The Carol Concert at St Joan of Arc on Saturday night was an all-ticket occasion and as always was performed to a packed house.
The sound system was
excellent, and the new visual displays came into their own.
But as successful as the
concert was there was no time for Katy to rest on her laurels because the next
morning brought the Sunday Service and the lighting of the third Advent Candle.
It wasn’t the only Christmas
Concert on the island that night as there was also one at St Clara’s in
Spaniards Creek, a more modest event it has to be said but equally well
attended.
Nathan
Overton was going to the Christmas
Concert at St Clara’s which was well attended as usual and when he went inside
“Ave Maria” was playing softly in the background.
It was a big night for Nathan
as his contribution to proceedings was as soloist in the choir in which he was
performing “o holy night”.
He waved to his many kith and
kin as he walked towards the vestry and as he did so his mind was preoccupied
with two things, the first was a wish to give a faultless performance in front
of such a large congregation and the second was his hope of getting Sara Pacciarella under the mistletoe at the party afterwards.
Sara was two years younger
than him and was new to the choir and he was besotted with her and had been
from the first moment he saw her.
She was a bit of a tomboy but
he quite liked that she wasn’t a girlie girl and didn’t present with all the
girly paraphernalia.
Such as the fact that she
never carried a handbag, instead she had a backpack with her at all times, she
also wasn’t fashion conscious, which was another plus for him, she always wore
a loose-fitting black dress, black tights and coloured baseball shoes and wore
her long Brunette hair in plaits.
He really liked everything
about Sara, her prominent chin which she thrust out proudly, her green
thoughtful eyes behind thick framed specs and her broad smile that made her
nose wrinkle.
In short, he thought she was
perfect, he just needed to work up the courage to ask her out, which is where
he hoped the mistletoe would come to his aid.
So after the service the
clergy, verger, altar boys and choir members all made their way at some point
to the vestry to change into their street clothes, he made sure he stayed close
to Sara as he still held out a hope that he might suddenly grow a backbone and
ask her out.
He kept her in view at all
times while he spoke with various members of his family, who were
congratulating him on his solo performance, until most of the people who had
gone in the vestry had come out.
When Sara looked over to
where he was standing and went into the vestry herself, he followed a few
moments later and as he went inside, the Verger left, leaving just him and
Sara, who was just hanging her surplice in the cupboard.
“Hello” he said nervously
“Hi Nathan” she retorted as
she slipped off her shoes and replaced them with her baseball shoes “great
solo”
“Thanks” he said and started
to panic as he couldn’t think of anything else to say, because as he watched
her change her footwear his mind went blank, until he caught sight of the
Christmas lights through the vestry window, and he asked.
“Are you looking forward to
the party?”
“I was” she replied
“Why aren’t you now?”
“Because I’m not going” Sara
replied, and he sat down heavily on a chair as his heart sank and she smiled
when she saw his reaction then she said
“My mums ill”
“Oh
I’m sorry” he said sympathetically and bent down to tie his shoelace and when
he sat up again Sara was holding a sprig
of mistletoe above his head.
“I was going to use this at
the party” she said and leant forward and kissed him, but not just a peck, it
was a proper kiss, his first proper kiss, and it was everything he’d hoped it
would be and more.
“Wow that’s good mistletoe”
she said
“Definitely” he agreed and
then added
“I’ve got some mistletoe for
the party as well”
“That’s good to know” Sara
said as she slipped her coat on
“So I think we should check
if it’s as good as yours” he asked
“Fab idea” she grinned, and
they kissed again.
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