Chapter 17

Sally had been out on Friday to collect her winnings and have a light lunch with Cliff. She enjoyed it. With him sitting down on the opposite side of the table he was rather less intimidating. The conversation ranged widely and was not just confined to engineering and rugby football. Sally liked his sense of humour too. All the same, when he invited her to go out to dinner with him some time she prevaricated. She had a feeling that his seeming friendliness was little more than a desire to get her into bed. She did not want to do that at all.

"Christmas Party," said Megan to Nick one day in late November.

Nick stifled a groan. He knew they were an expected part of office life but that did not mean you had to enjoy them.

"Tell me," he said.

"Well in the past the company's put three hundred quid towards it which pays for the food, just nibbles, and the first few rounds of drinks. After that people buy their own. The trouble is that I remembered Mr Hackforth saying at Managers' that unless we got the council and port office jobs we'd be in the red. I know we've got them but can the company spare cash for the Christmas Party?"

"Yes," said Nick decisively. He would add it to his entertainment costs if necessary.

Megan smiled happily. "I'll set the wheels turning," she said.

Nick mentioned it to Norman the next time he saw him.

"We could do without it," said Norman, "but I think we've got to do it. If the Christmas Party was cancelled the rumours would fly."

"I'd be happy to add it to my entertainment bill if that would help. I'm not scraping the bottom of the barrel yet."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite."

"In that case yes please. It would be an enormous help."

The party was held in the canteen on Friday 20th December at six. It was well attended and started quietly but picked up after the second or third drinks when the dancing also started. Nick had quite enjoyed himself up to that point, being able to chat to many of the staff including the ex-sappers.

Megan sidled up to him. "Are you going to ask me to dance, boss," she grinned.

Nick smiled and led her onto the floor. She danced close but not flirtatiously and Nick was happy. He then felt that he was probably expected to dance with other women. He asked Melanie and that too was fun. They never stopped talking and teasing each other although Melanie did give him a peck of a kiss at the end.

He saw Sally standing on her own and would have gone to her but Helen swooped.

"Me next," she demanded.

She pressed up against him and ground her loins against his. Nick was embarrassed and uncomfortable and got rid of her as soon as he could but not before she had given him a smacking kiss on the lips.

He looked round for Sally. She was dancing with Cliff. He was holding her close: too close from the expression on her face which was sideways against his lower chest. Nick wanted to rescue her but felt it would be inappropriate and things would be read into it. Instead he had a sip of his drink and went to find Megan's David. He was talking to Gareth. They both smiled warmly at him.

"I'm glad I've caught you both together," said Nick.

"Look out," said Gareth with a grin.

Nick smiled back. "No shop," he said. "I've been up to the Lake District a couple of weekends and now would like to have a sniff round Snowdonia and do a bit of walking."

They were off. David of course knew the area better than Gareth but the latter was equally enthusiastic. Sally materialised shyly beside them.

"Hello, Sally bach (Little Sally)," said David warmly putting an avuncular arm round her shoulders.

"Hello, Dafydd mawr (Big David)," she smiled back.

"Have you told your boss about the concert?"

"No," she said looking ashamed. "We seem to have been so busy recently."

"Tell me now," smiled Nick.

"David's a member of a male voice choir at Blaenau," she said, "and Megan invited me to a concert last Saturday week. It was magic. They sang beautifully: just as good as Treorchy and the like, if not better. The voices blended perfectly and they were so well drilled. And their words were so clear." She smiled up at David. "Well the English ones were. I couldn't tell you about the Welsh."

"Cheeky monkey," interjected David and Sally giggled happily.

"The best thing they sang was the Lord's Prayer by someone called Malotte who I'd never heard of. It made me cry it was so beautiful. And then they had a harpist and she had a sweet voice too. Oh, Nick, it was a magical evening." She slid an arm round David's waist and gave him a gentle hug. "Thanks again, David."

"My pleasure, Sally love."

"They're coming to Messiah on Sunday," she said to Nick.

"Great. I hope we can perform as well."

"You damn well ought to," retorted David. They all laughed.

"Are you going to come and have a dance with me, Sally?" asked Nick.

Her smile was a mixture of shyness and delight. "Yes, please," she said softly. He led her to the floor.

She was as light as a feather in his arms. Her body hardly touched his but she was not pulling away.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" he asked.

"Nothing much."

"Will you be with your parents?"

She shook her head. "I'll pop round and see Mum while my father's at the pub."

Nick was shocked but tried to hide it. "What about brothers and sisters?"

"None. Mum couldn't have any more babies after me."

"That's bad luck."

Sally said nothing and Nick refrained from saying that he was going to his parents on Christmas Eve until Boxing Day.

"So who else have you danced with?" he asked.

"David, Jerry and Cliff."

"I saw you dancing with Cliff. Your nose was about level with his tummy button."

"It was like dancing with a grizzly bear. He held me so tight I could hardly breathe."

Nick chuckled. "He's doing the same with Helen."

He swung her round so she could see.

"She's giving as good as she's getting by the look of it."

"Yes. She jolly nearly suffocated me."

Sally laughed, looked up and caught him looking down at her with tenderness. She gulped and looked down again. Her stomach turned over.