CHRISTMAS ON MY OWN ~ Part One of two
By Bob French
Amanda had decided to leave London and take her skills
as a newly qualified nurse to one of the outlying towns where the pressure was
a little less and she could distance herself from her past; in particular
Philip, a cruel, jealous and greedy man who betrayed her just before Christmas
two years ago. Since then, she has always spent Christmas on her
own. Her father worked for the Foreign Office, so he and her mother
were always overseas.
It was early November and she was
already dreading another Christmas on her own.
As
Amanda finished her rounds of the adult wards, she often quietly crept into the
children's ward to see if they needed a hand. She enjoyed helping
out where ever she could and Clair, who was a senior nurse appreciated her
help.
As she slumped down into a soft
chair in the nurse’s restroom for lunch one Thursday, Clair looked across at
her with a frown on her face.
“Hey, Amanda, what’s up with you.
Nothing planned for this weekend?” Clair said with a twinkle in her eye.
Amanda Anabel shrugged her shoulders. “Can you believe it? I’ve done all my Christmas shopping online.” She paused, as if to contemplate her achievement, then frowned and shook her head. “I would normally be out on the high street shopping right up to Christmas Eve, but doing it all on-line sort of took the fun out of Christmas. I enjoyed the crowds, the hustle and bustle, the carol singers, all the toys and things and the smell of roasted chestnuts on the high street.” She then felt sadness creep over her as the thought of spending Christmas on her own again sunk into her thoughts.
Clair stood and came and sat next
to her.
“What you need is a girls’ night
out. Shake off those blues. Philip is long gone and good
riddance to the beast. He was never any good for you.”
Amanda looked up as Clair waved
over Pam her best friend.
“This girl needs a night
out. Do you know if they are playing at home?”
Amanda frowned at the question,
but Pam quickly pulled out her phone and after a few seconds, grinned and
nodded her head. “Yep. Looks like it’s a good night out
after all. I’ll call Jilly and Donna.”
Amanda, still confused by the
planning of this ‘night out’ going on around her, stood and straightened her
uniform.
“Can someone please tell me what
this ‘girls’ night out’ is going to be? Where is it and do I need to get
dressed up?”
Pam rested a hand on her shoulder.
Don’t worry. Wear boots, jeans and a warm woolly pullover and something to keep your head warm and dry, oh, and wear your
Barber. I will pick you up at two o’clock on Saturday afternoon from
your place.
Amanda reluctantly nodded and as
Pam left, she turned to Clair and quietly asked.
“Do you know where we are going?”
Clair smiled. “Amanda, believe me,
you will thoroughly enjoy it, trust me.”
With a toot on her car horn,
Amanda rushed down and got into the car. Clair drove for about fifteen minutes
during which time she refused to be drawn by Amanda’s questions about what to
expect, until she slowed down, then pulled slowly round a corner and passed a
brightly coloured sign; ‘Welcome to the Dragons Rugby Football Club’.
Amanda glanced at the sign as it
drifted past with a frown on her face. “
“I bet by the end of the evening,
you’ll thank me and the girls.”
As they got out of the car it
started to rain and Amanda silently thanked Clair for her instructions
regarding what to wear.
The clubhouse was packed with
people of all ages. The festive spirit seemed very much in the air
as they made their way to the bar to get a drink. Clair turned to look for a
table when she heard Jilly yelling over the noise of ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ on the
duke box.
Once they were all seated Jilly
leant across and touched Amanda’s hand. She nodded to the tall,
well-built man with dark brown coloured hair and a nine o’clock beard.
“This is my Brian and over there
is Ian, he’s madly in love with Donna. Amanda glanced across at Ian
and was taken by the size of him. He looked about five foot ten, but
his neck, chest and shoulders were huge.
Amanda nodded at
them. “I take it that you both play rugby?”
Ian spoke in a broad Scottish
accent. “Ay, but it’s the second team playing today lass.”
Suddenly someone rang a bell at
the bar and the place started to empty.
“Come on Amanda, let’s
go.” Without a word, she stood and followed the girls along with the
crown from the clubhouse as they made their way down to the pitch.
The game was fast and
furious. No one seemed to care about the rain or the
mud. It was halfway through the second half when a tall man with
straw-coloured hair punched through the opposition to score a
try. The crowds along the touch-line went hysterical, and even when
he failed to convert, they still cheered.
Amanda watched in fascination at
the men from both teams crashed into each other, or fought for the ball in the
thick slimy mud and rain. Then suddenly a player from the visiting
team gathered up the ball and was sprinting down the wing towards her. The
spectators fell silent as there was no doubt about it, he was going to
score a try. Out of nowhere, the tall man who had scored
the first try shot across the pitch hit the man with a tackle that took them
both sliding off the pitch into a bunch of spectators.
Clair, along with the rest
of the spectators quickly moved out of the way of the two men sliding
majestically towards them. Amanda froze as she watched in slow motion as the
two huge mud-covered players slid toward her.
The man with the ball slid into
Amanda, knocking her off her feet, but the man who had tackled him had dug his
studs into the grass and rose with the momentum just in time to catch Amanda in
mid-flight.
She went to scream but suddenly
felt his arms gently gather around her and put her back on her feet.
“Sorry Miss. I do hope you’re
alright?” Amanda was speechless. She tried to thank him,
but her mouth was dry; her eyes stared up into his bright blue eyes and she
felt her heart jump. Before she could get control of herself, he had
brushed past her, held out his hand to the man who had the ball and pulled him
up, then trotted back onto the muddy pitch.
Amanda stood quite still for a
while until someone next to her was asking if she was alright.
“Oh! yes, yes thank you.”
The final whistle brought cheers from all the spectators, especially the home team as they had, for the first time, beaten the top team in their league.
The third half, as known in rugby
circles, was something to remember. Everyone; the home and away team
and their spectators joined in the singing, dancing and merriment of the
evening until the bell at the bar rang again.
Throughout the evening, Amanda had
been discretely trying to seek out the tall man with straw-coloured hair and
blue eyes, to thank him for saving her from the embarrassment of falling face
down in the mud, but failed.
The rain had continued into Monday
morning as Amanda and Clair met for the morning shift.
“Well, did you enjoy the night
out?” Clair smiled, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, thank you so
much. Not for the hangover on Sunday morning though, but the whole
experience. I really enjoyed myself. It would have been nice if I
could have thanked the chap who saved me from the mud.”
Clair looked into Amanda’s eyes
and laughed. “Not a chance. His name’s Roddy, and he’s smitten with
Holly. You’re going to have to be very special if you want to win
him over.”
“Does he play every weekend?”
Clair saw that look
again. “No. He only plays when there is a second-team home game.
He’s a farmer and doesn’t like being away from the farm or Holly for too long.”
The ward was busy and whilst
Amanda concentrated on the numerous tasks, she couldn’t help thinking about the
man who saved her in the mud and rain.
The second team weren’t playing at
home until the first week of December and Clair didn’t have to invite Amanda to
the game.
That Saturday was a bright and
windy day. Amanda watched keenly as the man with straw-coloured hair
swerved in and out of the players, or rummaged around on the floor in a great
heap of steaming bodies trying to free the ball.
The game was a draw and once
again, Amanda tried to spot Roddy in the crowd of the clubhouse, but he never
seemed to be there. Clair caught her staring around the club room and stepped
up beside her.
“Looking for someone?”
Amanda jumped with surprise at the
challenge, then tried to make some excuse, but Clair nodded and smiled at her.
“Me thinks you have the hots for
him, am I right?”
Amanda smiled and felt her face
blush. She hadn’t done that in a long time, she thought. “Well, Maybe.”
“They run a small farm just out the
back of the railway station. Does alright by local
reckoning.” Amanda smiled, hiding her feelings that she would be
interfering in their life if she pushed herself in.
Three days later, having received
an unexpected Christmas card from Uncle Jim, she had decided to quickly pop out
during her lunch break and buy him something. Just as she crossed
the road towards Smiths, she spotted Roddy. He was strolling along the pavement
as though he had not a care in the world. Amanda quickly stepped
into the doorway of Boots and watched him as he raised a hand to a woman who
was slowly walking towards him. She noticed that woman had a smile
to die for. They met on the pavement and hugged each other, then
hand in hand they went into The Crown and Anchor.
Amanda stared at the
woman. She was beautiful; slim, nice clothes and hair neat and
tidy. So that was Holly. Her selfish thoughts of breaking
up a happy family now firmly cast out of her mind. With anger and frustration
in her mind, she turned, and as though on a forced route march, stormed back to
work. Any thought of getting Uncle Jim a Christmas present long
forgotten.
The meeting played on Amanda’s
mind for the rest of the day and her moods matched her
feelings. Clair, who had noticed, had asked her a couple of times if
she was alright, but only received a grunt. After her shift, instead of helping
out on the Children’s ward, she went straight home.
Sitting in her dark and cold flat,
feeling sorry for herself, she quietly cursed herself for being an egoistic
fool. Why on earth didn’t she listen to Clair in the first place
before making a complete fool of herself. Feeling sorry for herself,
she turned on the television and was greeted with Christmas carols being sung
by the nurses of some
Copyright
Bob French