Christmas Lights Read online

  “If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be in public office,” Kay replied.

  Millie shook her head. “You’re like all the others, in it for whatever you can get. Personal gains and backhanders.”

  Kay blinked at her over the top of the car. “You know nothing about me, Miss Yates. Nothing at all.”

  “You won’t even let people have a Christmas tree, how low can you go?” Millie continued.

  “Sometimes there just isn’t enough money to go around,” Kay replied, opening her car door. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get home.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Millie took a step backwards. “Go back to your posh husband and your mansion. Bitch.”

  Shock registered on Kay’s face for a moment. “Actually,” she said, her voice nearly breaking. “Actually, you’ll be pleased to know that my wife died ten years ago so I’ll be returning to an empty mansion. Goodnight, Miss Yates.”

  She got in the car and sped off before Millie had a chance to react.

  Millie bit her lip and closed her eyes, she felt sick at her words and the response she’d received. She’d been fed up and tired but that was no excuse. She’d wanted a reaction but now she wished she’d kept her mouth shut.

  “Oh god,” she mumbled.

  Chapter 13

  Kay gripped the steering wheel tightly. Tears streamed down her face. She’d been driving for a couple of minutes and it was already clear that she’d have to stop soon.

  Thankfully, she was on a quiet road where she could pull up and get herself together.

  She couldn’t believe that she had let herself react to Millie Yates. She knew better. And to bring up Diana was unforgivable.

  The car crept to a stop and she applied the handbrake. She took a few deep breaths and then reached for a tissue from the centre console.

  She blew her nose, carefully dried her eyes, and tried to control her breathing.

  It had been a while, a long while, since she’d cried over Diana’s death. Of course she still missed her, they’d been married for eight years, in love for longer. She often thought of Diana and desperately wished she was still alive and by her side to help her. Diana would have known how to reply to snotty little brats like Millie Yates. And Diana would hold her close and tell her not to worry about what the likes of Millie had to say.

  Kay wasn’t sure why she had gotten so upset so quickly. Maybe it was the stress building up. The protests, the meeting, the messages. Whatever it was, it was embarrassing.

  She took a couple more deep breaths and prepared herself to drive home. She smirked sadly to herself as she remembered that she was supposed to be Nightmare Nightingale, she couldn’t be caught in the street experiencing an emotion, it would destroy her credibility.

  Chapter 14

  Millie opened the front door to the flat and trudged in. She silently took off her coat, scarf and gloves.

  “How did it go?” Claire asked from the sitting room.

  Millie blew out a breath and walked into the room.

  Claire looked at her face and raised an eyebrow. “That bad?”

  “I… said something I really regret,” Millie admitted, falling onto the sofa and rubbing her eyes.

  “Get yourself fired already?” Claire questioned.

  “No, not that. Work was great, everyone there was great. It was after, after the council meeting. I’d asked Kay Nightingale a few questions and she hadn’t really answered them, it was all politician nonsense, you know?”

  Claire nodded.

  “So, I left early. She had a few rows of supporters at the front and they were asking her about all the good projects she’s been involved with, you know, propaganda rubbish…” Millie trailed off. She realised that she was attempted to justify the horrible thing she said. She shook her head, disgusted with herself.

  “So, you left early?” Claire encouraged.

  “I saw her car outside and I waited for her,” Millie admitted.

  Claire’s eyes widened. “Ooookay, tell me that we’re not going to be getting a visit from the police.”

  Millie hadn’t actually considered that. She assumed not. She’d been rude, yes. But was it police-worthy? She wasn’t sure.

  “I don’t think so. Basically, when she came out, I told her that people like her didn’t care about anyone else. We argued a little, I called her a bitch. And then…” Millie sucked in a deep breath. “She said she had to go home so I said she should go back to her posh husband and her mansion.”

  Claire snorted a laugh. Millie shook her head and met Claire’s gaze seriously.

  “She said her wife died ten years ago, and that she’ll be going back to an empty house.”

  Claire winced. “Ouch.”

  “I know, I feel terrible.” Millie pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapped herself up in it.

  “You weren’t to know. And she probably deserves to be alone anyway. If she’s not managed to find someone else to be with her in a decade.” Claire chuckled.

  “That’s a horrible thing to say,” Millie admonished. “She lost her partner. The person she married… died. Maybe she’s heartbroken? Oh, god, do you really think she’s been alone for ten years?”

  Millie bit her lip and stared into the distance. She couldn’t imagine that kind of loneliness.

  “Maybe,” Claire said. “She’s not exactly date-material, admit it. No one likes her. Didn’t know she was gay, though.”

  “I feel terrible,” Millie said. “I can’t believe I said what I said and then she said that. You should have seen her face, Claire. It was a split-second, but she looked so… hurt.”

  Claire let out a small sigh, knowing how badly Millie would be feeling. It wasn’t the first time that Millie had been overwhelmed by her thoughtless actions. Millie sometimes said things without thinking and the reaction that came back, and her subsequent feelings about her words, often knocked her off her feet. Millie hated to be unkind.

  Sometimes her emotions got the better of her and she said things without thinking. Afterwards, she’d spend days beating herself up over it.

  “You weren’t to know,” Claire soothed.

  “It doesn’t change what I said,” Millie pointed out.

  “No, it doesn’t,” Claire agreed. “Maybe you should apologise, just to give yourself some peace.”

  Millie nodded quickly. “Yes, yes, I’ll apologise.”

  “Just drop a letter in the post, job done,” Claire said. She picked up the remote control and unpaused the television. The behind the scenes show of Strictly Come Dancing came back to life and Millie knew that Claire was now gone, back in the world of sequins and Samba.

  Millie couldn’t be so easily distracted. The flash of hurt in Kay Nightingale’s eyes was burned onto her retina. The fact that she’d caused that hurt was causing Millie heart pain.

  She needed to apologise. She wished she could just pick up the phone and say sorry right then and there. All she could think about was Kay returning to a lonely, dark house, and possibly crying.

  Not that she knew that was what was happening, but she assumed it was. She often assumed the worse.

  She needed to apologise and she needed to do so as soon as possible. Getting into the Town Hall would be impossible, dropping a note off would be doable. But would that note even be read? Would it drop to the bottom of an inbox a mile long?

  She wanted her apology to be heard and accepted as soon as possible. It was important to her that Kay knew that it was a mistake, that she wasn’t that cruel. That she never meant to cause that pain.

  She stood up and went to her room, she needed to write a note. Needed to get her words together so she could adequately apologise. And then she needed to think of the best way to ensure that Kay got that note.

  Chapter 15

  Kay put her breakfast bowl into the dishwasher and set the machine for a quick cycle while she was at work. It wasn’t full, it never was. But if she left it then everything would be harder to clean.

 
She walked over to the kitchen table and put the paperwork that she had been reading into her bag. She picked up her phone and her keys, checked the kitchen one last time and headed towards the hallway.

  She was going through her schedule for that day, reminding herself of meetings, and wondering when she’d be able to squeeze in a quick sandwich for lunch.

  She put on her coat and her black leather gloves and opened the front door. Before she could step outside, she gasped. Someone was stood right in front of the door, arm outstretched, in the process of trying to put an envelope in the letterbox.

  “You!”

  Millie Yates took a frightened step back, still clutching the envelope.

  “How on earth… why?” Kay didn’t know which question to ask first, but she knew she wanted answers. She took a step backwards, wondering for the first time if Millie was actually dangerous.

  “Oh, wow, this looks bad,” Millie confessed.

  “You think?” Kay asked sarcastically.

  “I… I wanted to apologise, for what I said last night. I… I didn’t want to bother you, so I thought I’d leave you a note.” Millie looked contrite.

  “At my house?” Kay demanded. “How do you even know where I live?”

  Millie took a step back. “It’s a small town, and Google’s a thing… so…”

  “So, I should naturally expect unexpected visitors?” Kay asked.

  “No, no. I was just going to leave a note.”

  “Do you not see how a hand-delivered note, no matter its contents, delivered to a supposedly private home address, might cause some concern?”

  Millie’s eyes widened as if realisation suddenly set in.

  “Shit,” she mumbled. She looked at the envelope in her hand and then quickly shoved it in her pocket. “I’ll… I’ll go. I am so sorry. I really, really didn’t think.”

  “No, Miss Yates, clearly you didn’t.” Kay decided there was no real threat and stepped outside and closed her front door behind her. She walked towards her Mercedes and looked around the leafy cul-de-sac with a frown.

  “Where’s your car?” She asked.

  “I don’t have one, I walked.” Millie replied.

  Kay stopped dead. “From where?”

  “Bromford.”

  Kay rolled her eyes. “I know that. Where in Bromford?”

  “Oak Close.”

  Kay brought up a mental map of the town. “Off of Station Road?”

  “Yes.”

  “But that’s miles away.”

  “I walk fast,” Millie said. “It only took an hour and a half.”

  “You walked an hour and a half to come and hand-deliver a letter of apology?” Kay really couldn’t understand the young woman in front of her.

  “I felt bad, I wanted you to know that I’m sorry,” Millie explained.

  Kay shivered a little as the cold wind blew gently through the garden. Millie looked at her watch and her eyes bugged.

  “Oh, I better go, or I’ll be late for work.” She held out the envelope again.

  Kay ignored the proffered envelope and gestured to the car. “Get in.”

  Millie’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.

  “I presume you start at nine?” Kay asked. She pressed the button to unlock the car. “You’ll likely not make it. I wouldn’t want you to be late.”

  Millie seemed hesitant at first but in the end she shoved the envelope back into her jacket pocket and got into the car. Kay put her bag on the back seat before getting settled and starting the car.

  “Thank you,” Millie said. “I’m sorry to ruin your morning.”

  “You haven’t,” Kay said. “Now, where do you want me to drop you off? ActionPlus, I assume?”

  “Yes, I started yesterday.”

  “Really? Where were you before that?”

  “London.”

  “Ah, I didn’t think that was a Bromford accent,” Kay said.

  “Neither is yours,” Millie said.

  “True, I’m from Berkshire. You?”

  “Surrey.”

  Kay pulled out of the driveway. “And what brought you to Bromford?”

  “Work. And my best friend lives here. I kinda needed a change.”

  “London can be exhausting,” Kay agreed. She remembered her time working in the city very well. She spent half the time loving the amenities of the big city, and half the time loathing the crowds, crime, and stress.

  It had been another time, another life, back then. She’d been a teacher, training fine young minds and preparing them for the world. She’d been happily married, had a dog, and was surrounded by a network of friends.

  Moving to Bromford because of her burgeoning political career had seemed like a great idea at the time. But Kay wondered if she’d do it all over again if she had the chance.

  Maybe, maybe not.

  Chapter 16

  Kay seemed to be lost in thought and Millie didn’t know if she should speak up or not. They had been having some weird kind of get to know you conversation. Up until Kay became distracted.

  Millie couldn’t believe she was in Nightmare Nightingale’s car. Couldn’t believe she was stupid enough to think going to her house was a good idea. It had all seemed like a great plan when she considered it at three o’clock that morning, having been woken up by a police car passing with its siren blaring.

  What could be more sincere than a hand-written? Hand-delivered at that. And, as she suspected, finding Kay’s address online hadn’t taken long. A newspaper article had been posted on Twitter years ago, and in the comments section someone had named the posh estate on the outskirts of town where Kay lived.

  It took ten minutes of poking about online at most for Millie to find the exact house.

  Now she wished she’d gone back to bed. What kind of stalker moron goes to someone’s house first thing in the morning completely uninvited? Even if she was trying to apologise.

  She was lucky, Kay would have been within her rights to call the police on her. Maybe she was driving her to the police station. Millie wouldn’t blame her.

  She glanced at Kay out of the corner of her eye. She seemed relaxed, concentrating on driving, not like someone who was driving their stalker to be arrested.

  Perhaps she had dodged a bullet.

  Perhaps Nightmare Nightingale wasn’t such a nightmare after all. She was saving her skin, after all. Millie was a fast walker, but she’d underestimated how long it would take her to walk to Kay’s house, at the top of a hill, on a winter’s morning.

  It was extremely unlikely she’d make it to the office on time. Turning up late for your second day of work wasn’t a good look, no matter how well your first day went.

  She pulled off her thick woollen gloves, grateful for the heat coming out of the Mercedes vents. The soft leather chair was the most comfortable thing Millie could remember ever sitting on. And the whole interior cabin smelt of Kay, a complex scent of sweet notes that she couldn’t identify.

  Her eyes wondered downwards, she swallowed when she saw Kay’s tight pencil neck skirt had ridden up a little and was showing some of her toned thigh.

  She shifted her gaze to Kay’s loose grip on the gear knob in the centre console. She swallowed again and looked away.

  “What did you do in London?” Millie asked, eager to end the silence.

  “I taught at a university,” Kay replied.

  “Oh, what did you teach? Politics?”

  Kay chuckled. “No, economics.”

  Millie smiled and turned to look at her. “How does an economics professor become the head of a local council in Bromford?”

  “I’d started to dabble in politics in London, first in university and then in the district where I lived. Then my wife saw a campaign opportunity for me up here, Bromford is her hometown. She was sick of seeing it mismanaged into the ground, the debt was so high there was a real chance that the council would declare bankruptcy. We took three months out to move up here and try to win the election, I did, and here I am.”
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  Millie looked straight ahead and nervously licked her lips. She wondered what had happened to Kay’s wife, but she didn’t dare ask. They were also now into the dangerous territory of politics, something they were very obviously not aligned on.

  “Although, maybe we shouldn’t discuss politics,” Kay said at the prolonged silence.

  Millie laughed to try to lighten the mood. “Better not, I don’t want to be late for work.”

  “Have you always worked in the charity sector?” Kay asked.

  “Yeah, always wanted to make a difference. Except I ended up being admin for a central London office, not quite as meaningful as I wanted.”

  Millie’s eyes wandered to Kay’s thigh again and she snapped her head back to look out of the window.

  “Here we are,” Kay said as they glided to a stop outside the ActionPlus office.

  “Thank you, I really didn’t deserve your kindness,” Millie confessed.

  “Just ensure you don’t go to other people’s houses uninvited, it might get you in trouble.” Kay said, but her words held no bite.

  Millie opened the car door and got out. She reached into her pocket and took out her note, she dropped it onto the car seat she’d just vacated and quickly closed the door.

  After her morning, she was going to do her best to deliver the note. Even if there was a possibility that Kay wouldn’t read it.

  She waved at Kay through the window and headed into the office.

  Chapter 17

  The envelope dropped onto the passenger seat and Kay rolled her eyes at it. She really didn’t know why she’d offered the woman a lift to work. Millie might have been dangerous, and it wasn’t like Kay to offer strangers a ride.

  But there had been something about the young woman, shivering in her giant padded jacket, and looking so pathetic and sorrowful. Kay watched Millie walk into the office before putting the car into gear and driving off.

  “Ridiculous,” she muttered to herself, about herself.