It May Rain

Chapter One

DECEMBER

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree hums over the speakers as I mindlessly stare into my wine glass.

I've always been the type of person to get excited for Christmas, excited for the quality family time and warm feelings the festive period brings. But I just can't seem to get in the mood this year, and I find myself wondering why I'm sitting at my work's Christmas party in such a dull mood.

The party is being held in a large event space in central London, conveniently located halfway between our company's east and west London offices. There's dining tables scattered throughout, but they'll be removed once dinner is over and the whole place will become an open floor.

To my right is Jeremy the sales manager, who's lovely but who I have nothing in common with outside of work. To my left is an empty seat, but just after that is my boss Jacko who's been chatting to Greg, the accountant, about work stuff ever since I got here.

In a state that falls somewhere between boredom and loneliness I tilt my glass to take another sip, only to find it's empty. Not quite knowing how or when that happened I scrape my chair out from the table and wander over to the open bar. Unsurprisingly, as I flash my eyes back to the table no one even notices my absence.

Traditional festive decorations adorn the room, and in the middle of the room are what I can only describe as giant Christmas tree cakes, propped up on giant cake stands. They're tiered cakes made up of concentric rings that gradually get smaller the higher the layer, until they eventually taper off to a donut-sized ring at the top. There must be at least fifteen of these trees, finished with green icing and dusted with icing sugar, and surrounded by a carpet of sparkly white tinsel, giving the impression of a snow-filled wonderland.

Who on earth even thought of the idea to set up a cake-based forest at this party?

Looking at the intricate icing piped onto each layer and the delicate placement of everything, I doubt they're for consumption - I do work for a gourmet bakery chain though, so it's no surprise they went overboard with the cakes, even if they are only for show.

Just as I'm about to draw my eyes off them, my chest collides with something solid, causing me to stumble a few steps back and slightly lose my balance. The man I've just walked into looks down at me with an incredibly apologetic look on his face, and reaches out his arm to stop me stumbling further.

"Sorry!" I raise my voice over the music. At the same time he says the thing in unison with me.

"Sorry! I didn't see you there. Are you ok?" His arm is still on mine, even though I've already got my balance back, but I'm too busy getting a better look at him to do anything about it.

The combination of the raven quiff, sharp cheekbones and inquisitive eyes underneath black-rimmed glasses reminds me of Clark Kent, only this guy has a distinct London accent. And, he's wearing a red bow tie and waistcoat, which I don't recall the real Superman ever wearing.

I've never seen him before so he must be from the other office.

"I'm fine...sorry I don't know what happened there."

"Let me get you a drink to make up for it?" he smiles kindly.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it," I reply, knowing full well that I'm partly to blame for the collision.

"It's no trouble, it is a free bar after all," he chuckles.

"You really don't have to," I stutter awkwardly. "It's partly-

"Please? I insist," he beams, his big brown eyes sparkling with enthusiasm to put right his wrong.

I consider turning him down again, but one look at him and I can tell he won't let this go. He seems like one of those gentlemanly type of men, with proper manners and social etiquette, which I guess isn't a bad thing. "Go on, then," I compromise with a faint curl of my lips.