A Taste of Christmas: Dublin Style Read online

  When he sits down, we look at the menu. Then when we both decide what we want we put the menus down and just look at each other. It’s very strange to be sat here with someone that I’ve literally just met, but it doesn’t feel awkward at all.

  We are quiet for a while and then he says “So do you make a habit of falling for guys on a Saturday morning?”

  I laugh at him and look down at the table. “Well actually ……. No!” He laughs back at me.

  “You made my day I have to say. We had a great morning and then bam out of nowhere you turn up. I saw you walking to put money in the bucket. I was watching you walking to the front; I couldn’t take my eyes off you because you’re stunning.” I blush!

  “Then when you just ….. just disappeared I didn’t know where you were until I looked down and all I wanted to do was to help you back up.”

  “Well I’m glad you did because I’m not sure I could have got up on my own. All I could think about was everyone watching me face plant on the pavement.” I start laughing until I have tears falling down my face.

  The waitress comes up to us and takes one look at me crying and asks me “Are you ok?”

  “Yes sorry, I’m fine. He just said something funny that’s all.” I try to control myself and when I look over at him, he is smirking and trying not to laugh at me.

  She nods her head and then asks us what we want to order. “A French Vanilla for me please” I say because I know exactly what I want.

  “Mm I was just going to order a normal coffee but I feel adventurous. I’ll have one of those too please!” He looks at me the whole time he is ordering. His look is so intense that I can feel myself blushing and getting hot inside.

  “So how long have you been singing for?” I ask trying to avoid his eyes.

  He doesn’t allow me to break eye contact. “We’ve been singing together for a couple of years, we only do it for fun though. We’ve been approached by talent scouts a couple of times, but to be honest we love that it’s a fun hobby. None of us could do the whole gigging and all the pressure that comes with it.”

  The waitress brings our drinks over and I watch as he brings the cup to his lips, which are full and sensual. He takes a sip and I can see the moment that the vanilla taste hits him. The smile on his lips shows me that he likes it. “Wow that is gorgeous, hot, strong and then a sweet taste. I like that a lot!” He licks his lips and is still staring at me.

  I can feel the room closing in on me and the heat rising in my body, what is he doing to me? “Mm it’s my favourite drink for those very reasons.” I take a sip and I can see him looking at me. He’s watching me, seeing the joy in my eyes as the tastes run through me. I lick my lips and when I look in his eyes I see a hunger in them that I have never experienced before.

  My mouth feels dry, I try to lick my lips but I can’t, he is looking at them. He looks like he wants to eat me up. Before I know what is happening he has leaned across the table and kissed me. His hand is at the back of my neck, pulling me closer and the only way to explain it is that he devoured my lips. I moan and this brings him back to reality. He takes his lips off mine and smiles at me, then he moves his hand from my neck and sits down.

  Neither or us say anything, we just look at each other. Then he smiles and says “I just wanted to see if your French Vanilla tasted as good as mine.”

  I have my mouth open and I shake my head and ask “And did it?”

  “Much better” he says “Much better.”

  I laugh. “Who would have thought that when I came into town this morning that I would fall flat on my face in front of a crowd, have coffee with a very handsome man and then have my lips devoured in a busy coffee shop.” I take a breath. “Not me anyway!”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t make a habit of kissing pretty girls during coffee” he says smiling. “But when you licked your lips I wanted to taste your coffee too.” He looks really coy and so adorable.

  “Well yours certainly tasted nicer than mine too.” I say blushing.

  He smiles at me and asks me “So what are you doing in town today? Are you on your lunch break?”

  “No, it’s my day off and I was just browsing trying to find some Christmas presents for my nieces and nephews.”

  “Have you found anything nice?” he asks looking genuinely interested.

  “Not really.” I look up into his eyes and whisper “don’t tell anyone but I don’t really like Christmas.” I look around me and whisper again “so this is actually like torture to me.”

  He sits up. “What?! You don’t like Christmas. How can you not like Christmas?” he asks looking quite shocked.

  “It’s my birthday on Christmas Day and I wish it was in June, but no I have to celebrate them on the same day and everyone forgets it’s my birthday aswell.” I know I sound miserable and it’s only when I start telling him that I realise how stupid it all sounds.

  “Ah, ok I see. Yeah that would be a bit of a pain in the arse alright.”

  I take another sip of my coffee and then I say “my parents were killed in a car crash on Christmas Eve five years ago as well. So you see I really don’t like the whole Christmas process or the lead up to it.” I look down into my cup, I know I have tears in my eyes and I don’t really want him to see them.

  He reaches over and puts his finger under my chin forcing me to look up into his eyes. “I’m really sorry! I understand now why you don’t like Christmas. Are you ok?”

  I nod and take another sip of my coffee. He takes a deep breath and asks me “Tell me what you love so much about a French Vanilla. When you were ordering your coffee you didn’t hesitate, you knew exactly what you wanted. Tell me why?”

  I smile and I take another sip, it’s nearly all gone but I like this game. “When I lean into the cup to lift it to my lips, I can smell a mixture of the coffee and the vanilla. When the first bit of the coffee hits my tongue it tastes strong making it feel like a really adult drink, but as I start to swallow it the sweetness of the vanilla just makes me feel like a child again. It smells of vanilla with a hint of chocolate and then I get the coffee taste at the end. Then it all starts again when I take the next sip.”

  “Oh my god!” He says looking down at his cup and then back up to me. “If I hadn’t already tasted it then I definitely would after that.” He chuckles. “I can’t wait for you to describe how I taste.” He stares into my eyes.

  I choke on my drink. “Sorry did you just say what I thought you said?”

  His eyes open wider. “Yes m’am I did.”

  I laugh, a really loud laugh because he is funny but I’m also embarrassed because my thoughts are not clean right now.

  “I’m glad you laughed because I just realised what I said and I didn’t mean it that way.” He laughs too.

  We sit and finish off our drinks, then the waitress brings over the bill, which I reach out and take. “I told you I was paying for this cup of coffee for ruining your song earlier.”

  “I’m going to let you pay for it, but then I’m going to take you out to dinner tomorrow.” I look at him and see that he’s being serious. He holds his hand up. “No choice I’m afraid, you see you’ve introduced me to French Vanilla and it’s my turn to introduce you to something new.”

  I start to say no and then think to myself ‘Why not?’ When I see him smile I realise I must have said it aloud. “Did I just say that out loud?”

  “You sure did” he says “and I’m taking that as your final answer.” He stands and holds out his hand to help me up. I take it and when I’m stood up I take my hand out of his to get my purse out of my bag. I walk over and pay for the coffees and then we walk to the front door together, with his hand on my lower back again. It feels nice, it feels natural!

  When we get outside I start to get embarrassed. Will he kiss me goodbye? Was he serious about dinner tomorrow night?

  He leans in and kisses me again. "Sorry I couldn't help myself you look so gorgeous standing there." He holds out his hand and takes mine, then h
e pulls it to his lips and kisses it. "I'm Turlough, but my friends call me Tully" he gently lowers my hand and smiles at me.

  I stutter because he is just so gorgeous. "Hi Tully, I'm Nollaig which is just so not appropriate for me."

  He laughs. "I'm going to change your views of Christmas Nollaig. I think you're going to change your mind by Christmas day." I go to contradict him but he continues. "I have to go and sing for the crowd, but I really do want to take you out for dinner. Can you make tonight or would tomorrow night suit you better?"

  Wow, he’s direct and to the point. "Tomorrow night suits me better."

  "Good, I'll collect you at eight o’clock. Wrap up warm, I'll be on my motorbike. Here's my phone number, ring me and then I have your number." He pulls me close to him and whispers in my ear "you're my own little bit of French Vanilla."

  I gasp and he pulls back with a smile on his face. "Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow. If you ring me! Our fate rests in your hands Nollaig." He turns and walks off. I stand there staring at him with my mouth open. Who the hell is he and where the hell did he come out of?

  I wander around for a bit but don't really achieve anything so I ring Aibreann, my sister. "Hey Bree are you home? I feel like I need to see you. Something weird happened to me today."

  "Of course, come on round, the kids are out playing, I'll put the kettle on." She always makes time for me. We’re really close, especially since we lost Mam and Dad.

  "I’m in town so I'll be half an hour or so."

  “Ok that’s fine. I’ll put the kettle on and a bottle of wine in the fridge.” She says and then I hang up.

  I can’t resist walking back up Grafton Street to get to my car. I hear Tully before I can see him. He sounds amazing, his band is fantastic and the solemn drummer is now very animated. Tully sees me as I stop to listen for a few minutes and he smiles at me, then he winks. He holds his fingers up to his ear making a 'call me' signal. Everyone turns to look at me and I blush. He doesn't lose a beat though as he continues to sing with laughter in his voice.

  I stick my tongue out at him and walk back to Stephen's Green Shopping Centre to go and find my car. I'm laughing inside. He really made me smile today. I need more happiness in my life because at this time of year it can be really lonely.

  I put the music on in the car and sing all the way home; I avoid the Christmas channel and all other radio stations because they are all playing Christmas songs and I don't feel festive. I listen to my Alanis Morissette album 'Jagged Little Pill', I love it and I sing 'Ironic' at the top of my voice.

  When I get to Bree's house I see she has all the Christmas decorations up, the lights on the tree are twinkling and I can hear the Christmas music as soon as I open the car door. I climb out of the car and take a deep breath. I let myself into the house and shout "Bree, where are you?"

  "I'm in the kitchen, come on through" she shouts, so I close the front door behind me and make my way into the kitchen.

  "Hi" I say walking over to the kettle and putting it on to boil again.

  "Hey how did you get on in town? Did you buy any Christmas presents?" She knows how much I hate buying Christmas presents, give me birthday presents any day, but Christmas presents no!

  "I got a couple of things for the kids but that's all. Thank god I don't have a lot of people to buy for, I hate shopping."

  She makes the tea and brings it over and sits down on the other side of the table from me. "Did you buy me anything?" she smiles.

  "No, I didn't. I don't see why I should buy you something to open on my birthday it doesn't make sense." I huff.

  She laughs because I have said the same for years. "Sharing is caring Nolly. Anyway you're looking flush today, is it cold out?" She has always called me Nolly since we were kids, she couldn’t say Nollaig and so shortened it to Nolly.

  I blush and answer "No it's not too bad, but you're never going to guess what happened to me." I go on to tell her about Tully and his band, how good they were at singing and how I wanted to put some money into their bucket. When I get to the bit where I tell her I fell over and my hand ended up in the bucket Bree starts howling with laughter.

  "No way? Oh my god Nolly what are you like? What happened then because I can see there's more to this than just total embarrassment." She takes a sip of her tea.

  So I proceed to tell her the rest of the story, how we went to Bewley’s, had French Vanillas and talked. She had her mouth wide open when I tell her how he reached over and kissed me at the table. "Wow, Nolly he sounds amaze balls!" I laugh because she is always so dramatic and loved Nicole Sherzinger on X Factor and tries to copy her sayings all the time.

  "He was Bree. He really was and then when I walked passed when they were singing he winked at me and made a 'call me' signal. He made my heart skip a beat Bree, no one has ever done that and I'm scared." I start crying just as she was going to ask some more questions.

  "Ah Nolly what's wrong? He sounds wonderful."

  "I know Bree! I like him, he interests me. But ..... But .... What if I let him get close to me Bree? Everyone I love leaves me just like Mam and Dad did!" I let the tears flow out, I can't help them.

  Bree walks around to my side of the table and hugs me. "Come on Nolly you know that's not true. I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere." She kisses me on my head. "You have to stop doing this to yourself Nolly or you'll end up alone and a very sad woman and that is so wrong as you have so much to give." She pats me on my shoulder and moves back to her side of the table. "Now you're staying for dinner and I'll take no excuses."

  I smile at her. "I love you Bree you know that don't you? I don't know how I would survive without you to straighten me out and keep me on the right path."

  "I know" she says laughing.

  Just at that moment her kids, Tyler and Elena, yes she watches the Vampire Diaries, come in and start shouting “Auntie Nolly, Auntie Nolly” and they throw themselves at me. “We missed you, we can’t wait for Christmas. Are you coming to see us at Christmas? Please?” They both look at me and roll their eyes because they know I hate Christmas.

  “I don’t know guys. You know I like to stay on my own and celebrate by myself.”

  “Yes Auntie Nolly, but we like you to be here and play with our toys.” Elena says holding her hands together like she is praying.

  “I might try and come over on Christmas day this year” I say because I know I need to make more of an effort. The kids are the only reason that I celebrate Christmas at all.

  When we have dinner Bree and I have a couple of bottles of wine and we sing along to X Factor and cheer on our winner. Simon Cowell has a great category this year, his acts are really good. I love my sister and I have a lot of time for her and her husband Rory, he is a wonderful man and he loves my sister so much. For that I am so grateful! He is the brother I never had.

  When Mam and Dad died, It didn’t matter that he was Bree’s husband, he made sure I was looked after too. He saved me from despair that night but he hasn’t been able to save me in the last couple of years. Bree has to have her man to herself so I haven’t shown my loss as much as I could. I try to deal with my loss myself, but sometimes I just need Bree and Rory to hold me and make me realise what I have left in this world.

  When X Factor is over Rory goes to bed leaving me and Bree alone, he knows how hard this time of year is for both of us. Bree seems to have been able to deal with it a lot more because she has Rory and the children. I know that she struggles with it, but I also know that the kids help her so much without her even realising it.

  We decide to watch Coyote Ugly when Rory goes to bed, it’s our favourite movie and I know that we’ll sing along to all the songs.

  Half way through the movie Bree asks me “so Nolly are you going to see Tully again?”

  “He gave me his number and it’s my move. What do you think I should do?”

  “Well you always run away from any closeness and sometimes you need to take the bull by the horns and just run wi
th it. Who knows where it will lead? But who cares. Enjoy every day you have with someone like that and don’t think of the future. Live your life like it’s your last day and you will have the life you deserve Nolly! I think you should text him and then see where it leads.”

  “I think you’re right.” I say holding my phone in my hand. We continue watching the movie and I draft a message:

  “Hi it’s Nollaig I’d love to go to dinner tomorrow night and sorry for ruining your singing today.”

  I watch the movie for another 10 minutes and then I press Send.

  I get a reply almost immediately:

  “Hi you didn’t ruin it, you just made it much better. Thank you for introducing me to French Vanillas they are my favourite drink now.”

  “They’re mine too!”

  “So are you going to give me your address so that I can collect you tomorrow?”

  “Yes what time will you be here?” I ask as I give him my address.

  “I’ll be there at eight o’clock, don’t forget to dress up warm. I can’t wait to see you again.

  “I will and me too.”

  When the movie finishes we both go to bed, I stay the night even though I only live a five minute walk away. I have the spare room in Bree’s house, I even have some of my things in there just in case I sleep over.

  I climb into bed and think about my day and how Tully has made it so special and I feel happier than I have been for a long time. He doesn’t even know how much he affected me.

  I hold my phone as I fall asleep and I have a good night’s sleep, which I don’t normally have. I dream of Michael Bublé and French Vanilla coffees.

  Day 2

  Sunday 14th December

  When I wake up I slowly climb out of the bed and after a shower I walk downstairs to the kitchen and turn on Bree’s coffee machine. As usual I always put a spoon of hot chocolate into my coffee – I like it better that way.