The nice guy serving asked if Nick wanted his regular. He was called Rohan, and after introducing himself, he asked after Elle and said he was missing her face. I didn’t think the guy in That Little Café would notice me if I put two chips up my nose and pretended to be a walrus, let alone just “miss my face.” I ended up telling him about our swap. He had no idea about Elle’s account and followed her there and then. Yesss—get me helping with #FestiveFifteen. I ordered a Santa’s Stuffed Sack, which was a veggie burger topped with roast potatoes and cranberry, and a Merry M&M’s milkshake. Nick and I didn’t speak for a full five minutes, but only because the food was too good to delay chewing for talking. And I was feeling a bit better about things at home too—Ruby messaged to say she’d popped to Fred’s and had given him the heads-up about Elle not being single (without him realizing that’s what she was getting at) and instead of being sad, it was almost like with the pressure off, he felt he could be more normal around her. I loved that everyone was getting on so well.

Including Nick and me. I was beginning to realize that, despite his dubious approach to Christmas traditions, whenever he was around, things were even more fun—the only problem was I never knew when he’d be around or how long for.

“So, Nick.” I did a drumroll on the table. The light was fading, and the displays were coming on. It was time to shoot my shot. “The big one. I’m giving you another chance. A chance to have the best evening of your life.” He stopped chewing. “Probably.” I took a deep breath. “At half six, the Regal Cinema is playing one of the best Christmas films ever made. Give or take Home Alone. And The Muppet Christmas Carol and…” I could see from Nick’s rising cheekbones I was losing the room. “Die Hard?” I’d never seen it, but desperate times… And it was showing tonight as well. “Watching it with me would mean bringing my favorite UK tradition here. To you. So…” I did a drumroll again, even though the moment had passed. “How about today being the day you finally see Elf?”

But Nick was looking at his phone. And he looked concerned.

“Sorry, Holly.” He looked up, realizing he’d missed whatever I’d said. “I need to head out. Blake needs a hand with something.” He grabbed his stuff. “Band stuff. I’ll make sure Dad can pick you up. Or, here”—he pushed some dollars across the table—“just in case you need a cab.” He apologized again, but seconds later he’d disappeared.