Lilacs Forever

Chapter 21: Gift

Christmas was next week so Delilah decided to do holiday shopping after work. She looked around the department store picking out presents for her family. A sweater and picture frame for her mom, a video game shirt for her brother, and a set of cooking spoons for her grandma. But one for Jacob, what should she give him? She didn't know about his fashion sense so it wasn't a good idea to give him a shirt or socks or whatever. Maybe a paper weight for his desk? Maybe a notebook or planner?

She was about to give up on her search until she reached the mug section. A mug, that's it! But the majority of mugs had those cheesy motivational designs like "Keep Calm" and "You Got This". Not that Delilah disliked them, she loved corny things like those. It's just that she didn't want Jacob to think she was a corny person. She settled for a science themed mug, Jacob loved science after all. Her search was over.

After getting cards for everyone and waiting at the checkout line she got a call. It was from Anita.

"Hey, Delilah, you have a dress for the party?"

"Uh, no." she laughed sheepishly.

"I'll meet you at your house at 5:00. I'm bringing Maeve and Hazel if that's okay with you."

"Of course, I'd love to see them again!"

—

Delilah checked out her things and walked over to the bus station. When she arrived home Anita wasn't there yet so she went into her apartment to write holiday greetings onto her cards. It was easy writing to her family but she didn't know what to say to Jacob. She wrote:

To my favorite geek,

Thank you for being a good friend. Stay kind and funny, and don't stop reading! You are wonderful the way you are.

She wanted to throw in an "I love you" but she was afraid that he might take it the wrong way and make things awkward. After all, they had only met but he was already such a good friend to her all the time she spent with him. Thinking about him made her heart warm and fluttery. She quickly put the card in its envelope and put little chocolates in the mug before wrapping it up. She then went to work on her family's gifts, which took an easier time finishing. Now, all she needed to do was send the gifts to the post office. She'll ask Anita for a ride, hopefully she'll say yes.

A car honked its horn, cuing Delilah to go. Before she got outside she stopped by Jacob's door, but on her way found Jacob walking down the hallway.

"Hi Delilah! What brings you here?"

Delilah blushed. "Oh- um, I was gonna give you a gift for the holidays..."

"Funny," he scratched the back of his head, "I was gonna give you a gift too!"

He handed her a small bag and she exchanged hers.

"I hope mine isn't too sappy..." Jacob laughed nervously.

"It's alright, anything I get from you is always a treasure."

Now it was his turn to blush. But before they could say anything the car honked again.

"I-Um I have to go, I'm meeting with one of my work friends."

"Okay, have fun!" He smiled, cheery.

Delilah hopped into the car. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Anita, I was dropping a gift off."

"Cool! For who?"

"U-Um for Jacob."

"Oooh," Anita teased. "And what are those packages coming from?"

"They're for my family, I was wondering if you could send me to the post office."

"Of course! But, you know, some of them weren't from him?"

"I-uh"

Anita gave a sly smile. Who's the purple bag from?

Delilah bit her lip, "Jacob."

"I knew it," she grinned, "he likes you!"

"Who's Jacob? Is he your boyfriend?" Maeve called out.

"Who taught you what a boyfriend was?" Delilah asked. She looked at Anita. "Oh, I know who. And he's not my boyfriend."

"Not yet," Anita teased.

"Did he send you a card?" It was Hazel's turn to speak.

"A love letter?"

"Oh stop," Delilah huffed as she opened the envelope. She read it out loud.

To Delilah,

I'm wishing you a happy holiday, I know it's hard since you're away from home. I could never imagine the loneliness you might have experienced. That said, just know you can always find a friend in me. It might not be enough, but I hope I can help you find home here. I want to get to know you more. Maybe we should stop by the library together like last time? Maybe we should frequent it every weekend. I challenge you to finish a book a week!

Remember to love yourself , you're beautiful the way you are.

Happy Holidays,

Jacob

Delilah couldn't help but giggle, she was practically grinning from ear to ear. "He said he'd like to know me more," she gasped.

Anita joined in the giggling along with the girls."Oh he obviously likes you. He's basically asking you out!"

"Or maybe it's just who he is..." Delilah looked to the side, "I mean, maybe I'm not his type..."

"Yeah but what does the card say? Oh my gosh I can't get over this, he's adorable! I think you're into cute guys, Delilah. He's cute and sweet like you, you'd be perfect together!"

"U-uh..." she didn't know what to say, blushing furiously.

The girls continued to giggle. "He likes you!" They chimed in. "Maybe he wants to marry you..."

"You're too young to be thinking about that! Anyway, let's find some dresses for the party."

"Yeah, I need one that will take Alexander's breath away."

—-

They looked through the rows of dresses.

"Mommy this looks good!" Maeve brought Anita.

"Honey, that's too expensive."

"How about this one?"

Anita laughed.

"Anita, maybe I should wear a black dress..."

"Hmmm, why?"

"I need to, you know, hide the curves."

"No, Delilah. You will rock those curves and everybody will love them. Show them off, own it."

"Easy for you to say, you have that perfect slim waist!"

"What did Jacob say?"

"..."

"Say it."

"I'm beautiful the way I am..."

She picked through some more dresses. "I mean, Delilah, I know those jerks at work called you names but you're really not as big as they tell you are. You're curvy and... let me think... voluptuous. And that's frickin sexy." She said as they were in the dressing room.

Delilah blushed, "Anita!"

"Okay, let's see what you look like."

Timidly, Delilah stepped out in her form fitting midnight purple cocktail dress. Anita's and the girls' eyes widened.

"Oh my god."