Letting out the deepest sigh, Stevie combed her fingers through her wet curls as she traveled through her suite.
She had been home for quite awhile, but after sitting down in the office with Marissa, going over some paperwork that Tom had started but never finished, she finally headed upstairs, where silence was the only thing to greet her.
There was actually a pretty eerie feeling that came with trudging up those creaky old steps- one that hadn't resided just a few weeks earlier.
The bottom line, even though she really hated to admit it, was that it only felt strange because the man that she had really fallen for had left without any kind of warning... Nothing, which was kind of crazy to her.
After all, they had just spent hours on the phone the night before and he didn't mention or even hint at the fact that was getting ready to check out ten days earlier than he had planned, so to say that she was shocked might have been understatement.
She was actually a little defeated and for the first time in a really long time, she felt lonely.
The thing about her situation was that she was kind of used to spending a lot of time alone and it never bothered her before. She had grown accustom to doing life on her own terms, her own time and in her own way, so for Lindsey to come in, disrupt that flow and then just leave like he had never even been there was hard... Really hard.
So it was her mission that night to take her mind off it all, even though it was easier said than done. But she still put on a kettle of tea, baked some cookies, flipped on an old Christmas movie, turned on the yellow lights of the tree and even lit a fire... Anything to make the place feel a little more cozy than before.
But just as she was getting ready to sit down on the sofa with a cup of tea, the sound of someone's hand meeting the wooden door caught her attention. "One second!" She shouted, but only loud enough to be heard on the other side as she moved through the room.
"Sorry to keep bothering you." Marissa was standing in the hallway, a soft smile trailing across her young face the moment her eyes met Stevie's.
She was already in her sweatpants and an old t-shirt, hair in two braids and her glasses on. She had gotten off work an hour earlier and went down to her room before she ventured up to see her boss.
Chuckling lightly, she pulled open the door a little bit further to welcome the twenty- two year old in. "You are never bothering me and you know that." She assured in a gentle tone of voice.
Marissa slipped out of her shoes the moment she was inside, holding onto an envelope as she lingered in the walkway. "It smells good." She announced with a light laugh as she set her coat down on the accent chair.
Stevie was a lot like a second mother to her- she was to most of the younger staff at the hotel, but for Marissa, it was a little different. She had a really difficult relationship with her mom, who was on the other end of the country and when she began working for Stevie the fall of her first year of college, they became the greatest of friends. And she wouldn't admit it aloud, not when she figured that some kind of argument had broken out in Boston to make her leave, but Marissa was really glad to have her back at the Inn... Especially on Christmas Eve.
"I made some chocolate chip cookies and tea." Stevie led the way, also suddenly very happy and almost relieved to have some company.
When Brooklynn mentioned that she'd never been away from her mother on Christmas, she was right. Even though Stevie wasn't their biological mom, she had come into their lives when the kids were just babies and luckily, she was able to spend her daughters first Christmas with her, even though Brooke would have never remembered. So it was hard to be away from them in times like that, but she also knew that she couldn't keep going the way they had been forever... She really hated missing out, even if her kids were adults.
"Do you have plans tonight?" Stevie asked just a second later as she motioned for Marissa to help herself to the plate on the island.
Shaking her head, the younger woman slipped onto a barstool as she set the envelope down on the marble top. "I ran into Max on his way out for the night and he wanted me to give you this." She carefully pushed it across, a weak smile on her face as she watched her boss stare down at it.
"Who is it from?" She creased a brow, picking it up and immediately beginning to tear the seal.
Pausing for a moment, Marissa's eyes grew softer as she tilted her head to the side. "Lindsey gave it to Max to give to you when he was leaving this morning." She announced, slightly confused about the dynamics of that relationship, even though it definitely wasn't any of her business.
Raising a brow lightly, Stevie's heart sank instantly as she held the folded note in one hand... She suddenly wasn't sure if she actually wanted to know what he had to say.
"Max said that he was really in a rush on his way out." Marissa quickly recounted, not trying to defend the man, but also knowing what that look on Stevie's face meant... She was defeated and a little let down. "Almost like maybe something was wrong and he had to get back home to-"
"Honey," Stevie cut her off, a light laugh escaping her as she pulled open on of the drawers on the island to set the note inside. "Please... Don't worry about this." She was very soft and gentle when she said that- always motherly, even when she had a million other things on her mind. "We should go down to see the lights and get some hot chocolate...?" She lingered as another sweet smile danced across her face.
Anything to distract her from reality seemed like the best option that night.
Marissa let out a faint, almost unnoticeable sigh, even though her lips turned up once more. "I would love that."
