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He finishes unwinding the lights, finding the plug and the socket on the wall. ‘Are we doing a countdown then?’ he asks me, his hand reaching for the switch. ‘You did check they worked first, yes?’
‘Have we not met before?’ I joke.
‘Well, 3-2-1…’ The lights flicker on and I find a setting that is pleasing to the eye, a slow glow and fade. With Bublé serenading us, it certainly feels like Christmas has arrived in this basement and I feel a festive glow that makes me grin. I watch as Leo drops to the floor, rearranging his body under the branches.
‘All OK there?’ I ask him as he puts his hands behind his head.
‘Please tell me you do this,’ he says from the floor.
‘What’s that then? Are you telling me you’re a gift?’ I joke.
‘He laughs and shakes his head, patting the space next to him, and I tentatively drop to my knees and shuffle round to lie next to him.
‘This is a thing?’ I ask, conscious of how close our bodies are.
‘I think it makes more sense when the tree is real, but my sisters and I used to do this when we were kids. It’s like looking through a forest, all the lights twinkling and poking through the branches.’
I lie there and look up. He has a point. Naturally, it might be more atmospheric if there was a burning log fire nearby, and real pine needles under my back instead of the flat pile of an office carpet, but there is something about the light through the tree and all its magic.
‘Best Christmas gift you ever received…Go!’ Leo asks me.
I’m charmed by his animation. ‘I got a bike with a basket once. My parents wrapped me up this ugly jumper with a squirrel on the front and made me think that was my gift and then told me to look in the garden.’ I watch Leo’s face beam to hear me recount the story. ‘I used to ride around the local park with a Fruit Shoot in that basket. I thought I was so bloody cool. You?’
‘Hands down, our parents got us a Mr Frosty one year. We lost our shit,’ he tells me.
I laugh. ‘You lucky bastards. Never had one.’
Leo shakes his head. ‘Then you missed out. Snow cones for days. Gift of dreams.’
I turn to see the joy in his face as he talks about something so simple, the lights bouncing off his face. What is this? We’re simply lying here on the office floor. But Leo’s arm is next to mine and I can hear him sighing, completely relaxed. I’ve been next to Leo before. I’ve sat next to him on park benches in our lunch hour. I’ve lain under dusty desks, fixing wiring and attaching hard drives with him, but this is different and for a moment I can’t catch my breath to have him so close like this.
He turns to find my gaze and smiles. ‘It’s a bit magic, isn’t it?’
I nod, trying not to avert my gaze but feel his hand reach over to mine, clutching my fingers tightly.
‘Maggie…I want to say something…’
I look into his blue eyes, his expression softened, my breath still caught in my throat.
‘THANK FUCK YOU’RE STILL HERE!’ a voice suddenly booms at the door. We both sit up to see a man in a suit, his tie undone, glasses on his forehead. His panic is held back when he realises we are both lying on our office floor. ‘Shit, have I disturbed something?’
‘No, we were just putting our tree up…’ I tell him, innocently. ‘You’re from finance, yes? Julian. How can we help?’
‘We need one of you fast. We are royally screwed. A few of us were working on a presentation today and it’s all bloody gone. Into the ether. Literally, we fly out to Brussels tomorrow morning to present. We’re beyond screwed.’
I get to my feet. ‘Don’t panic. I’m sure it’s there…Did you back up the files?’
‘Is that a thing?’ Julian asks.
Leo and I look at each other and smile. ‘It is. Look, head back upstairs and I’ll come find you. Try not to panic, don’t do anything to the computer until I get there.’
We hear Julian’s hurried footsteps as he heads back to the lift, murmuring on the phone to his colleagues that the tech lady geek is on her way. I guess I’ve been called worse. I turn back to Leo who rearranges his hair and I take a deep breath, readjusting myself.
‘Seriously, if you need to go then I understand. Please don’t stay if you have somewhere else to be,’ I tell him. ‘I can get Frank to help tomorrow. It should be a team effort.’
He furrows his brow at me. ‘There is nowhere else I’d rather be.’
We pause for a moment to look at each other and the intensity of it makes me gulp loudly. I can’t quite tell if the expression on his face is panic or sincerity, but this can’t be a moment. Julian flies toBrussels tomorrow.
