I have always tried to do the Christmas decorations on December first and this year (2018) it fell on a Saturday, I spent the morning with my sister taking my niece, Sophie, and her children to their swimming lessons and after burgers at the pools café I dropped them at home then back to mine to spend four hours decorating to the sounds of several Christmas CD's.
6pm and I felt great, really great as I planned dinner. I felt Christmassy as I made plans but suddenly I had this sudden feeling of loneliness when it dawned on me, it would be my first Christmas without a girlfriend since... since I was about fourteen.
"Time for a visit to Angie." I said out loud to myself.
"Hiya." I said in a very cheery voice into the phone.
"Hello Babe." Came back the despondent reply.
"Is this a bad time?"
"Unbelievably bad."
"OK, I'll call back tomorrow."
"I can talk but I may need to cut you short."
"What's the matter?"
I heard lots of background chatter and crying, through the tears: "There's been a fire."
I jumped to attention, "Where? Are you ok and Freddy?"
"Yeah we're OK but I'm not allowed in the flat, I don't know how bad it is. None of us do."
"What happened?"
"I was out and when I got home..." The sniffles had turned into proper tears."
"Where are you now?"
"Oh at the college."
"College?"
"Yes college. Hold on." Angie spoke to someone for a few moments. "Still there?"
"Yeah."
"They've put us up here for tonight, it looks like it's going to be mattresses on the floor."
"Can I do anything?"
Sigh, "No I don't think so, hold on, I've got to go Babe, speak soon."
The phone went dead.
I sat there across the room from a six feet tree and several sets of lights around the room with a silent phone held to my ear for a while in deep thought.
It occurred to me while driving to Newton Aycliffe that I don't know where the college is but I guessed it couldn't be too far from where Angie lives.
Sadly I could see the block of flats from the adjacent road and it looks like there is nothing of it left to salvage, all of the second and third floor windows were completely gone and a chunk of the roof had collapsed above Angies flat. I stopped the car and asked some onlookers for the location of the college...
It was heaving with people and I had a problem trying to locate Angie and Freddy as I had no idea of her surname, however we did eventually meet in a classroom containing twelve mattresses and 4 cardboard babies cots. The look of despair on her face was awful and it only half-heartedly altered when she saw me.
During the twenty minutes or so we chatted for she must have told me four or five times there was nothing I could do to help, but when I went to find a toilet I spoke to one of the emergency planning staff and found they would be very pleased if I could take Angie and Freddy away. I gave him my name, address, phone and email details then returned to the classroom to tell Angie I was taking her home with me. She protested mildly but didn't put up any fight, it took only a few moments to collect her couple of bits together and we left, I gave her my address and she followed me towards home.
As we passed Northgate bedding centre it occurred to me we would need a cot for Freddy and stopped there. We purchased a cot, mattress and all the bedding before completing the drive home. I parked the car on the lawn to leave the drive clear for Angie and let the three of us into my home.
"Oh this is pretty,"
I put Freddy's seat down on the floor and switched on the Christmas lights,
"Oh goodness, this makes my little tree look silly. Thank you for this Terry." Angie snuggled into my chest, "You really didn't have to you know."
"I couldn't leave you there when I've got space for you here. Make yourself at home. Have a look around while I bring the cot in."
"Thanks."
I dumped all of the boxes and bags in the hall, took the big box upstairs and built the cot in the room I call my office, actually it was only four bolts and it stood securely. The mattress was next after removing the polyethelene bag then followed with the rest of the bedding.
Just as I'd finished Angie came in the room carrying a fed, changed and sleepy Freddy and she placed him in the cot. We stood there with a hand on each others waist looking down as Freddy yawned and went straight off to sleep.
"Thanks Terry."
"Stop saying thanks." I pulled against and shook her waist, "You're welcome Angie."
"There's coffee downstairs," she shook my waist, "Hey your kitchen is OK."
"Huh?"
"You once said you ought to get me in to make your kitchen like mine."
"Huh? Oh yeah," I smiled as I thought back to that second visit, "I remember."
"I'm going to have to go clothes shopping tomorrow if that's OK."
"'course."
"But first I need the toilet."
We met downstairs for the coffee.
"I think I need something stronger, how about you?" holding up a bottle of Irish whisky.
Her sharp intake of breath was loud, "I'd better not," she patted her breast, "no best not."
"Why's that?"
She laughed for the first time that day, "We don't want to get poor Freddy drunk, do we?"
"Really, is that what happens?"
"Yeah, pretty much everything goes straight through to the milk."
"I wouldn't have thought of that... but I suppose it makes sense."
I poured some whisky into my coffee.
"Come. Sit down. Make yourself at home."
"I can't thank..."
I stopped her. "Stop thanking me Angie. Seriously though this may be fairly long term while the flats are repaired and we need to sort arrangements."
She patted the seat beside her, "I hope this is a sofa bed. I don't see another bed."
"It is but to be honest it's not that comfy. You are very welcome to share my bed," I kissed her hair, "I'd love that. And it's next door to Freddy."
Angie held my upper arm and rested her head on my shoulder. "I'll go with the sofa if you don't mind and go looking for somewhere on Monday."
"Let's talk about this later, next thing I need to do is make some dinner, I'm starving." I checked the clock. "That's not too bad it's only just gone eight. Have you eaten?"
"I had a bit of cake at four. Have you got food in, I can phone out."
"There's loads in the freezer but suddenly take away sounds good, any preference?"
"I'd love a curry, is there a decent Indian?"
"We have all sorts nearby." I got the pile of menus from the kitchen.
"Second thoughts I haven't got any milk expressed. Chinese'll be better..." She scoured the menu, "Set meal A for one looks good, and prawn crackers of course."
"Meal A for two then." I rang the order through and put some plates under a low grill to warm. "I'll have to do some food shopping tomorrow too. We'll have to do a list."
I laid the table, including food warmers, we wrote a shopping list and right at the top was nappies, wet wipes cream etcetera for Freddy followed by the foodstuff. Then it was time to collect the dinner.
I sat across the table as we ate our food and all of a sudden I saw Angie in a different light, physically and mentally. Let's be honest here Angie is beautiful with the classic high cheekbones that many coloured girls have, the lighting being less stark than everywhere else we'd been together added to the flickering of the four candles in the food warmers to make it feel like a date. A proper date.
I had only recently replaced the dated glass topped table with a solid oak table and one of the things that ran through my mind was the gratitude that my erection wasn't visible to her.
I realised I had fallen in love with Angie and I didn't know what to do about it for so many reasons.
Dinner and clearing away the debris finished about 9:30pm.
"Tomm... Terry?"
"Yeah?"
"Hold me please."
"Come here."
We met half way across the kitchen and her body moulded to mine in a tangle of arms and hands.
"You do know this won't work?" She almost whispered.
I could feel my new erection so I knew Angie could too.
"What won't?"
"Us."
"I don't have any real thoughts there," I lied, "I love spending time with you but right here, right now I'm helping a damsel in distress. A pretty and gorgeous damsel but one in distress."
"But..."
"But nothing Angie. This wouldn't be this without the fire, you have plenty to do with Freddy. Look after him and make 'this' work, whatever it needs to be. I know what I'd like 'this' to be but and it's a big but don't think you are... how shall I say this? Beholding? Liable? Let's just get it to work for now and sort any details later."
Angie touched the side of her fist on my chest a couple of times and stood away from me. There was a lot of confusion on her face. She turned and walked away to sit in the middle of the three seater sofa.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Yeah, of course, of course." She absent mindedly patted the seat beside her."
"Do you always do this much decorating for Christmas?"
"Erm yes and later I may be burning logs too, carrying on my parents traditions I'm afraid. I draw a line at real candles on the tree though."
She moved to lay her head on my lap and I placed my hand on her waist.
"You do know this... us... nothings going to... you know..."
"That's fine with me Angie, tonight relax and thank God you're both safe."
She squeezed my hand and gradually drifted off to sleep.
So much thundered through my head as I sat there in silence watching the reflections from the glittery decorations, I remembered in great detail the first time I visited her and how stupidly nervous I was, then the second time when I made us coffee in her immaculate kitchen and I was introduced to Freddy for the first time. The panic I felt tonight, heck that was only four hours before and so much had happened since, the sad look on her face when I found her in the college with the other evacuees. The first laugh when she told me about alcohol getting into her milk, the state of her block of flats.
