Holiday Cheer

The List Part 2

In the morning I got up happy and energetic. I was eager to show Craig my list, or rather taunt him with it. So I hurriedly went through my morning routine. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a simple black button up, yanked on my boots and pulled on my jacket. I was in such a hurry that I almost forgot my wallet.

"I did it!" I called as I threw the door open to Craig's apartment, I had bribed the cab driver to speed a bit so that I could get here as soon as possible. I also had copy of the key so I didn't even stop to knock. It wasn't like I was breaking into his home. "Craig? You up yet, its nearly eight."

A loud groan led me past the tiny living room to his room. And there he was, still burrowed in bed and wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito. The violet comforter had an array of flowers stitched in white and pale blue. Again I wondered why Craig wasn't gay but then again it was all part of Craig's charm. His dads must have had a lot of influence on him since white and pale blue were their favorite colors.

"Kyle, I gave you a copy of my key in case of an emergency." Craig hissed at me like an angry cat as he poked his head out of his cocoon. His hair was standing on end as if he'd been electrocuted, the look enhanced by the stubble he sported. "I did not give it to you so that you would barge in here so early in the morning on a Sunday! What is wrong with you?!"

I pouted, this wasn't the reaction I had expected. "I wrote my Christmas list."

Craig poked his head back out again to give me a suspicious look, though it wasn't all that threatening since Craig looked so silly. "You're not playing with me? You really did sit down and wrote a Christmas list? Like a normal person?"

"Yes!" I pulled it out of my wallet and waved it teasingly about. When Craig made a grab for it, almost falling out of bed and onto the floor, I pulled it back. "Nah uh, you gotta get out of bed, get dressed, and go out for breakfast with me in order to see what I wrote. Come on, up!"

Craig whined and groaned but he eventually listened to my insistent nagging. The curiosity of seeing what was on my Christmas list was also too good an opportunity to pass up. So he managed to drag himself out of bed, although it was with extreme reluctance, and slowly wake up enough the shower and dress.

An hour later we were at a local diner that had drool worthy selections of pastries and a rather large selection of breakfast foods. I watched as Craig bit his lip, unable to decide on what he wanted. The pretty waitress just used his long hesitation to eye him up and to coyly and subtly flirt with him. But Craig never noticed. He was too busy trying to figure out what he wanted. I couldn't blame him since, once upon a time I had been the same as him.

"Okay," he said finally. I had already set my order, blueberry pancakes with hash browns, eggs, and sliced ham. And coffee, lots of coffee.

"Finally!" I cried, nearly knocking over my large cup of coffee. I was hungry and was steadily getting more and more agitated the longer I had to wait.

Craig gave me an evil stare and I returned it. "Kyle, you know how bad I am at choosing what I want to eat. Cut me some slack, please."

"Yeah, usually I do." I agreed with that. Usually I had a lot of patience where Craig was concerned but not today. Not when he took almost half an hour to figure out what he wanted to eat. "But I've been sitting here for a half hour dreaming of my pancakes. I'm hungry, I can't help it if I get short tempered!"

"Fine, fine." Craig turned his happy smile on the waitress who nearly swooned at the attention. "I'll have the steak breakfast with a berry danish."

The blonde waitress twittered and scampered off in a daze. I merely shook my head, at least we would get fast service.

"So, gimme your list." Craig held out a hand and twitched his fingers impatiently. "You have to since you made me get up early."