The Holiday Swap: The perfect feel good romance for fans of the Christmas movie The Holiday

‘I’m good,’ Flo swatted away the concern, so Daisy bit back all the questions. There was plenty of time to talk later, when she was ready. ‘All the better for seeing you. I reckoned I should come and meet you half way.’

Daisy raised an eyebrow. There were coincidences and…

‘Well actually, Anna just text me from the loo and said you were lost.’

‘We were lost?’ Daisy grinned. ‘She’s terrible. She threw my map away.’

‘I thought it was weird, you’re usually the organised one.’ She grinned. ‘The one with the tidiest pencil case, and you never forgot your homework.’

‘She convinced me she knew where she was going. You know Anna.’

Flo laughed. ‘I know Anna.’

Daisy pulled a chair out. ‘Sit down. Are we having another drink, or heading to yours?’

Flo shrugged and sat down. ‘I’m easy, this is your weekend away. I didn’t know Anna had been before.’

‘Years ago I think, her family went all over. I’m the clueless one. I’m so glad you came to meet us, she hasn’t got any idea where we are. I thought we’d end up turning the rest of the day into a bar crawl, and I really need to shower and get out of these smelly clothes. And to be honest, I’m dying to get these shoes off.’ And ring Jimmy – just to check Mabel was okay and Barney hadn’t escaped.

Flo laughed, it was the same laugh Daisy remembered, but now she had perfect, sophisticated honey-streaked blonde hair to flick back. ‘Ahh. I’m so glad you’re here though, you’re a lifesaver. We can plan loads of exciting stuff, you’ve never been to Barcelona before?’

‘I’ve never left the UK.’

‘Never?’

‘Nope, never. And I’ve got three days to discover my wild side.’

Flo’s smiled broadened. ‘You’re kidding, Daisy? I never realised! You should have come before.’

It hung between them, the unspoken force that was Oli. Flo had always been too busy to see old friends, or so it had seemed. Daisy shrugged. ‘To be honest, I never thought I was that bothered until now.’ She hadn’t, not until Jimmy had changed everything.

‘A bit of a tall order to uncover your wild side in a long weekend, although you have got Anna and me to help.’

‘Anna said I’d find it in Ravel, she said that’s the plan for this afternoon.’

‘She did, did she?’

‘She was winding me up?’

‘Well I don’t want to be funny, but it wouldn’t be my first choice, some areas of El Raval are still like the worst part of the city. You know, one of those places where you double-lock the doors and put your spare money in your bra.’

‘You’re kidding? But the bit she showed me in my book looked nice, and,’ Daisy’s stomach was started to do a shimmy, so much for the big adventure, she was getting the wobbles before she’d started, ‘it can’t be that bad. Can it?’

‘Well,’ Flo frowned, ‘it isn’t terrible, terrible, if you know what I mean?’

So not double-terrible, just one.

‘But honestly? It really isn’t a place for a travel virgin. I think we’ll re-plan Anna’s itinerary.’

‘Please, or I’m going to be getting the next bus back to the airport, maybe I never was meant to travel outside Cheshire.’

‘More like you were never meant to let Anna make the decisions. You’ll love it here, I promise.’

‘What’s this about not letting me do things? I’m fab at decisions, wow it is so good to see you again, we’ve missed you.’ Anna wrapped Flo in a bear hug and then plopped down in her chair. ‘So what’s up, and where,’ she glared at the map that Daisy was clutching to her chest like a firstborn, ‘did you get that from?’

‘I found it.’ She glared back, sending a ‘don’t mess with my map’ message. ‘Flo says El Raval is a dump, it’s pants.’

‘I didn’t exactly—’

‘Terrible, but not terrible, terrible.’ That was probably like Barney getting out of the field, but not invading Hugo’s food store. Or was Flo’s ‘terrible’ these days more on the scale of chipped nail varnish, and her double-terrible like breaking a nail? She looked pretty chilled though, so terrible could mean…

‘We’ll survive it.’

Oh God, she hated Anna’s optimism and positive outlook at times. She didn’t want to ‘survive’, she’d signed up for a city break, not the Bear Grylls’ survival academy. ‘No we won’t Anna, we’re not going there. You’re out-voted.’

‘Stop frowning Daisy, you two are such spoilsports. It’s an adventure, I want to go to places I’ve never been.’ She turned to Flo. ‘So were me and map-girl heading in the right direction?’

Flo, looked bemused. ‘Sure, if you were heading to my place, but if you were supposed to be exploring El Raval you’re going in completely the wrong direction, it’s kind of straight across in that direction, until you hit La Rambla, then keep going on the other side.’

Anna grinned, completely unperturbed.

‘You could come back to my place now to dump your bags if you like, then spend the afternoon exploring your dodgy spots on your own. Meet up later for drinks?’

Daisy lifted her face to the sun. It would be fine. Calm. ‘I don’t do dodgy.’

‘We’ll have another beer first, then decide.’ Anna wriggled her way deeper into the seat and looked at Daisy. ‘I’m not moving until you’ve chilled a bit. However many drinks it takes, and I’m starving, can we eat?’

With her mouth wrapped inelegantly round a very large baguette, Daisy began to feel much more confident. For one brief moment she’d wondered if Anna coming with her had been such a good idea after all, but they’d have fun. The three of them had always had a good time together. ‘So what’s on the agenda for tonight?’

‘Well, if you fancy it I’ll take you to this fab little bar? Only, of course, if you want to. I don’t want to tell you what to do – it’s your weekend.’

‘Well if you don’t decide, somebody else will.’ Daisy grinned in Anna’s direction. ‘Won’t you?’

‘Somebody has to. But fine by me.’

‘Here, give me the map and I’ll show you where you are and where my place is. It’ll help you get your bearings.’ She looked at the map. Daisy put it on the table reluctantly, as far away from Anna as she could. ‘We’re right here in this square, here’s my place,’ she put a cross on the map, ‘then tonight, after you’ve done your exploring, I’ll meet you here,’ she circled a spot on the map, ‘it’s called El Xampanyet, it’s by the Museu Picasso, which is right here, you can’t miss it.’ Daisy wondered if she’d be able to decipher all these lines later.

‘Just ask anybody, or there are plenty of signs.’ Flo added, no doubt reading her dubious look. ‘It’s a great bar, tapas, cava okay?’

‘Fab.’ She reclaimed her map. ‘But are you sure you’re not doing anything else? I mean we can manage if you’re busy.’

‘Nothing.’ There was a flicker of expression that Daisy couldn’t quite pin down, but looked a bit like she felt. Wobbly. ‘It’s fab you’re both here, I can’t wait to catch up on the gossip.’ She smiled, but it was one of those not-quite-happy, not-quite-sad smiles. ‘I get dead jealous of you pair together having all that fun.’

‘Jealous?’ Daisy stared at her hard. ‘You have got to be kidding. You’ve got all this,’ she waved an expansive hand, ‘it’s amazing.’

‘Yeah, amazing.’ Flo sighed. ‘It is, I know, I’m lucky. Shall we make a move, go back to my place so you can freshen up?’

‘Sure.’ Flo, Daisy decided was definitely below par, she’d always been so bubbly and positive. ‘Come on Anna, let’s go before we’re plastered. Then I’ll pick a place to explore, I’ve got a map.’ She grinned and waved it, rather unwisely, in the air, just out of Anna’s reach.

Chapter 6 – Flo. Another kind of proposal

Flo stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and thought, not for the first time, how bloody amazing decent make-up could be. It almost looked natural – like she was a normal, pre-non-proposal-Paris happy person.

She peered a bit closer, until her nose nearly hit the glass. Well, obviously it didn’t actually work miracles, her eyes were still puffed up so that she looked like one of those poppy-out-eyed goldfish, but it was a vast improvement – her face had been rescued from the totally yuk broken-heart look. Now she just looked like she’d had a bad night, or been punched. Which she had, well the bad-night bit, the punch was purely mental. It just felt physical. She rested her forehead against the glass.

Bugger Oli. She had to get a grip. He was a completely useless, two-timing wanker who didn’t deserve another second of her life.

She needed to block his phone number, shred his photos. Oh God, there were so many happy, laughing-couple photos, and the ones when he was looking into her eyes like some dashing prince about to…

STOP.

Flo scrunched her fingers into fists and counted to ten. Then looked down at her make-up bag.

She could do this. She could be single again and bloody enjoy it.

The make-up had been a gift from a local business that she’d run a spread on. For their magazine. Their joint magazine. Oh stuff him and his stupid magazine. Concentrate on concealer, foundation. She would obliterate him from her life, wipe every trace away, including the bloody dark smudges under her eyes. And they were because of the copious amounts of alcohol. Nothing to do with him and the fact she couldn’t stop crying.

She’d thrown all the expensive products into the bathroom drawer and laughingly wondered who the hell needed stuff like that.

Now she knew.

People that went out with cheating creeps.

Most of the time Flo stuck with a quick flick of eye-liner, a coat of mascara and smear of lip-salve, but she’d just discovered there were times that demanded something more drastic. Like right now.

The red-eye look wasn’t quite so in-your-face when your blusher and lipstick were several shades darker, and the concealer had almost obliterated the dark smudges under her eyes. She could probably explain everything away as a bad dose of hay-fever. Except it was winter. Hangover, they’d accept a hangover as a good enough reason.

Flo wasn’t sure that she really wanted to go out. But no way was she staying in and thinking about Oli.

When she’d got back from Paris she’d felt wiped out, and crashed into an alcohol-and grief-induced coma. And it didn’t seem to get easier as the days went on, even knowing that her friends were coming to stay – and take her mind off him. Off the whole fiasco.

Today, despite a bracing walk along the beach, shopping therapy and a quick chat to Anna and Daisy, she was still fidgeting inside. She needed to do something that didn’t involve throwing things he’d bought her at the walls.

And going out with old friends was far better than an evening with Spanish friends. As in ‘their’ friends. That was the trouble with being a couple, wasn’t it? Who had custody of the friends? At some point she’d have to face the inevitable questions from the Oli-appreciation fan-club – which all her mates seemed to belong to – but right now, with the memory of Oli’s bare bum partly covered by another woman’s hand still fresh in her mind, she’d rather try and think about something else.

She wasn’t quite sure what had got into her when she’d practically insisted Daisy and Anna come out to Barcelona, it wasn’t like her at all. But maybe that was how she’d get through this – by being less like her normal self. No hanging about waiting for him to turn up to meet her, no dropping everything to answer his calls, no working until midnight to meet his deadlines. Maybe it would help. Maybe it was time to do what she wanted, and not just try and please some self-satisfied idiot.

Flo stared at her image in the mirror. That’s what she’d just wasted the last few years of her life on. The reality hit her. Oli had been the centre of her universe, she’d actually morphed from the girl she used to be into the woman he demanded. She hadn’t stopped to think about it until now, but he’d gradually got under her skin, and, because she loved him she’d wanted to please him. Like some pathetic lap dog.

Which reminded her. She’d always wanted a dog, and he’d said no. Think about the mess, he’d said, and we’d be ‘tied down’ – yeah, she should have spotted that one for what it was.

She could get a dog now. And read in bed, listen to heavy rock, watch weepy films. Get totally rat-arsed on cheap wine.

He’d controlled her right up until the end. She’d been the worst kind of fool, trying to keep up a pretence of being the happiest person in the world, of living the perfect life, and she’d been so determined to succeed she’d ignored the warning signs that were hammering like a battering ram against her defences. Well Oli wasn’t going to do it for a second longer.

She just hoped that spending a weekend with her childhood friends wasn’t going to make her even more homesick than she already was.

***

‘Are you absolutely positive this is where Flo meant, and she said seven o’clock?’ Daisy stared at the firmly closed shutters, and the crowd of people which had been steadily growing in the five minutes they’d been standing there.

The route Flo had marked on the map had been easy to follow, but she was now beginning to wonder if Anna had sabotaged it. Despite the fact she’d even taken it to the loo with her.

‘You’re the map-reader.’ Anna grinned. ‘I wish they’d bloody hurry up and open the place though, I’m starving.’

‘Hey, you made it!’ Daisy glanced up to see the welcome sight of a smiling Flo.

‘Fab, you found it.’

‘We did, but we were just beginning to wonder if we’d come to the wrong place.’

‘Or you’d stood us up.’ Added Anna.

Daisy rolled her eyes and Flo laughed. ‘Get ready for the scramble.’ She nodded at the shutter behind them, which was slowly moving upwards. The crowd of people fidgeted and edged forward. The shutter stopped three feet up. They relaxed. It lifted a bit more, people edged closer and Daisy began to wonder just what kind of place Flo had brought them to.

***

The moment the shutter was lifted, Flo dived forward. She swung round to check that Anna and Daisy had followed, then put one hand out in a ta-dah gesture and waited for the reaction.

‘Wow.’ Daisy stared, her brown eyes opening wide, and Flo grinned in satisfaction as she spun round on the spot, taking in the blue ceramic-tiled walls, marble tables and the artefacts that fought for space on the little shelves running along each wall.

Anna giggled, unimpressed. ‘She did that in Placa Catalunya, she’s going to go home all wound up and need spinning back the other way. Daisy, stop it and sit down. Wow, look at those tapas, can we try all of them?’

Daisy sat. Craning her neck as she shifted on the narrow bench and tried to read the plaques on the wall above. ‘This place is incredible, it’s lovely, so cute. I want to live here.’

Flo grinned. She’d always loved the way Daisy just came out with what was in her head. ‘It’s amazing, isn’t it? I love it, even though it’s always cram-packed with tourists.’ She looked apologetically at Anna and Daisy, ‘sorry, but you know what I mean. The owner won’t let anybody change it though, the local Barcelonese love the house cava and traditional tapas, and as far as he’s concerned the visitors can like it or lump it.’ She grinned. ‘Most of them like it.’

‘I do, it’s lovely.’ Daisy nearly slipped off her seat as she twisted round again.

‘You are acting the complete tourist.’ Anna shook her head disapprovingly, but was laughing.

‘I don’t care, I am a tourist and I’ve never, ever been anywhere like this before.’

‘Wait ‘til you try the cava. It’s compulsory, I won’t let you drink anything else.’

A litre of the house speciality, bubbly, and three coupe glasses were soon on the table, along with tapas. Flo pointed. ‘Pan con tomate, obligatory round here, and anchovies.’

‘Anchovies?’ Anna shuddered and pulled a face.

‘You can’t come to Barcelona and not eat anchovies. Trust me, they’re the best with this cava.’

‘I trust you.’ Daisy forked one up, looking at it suspiciously. ‘I think.’

‘Good!’

‘Although I do remember you trying to get me to eat a mud-and-worm sandwich once.’

‘You’ve got a memory like an elephant, Daisy.’ Flo grinned, ‘It’s so good to see you guys again, I know I keep saying it, but it is. I’ve got to meet somebody about work tomorrow afternoon, but how about I give you a grand tour in the morning?’

‘Are you sure? I mean you don’t have stuff you have to do? We can just get on one of those tour buses.’

‘Don’t be daft Daisy, no way are you doing that. I need the company to be honest,’ Flo took a deep breath. There was something refreshing about talking to old friends, no pretence required, ‘I’ve just had the shittiest holiday you can imagine,’ she glanced at Anna, ‘and you’d be doing me a favour, give me something to think about and stop me drinking every bottle of wine in the apartment.’

Daisy was staring at her. ‘Oh I’m so sorry, Flo, you don’t deserve it. I’ve always wanted your life, you just look the most together person, you always did, not the type to experience shit holidays or turn to drink. That’s my job.’

‘No, it’s mine.’ Anna poked her own chest proudly. ‘I’m the one that has shit relationships, I hold a special certificate in it.’

Daisy and Flo both laughed.

‘Well, I always look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards, and haven’t got a clue.’

It was Anna who laughed this time. ‘You usually have been dragged through a hedge, Daisy.’ She grinned at Flo. ‘She’s even worse than she used to be. She spends most of her time these days covered in dog hair or being dumped by her horse into water troughs.’

‘That was only once.’ Daisy objected.

‘Or trampled by him when he’s spotted a monster in the hedge.’

‘He’s easily scared.’

‘Scared my arse, he’s massive.’

Daisy shifted her gaze from Anna to Flo. ‘She doesn’t get horses.’ She rifled through the picture gallery on her phone and waved the resulting picture of an out-of-focus hairy horse at Flo. ‘I miss him.’ Flo wasn’t sure she got horses either, and ordered another bottle of cava.

Daisy, who had been staring at her horse photographs, put her phone down. ‘That’s why I decided to escape from Tippermere for a bit really, because of a man, although I did, of course, want to see you.’ She added the last bit hastily.

‘Oh no, not you too.’ Flo glanced at Anna. ‘You never said, you just said Daisy needed to have a change of scene, live a little. Nasty split?’ She’d sensed that Daisy was acting a bit out of character, and now it made sense.

‘No, Jimmy asked me to marry him.’

‘Jimmy?’ Flo stopped, mid-pour, and put the cava bottle down. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting. ‘Jimmy as in dimples-and-dirty-boots Jimmy?’

Daisy nodded.

‘I didn’t know it was that serious.’

‘Nor did Daisy.’ Anna grinned.

‘And he asked you to,’ she stumbled over the word, ‘marry him?’ The lump that had been resting just below her collarbone for the last week popped straight into her throat and made her eyes water. ‘I thought,’ she swallowed hard, and tried to ignore the burn at the back of her eyes, ‘I thought Oli was going to ask, you know, if I wanted to… and… oh, how could I ever have thought he was taking me on a lovely romantic break?’ It came out as an undignified wail.

‘Oh shit.’ Daisy put her hands up to her mouth. ‘I’m sorry, that was so thoughtless, I thought you knew, I’m sorry.’

She swallowed hard. ‘It’s not your problem I thought he was going to propose.’ Now she’d started she couldn’t stop. She emptied her glass and bubbles shot up her nose and choked her. She spluttered, which was far more undignified than the noise she’d made. Anna shoved a napkin at her. By the time she’d mopped up and sneezed, and snuffled a bit, and was looking back at the two shocked faces, it didn’t seem quite as bad. They weren’t used to seeing her crumble.

‘It was supposed to be a romantic break for him and bloody Sarah.’ She sipped from her overflowing glass, and then took a deep, calming breath. She could do this. She could explain and just not care.

‘It just never occurred to me…’ She speared an anchovy slightly more brutally than it deserved. ‘He didn’t even have the decency to wait until after the weekend, or the holiday. He could have put her off, but oh no, the bastard decided to kill two birds with one stone. Why take just your girlfriend on holiday, when you can invite the other woman along as well. My dear, darling nearly-fiancé, work partner, whole life, had decided not to let me ruin his plans.’

‘Two for the price of one.’ Anna shook her head.

‘Bog off.’ Daisy nodded.

‘Sorry?’

‘Buy one get one free, BOGOF.’ Daisy bit her lip. ‘Seems appropriate in the circumstances, that’s what you need to tell him to do.’

‘I know. I have.’ She sighed, looked at Daisy, then wiped her nose on the back of her hand. ‘So what’s the problem with Jimmy and you?’

‘Jimmy’s the problem.’ Anna cut in.

Daisy swilled her glass round. ‘I feel terrible now I know what’s happened to you.’

‘No, tell. I need to stop thinking about it, him, he doesn’t deserve having this much of my time spent on him.’

‘Well, that’s it,’ she shrugged her slim shoulders, ‘Jimmy proposed.’ She looked as glum as Flo had seen her.

‘But?’

‘She doesn’t love him.’ Anna nudged Daisy in the ribs. ‘Do you?’

Daisy screwed up her mouth. ‘It was completely out of the blue, I never expected it. His dad put him up to it.’

‘He’s completely boring,’ Anna continued, ‘and she’ll end up spending the rest of her life darning his socks and growing vegetables.’

‘I always thought he was nice, quite sexy, really, for his age, and I do remember his dimples.’ Flo took another gulp of cava, ‘but you can’t marry him if you don’t love him, can you?’ She propped her chin on her hands, and it promptly slipped off, which had to be down to too much cava and not enough tapas. She sat up, trying to look sober. ‘I thought I loved Oli, but you know what? He’s a complete control freak, as well as a selfish arse.’ She gazed at Anna. ‘I’d quite like to grow vegetables.’

‘Why?’ Anna frowned. ‘If God had wanted us to grow our own peas he wouldn’t have invented Tesco’s would he?’

‘I think he did want us to grow peas.’ Daisy said. ‘That’s why he gave us soil and stuff. But by your logic he wanted us to darn socks too, or he wouldn’t have put holes in them.’

‘My mum used to grow stuff when I was little, in England.’ Flo was not to be deterred.

‘That’s all people do in Tippermere,’ interjected Anna. ‘Grow stuff, ride horses and gossip. I am so glad I moved out and got a proper job.’

‘I’m not. I remember the smell of the tomatoes, all green and fresh.’ Flo waved the empty bottle of cava and waited for a refill, wondering just how many bottles they’d had. ‘And sprouts, she grew those as well, tiny ones for Christmas. Oh God, Christmas. I love Christmas and I’ll have to do all the stuff we normally do together on my own, go round the lights, shop,’ she put her head in her hands, ‘do the romantic Christmas special for our magazine. Shit, and I just know I’ll bump into him with her, doing all our stuff.’

‘You know what you two need to do?’ Anna leaned forward, elbows on the small marble table.

‘Drink more cava, by the crate.’ Flo watched as the waiter topped up their glasses.

‘Nope. You,’ Anna pointed at Flo, ‘need to get away from that selfish twat, and your job, for the rest of the month. That way you won’t bump into him. You need to grow stuff, do your own thing. And you,’ she swivelled on her stool to look at Daisy, and pointed with her other hand, ‘need to stay out here away from Jimmy. If you go back you’ll just end up saying yes.’

‘You can’t grow stuff in December.’ Daisy downed the contents of her glass. ‘This is so easy to drink; it’s just like pop. And I’m not that weak-willed thank you.’

‘Flo can finish off growing your sprouts,’

‘I don’t have sprouts.’