A Tale of Two Christmases

Richie: Nice NYE. Not much of yr rum left. Dad came down to watch Jools Holland. He thought all the acts were shit. Man had a point. I'll be back at college on the 4th. Grateful if you wld give my right hand a rest. R.

It wasn't essay-writing wearing his wrist out, I was sure!

Another beep.

It was a text from Ali.

'Happy New Year, lovely babe. Wishing you a good one despite us going separate ways. Hope to see you around.' Then one which made my heart warm, in a gentle, non-sexy way: ' I'd like to be friends. Would you?'

I replied. 'Yeah, that would be nice. Andy and Jill are looking after me up here.' Yes, I mentioned Jill to show we'd moved on, but I was no longer convincing myself -- I actually had.

This new year, involving graduation and moving for my PhD studies, was full of promise. I no longer needed to fear Christmas.

I added 'Happy New Year!' to the message for Ali, and pressed Send.

___

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These characters also appear in several of my other stories apart from the Educating Laura series, in a variety of categories - Undergraduate Experiments (Gay Male) and Meaningless Kisses (Lesbian Sex) take place during the week after Laura's break-up. See my profile for more.