A Perfect Christmas

Chapter NINE


The next evening Cait sat at the dining table, head in her hands, tears dripping on to a plate of congealed food. The previous evening, when she had finally dragged herself out of bed desperate for a drink, she had been stunned to find a meal left under a plate, ready for her to warm up. Agnes had prepared it for her before she left. Cait couldn’t eat it then, the thought of food making her feel sick, but Agnes’s show of thoughtfulness towards her, when no one else seemed to care whatsoever, had brought her to tears. She slept deeply from sheer exhaustion and woke the following morning feeling just as wretched as she had when Neil’s rejection of her first sank in.

Acutely aware that she would already be in serious trouble for taking a day off work yesterday, and fearful of losing her job, she had forced herself to get up, dressed and go to the office. She hadn’t thought that life could get any worse for her, but she had been wrong. All the girls at work had found out that her wedding had been called off and, on top of her heartache, Cait had had to cope with a day of pitying glances and sympathetic words plus the odd snide remark or two.

Not much sympathy from the two girls she palled around with, though. They were both clearly miffed that no wedding meant that they weren’t after all going to get the opportunity of bowling over their boyfriends in the type of dress they’d never be able to afford themselves, both secretly hoping that the wedding of their best friend would prompt their two men into proposing also. Neither of them spared Cait’s feelings when they made it clear to her that their loyalties now lay with Neil because they didn’t want to jeopardise things with their boyfriends. She’d need to look elsewhere now for friends to support her through this rough time.

Her boss, a sour-faced spinster, would not accept the calling off of her wedding as an excuse to take a day off work and informed Cait that her wages would be docked accordingly. The next time she took a day off for such a paltry reason, she would be dismissed.

She had visited the house agents at lunchtime, just catching them before they closed, to request she take over the tenancy of the new house by herself, only to be informed that the landlord would not accept a single tenant whose wage wasn’t sufficient to cover the rent and bills. Her sharing with another girl was not an option as the landlord did not want his house ruined by possible parties or strings of boyfriends coming and going, which could upset the neighbours. The only property they had that was in Cait’s price range was a miserable tiny bedsitter in a slum area, where those with any sense did not venture during the day, let alone after dark. It seemed the only option she had left was to find herself affordable lodgings.

On arriving home that evening she had gone straight up to her bedroom to change out of her work clothes and, for the first time, noticed that her wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ Christmassy red and green gowns were no longer hanging on her wardrobe door. She hadn’t moved them so it seemed her mother had wasted no time in recouping what she could of the wedding expenses before she had left on her trip. Cait had no doubt she had cancelled and demanded refunds for everything else she had laid out for too. She’d dragged herself back downstairs and into the kitchen where she went to fetch more aspirin from a shelf in the pantry, along with a glass of water to wash them down with. She spotted another covered plate on the table, with something propped against it. Agnes had written a note to say that she had made herself a cottage pie for dinner, had made too much and brought it round to save Cait from cooking for herself when she got home from work. It just needed heating up.

The tears flowed again. Why was it that their cleaner showed more consideration and sympathy for her than either of her parents seemed able to do? With no stomach for food still, the meal went the same way as the one Agnes had prepared for her yesterday, into the bin. Cait sat down at the table, rested her head on her arms and sobbed until she’d no more tears left.

It was a good while later before she lifted her head and wiped her wet face with the already sodden handkerchief she was clutching. It was pitch dark outside and an icy wind was whistling through the wintry garden. The night stretched endlessly ahead of her. She was in no mood to watch television, listen to the radio or read a book. What she really wanted to do was seek the sanctuary of her bed, hopefully to sleep dreamlessly for a few hours and be released from her heartache and worries. But that would not find her somewhere to live. She had bought the Leicester Mercury on her way home. The sensible thing for her to do now would be to scour the accommodation advertisements, to see if anyone was offering lodgings she could afford in a suitable area. But before she could get up off her chair to fetch the newspaper from the table in the hall there was a rapping on the front door. Her heart pounded. Dare she hope that her caller was Neil?

Jumping up, she dashed to the front door, yanking it open, the look of expectancy on her face rapidly fading to one of confusion when she found a middle-aged man facing her.

‘Miss Thomas?’ he asked.

Warily she answered, ‘Yes.’

He pointed to a large carton standing on the step. ‘Delivery for you.’

He made to turn away, but with a bemused look on her face Cait stopped him. ‘What’s in the box?’ she asked.

He looked at her as though she was stupid. ‘How should I know? I’m just the taxi driver delivering it to you.’

She stared at it for several moments, wondering what could possibly be inside. There was only one way to find out. The box was large and heavy and she had to heave it inch by inch over the doorstep and into the hall, damning the driver for showing no manners and leaving her to struggle.

The box was taped up and she had to go and fetch a knife from the kitchen. She was very curious indeed by now as to what the box held. On opening the cardboard flaps, she stared at the contents with her emotions raging. Was someone having a joke with her, sending her items of household equipment when it must be common knowledge by now that she and Neil were no longer setting up home together? Then she saw an envelope with her name written on it sticking out from under a pile of tea towels. Pulling it out, she opened it up and her stomach dropped. It was from Neil’s mother, telling her that he had asked for help in clearing out the house they would not now be occupying and this box contained all the items Cait had personally bought. She finished off by saying she hoped she hadn’t missed out any and wishing Cait the best for her future.

A flood of fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. Receiving back the items that she had saved up for and bought so excitedly to help her look after Neil as she felt a wife should was like another nail in her coffin. She couldn’t take any more disappointment today. She ran upstairs to her room where she pulled off her clothes, leaving them heaped on the floor, flung herself into bed and cocooned herself inside the covers.