.

“Morning,” she croaked, her throat dry from last night’s wine.

“It’s your big day today,” he said, brushing a strand of her hair from off her face. “I’m excited to finally see some of your paintings.”

“Oh yes. I’m a little bit nervous,” she admitted. “I hope enough people come.” Ella yawned and stretched across the bed.

“Hey, where are you going?” he said, playfully pulling her back towards him. “It’s going to be a huge success. Now, would you like some breakfast?”

“I’d love some coffee please.” They kissed lightly on the lips and Fergus moved to open the curtains while Ella straightened out the duvet on her side of the bed.

Light flooded the room and they were temporarily blinded by the brightness. All they saw was white.

“Snow!” Fergus exclaimed.

It took Ella a few seconds to adjust and realize that the white before her wasn’t just the daylight appearing stronger because of the prior darkness of the room, it was snow laid thickly as far as the eyes could see.

“Ah! Snow! Ohh it’s so beautiful!” she said happily. She observed the street in all its snowy glory; the Victorian town houses doused in a sprinkling of snow, the pavement covered in a layer a few inches deep and the children on their school run with snowballs in hand.

Fergus held Ella from behind as they looked joyfully over the snowy scene in front of them.

“Our wish might have worked Ell.”

“It seems it has. I hope it stays until Christmas Day. Oh, but I hope everybody can still make it to the gallery tonight.”

“I’m sure they will.”

Ella got dressed while Fergus made a pot of coffee. When she came into the kitchen wearing her silky black dress from the night before, Fergus couldn’t help but smile.

“Hello sexy,” he said, looking up from the coffee he was pouring into two small orange espresso cups.

“Hi,” Ella replied with a smirk. The rich aroma of freshly ground Columbian coffee woke Ella up a little but it wasn’t strong enough to mask the lingering spices and stale acidic smell of the mulled wine.

“I can still smell the mulled wine,” she said.

“Mmm. Pungent! It’s a shame we didn’t drink any. Well not that much of a shame …”

Ella blushed a little.

“Want some?” he joked.

“I musn’t. I’m on a wine-free breakfast diet at the moment,” she teased in reply. “But I must leave after this.” She gestured to the coffee. “I have a lot to sort at the gallery before this evening.”

“Of course.” They sipped their coffee in the living room while Ella looked at Fergus’ photographs. The wall behind his sofa was lined with black and white prints she hadn’t had the opportunity to look at the night before. Most of his photos were filled with dust, dirt, destruction and despair.

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