It was Christmas Day and the flat was all abuzz with happiness and merriment. I had expected the lads and I to spend the festive season together, just the four of us. (Five, counting little Serenity.) But, as usual, nothing went according to plan. I couldn't believe the number of people who were squashed up in our flat by lunchtime - nine in total!
There was a lot of noise and laughing and bouncing around, as if the linoleum floors had suddenly morphed into a huge trampoline. Even Serenity was crowing like a little bird, enjoying the festivities. George didn't mind me holding her because he was dancing the entire time. He was whirling around like a small hurricane, his new lady friend (Shae, I think her name was) laughing and twirling with him.
John and Paul did their fair share of dancing, then cleared the floor to spend some time with their new lady friends. There was so much kissing between the four of them! John had Esbeidy sitting cross-legged on his lap, whereas Paul was clutching Julianna close to his chest. They all looked so happy together, laughing and kissing and having a good time in general.
I was all by myself, left looking after the baby while everyone else was jumping around to The Kinks' You Really Got Me.
It was extremely depressing but I was determined not to show it. I didn't want to be accused of being a party pooper by slumping in a corner and sulking. It wouldn't be fair on everyone else. I still couldn't help wishing someone would offer to dance with me. I had Serenity but she was still only a baby, barely at the crawling stage. George came over to me eventually.
"Hey Ringo," he said, raising his voice above the music.
"Hi," I replied.
"I came to get Serenity. Shae wants to hold her."
"Sure. Here."
"What's wrong?" George asked, taking Serenity from me. "You look glum."
"I am glum," I said. "I don't have anyone to dance with."
George nodded as if he understood, then he looked at me kindly. "Would you like to dance with Shae for a bit?"
"No thank you," I said. "She's your girl. I don't want to take her from you."
George smiled. "Thank, buddy. You're a true friend. If I'd offered John a dance with Shae, he'd jump at the chance and start making out with her."
"Oh," I said, glancing over at the crowded couch. "Like he's doing right now?"
"WHAT?" George cried, whipping around and racing over to sort out the situation. He began yelling at John and asking what the bloody hell he was doing. John didn't answer, completely deaf to George's fury.
I chuckled, but then went back to feeling glum. Now that George had taken Serenity from me, I didn't even have her to talk to or play with. I considered sloping off to my room and spending some time alone with my record collection, then there was a loud knock on the door.
"Oh God!" John cried, suddenly detaching his lips from Esbeidy's. (He'd finally given in and let Shae go back to George.)
"Who is it, Johnny?" Paul asked, his arm draped around Julianna's shoulders.
"I ordered a pizza," said John. "That's probably it."
"For God's sake, John, you can't order pizza on Christmas!"
John sneered. "Who are you, Paulie? The Food Police?"
"Whatever," said Paul, rolling his eyes. "Go and pay for it, then."
"Ah. Right." John got up and felt around in his jeans' pockets, his coat pockets, in and out the couch cushions. A look of utter amazement appeared on his face. "Oh no. I can't find my wallet."
"Now there's a surprise!" said Paul.
"Shut up, Macca," John snapped. "Just go and pay for the damned pizza."
"Shut up, you two," I said. "I'll pay if it's too much trouble for you lot."
I walked out of the room, leaving them all speechless. I couldn't be bothered with them for once.
Someone was still bashing on the door by the time I'd made it into the main hall. They sounded frantic, like they urgently required an answer. I flung the door open before whoever was one the other side busted it down.
"Yes?" I said. "How much for the pizza?"
"Pizza?"
I took a proper look at the visitor to find it wasn't a pizza delivery guy. It was a young girl. She was very pretty, with red hair, hazel eyes and a kind expression. She was also very slim and elegant, like a fairy tale princess.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, realizing my mistake. "You're not from the pizza place."
She shook her head. "No, I'm not. I'm sorry to disturb you on Christmas. I've probably interrupted some big party or something."
"Not at all. It's not that much of a party anyway."
The girl giggled nervously. "I just came up to give you this package. It was delivered to my flat by mistake."
She held out a large box wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. I took it and smiled gratefully. "Thank you very much, Miss."
"Please, call me Laura," she said.
"All right, Laura, I'm Ringo. And thank you for coming up to give me my parcel."
Laura smiled. "It wasn't any trouble at all, Ringo."
"Tell me," I said, leaning against the door frame. "What's a pretty girl like you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home, celebrating with your boyfriend?"
She giggled, blushing lobster red. "Actually, I don't have a boyfriend."
"You don't?" I looked her up and down. "A lovely girl like you? I don't believe it. I bet you have to fight the boys off with a stick."
"Don't be silly," said Laura. "I'm not that pretty."
"Rubbish," I said. "You're the one being silly. I bet any boy would be glad to have you."
Laura didn't reply. She stood awkwardly on the landing, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Her face was the colour of a ripe strawberry and she'd tilted her head so her long, red hair hid her face like a curtain. I began to worry.
"Oh dear. Have I made you uncomfortable?" I asked cautiously.
"No, no, not at all," Laura murmured. "It's just... It's just that..."
"What?"
"No boy has ever talked so sweetly to me."
I blinked. Was she taking the mickey? Laura was probably the prettiest girl I'd ever seen, yet here she was claiming that no other guy had ever told her so. It was amazing.
"You're very kind, Ringo," she said softly.
"And you're a sweet little thing," I replied, smiling awkwardly.
There was a silence. We had run out of words. I decided to take a terrible risk.
"Hey, Laura, are you doing anything special for Christmas?"
She shook her head. "I was just planning on staying home and watching telly."
"You have a telly? So do I!" I cried, acting like it was the most amazing coincidence in the history of the world.
Laura stared at me like I'd lost my marbles. I chuckled nervously, wanting to die.
"Uh, anyway... Would you like to... You know, if it's not too much trouble..."
Laura was still staring at me. It made me feel extremely anxious. I could feel a waterfall of nervous sweat trickling down my forehead. I bit my lip to stop myself from blurting out something stupid. I could feel my heart pounding rapidly in my chest.
"Are you all right?" Laura asked. "You've gone bright red."
My cheeks flushed even redder, if that was possible. I knew I was being silly about the situation. All I had to do was ask Laura if she wanted to join our little Christmas party; I was sure she'd say yes. Unfortunately, my fears were getting the best of me. (Rejection is probably the thing I fear most, and it's highly inconvenient at times such as this.)
I inhaled deeply, collected my thoughts and asked, "Laura?"
"Yes?"
"Would you like to come in and join the party?"
To my total amazement, Laura reached out, took my hand and shyly whispered, "Sure".
"Wonderful!" I said, and led her into the flat.
The party was still going strong. Julianna was teaching Paul a new modern dance routine. Unfortunately, Paul has two left feet when it comes to dancing, and he mixes up his lefts and his rights sometimes. Julianna just laughed when he made a mistake and helped him to correct it. They seemed happy.
George and Shae were huddled up on the couch, playing Peek-A-Boo with Serenity, who was shrieking with laughter. They seemed happy too.
I saw John whisper something into Esbeidy's ear. She blushed bright red then nodded. He took her hand and led her out of the living room and out into the hallway. I heard one of the bedroom doors slam shut. It looked like both John and Esbeidy were going to have some fun and be happy as well.
I glanced over at Laura. She stared back at me. We both went pink.
"All that stuff I said about you being pretty," I murmured, "were true."
"Were they?" Laura said.
I nodded. "I know we've only just met and all, but I find you absolutely wonderful."
She giggled shyly. "Thank you, Ringo. I think you're wonderful too."
"Really? It was my understanding that girls like guys who are tall, dark and handsome. I'm short, shaggy-haired and weird."
"No, you're not," said Laura. "You may not be tall and dark, but you're handsome all right. If anyone should be having self-doubt then it's me. Guys like blonde, curvy dream girls."
"Not me," I said. "I think you're perfect the way you are."
We were silent again, then something miraculous happened. I reached out and snaked my arms around Laura's tiny waist, pulling her in close. Her arms wrapped around my neck. I brushed a few loose strands of her red hair away from her face. We stared deeply into each other's eyes.
Then we kissed.
I could feel everyone else in the room staring at us, their expressions ones of pure shock. Paul made some very immature comments, and George wolf-whistled just to be annoying, but I couldn't be bothered about them. I went on kissing Laura, taking in every beautiful detail, savoring the moment.
It was a magical kiss, something I'd never experienced before. Rhiannon hadn't kissed me like that when we were together. In fact, she'd hardly ever kissed me at all. Laura was different. She made everything brighter and happier. Everything in that moment was perfect.
"Merry Christmas, Ringo," Laura murmured, smiling up at me.
"Merry Christmas, Laura," I replied softly. "I think I love you."
Laura smirked. "I think I love you, too."
That's where this story ends. Four failed relationships had been fixed by four new ones, all of us gathered together on this wonderful Christmas Day. I was still sad about having to leave Rhiannon after convincing myself that she was the one - as the other lads had done, too. But I'd had a sneaking suspicion that Rhiannon wouldn't be around for long.
She wasn't. We split up and I never saw her again.
But I didn't sulk for too long; none of us did. We had other things to worry about.
Like these four new girls: Julianna, Esbeidy, Shae, and Laura.
These girls were the best Christmas present any of us could have asked for.
They were the gift of girls; our girls.
And we wouldn't swap them for the world.
THE END