‘Tis the Season to be Single: A feel-good festive romantic comedy for 2018 that will make you laugh-out-loud!. Laura Ziepe
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were also proving her theory to be right. She was perfectly fine on her own. That was the way she liked it. She certainly wasn’t bothered about getting married and she didn’t want children either. She didn’t care that people looked at her as though she had two heads when she said she wasn’t bothered about having a family. She didn’t feel the pressure of her age like Rachel did, and she was glad she was that way too. She remembered how Rachel and Grace had gushed over her last boyfriend, Frankie, the year before.
‘He’s gorgeous and so nice,’ Grace had beamed after he’d dropped by in the store to say hello. ‘I think he’s the one, you know.’
Amber had rolled her eyes.
‘He’s such a catch, Amber,’ Rachel had joined in.
Amber thought they were probably more disappointed than she was when she broke it off six months later. Yes, Frankie was handsome and had a great personality to match, but he started to get too keen, constantly asking Amber’s whereabouts and dropping hints about moving into her flat. Before she knew it, she had the ‘icky’ feeling she inevitably developed over a period of time in a relationship. The feeling where everything they did started to make her want to run for the hills. And she had.
‘So tell us about your holiday,’ Rachel asked.
‘I’ll tell you all about it after work,’ Amber replied with a smirk.
‘After work?’ Grace frowned, looking confused. ‘I’m going home after work. I’ll probably have an early night.’
Amber’s eyes opened wide. ‘Don’t ever let me hear you say a thing like that again,’ Amber scolded her in mock offense. ‘We’re going out for drinks. It’s about time you two learnt what single life was all about.’
‘I can’t even remember what it’s like being single,’ Grace said plaintively as they sat at a table in a busy bar. ‘I don’t know how to chat to men anymore. I’m not sure I’m ready after Simon. It’s all so recent and raw. I’m still married.’
Amber took a sip of her prosecco wondering what it must feel like to be single for the first time in years. It made her more certain that relationships weren’t for her. Her friends looked truly miserable and deflated; all because two men had made them feel this way. ‘I’m not asking you to remarry tonight,’ she laughed dryly, ‘but it will do you the world of good to just be out and not stay cooped up at home trying to avoid your husband in your own home. It’s time you both enjoyed yourself and had some fun. If you end up chatting and having a little flirt with the opposite sex then what’s the harm in that? You’re single after all. There’s no better time to be single than at Christmas. ‘Tis the season to be jolly.’
‘‘Tis the season to get drunk,’ Rachel said morosely, raising her eyebrows and downing a shot.
‘That’s the spirit!’ Amber said, lifting her glass in the air. ‘Now come on girls. I know you’re both in a lot of pain, and no, I probably don’t understand what you’re going through, but Mark is a complete twat who can’t keep his dick in his pants and Simon is blind if he can’t see that he has the most amazing woman in the world and hasn’t appreciated her. They’re both the losers!’
‘You know what, Amber, you’re right,’ Rachel said with sudden confidence as though the thought had only just dawned on her. ‘I was a good girlfriend to Mark and I would have made a great wife too. I’ve always been honest with him, put up with his snoring without complaining and even sat there massaging his back for hours when he needed to wind down from work. It is his loss! Simon’s too. Let some other fool wait on him hand and foot without so much as a thank you,’ she said, turning to Grace.
‘Exactly.’ Grace nodded in agreement. ‘We don’t need them. We chose to have them in our lives and we will be perfectly happy without them. We’re strong, independent women.’
‘Oh, I’m so relived you two are being more upbeat,’ Amber said brightly. ‘I was thinking it was going to be an evening of doom and gloom tonight. I even tried to get Kirsty from womenswear to come along with us when I was looking at dresses for the Christmas ball on my lunch break just in case you two bailed and went home early,’ she admitted.
‘Oh no, the ball,’ Rachel sighed, like it was the most important thing in the world. ‘We won’t have dates, Grace. Pervy Michael from menswear won’t leave us alone,’ she said worriedly. ‘You know what he’s like. The minute he gets wind of our breakups he’ll be on our cases, breathing down our necks and asking for dances.’
‘You’re right,’ Grace agreed, now appearing slightly dejected, with the merest little nod of her head.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, who cares if you’re both single attending the ball?’ Amber threw her eyes upwards. ‘It’s hardly the end of the world, is it? There will be plenty of dateless people there.’
‘Like who?’ Grace questioned gravely.
Amber hesitated thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know … pervy Mike?’ She squinted her eyes and clenched her teeth as she said the words, waiting for them to chastise her.
‘Very funny,’ Rachel replied with a stern expression. ‘It’s okay for you, you go with Jack every year. You already have your handsome date.’
She was right that Amber always took Jack, but he didn’t count as a date. Not really. He was a friend, perhaps even her best friend. Her mother and Jack’s mother were best friends and had been since Amber could remember. Amber and Jack had gone to nursery together, primary school and secondary school too. They’d spent the summer holidays together, both their families going on camping trips to France. Well, Jack had the proper family, Amber thought, having a father and an older brother, Michael, too; Amber and her mother would just tag along, but it was fun, and Jack was like the brother she never had. He was the only guy to have ever seen her without make-up. The only one she would openly pick her spots and clip her toenails in front of (much to his disgust). She was completely comfortable in his company and always had been. She didn’t have to defend herself to anyone that their relationship was purely platonic. Everyone knew what they were like. They accepted how close they were. There had been only one occasion when they were sixteen and Jack had tried to kiss her. He’d just broken up with his girlfriend and if she remembered rightly, he’d been drunk. Amber had brushed him off, mortified, and he’d laughed it off the next day and apologized. They were such close friends that the encounter hadn’t changed a thing. Jack hadn’t known what he was doing, and Amber had quickly forgotten all about it.
‘You’ll both go and that’s that,’ Amber told her firmly. ‘Now get a grip and listen to what I have to say. This year we’ll go to the ball together. So what if we won’t have men with us, who cares? As Grace said, we’re single, independent women,’ she stated decisively, her head held high, ‘and I think we should make a pact to stay single and be each other’s dates. To hell with what anyone thinks. I bet we’ll have more fun than the boring work lot anyway.’
‘What about Jack?’ Grace asked.
‘Jack won’t care about going to the ball. I swear he only goes for the free booze. I’ll be doing him a favour letting him off the hook for the year. He’s constantly telling me it’s about time I got myself a real date, and now I have, with you two.’ Amber smiled. Of course, they wouldn’t be real dates either, but who really cared so long as she cheered her two friends up? Amber didn’t need a man to make her happy, and she was determined to make her friends feel the same. Christmas time was a cheerful time, there was no place to be wallowing in self-pity.
‘I agree with Amber. We don’t need dates. We’ll have more fun together anyway and I’m certainly up for it if you are?’ Grace’s eyes swept from Amber to Rachel, a relieved expression on her face as though she’d been handed a lifeline.
‘I guess it will be a good evening if we’re all going alone,’ Rachel shrugged and then added chirpily, ‘I’m quite looking forward to it now.’
‘That’s sorted then,’ Amber replied