“Merry Christmas Bedford Falls!”
I sniffed. Then sniffed again. See, everyone thinks the whole thing about the bell and the angel is the best part ofIt’s A Wonderful Life,but give me Jimmy Stewart running happily through the streets of Bedford Falls on Christmas any day. In the original black and white, of course.
It was one of the few traditions I actually enjoyed at the home. Every Christmas. Popcorn, hot chocolate – one packet per kid – andIt’s A Wonderful Life.
In hindsight, I can see how maybe it was also used as a suicide deterrent, but, oh well. I still liked it.
I liked it even better with my new friend. Rocco was curled up high on my boob, his face pressed into my neck, his little kittybreath coming out in puffs. Why had I waited as long as I had to do this? Everything was just better with Rocco.
“Best Christmas ever. Right, Rocco?”
As if in response to my statement, my phone rang, only it wasn’t my standard ringtone.
I reached for it on the table next to the couch and saw that E.G. was attempting to Facetime me. Seriously?
I checked the time. It was almost eleven here, so it was close to midnight in Florida.
Maybe he was drunk. Maybe he just wanted to say Merry Christmas.
Maybe he missed me?
I tried to shake the thought off. More likely, it was the Allens and they just wanted to say Merry Christmas. It would be rude if I just ignored them.
I answered the call and E.G.’s face immediately came into view.
A strange sense of quiet contentment filled me upon seeing him. This long holiday weekend was the most days we’d gone without seeing each other since he hired me.
Yesterday, I was thinking that separation was a good thing. That my co-dependency was getting sharper, more tangible. He’d proposed furthering my business education like any good mentor might, but all I’d heard was that I wasn’t good enough.
For the job.
For him.
That kind of emotional thinking was messed up. I knew it, but I didn’t know where to put these feelings.
For now, I was happy to see his handsome crabby face. Even if he did look a little tired. I had this thought to reach out and touch my phone and smooth his furrowed brow.
“Merry Christmas, E.G.,” I said softly.
“You too, Flowers. How’s my cat?”
“He’s wonderful. Look.” I angled the phone so he could see my shoulder and get a good look at Rocco.
“He seems…content. Which is odd, considering your boobs aren’t that big.”
“Hey!” I said with false outrage. “I’ll have you know I went up a full cup.”
He glowered. “You shouldn’t be talking about your bra size with your employer.”
“You shouldn’t have brought up my comfy boobs!” I fired back.
“Oh! Is that Anna? Let me talk to her.”
I heard Rebecca in the background before she was pressing her face into view of the camera’s lens.
“Merry Christmas, Anna! I heard you got a cat.”
“No,” E.G. said. “She got me a cat. Keep up.”
