One Perfect Summer

Mum told me Dad hasn’t been feeling too well. She said he’s been under a lot of pressure at work and she wants me to come home for the duration of the Christmas holidays. Maybe part of it is emotional blackmail, but it’s worked.
    ‘No change,’ I reply to Lukas’s question about Dad. ‘I think he just needs to rest.’
    He runs his fingers through my hair.
    ‘I’m going to miss you,’ I say quietly.
    ‘Me too,’ he replies, drawing me up to kiss his lips. A bolt of desire shoots through me. I haven’t seen much of him recently because he’s been snowed under with a research project and I’ve had assignments to hand in. He takes his studies rather more seriously than I take mine.
    He slowly pulls away from me. ‘Do you want your Christmas present now or do you want to save it for Christmas Day?’
    ‘Depends what it is,’ I murmur, kissing him again.
    ‘Stop.’ He laughs under his breath.
    I don’t know what’s got into me. I can’t get enough of him at the moment.
    ‘If you’re not going to give me what I really want,’ I pretend to be sulky, ‘then I’ll have it now.’
    He reaches over to tug the curtains closed before walking, naked, to his wardrobe. My eyes follow him as he returns with a small, flat parcel wrapped in white satin paper with a red ribbon tied around it.
    I sit up in bed. ‘What is it?’ I ask with a grin. It feels squashy when I press it.
    ‘Open it,’ he replies, sitting next to me.
    I crack up laughing. It’s a Mr Bump cold compress.
    ‘You idiot,’ I say, thumping his chest.
    ‘Ouch,’ he says. ‘You’re going to have to use that on me now.’
    ‘Or I could just kiss you better, instead . . .’
    This time, he lets me.
    When I get back to Jessie’s that night, after we’ve said our goodbyes, I find in my handbag a slightly larger present tied in the same red ribbon. I stare at it, bemused. And then curiosity gets the better of me. I can’t wait until Christmas.
    I open up the white satin paper to find a black velvet jewellery box inside. I gingerly lift the lid and there before me is a white-gold necklace with a diamond pendant hanging from it. I lean my back against the wall and slide down to the floor. The pendant sparkles under the bedroom light. I touch my fingers to the diamond and almost expect it to disappear in a puff of smoke. The cashmere scarf I got him is just not going to cut it compared to this. I can’t possibly keep it. It’s too much.
    Jessie knocks on my door. ‘Can I come in?’ he asks, his eyes immediately falling to the box in my hand. ‘What’s that?’
    ‘My Christmas present from Lukas,’ I reply with disbelieving eyes.
    He kneels on the floor to get a closer look. ‘Is it real?’ he asks with a frown.
    I nod, looking back down at it.
    ‘How do you know?’ he asks. ‘Maybe it’s cubic – what’s it called?’
    ‘Cubic zirconia,’ I reply. ‘No. Lukas would never settle for anything less than the best.’
    He humphs. ‘It’s alright for some.’
    I don’t know what his problem is with Lukas. I think he must feel threatened, man to man. It would be hard not to feel insecure around Lukas, with his looks, wealth, intellect . . . I could go on. Luckily they’ve met only a few times, because Lukas and I tend to do our own thing. Emily once commented that Jessie is jealous, but that’s crazy and I told her as much. He’s protective of me, true, but not jealous. Not in that way.
    ‘Why don’t you put it on?’ Jessie asks grumpily.
    ‘I’d be too scared of losing it,’ I reply, looking down at the box in my hands. I don’t want to admit that I’m thinking about giving it back. That would involve too much explanation.
    ‘You won’t lose it.’ He gets up and waggles his hand for me to pass over the box. ‘You’d be more likely to lose it in this tip of a bedroom,’ he adds wryly.
    I reluctantly hand over the box. ‘I promise to tidy up before you get back.’
    He lifts the necklace out of the box and drapes it around my neck, securing it from behind. It won’t hurt to see what it looks like on.
    Emily appears at the door. ‘Hello!’ Her eyes flick between us with confusion, then she spies the diamond and her face falls. ‘What’s going on?’
    ‘My Christmas present from Lukas.’
    ‘There you go.’ Jessie pats my back and steps away from me.
    ‘Oh, wow.’ Emily’s eyes widen and she comes closer to scrutinise it. ‘Oh, my God, it’s beautiful!’
    ‘Right!’ Jessie interrupts.