Page 15 of It Happened on Christmas Eve
Inside The Elgin it’s peak celebration vibe. I spot a luminous coloured poster on the wall declaring thisThe Big Notting Hill Christmas Bash.Ah. It’s full of giddy people wearing Christmas hats, drinking cocktails and singing along to the very loud Christmas tunes. It’s a hellscape.
‘Shall we go somewhere else?’ I shout to Adam over the noise.
‘No, this is brilliant!’ he shouts back.
Maaaan.
We head to the back of the pub, where there’s a small table free, a group of people standing around it swiftly making space when they see the wheelchair, shopping bags, crutches and Christmas tree. I push the wheelchair to the edge of the table, and spin it slightly so that Adam has a view of the room.
‘Is that a good position?’ I ask.
‘My favourite position,’ Adam smiles innocently, although that sounded flirty to me. I narrow my eyes at him. He narrows his back.
‘What do you want to drink?’
Adam blows the air out through his cheeks. ‘After the week I’ve had, something strong would be awesome.’
‘You’re going to have to be more specific,’ I say, eyeing the queue at the bar.
‘Double vodka and coke.’
‘Great. Back in a second.’
I head to the bar, squeezing past high spirited revellers, one of whom, tells me to cheer up because it might never happen.
‘Itishappening,’ I say in response, gesturing madly to the crowd and the Christmas music and the fact that I am not at home in pyjamas with my earplugs in.
Waiting at the bar, I find myself swaying to the sounds of East 17 singingStay Another Day.It is objectively a pretty excellent song when you think about it, and not technically a Christmas song.
‘Phoebe! Wow, what are you doing here?’
I spin around around to see Ellie from work, wearing sparkly face makeup, a tinsel crown and the slightly cross-eyed expression of the absolutely sozzled.
‘I’ve come for a quick drink with a friend,’ I say.
‘I’m here with people from work!’ She points over to another table where I spot Jim, Horace the creepy IT guy and Tracey the overtly sexual admin assistant.
‘You should come and sit with us!’ Ellie sings, slinging an arm around my neck and pulling me in a sort of headlock.
I wriggle myself out of her grasp. ‘Maybe!’ I say, knowing that I definitely won’t.
Ellie places her hands onto my cheeks and looks at me imploringly. ‘I’m really happy to see you,’ she slurs. ‘Really happy. But… Phoebe, why are you always so mean?’
I frown. ‘I’m not mean!’
‘You are sometimes.’
‘No, I just prefer to keep myself to myself.’
‘But also you are meeeeean.’
Am I? I didn’t think I was mean. A tad grumpy, yes, but not mean. But… Ellie doesn’t seem like the type to lie, so whether I’ve intended it or not that’s clearly how she’s interpreted my behaviour.
‘Well, I’m sorry.’ I say, gently taking her hands off my cheeks.
Ellie tilts her head to the side and squints one eye, the other one fluttering close as if she’s trying very hard to focus. ‘When I first started atHarmonious SpacesI thought you and I would become great friends.’
‘You did?’
