frowned. ‘Um, no. Should I?’
He let out a deep, throaty chuckle and his face turned crimson. ‘Erm, I don’t know really! Do you know the name Ethan Fox?’
‘It rings a bell, but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it. Sorry!’ I began to feel a little embarrassed myself, like “Ethan Fox” was a name I definitely should know.
‘Did you see the latest Pride and Prejudice remake at the cinema?’ he asked.
‘Nope, I don’t get to the cinema a lot. Were you in it?’
Ethan’s face turned an even deeper shade of red. ‘You could say that! I was Mr Darcy.’
Suddenly, a light bulb pinged on in my head. ‘That’s where I’ve heard your name! I heard some of the old dears at the Breakfast Club I go to talking about how fit you looked climbing out of the pond with your shirt on.’
He threw his head into his hands and laughed. ‘I think that scene’s going to follow me wherever I go! Tell them next time you see them that the pond was bloody freezing! Anyway, now that you know my name, why not tell me yours?’
I froze and felt my blood run cold in my veins. Talking to this guy for a few minutes while I patched him up was one thing, swapping things like names was quite another. Especially since he was apparently quite a famous actor.
‘Oh you don’t want to know my name really! Just forget about it.’
I got up and Ethan followed suit. ‘Come on, I can’t let you clean me up after I lose a fight with a revolving door without knowing your name!’
I blushed and busied myself with putting the first-aid equipment back where I’d found it. ‘Why would a guy who’s been in the latest Pride and Prejudice remake want to know my name? I haven’t been in any remakes, Jane Austen or otherwise.’
He folded his arms as he watched me buzz about the little kitchen area. I was trying to find something else to occupy my mind. ‘Strangely enough, that’s not on my list of criteria for wanting to get to know someone!’
‘And putting a plaster on your nose when a revolving door smacks you in the face is on the list, is it?’
‘Nope,’ said Ethan, ‘but I’m willing to add it if it means you’ll tell me your name.’
‘Fine,’ I said when no rebuttals immediately sprang to mind. ‘My name’s Alice. Alice Woods.’
I reluctantly stuck a hand out for him to shake. He clasped it in his bear claw for a moment then let it go.
‘Well, it was lovely meeting you, Alice Woods. Tell me, do you patch up clumsy actors with an appalling sense of spatial awareness very often? Because you’ve done a really good job on me!’
I giggled and mumbled out a reply that even I couldn’t understand. By the look on Ethan’s face, neither could he.
‘Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,’ he said, taking a couple of steps towards me.
‘I-I…I said no, not that I’m aware of. I usually fly under everyone’s radar, so I don’t find myself rubbing shoulders with actors very often.’
‘I find it hard to believe that you could fly under anyone’s radar.’ Ethan’s mouth dropped open as he realised what he’d just said and he took a great interest in the kitchen floor tiles. ‘S-sorry…didn’t mean it to come out like that… Unfortunately, I have to go and spectacularly fail my audition for this menswear campaign! Thanks for all your help.’
He smiled at me then walked out of the canteen. I watched his great hulking frame descend the metal staircase. For a supposedly famous actor, he’d been refreshingly down-to-earth, I thought. I made my own way down and was just in time to see Ethan head out through the revolving door – he approached it with a bit more care this time – to a sea of awaiting paparazzi. I heard the clamour of voices as they threw questions at him and the clicking of their huge cameras as they followed him down the street.
Mum came rushing up to me, still holding that crystal duck she liked so much. The grin on her face was wider than I’d seen it in a long time.
‘Do you know who that was?!’ Her voice trembled with barely contained glee.
‘Yeah,’ I said with a shrug, ‘he said his name was Ethan Fox.’
Her eyes widened and she began jumping up and down on the spot, almost dropping her precious crystal duck.
‘Oh my God, I loved him in that superhero film he did! Who did he play again, the one who can fly? Fancy getting to do first aid on a Hollywood megastar! What was he like? The tabloids say he’s a complete womaniser, but he doesn’t look like one to me. Trust me, a mum knows these things.’
I found myself smiling, although I wasn’t entirely sure why. Probably because my mum was one of the only middle-aged women who knew him from a superhero film instead of his Pride and Prejudice reboot.
‘You know,’ I said, ‘he actually wasn’t that bad.’
‘I don’t suppose he is.’ My mum paused and grinned. ‘Since he’s got you to smile for the first time in ages.’
Later that night, Mum mounted a full-scale present-wrapping operation at my cottage. It wasn’t ideal having so much festive merriment around my little Christmas-free zone but after the day I’d had, I decided to allow it. While she hummed along to All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey, I decided to do a little research on the mysterious Ethan Fox. After all, he seemed pretty famous yet I had no idea who he was. And I couldn’t quite seem to forget his comment about me not flying under anyone’s radar.
‘According to this interview I read, he was born in London but moved to Yorkshire when he was twelve because his dad inherited Fox’s department store. It’s been in the family for over a hundred years apparently. Oh and he’s won a BAFTA too, for Best Actor!’
Mum nodded and flashed me a knowing look as she curled some ribbon with a pair of scissors. ‘Really? Sounds like you’ve been doing a bit of digging on the lovely Mr Fox Jnr instead of helping your old mum wrap presents! Where are your Christmas decorations, by the way? Ours have been up for ages!’
I felt every muscle in my body tense. ‘You know me, Mum, I’m not that big on Christmas nowadays. I’d rather just treat it like any other day.’
She sighed and put down the set of beers from around the world she was wrapping for Dad. ‘Alice, I know Christmas was Jamie’s favourite time of year, but do you really think he’d want you to stop celebrating it just because he’s not here any more?’
Not this again.
I groaned and ran my hands over my face. ‘I can’t have this argument with you again this year. When Jamie died, it didn’t seem like there was much point making a fuss over Christmas any more! It just brings back too many awful memories, OK?’
‘No, Alice, it’s not bloody OK!’ That made my head snap up in shock; my mum hardly ever swore. ‘It’s like you’re stuck between two people: the Alice who’s still grieving for Jamie and the one who’s ready to move on. You used to love everything about Christmas: everybody spending time together, the food, the presents. That doesn’t have to stop just because Jamie isn’t around any more.’
I felt my blood begin to boil and I gritted my teeth to stop a stream of expletives spilling out of my mouth.
‘It just doesn’t feel right doing it without him. You do Christmas your way and I’ll do it my way.’
Mum cocked her head to one side and narrowed her eyes at me. ‘I saw a different side to you today, one I haven’t seen for a really long time. When you went over to help Ethan,