Infinity (H.S) (on hold)

One

December 2015

Ally quietly hummed to herself as she gently unscrewed the metal coffee filter from the large silver machine. She tipped the soaked coffee grounds out into the bin beside her, tapping the metal on the sides to get the remaining coffee out so that she didn't have to dig it out with her fingers.

It was mid December, and the weather outside the coffee shop was quite unforgiving. Ice cold sheets of rain had been dumped on the city of London for hours on end, showing no signs of easing up. People hurriedly walked along the side walk, tucking their arms under their jackets and holding up large umbrellas.

Despite the weather being horrendous, Ally loved it. She adored the feeling of being home under her warm silk blankets with her favorite tea and a good book, but had been made to spend the rainy winter day working in the coffee shop. Ally didn't mind much. It was warm inside, and it subtly reminded her of her own home with the redbrick fire place sitting in the corner.

She spend most of the day putting up Christmas decorations, some of which Ally thought was pointless and almost embarrassing.

A wire reindeer with gold fairy lights wrapped around it sat on the window sill, making curious children turn their heads to look at it when they walked past. A set of rainbow Christmas lights dangled from the large wooden beams on the ceiling, and it took Ally an incredible amount of time and lots of sticky tape to keep them up there. She didn't like the red velvet Christmas stockings that hung from the mantlepiece above the fire place. She thought they looked tacky, but her boss thought they made the fire place look more homely, so Ally obliged and reluctantly put them up with a sour expression on her face.

She didn't particularly like Christmas that year, and she knew she wouldn't like it the year after that either. She sighed as she continued to clean out the coffee machine, but was taking her time with it as the shop was empty for the time being. She leaned her backside against the bench with her arms crossed over her chest, staring intently out the glass doors to the wet street outside as the liquid coffee cleaner went through the machine by itself.

Ally hated knowing that one person could have such a versatile impact on her life, and she couldn't escape it. No matter how hard she tried, he would always somehow pop up on her phone screen, her laptop at home, a television at a shopping center or just in her wondering and curious mind. He was everywhere, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She knew the consequences of dating an international pop sensation, but she didn't prepare herself for the passionate memories that he left burnt into her mind, which sent Ally into over drive once he left her. He was also the reason she wasn't looking forward to Christmas either, reluctant to join in on the spirit with her fellow work mates.

Ally had spent majority of the previous winter with him. Every time she stayed at his home back in Holmes Chapel, he would open his front door quietly in the early hours of the morning, and pinch a tiny bit of the powdery snow between his fingers that had gathered on his door step during the night. He would tip toe into his bedroom and see Ally, sleeping peacefully with her long, dark blonde waves sprawled out on the pillow behind her. She would usually have her pink lips slightly parted while she slept and a small foot hanging out from under the mountain of blankets and sheets he had on his bed. He would lean over her with a devilish grin on his face as he sprinkled the cold snow from his fingers onto her tiny red nose. Ally's nose would twitch a few times until she crinkled her eyes and sneezed, pulling the blanket up over her head while he laughed at her.

Ally remembered the time just before Christmas, when he took her ice skating in the evening. She remembered how the rink was lit up with gold fairy lights hanging around the fence and in the pine trees, and he watched as Ally looked around at the lights with wander and excitement in her sparkling blue eyes. He knew she couldn't ice skate if her life depended on it, and he would laugh hysterically at her as she fell back roughly onto the ice. His maniacal laugh would cause Ally to burst out in giggles as she tried to stand up, but would fail miserably. In the end, they would both be laying on the ice laughing at each other with both their bums getting soaked.