White Christmas

 

                All I could do that day was mope about. Viki wanted to know what was wrong but Ben kept her out of my room. I just sat there all say and watched funny movies and plenty of stand up on Comedy Central. We had pizza for dinner and I showed up to get some but sulked up to my room while Ben and Viki ate at their ends of the table. I curled up tight in my silk robe and watched Jeff Dunham and eventually fell asleep. It was such a blissful sleep and when I woke up it felt like everything fell down on me like a huge weight. I must have laid there for an hour. It was around ten before I got out of bed. I put on a red shirt and a black skirt. I ran downstairs and grabbed a piece of bacon from the mountain of breakfast foods Viki had prepared. I turned around to see Viki cuddled up with Ben on the couch watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas with Jim Carry. I went over to the living room and sank into one of the big comfy chairs opposite the couch. Come to think of it I never really told you about our apartment.

Once again I feel I must start at the beginning. When my parents were dating they lived in separate small apartments. My mother could not afford a large place yet because she was not yet a famous artist; my father couldn’t because he didn’t need that kind of attention, that was back when he wasn’t working for the government though, he was making a living by bounty hunting those days, and other various things. When they got together mom’s art started selling big and dad joined the CIA. When dad asked her to get married they started looking for somewhere big to live and raise a family. They settled on this cozy modern apartment, it was mom’s dream apartment if such a thing existed as a woman’s dream abode. It was one of the two big penthouses on the top of the fancy apartment building that was thirty stories high. When step out of the elevator there is one door strait across the hall. It’s an old cream white door with an old brass knocker on it and an old brass door knob. Walk strait in and there’s a sleek glass table right in front of you there are four seats around the table. The wall to the right is covered with family photos, till you reach the kitchen which is beyond the dining room table. Over the table is an old fashion glass chandler that my mother found at an antique store. The kitchen was filled with modern appliances. There was a sleek black refrigerator, then there was a black stove, and the counters were covered with black granite the cabinets were a dark black wood. Then the floor was cream white tile. Up above was a bright kitchen light and then on the wall opposite the door and then above the sink was a large window with an excellent view of the city. The wall to the left of the door in the kitchen had the refrigerator on it and counter space, then the wall across from the door had a stainless steel sink and more counter space, and then blocking the kitchen from where the stairs ended was a wall of counters that formed a sort of bar, we had didn’t have any stools there though, even though Viki always nagged us to. Finally there was an island in the middle of the kitchen with space under the surface. The wall to the right of the door is where we hung mother’s greatest pictures and a door was at the end of that wall that led to a long hall which was filled with doors on either side which hid our offices and storage rooms and other things. Then there was our little living room section. On the wall farthest right of the door was filled with bookshelves crammed packed with books, movies, and CDs that were almost falling on the floor and then in what was the center of that part of the room was a huge flat screen TV. The two big chairs faced away from the door at an angle facing the TV, in between was a small table with a book or two on it. The large black comfy couch faced the TV at an angle almost parallel to the chairs and had a light brown throw over it with two small pillows of matching fabric on it and in front of that was a small glass coffee table that matched the style of the table between the chairs and it was piled high with books and papers. Past the living area on that side of the room was a small area we had decided to leave blank. On the wall opposite the door was a giant window with a beautiful wonderful view of the city. That’s where the stairs went but it only took up a small part of the space. When I was little I remember that’s where my mother and father would play with us and then when we were supposed to be asleep I would peek out of my room and watch them slow dance all night. When you went up the stairs it led up to a platform which you turned left on to get to the balcony. To the right there was a door that led to my mother’s painting room; it had been awhile since me or Ben had gone in but when Viki discovered it she ran right in before we could stop her. She ran around looking at the enormous windows all around and started planning a sitting room or something. Ben was hard pressed to keep the both of us from punching her when she finally came out. To the right of the stairs was a long hall of doors. The first led to my room and then the second led to Ben’s room and then the rest were just extra space and where Ben dumped Viki if she fell asleep on the couch over here. When my mother died my father decided to buy the place in case something happened to him. Good idea, when he died we lived with mom’s parents for a while we waited to be able to own the apartment on our own. After a while of living with them we couldn’t do that stuffy life anymore just like my mother when she ran away, we followed her example and ran away back to the apartment. My grandparents didn’t come and get us they just let us live on our own till Ben was finally able to own the apartment. So here we were two super spy children living on our own for the rest of our lives since I was only twelve and he was fifteen.

                I really hated watching Ben hold Viki that way so I got up and went over to the dining room table where I had spread out the New Years Eve party plans. It was going to be one of the best nights of our young lives. I looked at the picture of my dress, together me and Alice were going to go pick up our dresses together. I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a huge cup and filled it with coffee. I took a sip and poured it out in the sink because Viki never made strong enough coffee. Viki had followed me and was walking around the table, she gave me a dirty look. I didn’t like the way she looked at the papers and then I realized she didn’t know that I was one of the powerhouses behind the most notable party of the year. No way was she coming to my party, she better have plans.

                “Hey Izzy, what’s with all this party stuff?” she looked at me curiously. I had a feeling Ben was now listening in.

                “Hey, leave that stuff alone!” I shouted as Viki started fingering the papers. I rushed over and started stacking the stuff into folders. “Oh my God it’s that famous McKinley New Years Eve Party at the Regis! Are you invited?” she gave a huge smile as she spotted one of the invites. I would have liked to laugh at her and tell her that I wasn’t invited, I was one of the hosts but that would lead to the question why don’t you invite me? I can get a dress easy. What kind of party is it?

                “Yes alright. I was invited what do you care?” I asked her rolling my eyes.

                “Fine! I was just asking! Jeez,” she screamed.

                “Hey, cool it ladies,” Ben sighed from the couch. I went back to the kitchen as Viki gave Ben a dirty look.

                “Who are you to render a ticket for that party?” she accused. I couldn’t stand her.

                “Well it just so happens that I know the people who plan it,” I said matter of factly.

                “You?” she started then, “Hey, can you get me one, me and Ben?” how dare she!

                “Invites are limited. I just barely scrapped one for myself,” I told her as I was remaking the coffee.

                “But surely you could just get two more,” she pleaded. She started riffling through my papers. I ran over and grabbed the folders from her prying fingers.

                “No, I’ve already stretched her enough, and Ben’s got a ticket,” I couldn’t tell her the complete truth.

                “What,” she screamed then looked threateningly at Ben, “why didn’t you tell me?” Oh boy another fight. Ben looked disapprovingly at me. They continued their little spat for awhile before it exploded into a big fight. The coffee got done and I poured me and Ben a cup. I walked on over and handed him his cup and then went in-between the two and sat down. She gave me one of those murderous looks; Ben had his head in his head.

                “Look its Christmas you guys can’t this wait till after the festivities,” I asked genuinely. She looked down at Ben who looked at me thankfully. We had a silent truce and we all sat down to watch the rest of the Grinch. She went home at around nine o’clock, thank God. She was spending the rest of the day and tomorrow with her family. When she left I went over to snuggle up with Ben we watch a bunch of Christmas movies like White Christmas, Elf, the Muppet version of A Christmas Carole, and then Home Alone. We went to the bar to hang out with the gang for awhile at around five; Morgan and Johnny made eyes at each other the whole time. Me and Ben went for a walk around the town for a while and then when we got home together we made Christmas dinner. We had baked ham, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, roles, and then chocolate cake for dessert. We crashed on the couch for one last movie before we went to midnight mass. We were Catholics but we only went on Christmas and Easter. Around ten we started getting ready. I took a shower and then gave my hair cute little curls at the end and then I put the top layer into a little red bow. I was putting on makeup with nothing on and Ben came walking right into my bathroom.

                “Hey Izz do you know where my…” he looked up to see me giving him a curious look and then he saw that I had nothing on and he covered his eyes, “Oh God, I’m sorry I… I didn’t see you… um… I’m gonna go.” he pointed toward the door and walked out with his eyes closed. I smiled and went to the door.

                “It’s in the laundry room,” I shouted to make sure he heard and then I went back to gussying up. I slipped into the red dress I’d gotten one day when it was just me and the girls shopping. It was a split into a top and bottom by a shiny red belt with a small silver square buckle. The top has sleeves that were a little longer than the usual short length. The skirt was a continuation of the top and it went just above my knees. My shoes were red and were only long leather straps that wound up my leg and then a bottom with three inch heels. Then I had a little leather black bag. I went simple with the jewelry just small diamond earrings and a necklace with a small diamond on it that my grandmother had gotten me for one of my birthdays. It was almost eleven thirty when I came down the stairs. I glided smoothly down the stairs and there was Ben waiting at the door with a small package in his hands. When he looked at me his breath was momentarily taken away. I gave him a huge smile and his mouth opened a little. I walked up to him and held my hands behind my back.

                “Wow, you look… amazing,” he gasped looking me up and down and then looking guiltily at my face.

                “You’re looking very handsome,” I said confidently. He was too. He was wearing a black suit with red tie and a red handkerchief and then shiny black shoes I’d helped him shine just the other night.

                “Um…” he started looking clueless.

                “Yes?” I asked him curiously.

                “Uh, I got you something,” he held out the package and looked away. I blushed and took it and started to pull the light blue wrapping paper that marked it as coming from Tiffany’s. I opened the little black velvet jewelry box to reveal a beautiful silver necklace with a heart of diamonds at the end which had a little ruby in the middle. I was breathless. He looked around the room at anything but me and I was starting to cry.

                “Oh my God Ben! Does Viki know about this,” I asked in an enchanted voice.

                “No! No. Don’t tell her, she’ll go nuts,” he sighed. I gave him a smile and then went to take off the necklace I had on. Ben reached over to help me take that one off and put the other on, his hands lingered on my neck longer than necessary and I could feel his breathing in my ear. We backed away from each other looking ashamed.

                “I guess we should go now,” said Ben looking at his foot.

                “Yeah,” I agreed. He held the door for me and then we made our way to church. Outside it was raining. We got inside and waited and then mass began. Half way through I started shivering and Ben took off his coat and put it over my shoulders. Go ahead say it: awwww! I know you don’t have to tell me twice. After mass we went off to a small café, yes another one. There we got coffee and pie and danced and enjoyed the little party the owners were hosting. We had so much fun, especially without Viki there to hover over both our moves, not only Ben’s. We got home at about four in the morning. We passed out as soon as we got home. It must have been ten in the morning when I woke up and found myself in Ben’s arms. I couldn’t believe it. Thank goodness Viki wasn’t there because I didn’t even have on my dress anymore, just my underwear. At least he still had on his pants but still. All I remembered was passing out, not where I did or how I did. He wasn’t awake yet and I wasn’t going to be the one to yank him out of his dream. Eventually I realized this was a bad idea so I got out of his bed before he woke and snuck to my room and put on some decent cloths: a red T and some blue jeans, I still had on the necklace he’d given me. I ran downstairs to find Ben watching from the big window at the bottom of the stairs. He still didn’t have a shirt on.

                “Hi,” I said coming to stand next to him, “wow, it’s so beautiful,” I said as I looked over the snow covered city of New York.

                “Not next to you,” he looked at me and smiled, “shall we open gifts?”

                “Um… you already gave me your gift,” I questioned.

                “Well there’s more,” he gave me a mischievous smile.

                “What? No, this is more than you should have,” I said pointing out my necklace, “you can’t possibly have more.”

                “But I do, come on,” he led me down the hall and into one of our spare rooms. There on the guest bed was a medium sized black hat box with a red ribbon on it. We both sat down on the bed and I picked up the box. It felt strange, the weight wasn’t even or steady. I gave him a curious look.

                “Go ahead, open it,” he urged. I undid the string and ripped off the top and there nestled in white tissue paper was a little tortoise shell kitten.

                “Awww, it’s so adorable!” I looked over at Ben and gathered the kitten in my arms. He was so sweat and started crying. I hugged him close to my face ignoring his struggles to get free.

                “I knew you’d love it,” he smiled at me and the kitten. I knew this was hard for Ben because he never liked animals very much, for some reason though they were all attracted to him. I laughed as I let the kitten go and he started playing with the tissue paper.

                “Come on,” I said mischievously as I grabbed his arm and held the kitten in my arms, “let me give you my gift!” We ran to the clear space where we had put the rather large Christmas tree in the corner formed by the wall with the window and the wall of counters. I grabbed the two packages I’d wrapped one evening when Ben and Viki were out on the town. I gave him the little one first. I shoved it into his arms. He smiled and unwrapped the red paper with gold Christmas trees on it to reveal an old but well kept book. The title was The Once and Future King, it was a first edition. I could see the admiration on Ben’s face, he was so happy and that made me so happy. It’d taken me forever to find! Not only was it first edition though it was also signed by the author. Ben was flabbergasted so I took him over so we could sit at the base of the steps.

                “Wow Izzy,” he sputtered finally, “this… this is amazing!” he exclaimed. I hugged him tight and it seemed to last forever, maybe that’s because he never let go. When he finally did I got up, staggered a little bit, then walked back over to the tree and pulled out a large flat square wrapped in the same kind of paper.

                “Here,” I said as I shoved it into his hands.

                “But you already got me so much,” he smiled sheepishly.

                “That’s what I said,” I reminded him, “now open it,” I demanded. He smiled and then unwrapped the gift. I had drawn it, well some of it, some of it was old pictures of us and my parents or just us. It was a huge poster boar that I’d drawn a picture of us on and then some separate drawings of him and then me. The whole thing was covered with us and our family. With a huge drawing of when we were young and he had me on his lap in the middle and then our silhouettes on the bottom corners. I’d been working on it in art and after school in my spare time. Now I’d given it to Ben to remind him just how perfect we were together. He gave me a huge smile and then there was the faint hint of a tear in his eye. I just smiled back at him wondering if he would think it was just some stupid doodle or worthless nick knack or something of that kind.

                “Oh Izzy,” he sighed and got up. For a moment he stared at the picture in awe and then he put it down and stared at me. I wasn’t sure to do so I looked all around at all but him and shifted my weight from foot to foot. He seemed to be debating something in his head. Then without warning he rushed and hugged me, lifted me into the air, and then started kissing me, not just on the lips but all over my face and neck. After a minute a knock on the door totally disturbed us. Ben put me down and looked around guiltily at the floor and I ran to see who it was on the little monitor. Thank God it was just the newspaper guy, I turned around to give Ben a huge smile but he’d run off up the stairs ashamed of what he’d done. I guess it just wasn’t the right time, but he’d learn eventually that I was the only girl for him. I got the paper that had mysteriously decided to show up today of all days, at this particular time. I came in and started to make chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. I put out our two plates, got him an orange juice, got me a Dr. Pepper, and sat down at the table to read the paper and eat my breakfast. All the while I was imagining what might have happened if we hadn’t been interrupted. He came down eventually acting as if nothing had happened. I was fine for the moment, I’d gotten him to kiss me of his own free will; I could take this one small win at a time. It was twelve thirty by time we’d eaten and got dressed. We would go to the bar and hang out with the rest of our friends for another two hours or so and exchange gifts. We got there and there was barely a soul in there. We walked to the back to our normal booth and there was Morgan snuggled up with Johnny and Dex giving them both dirty looks. Then Alex and Sadie were making out in the corner and then Ben and I sat on opposite sides. We just drank our respective drinks because Chefy had the day off. There was a lot of laughing coming from that table that day and we were all a part of it even Dex. Christmases were always fun with this lot. Time came around for us to pass out gifts. I gave Morgan a Chemistry book she’d been begging for a long time everybody else had given her CDs they listened to so she could fill out the space on the new iPod her father had given her in hopes that she would feel more like a normal child. Sadie passed out scarves she had randomly decided to make one afternoon and with that she gave me a Kelly Clarkson CD I’d been wanting and another book. She gave Alex a new amp because his old one had been freaking out and he never got around to replacing it and Alex gave her a diamond tennis bracelet. Dex didn’t really got anyone anything; he just had his hand in his jacket pocket. Johnny gave Morgan a handmade bracelet, the kind with the braided strings; and Morgan gave him a tie, at least it wasn’t a book. Sadie got me another book on Einstein’s theory of relativity and gave Sadie a book on Schrödinger's cat. Alex gave gifts with Sadie so Alex didn’t give out anything on his own. Then Ben and me gave gifts together so we gave one per person. We got to wrapping up the conversations around five. Alex and Sadie were the first to leave so they could have their Christmas meal together after being with their families. Ben and I went to stand by the windows which were open today so we could all see the snow. When Johnny went to the kitchen for something Dex cleared his throat. Thinking we couldn’t hear him he went over to Morgan who gave him a dirty look.

                “What do you want?” she asked distastefully.

                “Look I just thought… well I thought you might not get much this year so… so I got you something,” he stuttered and then shoved something from his pocket and into her unwilling hands and then he ran out past us and into the snow. Without a second glance at the dark little package she ran over to the trash can beside the door and threw it in. Johnny came back out and asked what was wrong but she just shrugged and held his arm tight. I went over and picked out the package with Ben looking over my shoulder. Carefully I opened the crumpled black paper bag and reached down in the bag. From the depths I pulled out a little black velvet box. I looked up at Ben to see what he thought and he gave me a push to open it. Carefully I pulled open the little box and nested in a white cushion were the most precious sized diamond on the end of a white gold chain. A tear ran down my face and a gasp escaped Ben’s mouth. It was amazing, the first real sign that Dex had shown of really loving Morgan and she had utterly refused it. I did the only thing I could think of and stuck it in my pocket so I could sneak it to her later without her knowledge. Ben gave me a smile knowing that Sadie and I wanted nothing more, well almost nothing more, than to get Dex and Morgan together but it seemed an impossible task by this point. I sighed and went back to looking out the window, Ben put his hand around my shoulders and I felt home right there with him and the snow.

                “Izzy,” shouted Johnny from behind. Ben instantly let go of me and stepped a good foot away.

                “Yes Johnny?” I was kind of annoyed at how he had abandoned Morgan to come speak to me. I hopped it wasn’t that stupid crush he had on me but there was no such luck. He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and offered it to me.

                “Johnny,” I said in a scathing voice, “I can’t, give it to your girlfriend!”

                “Oh come on just look at it, please,” he begged me. Ben stepped closer and gave Johnny a real terrifying look. I rolled my eyes but took the package. He gave me a huge smile as I popped the box. Inside were two miniscule speck filled diamond earrings. I pursed my lips, closed it and shoved it in his chest.

                “I most certainly will not take them! Now if you know what’s good for you you’ll go give those to Morgan, your girlfriend, those. Do you understand?” I was talking in a threatening him and Ben was leering over our conversation so after a seconds hesitation he scurried off to the back hall where he hopefully gave those to Morgan. I looked to Ben and signaled toward the door seeing if we should leave; he nodded solemnly. Together we went back up to our apartment. He opened the door and held it open for me and I walked in. I was stunned to see that Viki was standing there waiting. At first she ran up to hug me but then she realized it wasn’t Ben who came in first. She went around me and laid a wet one right on Ben’s lips. I felt like gagging but instead I went to hang up my jacket and purse on a stand by the door. Viki took off Ben’s coat and hung it up for him. She then proceeded to drag him over to the couch; I went and stood over the chair closest to the door.

                “Hey sweetie I missed you all Christmas! Didn’t you miss me so much too?” she kept screaming into his arm. I rolled my eyes and he gave me a smirk to which I stuck my tongue out at him.

                “Oh baby guess what I got you,” she squeaked as she pulled up a small bag marked Kay from the floor. She handed it to him excitedly and looked at him with wide eyes. He gave her a forced smile and looked at me for a split second.

                “Well open it!” she insisted. He carefully opened the bag and pulled out a big box. He opened it to find a brilliant watch with diamonds around it and several different dials in it. Viki looked like she was about to pop. I watched as Ben put on one of the best acts a professional liar possibly could. He gave her a huge smile and huge.

                “Oh baby… this is… this is just great!” he stuttered in faked excitement. I could tell Viki wasn’t catching it but I was all too familiar with his techniques, “thank you so much. I… I don’t know what to say.”

                “Then don’t,” she pressed, “kiss me,” she whispered. She leaned into Ben and they started to make out. I leaned away and then went up the stairs. I stopped for a second to see what Viki was reaching for on the floor now. To my disappointment it was a stripped pink bag with gold letters which meant none other than Victoria’s Secret stuff. I went into my room thinking about poor Ban. I really felt like running down there with a silver cross, branding it in her face, and screaming be gone foul temptress! I didn’t though; I just fell over on my bed and closed my eyes. After a minute I remembered the part I most wanted to see. I got out of bed and peeked open the door and watched what they were doing. Ben started to push her off and then he stood up and walked over to the tree. He pulled the medium sized square package that I’d helped him wrap and gave it shyly to Viki who sat excitedly on the couch. She started to unwrap the package excitedly, sending the paper flying across the living room.

                “Oh Ben you shouldn’t have!” she screamed and then her face fell as she realized that it wasn’t in fact as great a treasure as she had expected, “a cookbook!” she then preceded to scream. It was a first edition version of Julia Child’s cookbook. It was a perfectly good gift but I think she was expecting a fat ruby necklace from someone who could afford this apartment and get an invite to the most exclusive New Year party of the year. I smiled huge. Ben really thought she’d enjoy it and I was proud of him being so sensitive to her specific joys and hobbies but that little greed bag wanted more out of our millions. I thanked God that she didn’t know about my necklace. She gave him a sympathetic smile and hugged him and told him thanks with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. He gave her a huge smile and I was pleased to know Ben wasn’t bothered by her lack of enthusiasm. I gave a chuckle and went back to my room because Viki started mouthing Ben again. I sighed and fell on the bed. It was about nine o’clock in the afternoon and I decided it was time to get some rest for the events to come. I went to sleep watching Jim Gaffigan and his scandalous bit on hot pockets.

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[Dylan I. Cree]

Death to Viki, she's so icky.