On The Cards
ROMANTIC VALENTINE’S DAY SHORT STORY BY JULIA DOUGLAS
There had always been a creative spark between them, but had their mixed messages made them miss the post?
“Are you alright?” Jason asked quietly, glancing at her.
“I’m fine,” Hannah hissed in a way that made him turn away with a sigh.
She was still furious from last night’s row, but this was no place to continue it.
Self-consciously she glanced across the small control room. The producer was gazing at them with concern.
Hannah forced a tight-lipped smile and the producer smiled back.
“If you’re both ready, I’ll take you through to Fabiana now.”
The producer slid aside a soundproof glass door that led to the radio studio.
Fabiana, the DJ, leapt up from behind her console. The lights gleamed on her black hair and pearly grin.
“Jason! So good to see you again!”
She pulled him into a tight hug.
Hannah’s cheeks burned. It was years since she’d been tortured by the sight of Jason and Fabiana in a clinch.
“And Hannah! You look amazing!”
Hannah knew that was a lie. She looked tired and pale. Especially next to the ever-exuberant Fabiana, whose clothes and make-up were more suited to a party than a radio show.
The producer showed them to their seats and adjusted their microphones. Fabiana slid forward a control, and a red “On Air” sign illuminated on the wall.
“Welcome back to Breakfast with Fabiana. It’s 8.03am on Valentine’s Day! Has the postman brought you any cards?
No one knows more about Valentine cards than my next guests, Jason and Hannah, from the Boathouse Cards Company. So tell me, how did you two get into the greetings cards business?
Jason leaned towards his microphone.
“Well, it all started when Hannah made me a birthday card.”
“Ooh, do tell me more, Hannah.” Fabiana smiled at her, expectantly.
Imagining millions of people listening, Hannah summoned some cheerfulness into her voice before she replied.
Six years earlier, Hannah walked with a fellow student called Theo up the path of a house booming with music.
“Are you sure he won’t mind a total stranger coming to his birthday party?”
“It’s a party!” Theo reassured her. “The more the merrier!”
He led her through the crush in the living room to where a man with russet curls was talking to a glamorous raven-haired woman.
“Jason, Fabiana!” Theo shouted above the music. “This is Hannah!”
Jason turned with a ready smile. As their eyes met, Hannah felt an unexpected spark flash between them.
“Happy birthday!”
She handed him an envelope.
“Thanks.” He took out the birthday card. “Wow! Handmade?”
“I painted it myself,” Hannah said.
“You’re an amazing artist. Let me get you a drink.”
He put a guiding arm around her shoulders. Hannah glimpsed a dagger stare from Fabiana.
Behind her, she heard Theo say, “Looks like you’re stuck with me, Fab.”
Hannah would have liked to spend the whole party in Jason’s company, but as he was the birthday boy, everyone wanted to talk with him. Hannah could mostly only watch from a distance.
“Can I help you wash up?” she asked when the crowd began to thin.
“You’re an angel.” The gratitude in his eyes made something flip inside her.
Hands in the sink, Hannah wondered if she’d be able to spend a few moments alone with the host before she left.
Returning to the living room to collect more glasses, she stopped dead.
Theo was snoring on the sofa.
Jason and Fabiana were entwined in a passionate embrace.
Hannah was glad they were reading different subjects. She didn’t see much of Jason and Fabiana at uni. Yet she felt a jealous stab whenever she saw the two lovebirds canoodling.
At a graduation party, she was surprised to hear Fabiana regaling her friends with her plans for a gap year in India. Jason looked decidedly left out.
“Are you not off to India, then?” Hannah asked him.
“No, I’m going to have a go at starting a business,” Jason informed her. “What are your plans?”
I’m going to Spain to teach art.
“Oh.” He looked disappointed.
Hannah suddenly wished she wasn’t going away, but she’d committed herself.
It was two years, a love affair and a broken heart later when Hannah next bumped into Jason.
Back in England and in need of a job, she went into a newsagent to buy a paper. She almost collided with a man as he turned away from the counter with a cardboard box in his arms.
“Hannah!” Jason’s eyes lit up in a way that sent a jolt through her.
“It’s been a long time,” they said at the same time, then laughed.
Peering into his box, Hannah saw that it was full of Get Well cards.
“Bulk buying?” she quipped.
No, I’m trying to sell them! I’ve started a card company above a boathouse by the river. Come and see.
An hour later, Hannah stood on a sunny towpath, soaking up the view of a sparkling river and woody area beyond.
The space Jason had rented above the boathouse was a bit decrepit, but it couldn’t have been in a lovelier location.
“How would you like to come and do some illustrations for me?” Jason asked.
Only one doubt hovered like a cloud above Hannah’s head, but it was big enough to make the prospect of working with Jason unbearable.
Trying to sound casual, she asked, “Are you still seeing Fabiana?”
“Fabiana…?” Jason frowned.
Oh, that was over in uni. You haven’t heard? She got engaged to Theo last month.
“I thought that went really well,” the producer beamed as he showed them into the corridor.
The only awkward moment in the interview had come when Fabiana asked what sort of Valentine’s card Jason had given Hannah that morning.
As if they’d have exchanged cards after last night, Hannah thought bitterly.
Luckily, Jason had glossed over it.
“Is there a ladies’?” Hannah asked.
The producer pointed. As Hannah walked off, Jason answered his mobile.
“Theo, mate! You heard us, then?”
He was still talking when Hannah returned. He had his back to her.
“It’s all right for you and Fab – you’re both loaded!
Between you and me, Hannah and I have been going through a rough patch. I wonder if we even have a future…
Looking round, Jason flushed.
“Gotta dash, mate.” He pocketed his phone. “Shall we go?”
In shocked silence, Hannah followed.
When they emerged on the pavement, she said, “Do you mind going back to work without me? There are a couple of things I need from the shops.”
Walking through the city centre, her head echoed with his words.
When she’d moved into Jason’s flat, they hadn’t talked about the future.
Their work relationship had quickly progressed to a personal one and living together seemed a natural next step.
After a couple of happy years, she’d begun to want more – a wedding, a family. They were both nearly thirty.
Jason, however, insisted that they were fine as they were.
It had all come to a head last night. Work worries had added fuel to the flames – as had a new worry that Hannah was still keeping to herself.
Neither had altered their opinion.
This morning, on the train to the radio station, she’d been no more ready to apologise than he had.
Even so, she’d assumed the storm would blow over.
What Jason told Theo had stunned her. Was he really contemplating the end of their relationship?
Shivering, she went into a chemist and picked up a pregnancy test.
It was after five when Hannah returned to the design studio above the boathouse. The staff had gone home and Jason sat alone behind his desk.
“I thought you weren’t coming back.”
“I had some things to think about.”
“I’ve had time to think, too.” Jason’s face was grave. “Will you sit down?”
Hannah wondered if this would be it: the big break-up speech.
She barely stopped herself blurting her news first. He wouldn’t abandon her if he knew. But she didn’t want it to be the only reason they stayed together.
Jason passed her a pink envelope.
“I’d like you to take a look at this new design,” he said.
“Now?” she asked, taken aback.
“Please.” He smiled.
Hannah slid out the card.
In glittery, embossed writing on the front it said, To my darling Hannah…
Dimly, she registered that something was stopping it closing properly.
She flipped it open. The words inside read, Will you marry me?
The thing that had stopped the card closing was a diamond ring dangling from a golden thread.
Hannah stared at Jason.
“I know I’ve been putting it off,” he began.
I wanted us to be more financially stable before we took things further. But after everything you said last night, I realised there’s no point putting off what I’ve always wanted to do.
“But I heard you tell Theo you didn’t think we had a future.”
“What?” Jason frowned. “Oh, I was talking about the business! Sales haven’t been great and I’d rather pack it in and get a different job than have work worries come between us.
“But you know what? We’ve had some big orders since the interview this morning and a couple of papers have been in touch wanting to do pieces on us, too. Maybe things will pick up if we get back on the same side.”
“I hope so,” Hannah said. “Because I have news. We’re going to have a baby.”
Jason blinked at her in shock. Then he reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of champagne.
“At least I didn’t waste my money on this!” he grinned.
“You’re honestly happy about it?”
“I’m delighted!”
He got up. Hannah rose to meet him and they embraced.
“If it’s a girl,” said Jason, “I vote we call her Valentine.”
“And if it’s a boy?”
“We should call him Theo after the man who brought us together. Didn’t he ever tell you? He only brought you to that party all those years ago in the hope that you’d distract me from Fabiana.”
“Theo it is, then,” Hannah laughed. “And thank you – for the best Valentine’s card ever.”
