The Christmas Wish List: The perfect cosy read to settle down with this autumn Read online

  Jonathan was silent for a second, then let out a cheer and jumped up to retrieve the champagne and a trio of glasses. I frowned up at him as he began to fill the flutes, handing one to Dolly before sitting back down.

  ‘But that’s just perfect, Hattie!’ He laughed, merrily clinking his glass against mine. ‘Couldn’t be better actually.’

  ‘I don’t think Hattie feels that way,’ interrupted Dolly, putting her glass down and pushing it away untouched.

  ‘But she will in a minute,’ Jonathan carried on, beaming.

  ‘I think you’d better tell me why,’ I said, feeling nettled that he looked so thrilled about my bad news.

  Whatever he had to say was going to have to be nothing short of miraculous if it was going to lift my spirits high enough to match his.

  ‘So, do I,’ Dolly snapped, ‘because at the moment you’re coming across as pretty heartless, Jonathan.’

  Jonathan shook his head and laughed.

  ‘I’ve been offered a new job,’ he grinned. ‘A permanent one in Abu Dhabi. I had the interview on Wednesday and they offered it to me there and then.’

  ‘Oh,’ I said, as another layer of shock melded itself on top of the one I’d been subjected to earlier. I had no idea he’d even been looking for another position. ‘I see.’

  ‘I didn’t want to say anything before, in case I didn’t get it,’ he carried on. ‘It’s another corporate finance role, but the top spot this time, overall manager.’

  ‘My goodness,’ I swallowed, ‘that’s quite a step up the ladder.’

  ‘I know,’ he agreed. ‘It’s with a private healthcare group.’

  ‘Congratulations.’

  ‘I’ll be starting at the end of January but relocating in the new year.’

  ‘So soon?’

  ‘It’s not that soon,’ he said, running a hand through his thick blond hair, ‘especially as I have notice to work and the flat to sell.’

  ‘Of course.’

  I could understand that he was excited about his good fortune, but why he thought that finding out I was losing my job and my home and my boyfriend in the same day was thrilling for me I couldn’t fathom. I had given up my room at the hotel when I moved in with him and given that I’d just been made redundant I couldn’t very well ask for it back again.

  ‘Excuse me for interrupting,’ Dolly cut in, clearly riding on the same train of thought as I was, ‘but how exactly is this new job of yours good news for Hattie?’

  ‘Because I want her to come with me of course!’ Jonathan shouted, laughing again as he drained his glass. ‘I want you to move with me to Abu Dhabi, Hattie!’

  His words settled in the silence around us.

  ‘You want me to go with you?’ I eventually asked, the question coming out as little more than a squeak. ‘You actually want me to move to Abu Dhabi with you?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘that’s exactly what I want. That’s why I said that you being made redundant couldn’t be better timed. You’re always on about fate and how it steps in to lend a hand when you most need it. Well, on this occasion, I think you might be right. We’ve been a couple for over two years now. It’s time we moved our relationship along and by December there’ll be absolutely nothing stopping you from coming with me and doing exactly that!’

  I had to admit, I was always banging on about destiny and how things happened for a reason, but surely this was too fortuitous for words?

  ‘I’ve been wracking my brain on the plane home trying to work out how to convince you to give up your job,’ Jonathan carried on, ‘but I needn’t have bothered. This is meant to be, Hattie.’

  ‘Perhaps . . .’ I said, biting my lip.

  ‘You see,’ said Jonathan, turning his attention back to Dolly. ‘I’m not quite so selfish and self-centred as you might think.’

  Dolly sniffed, but didn’t comment.

  Jonathan’s mobile began to buzz and he rushed out of the kitchen to answer it, closing the door behind him.

  ‘Oh, my goodness, Dolly,’ I croaked. ‘I can’t believe it!’

  I shook my head and took a swig from my glass, the bubbles tickling my nose and making me want to sneeze. Was it really possible that in less than two minutes Jonathan had waltzed in and magically solved all of my problems?

  ‘Abu Dhabi . . .’ I sighed dreamily.

  ‘I thought you didn’t like it?’

  ‘It was the strangeness of seeing Christmas in the sun I didn’t like,’ I told her. ‘Not that I’m all that bothered about it, as you know.’

  That might not have been strictly true, it wasn’t just the sight of a scorching Santa which had jarred, the city had felt different too, but then it would, wouldn’t it, because it was. Perhaps fate was suggesting I should give the place a second chance? Maybe it was time to try something completely new and, as Jonathan had suggested, move our relationship along.

  ‘You aren’t really thinking of saying yes, are you?’ Dolly frowned. ‘At least not straightaway?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘It’s all such a shock.’

  ‘A culture shock,’ Dolly said cautiously. ‘Taking a holiday is one thing but settling in another country would be a completely different kettle of fish. You need to think this through very carefully. I mean, until Jonathan just made his announcement, you’ve never mentioned any desire to live abroad.’

  ‘I’m beginning to think you don’t want me to go,’ I pouted. ‘Not ten minutes ago you were telling me to take this redundancy as an opportunity to make some changes to my life.’

  ‘But I want you to be able to take your time and make those changes on your own terms,’ she said sagely, ‘not get railroaded into something when you’re still reeling from shock.’

  ‘But what if it is fate?’ I laughed. ‘What if the universe has lined this all up for me with perfect timing?’

  Dolly looked doubtful.

  ‘Even if it has, that doesn’t mean you just have to accept it,’ she told me. ‘Don’t forget how you really felt about the city when you spent Christmas there.’

  Clearly, she wasn’t about to gloss over my memories and first impressions, even if I was.

  ‘Can you honestly imagine building a whole life for yourself there, Hattie?’

  She was right of course. It wasn’t something I had even considered since we arrived home, not like when we came back from a weekend in Paris and I’d secretly fantasised about living in one of the chic apartments for months afterwards. However, I had given plenty of thought to the plethora of stunning hotels which graced the streets of Abu Dhabi. I wondered now if I would be able to find a position in one of those. Perhaps my years of hard work at the hotel would pay off after all.

  ‘And there’s your family to consider,’ Dolly reminded me.

  ‘I don’t see why,’ I shot back. ‘What difference would it make where in the world I was living when we don’t have anything to do with each other anymore?’

  She couldn’t argue with that.

  ‘Well, what about your marital status then?’ she carried on.

  ‘My marital status?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘If you do decide to go, you’d have to marry first, wouldn’t you?’

  ‘Well, yes,’ I stammered, only just realising. ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘Is Jonathan really the man for you, Hattie? Is he someone you can imagine spending the rest of your life with? Have you ever considered a long-term future with him, because marriage isn’t something to enter into lightly, you know and don’t forget . . .’

  ‘Please don’t bring up what happened before again,’ I cut in. ‘Everything’s fine now.’

  But was Jonathan the everlasting man for me? I suppose, given the length of time we’d been together, we were travelling down the serious relationship road, but like moving to Abu Dhabi, it wasn’t something I’d consciously thought about. Not all that long ago our relationship had encountered more ups and downs than a rollercoaster and, in spite of what I had told Dolly,
I was only now beginning to believe that the track had properly levelled out again. I certainly hadn’t had time to consider committing to the long haul.

  But Jonathan obviously had because he wouldn’t have asked me to go with him otherwise, would he? We’d spent our Christmas holiday in separate rooms but if we were actually going to move there then that wouldn’t be an option, and he would have been well aware of that before he asked me to go with him.

  ‘I don’t think I’d better drink any more,’ I said, putting down my glass. ‘I’ll never be able to think straight with a head full of bubbles.’

  Dolly moved her glass next to mine.

  ‘This was not how I was expecting my day to end.’ I sighed.

  ‘I’m sure it’s not what either of us were expecting when we got up this morning,’ she said squeezing my arm.

  Jonathan came back in then, still grinning like the Cheshire Cat as he loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt.

  ‘So,’ he said, topping up our glasses and looking at me, ‘have you made up your mind?’

  ‘Oh, for goodness sake, Jonathan,’ said Dolly, gathering up her bags. ‘You mustn’t rush her.’

  He winked at me and I shook my head. I wished he didn’t take quite so much pleasure in winding Dolly up.

  ‘You aren’t leaving, are you?’ I asked her. If she went, I wouldn’t be able to think any of it through in my own time because Jonathan wouldn’t give me the chance. ‘You’ve only just arrived and I need you to help me decide.’

  ‘No, you don’t,’ she said firmly. ‘This has to be your decision, my dear and yours alone. I’m going back to Wynbridge, where you know you are always welcome. You need to take some time to yourself, Hattie, and have a long hard think about things.’

  I knew she was referring to much more than the move to a sunnier clime.

  Chapter 2

  I had been right to think that Jonathan wouldn’t give me a moment’s peace to think his offer through. The second I returned to the flat after helping Dolly into a taxi he had whisked me off to bed just as he always did after a trip away. Evidently, I was still as incapable of resisting his seductive charms as I had been when he switched from hotel guest to local resident.

  I had just about managed to keep him at a professional arm’s length whilst he was a guest, but four months later, the moment his work relocation was complete and he had moved into the flat, I had succumbed and we had gone on our first date. We had been together ever since and had recently celebrated our two-year anniversary. And, aside from the ‘little bit of bother’ I had mentioned to Dolly earlier, everything was wonderful.

  ‘In Abu Dhabi,’ he whispered, as he set about slowly liberating me from my hotel uniform, ‘we won’t have to worry about all these layers.’

  I breathlessly reminded him that it was the end of summer and a thin blouse and silk camisole hardly constituted layers, but he silenced me with a lingering kiss and had been smoothly answering any questions I had come up with about the move ever since. I couldn’t deny he had a knack for making it all sound straightforward and the beautiful images he showed me of the city were all picture perfect.

  There could be no doubting his determination to make me fall in love with the place and his plans, but during the first couple of weeks after his surprise suggestion I did my best to follow Dolly’s advice. I even had a notebook listing the pros and cons and initially they were pretty evenly matched, but Jonathan’s excitement combined with the unusually wet autumn which morphed into a bitterly cold one, meant that by the time I’d worked my notice I was feeling every bit as keen to settle in a warmer clime as the swallows who had already taken flight. My mind was made up; I was going and Jonathan was thrilled.

  ‘Do you really have to go to this leaving thing tonight?’ he asked as he kindly filled my insulated cup with coffee on the morning of my last shift. ‘Only I was hoping you could cut and run. I thought we might crack open some champagne and have a little celebration of our own.’

  ‘It’s not a leaving thing,’ I reminded him. ‘Those of us getting the chop didn’t want one, remember? I’m just going for a meal with the rest of the Surplus to Requirements Gang. I won’t be late. We can have the champagne and celebrate when I get back.’

  ‘All right,’ he said, handing me the cup and pulling me in for a kiss, ‘and while we drink it, we can look through the photos again.’

  We had been looking online at the places we’d most like to live; scrutinising the practical and fantasising about the completely out of our league super-rich options.

  ‘And tomorrow,’ I added, kissing him back, ‘I’m going to look at some jobs.’

  Jonathan pulled away a little and I knew I’d taken the shine off his celebratory mood. This was a conversation we’d had before and even though it had the potential to turn into an argument I was determined not to back down.

  ‘I know you keep saying I should wait until we’re there,’ I quickly carried on, closing the gap between us again, ‘but I really need to have a proper idea of what’s going to be on offer for someone with my experience.’

  ‘Even though I’ve told you there’s the small matter of visas and permits to work through,’ Jonathan reeled off, ‘and that you won’t have to worry about money because I can easily support both of us?’

  ‘Yes, even though you’ve told me all of those things many, many times,’ I answered, with another kiss. ‘I know it’s a bit complicated but I’m only going to be looking at jobs, not applying for one.’

  Jonathan sighed.

  ‘I need to know I’m going to have a professional future there,’ I told him. ‘I don’t want to be just a girlfriend hanging on to her other half’s coat-tails. If this move is going to be a success, then it needs to work for both of us. It has to offer me something professionally as well as personally.’

  ‘Personally,’ he said, now changing tack and kissing me lightly along my collar-bone, ‘I can’t see what’s so wrong with being “just a girlfriend”, as you put it.’

  We still hadn’t talked about getting married which, given how quickly the time was rushing by, was something of a surprise but knowing Jonathan as well as I did, I felt certain that he would have some grand proposal in the pipeline.

  ‘Well, try seeing the situation from my point of view,’ I told him, stepping out of his seductive reach, ‘I don’t want to have to be financially dependent on you, Jonathan.’

  ‘And I get that,’ he said, following me across the kitchen and helping me into my coat, ‘I really do, but it wouldn’t be for long, just a few months.’

  It was an extremely generous offer, but I was struggling to accept it.

  ‘I just want you to have the chance to settle in properly,’ he shrugged, sounding glum, ‘have the opportunity to get to know the place as well as I do.’

  I wrapped my arms around him again. I knew it was unfair to keep spurning his kind offer, but I had never been out of work and hated the thought of having to go to him, cap in hand, every time I wanted to hit the shops. Even if it was as he had suggested, just for a few months. I knew that all he wanted was to be my knight in shining armour but the independent streak in me was determined to keep kicking his trusty stead out from under him.

  ‘You know what,’ I said, planting a kiss on his cheek and trying to lighten his mood, ‘I reckon this is all some sort of trick you’ve planned to turn me into one of those Real Housewives types. You’re actually just taking me with you to starch your shirts, aren’t you?’

  ‘Of course not,’ he said, a hint of a smile reappearing. ‘I don’t think the Real Housewives do that sort of thing and anyway, there’s the laundry service for that. Unless of course, you’d prefer to do it.’

  ‘Like your mother, you mean.’

  Jonathan properly laughed then.

  ‘You know as well as I do that she wouldn’t know one end of an iron from another!’

  I laughed along with him. The thought of Jonathan’s mum, the flawless corporate wife, in an
apron at the ironing board was an amusing one.

  ‘All I’m saying is,’ Jonathan reiterated again, but this time with a smile, ‘don’t be in such a rush, Hattie. Surely it would make more sense to get there and work through a few of the formalities before you sought out a new job?’

  I supposed there was plenty of sense in what he was saying and he did know a whole lot more about how things worked out there than I did.

  ‘Well, all right,’ I said, but nonetheless determined not to give in completely. ‘I might still have a quick look but I promise I won’t set my heart on anything.’

  *

  ‘So,’ said Dolly, when I called her the next morning, ‘that’s you finished at the hotel then.’

  ‘Yep,’ I sighed, ‘that’s me done.’

  My final shift had ended quietly with no fanfare or fuss. Not that I wanted either, but it had been a far cry from what the Luccas would have laid on, not that they would have willingly let me go, I was sure.

  ‘One chapter of your life has ended, my dear, and another even more exciting one, is about to open.’

  ‘Yes,’ I sighed. ‘I know.’

  ‘You don’t sound all that sure.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Dolly,’ I said, trying to inject some enthusiasm into my voice. ‘I am more excited than I sound, I promise. I just drank a little too much champagne last night and this morning I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all.’

  I really needed to perk up a bit. My dear friend had listened to me go back and forth at least a hundred times while deciding whether or not I should move and she certainly didn’t need to hear me sounding so flat about the conclusion I had finally reached, even if I was a little hungover.

  I still didn’t think Dolly was certain that my decision to go was the right one. Not that she’d said as much. But I knew her well enough to pick up on the words she didn’t say as well as the ones that she did.

  ‘There’s just so much to think about,’ I told her, trying to sound breezier than I felt and detonate the ammunition my doubtful tone was supplying her with. ‘But I’m sure it will all get sorted.’