Chapter Eighteen Mistletoe and Wine

Chapter eighteen

Mistletoe and Wine

“You’ll have another roastie, won’t you, Jayden?”

Jayden was in danger of bursting through his shirt with how much food Rick’s mother piled on his plate and insisted he eat. He fell back in the chair and rubbed his full stomach, sated and content. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d eaten this much dinner. Probably the first day he’d received his student loan and splurged, unaware of how far he had to make that cash stretch.

“Not sure I can, Mrs Thornton.”

“Oh, stop with that, will you?” She tapped the back of his hand. “Told you, call me Sandra. Mrs Thornton’s my mother in law!”

“Sandra.” Jayden tipped his head, catching Rick’s gushy smile from across the dinner table as he sipped on a glass of red wine, elegant and mellow. Rick, that was. Not the wine. Which was just as warm and inviting.

The thick scent of roast turkey and cinnamon hung in the air, Christmas warmth floating over the dining room table scattered with the remnants of a meal well spent. Piles of leftover food among the torn crackers was exactly how Jayden imagined Christmas was for families who spent it together. Rick’s parents had welcomed him in with open arms as if he hadn’t trampled into their home at the early hours of the morning whilst Sandra had been shoving the turkey in the oven, then taken off to sleep a few hours wrapped in Rick’s arms in his childhood bedroom until they were called down for dinner at two p.m.

It really had been the most wonderful day of the year.

“Right-oh.” Gordon slapped his legs to heft himself up. “Better get this cleared up.”

Rick dropped a hand on his dad’s shoulder. “Leave it, Dad. Jayden and I will do it.”

Gordon reached for the bottle of red and poured some in his glass. “If you insist.” He winked at Jayden.

Rick gathered the empty plates and Jayden leapt up to help, taking the leftovers into the kitchen bearing resemblance to his shared kitchen in halls, where ten teenagers had been let loose to cook for themselves for the first time.

“I’ll wash,” Jayden said. “You can dry and put away.”

“We have a dishwasher.” Rick scraped a plate into a bin. “Shove what you can in it and we’ll do the rest by hand.”

Jayden and Rick set to clearing up where, every so often, Rick would ghost his hand along his back, or tickle his tummy, as if he couldn’t keep his hands off him. Jayden loved it. Tingled with it. This was all he’d ever wanted. To feel part of a family. Even better that it was Rick’s family. Cause Jayden was pretty sure he could jump right in the deep end with Rick. If he wasn’t there already, that was. Treading water and waiting for Rick to throw him a life jacket. He was trying not to think about what happened next. When Christmas was over and the decorations were packed away. Would he, too, be discarded to the scrap heap like the fir tree in the front room? Because for the first time in literally ever , he didn’t want Christmas to end. He wanted to remain in this bubble of festivity and with Rick for as long as he could.

Rick was a different man here, too.

One Jayden liked.

A lot.

He’d learned more about him. Rick’s parents’ tales of Rick’s childhood had filled most of the conversation over dinner. And as each story unfolded, Jayden watched how the talk of his youthful dreams chipped away at the cynicism and bitterness that had clung to him like a second skin when they’d first met. Here, amidst the nostalgia and gentle ribbing, Rick’s charisma flickered to life, illuminating the shadowed corners of his personality with a light Jayden yearned to step into.

“You okay?” Rick asked, bending down to stack the dishwasher as Jayden put some roast potatoes in a Tupperware box.

“Yeah.” Jayden smiled, tucking his thoughts behind his averted eyes.

Rick stood. “Not mad at me for making you clear up, are you?”

“No.” Jayden shook his head, securing the lid on the box. “Course not. Least I can do when you’ve accepted a complete stranger into your home at Christmas.”

“Not a complete stranger.” Rick winked. “I know you somewhat intimately.”

“Your parents don’t.” Jayden listened out for them in the next room, but only the sounds of the crackling open fire and faint singing of Christmas carols from the television filtered through the open door. “Do they usually accept random men into their home without question?”

“They trust my excellent judge of character.”

Jayden arched an eyebrow.

“Recent encounters notwithstanding, of course.”

Jayden snorted and Rick let him go to continue clearing the kitchen.

“You’re quiet,” Rick said as he wiped down the surfaces. “Unusually so. Are you sure you’re okay here? I can take you back if—”

“No!” Jayden shook his head. “Nuh-uh. No. I’m all good. I’m just…pensive.”

“Pensive?” Rick looped Jayden around the waist, turning him toward him, then nibbled his ear, kissing down his neck. “Thinking isn’t allowed here on Christmas day. It’s for overindulging. Did we not feed you enough?”

Jayden let out a shallow gasp and maybe it was how Rick was nuzzling him, making him erupt in goosebumps that made him tell the truth. “You fed me just fine. I just…love it here.”

Rick stopped, pulled away, looked him in the eye. “You do?”

“Yeah. Course. Your parents are awesome. This house is the real deal. It’s been one of the best days I’ve ever had. Guess I’m just sad it’ll end.”

Rick held his gaze for a moment, stunned, then drew Jayden back to him. “It’s not over yet.”

Jayden wrapped his arms around Rick’s neck and pouted. “I know. And I’m also sorry I haven’t wrapped a present for you.”

“That’s okay. I’m all wrapped up in you, anyway.”

Jayden smiled and kissed him, but a clearing of a throat from the kitchen door ripped them apart. Although Rick didn’t remove his arm from around his waist as his dad entered.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Gordon said, hobbling over to the kitchen dresser. “But Sandra’s just fallen asleep to the King’s speech. No news there. But that means I get to open the sherry early.” He pulled out a bottle from the back of the cabinet, waggling it at them. “Care to join me?”

Jayden went to open his mouth to accept, not that he was a sherry drinker, but it was ingrained politeness to accept anything offered when in someone’s home. But Rick spoke for them both, arm clasping around him like a possession.

“No, thanks, Dad. Not yet, anyway. I have to borrow the car again.”

Jayden furrowed his brow. “Where you going?”

“ We are popping out.” Rick winked. “I’ve something to show you.”

“What is it?”

“A surprise.”

Jayden glanced over at Gordon pouring sherry into a tiny glass. He shrugged, the liquid spilling onto his fingers. “Don’t look at me. He’s full of secrets, this one.” He pointed the sherry glass at Rick. “We didn’t even know he had a boyfriend until a few hours ago.”

“Neither did I,” Jayden said and cocked his head at Rick for a confirmation.

Rick blushed and Jayden inhaled the insinuation as if it were the lingering scents of home-baked cookies.

Yeah. Okay. That was the best Christmas present ever.

* * * *

Jayden had to retract that statement when, a short time later, Rick left his parents asleep by the fire and settled him into the old Riley Kestrel, engine humming to life and headlights cutting through the dark as they drove through narrow country lanes.

Trees, stripped bare by winter, loomed like silent sentinels on either side of them and Jayden’s mind raced with where he was being led to. And for what reason.

“Can you at least tell me where we’re going?” Jayden asked, folding his arms to puff up his padded coat. The heating didn’t work in the car, and the four-hour drive up last night had been freezing enough, but now there was the threat of snow. That infamous white Christmas threatening to come true.

“Trust me.” Rick kept his gaze on the road ahead, lips curving into a smile and giving way to an infectious childish excitement.

The car wound farther along the lanes, flanked by hedges with frost glittering under the moonlight. Jayden could feel Rick’s energy as if it was an actual physical thing he’d unwrapped and gifted to him. The air between them thrummed with the intensity that they were going somewhere important. Revealing something important.

A few more twists and turns through a desolate town and they emerged into an empty car park, the headlights shining on the outlines of a decrepit building. Jayden leaned closer to the window, glancing up at the site of an old community theatre. The marquee hung askew, letters missing from the sign proclaiming The Broadway as if plucked and stolen.

“This used to be my world,” Rick said, engine idling.

Jayden leaned back in the seat, a flicker of melancholy crossing his eyes. Rick was showing him what had given that little boy in the photo Jayden had seen by his bed the stars in his eyes. And Jayden was there for it. To bask in the intimacy of shared secrets and unveiling past dreams.

“The first stage I ever walked out on.” Rick’s wistful explanation softened him in the dimmed light. “Think I was about eight. Can’t even remember who I was playing, but whoever it was, they caught me. Cause that theatre there,” he pointed out of the front window with his leather gloved finger, “wrapped me up in its arms and refused to let go.” He peeked at Jayden, breath warm and inviting when he said, “Much like you’re doing to me.”

Jayden exhaled the fluttering in his chest.

“Come on.” Rick switched off the engine and shouldered open the door.

“Where we going?” Jayden followed him out.

“Inside.” Rick’s grin was contagious. Like a child under the spell of Christmas magic.

“How are we gonna get…?”

Jayden didn’t finish the question because Rick had already jogged up the concrete steps to the front doors and with a groan of protest, they yielded and opened with Rick waggling a key at Jayden. He then angled his head, arms outstretched to allow Jayden to walk through into the grand foyer, scents of dust and memories wafting around them like the grains of time.

“This way.” Rick grabbed his hand, interlaced their fingers, and led him around the front desk.

They passed the posters of productions long gone. Passed the Hall of Fame where Rick’s headshot hung behind framed glass among others worthy of the accolade. Then over the tired and worn carpet stretching out to a hidden stage door. Rick burst through it, navigating the dark corridors of backstage as though he knew it off by heart, and they found themselves in the wings, the stage vacant and inviting, as if waiting for them to start the show.

Rick’s chest inflated, as if inhaling the past, and he let go of Jayden’s hand to nip over to a control panel and, after a couple of switches and flicks, a single spotlight flared to life, illuminating a circle on the stage. He then strode past Jayden with confidence, with ease and grace, stopping centre stage and holding out his arms as if announcing himself to the hollow-eyed spectres sitting in the tiered seats.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” Rick’s voice rolled across the theatre, deep and resonant. “Please take your seats for the performance.” He peeked over at Jayden and winked.

Jayden laughed until Rick gestured, meaning for Jayden to take his seat. So he jumped to life and snuck onto the stage, rushing down the steps to flick down a seat in the middle row, middle seat, settling back to take in the majesty that was Rick Thornton on stage.

A one-man only show for a one-man only audience.

“ That Cassio loves her, I do well believe’t :” Rick transformed before Jayden’s eyes into Iago from Othello, reciting the monologue he’d watched him perform on YouTube and had given him goose bumps back then. Now, in the flesh, within an empty theatre and just for him, it was the most incredible experience Jayden had ever had. “ That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit… ”

The timber of his voice was velvet over steel, the bitterness of Iago’s deceit wrapping around Jayden in a palpable cloak. Jayden watched, spellbound, as Rick gave all to his character, shedding himself to reveal the potent charisma that once commanded audiences. The pain of the past year’s resentment fuelled his performance, lending it an authenticity, transcending the old stage he’d once roamed as a boy. The monologue pressed on with Jayden entranced.

“ Even to madness. ‘Tis here, but yet confused: Knavery’s plain face is never seen till used .” Rick finished the soliloquy with the all the sexy malevolence of Iago, encompassing the psychopathic delight of his wickedness, and it had Jayden’s palms sweating, pulse racing, heart on fire.

Rick took his bow and Jayden rose to his feet to applaud him.

“Your turn.” Rick beckoned to Jayden.

“Me?”

“I think you’d make a fine Othello.”

“Ain’t sure I’m black enough.”

“Didn’t you believe Iago had feelings for Othello?” Rick cocked his head. “How did you put it, he…?”

“Fancies the fuck out of him?”

Rick chuckled. “Indeed. So, come on, show me why.”

Jayden scrambled over the seats and Rick helped him up onto the stage, where his tremors of self-consciousness overcame him. How could he follow that? Perform with the Rick Thornton?

Imposter syndrome gripped him tight.

“I don’t know the words.” Jayden winced.

“Then you might need this.” Rick unbuttoned his trench coat, reaching inside and producing a wrapped present. He handed it to Jayden. “Merry Christmas.”

Jayden’s mouth gaped, and he ripped off the paper in haste, revealing a black leather-bound book. He ran his fingers over the rough and worn cover, the gold lettering of Shakespeare’s Othello smooth and shimmering under the spotlight. Heart thudding, he opened the first page where handwritten notes scrawled over the thin, yellow pages.

“Is this…?” Jayden glanced up at Rick, wide eyed.

“The book I learned for the part? Yes.”

“I can’t—”

Rick tucked his hands over Jayden’s. “It’s yours. I want you to have it.”

“Fuck. You give me this,” he held up the book, “and I didn’t get you anything!”

“Yes, you did.” Rick kissed him, long and assuredly. “You gave me this back.” He gestured to the theatre. “Now let’s start here.” He thumbed the flimsy pages then pointed to a scene, and when he stepped away, the veil of Iago draped over him as he began, “ O beware, my lord, of jealousy: It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on .” Rick’s gaze locked onto Jayden’s, challenging him to rise to the occasion.

Rise he did.

“ And what’s he then that says I play the villain? ” Jayden stepped into the role as if were his to own and the worn floorboards creaked underfoot as they played out the scene together, pacing and gesturing, unfolding the words from the page into a physical embodiment as natural as if performed with the trappings of a grand production.

Jayden was used to using his imagination to create a play from nothing, but Rick was used to the glittering lights and magnificent sets. Yet he threw himself into their playacting as if this was where he belonged. They belonged. On stage.

Together.

As they drew to an end, laughter bubbled up from Jayden’s chest, unbidden, as he realised what true and absurd joy really was. Two lonely souls, entwined in a Shakespearean tragedy, finding solace and connection in a rundown theatre. The humour didn’t escape Rick either, and he chuckled, rare and genuine, cupping Jayden’s chin to kiss him under the circle of light burning down on them.

“Told you Iago is sexy as fuck.” Jayden squeezed Rick’s arse.

“And I’m accepting your theory that he’s desperately in love with Othello.”

Jayden drew in a breath. He knew Rick was referring to the play. The fictional character. But the way he fixed his gaze on him had him desperate to hear those words, delightful and sustaining, meant for him.

“Who wouldn’t be?” Jayden winked. “He too is sexy a f.”

“Mmmm,” Rick hummed against his lips in the affirmative and kissed him.

“How do you have a key to this place, by the way?” Jayden asked as they drew apart.

“Because it’s mine.”

Jayden knitted his eyebrows. “Huh?”

“They gave me the keys a long time ago. A sort of key to the city type gesture. I didn’t know if it would actually work, but thankfully it did or we’d be reciting this on the steps outside. And, well, I now own The Broadway.”

“How the fuck do you own a theatre ?”

“It was closed down, ready to be bulldozed. When I was driving to you yesterday, and during the couple of hours I waited for you to get home, I rang the council. Begged them to sell it to me.”

“You what ?”

“The paperwork hasn’t been signed off as yet, what with this pesky holiday season we’re in, but my offer has been accepted. Welcome to Rick Thornton’s Broadway Theatre . I’ll be restoring it to its former glory for a grand reopening next year.”

Jayden’s mouth flung open. “How did you have the money for a whole theatre? Didn’t you take the job at the grotto ‘cause you needed the money?”

“No. I took the job because Marianne said she would drop me from her books if I didn’t. She’s fucking Emily. I was a mere pawn in her game.”

“So…you’re fucking rich ?”

“I own a flat in Soho. I’m not short of a few bob, no.”

“There’s a few bob then there’s…” Jayden waved his hand at the theatre. “’I can buy a theatre whenever I like.”

Rick chuckled. “A run down theatre. A decrepit building probably not worth what I’ve offered. It’s literally in the arse end of nowhere, so unlikely the pub chain was going to swoop in and transform it to a Wetherspoons. Shame. Quite like a ‘spoons.”

Jayden narrowed his eyes. That would have been good to know a few dates ago.

“But between selling my flat and the savings I have, plus a loan, I have enough.”

“That’s…fuck, Rick, that’s…” Jayden didn’t have the words because whilst that was incredible and so damn great for Rick to own such a place, it meant that he wasn’t coming back to London. That he was staying here .

This was the end.

Their end.

“I’d like to use this place to run workshops,” Rick said as if he hadn’t shat on Jayden’s dreams. “Drama classes for disadvantaged young people. I want it to be a community. A space for all to access theatre. And I think you’d make a fantastic role model.”

Jayden blinked back the realisation. “I’m sorry, what ?”

Rick took Jayden’s hands in his. “I know you have your university course to complete, and I know your life is in London, and I know this thing between us has only just started, but I’d love it if you’d consider coming here after you graduate. Live your Plan A here .”

“You…want me to work here?”

“If you’d like to.”

“What? I don’t— what ?”

“I’m bowled over by your dissertation topic. The idea of drama workshops giving children in need confidence and a family? That’s so commendable. I’m impressed by your determination and, although you might not have realised it, you auditioned for me just then. So I’m offering you a chance to put that research into practice in between starring in our community plays. Of which you can be our resident actor. You can do good and still perform. And you could…be with me.”

Jayden felt the weight of Rick’s ask, the seriousness of the offer hanging between them like the weighted decorations on the branches of a Christmas tree. It wasn’t just a job proposal, it was an invitation to stay in Rick’s life.

It was a key hanging on a chain.

“ Fucking hell ,” Jayden breathed out. No, it wasn’t a key . It was a whole damn theatre! “Yeah. Yes! Fuck yes!” He wrapped his arms around Rick’s neck and kissed him with everything he had. “Come July, consider me your year-round little helper.”

“I’d like that,” Rick whispered into his ear, making him tremble with delight. “I definitely need a little elf control.”

Jayden laughed. “Then consider me yours.”

Rick pulled him back and kissed him beneath the glow of the spotlight. “And I yours.”

Yeah. See. That was the best Christmas present ever.

And while it was six months away, and it would mean Jayden going back to London for the duration to finish his degree, with Rick remaining here in Yorkshire and them figuring out some long distance relationship thing, it still held a promise of hope. A future. That someone was waiting for him. Wanting him to return.

Giving him a home .

Not just for Christmas, but possibly forever.

Rick took his hand and led him out of the theatre into the freezing cold, snowflakes falling onto his lashes as he gazed up at the wonder that was Rick Thornton’s Broadway Theatre . He sniffed. Choked.

Rick twisted the lock shut, peering over his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Just feeling a bit Santa -mental.”

Rick burst out a laugh. “I am going to be pine -ing for you these next six months.”

Jayden winked. “Fir real.”

They got back in the car and Rick held his hand, kissing his wrist as he started the engine. Rick might be rich. Owned a theatre. Had a classic car. Lived in a cottage. Had a city pad. But he didn’t need to have any of that.

‘Cause all you needle is love.