|| Jeremy sighed, his face unamused and tired. Even the red santa hat he was wearing seemed to be unhappy.
"Merry Christmas." I smiled at him and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Cheer up. It's Christmas." he rolled his eyes.
"I'm pretty sure Dory is all the cheering up this place needs." then, almost on cue, Dory jumped into our conversation and stood right next to Jeremy.
"Jeremy! C'moooon! Have some tinsel." I chuckled as Dory then placed a long string of yellow Christmas tinsel around his neck and shoulders. She was wearing her normal attire, but was today wearing a headband with a Christmas bow on top of it. She then moved to me and grinned.
"Merry Christmas!" I gasped as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around me. I quickly caught her by her waist and blushed, I wasn't ready for her to jump up yet I caught her just in time. I gave a small smile.
"Merry Christmas to you too..." I hugged her back and set her down on the ground. She then looked at me, narrowed her eyes and smiled.
"You're not being festive enough." I raised a eyebrow and smiled a little more.
"What? I couldn't be more festive."
"Nah you could be more festive..." she looked around for a few moments before smiling widely. She grabbed a extra santa hat off a counter and forced it onto my head. I chuckled and watched her closely as she adjusted it. Once she was done she pat my head and nodded. "There you go. Now you're festive..." I rolled my eyes playfully. I took a step towards her and smiled.
"I'm guessing you've been having a nice day so far?" she nodded.
"The very best. Have you? Also, I got you a present." my eyes widened.
"O-Oh?" I hated getting presents. I hated surprises and I hated feeling guilty. I had already bought her the things that Jeremy said she wanted, but I didn't expect her to return the favor. I hadn't given her the present I got for her yet...I was impressed to see that she wanted to give me something, despite her being aware that I got something for her.
She smiled and nodded. I then realized she was holding something behind her back. I raised both of my eyebrows as she held out a large Christmas box. I looked to her and chuckled. "Dory you really didn't have to do this--"
"Open it!" she seemed more excited about it than I did. As I took the box into my hands I immediately noticed it was very heavy. At least it wasn't as heavy as the bag of products I got for her. I put down the bag I was holding before opening the box. My eyes immediately widened a little more as the first thing I could see was a book by Woody Allen.
The box was full of things. I looked around to see it had three books, a few chocolate bars and one mini cactus. I smiled widely.
"Do you like it?" I chuckled and stared at her for a few moments. It seemed like in that moment, the box full of things wasn't my present...She was. I put the box down and nodded.
"I love it, thank you..." I then leaned down and hugged her. She chuckled and hugged me back before I pulled away. "I got you something too. It's not nearly as good as your gift but, Jeremy said you'd like it." I gave her a small smile and handed her the bag. Her eyes went wide as she immediately took the bag and put her head into it, looking around to what was in the bag. I thought it was shitty to get her a bunch of things from the place where she worked, but Jeremy insisted.
"Oh my gosh!" she looked at me and wrapped her arms around me again.
"W-Whoa!" I gasped a little under my breath as she pulled me down to her height. I smiled and hugged her again. When she pulled away she seemed more excited than ever.
"How did you know I wanted this stuff? I've wanted it as soon as it came in but I've never gotten around to getting it!" she poked her head in the bag again as I laughed. "And you got the right amount of everything!"
"Jeremy helped me out a little." I gave her a small smile as she looked up at me. I then tilted my head and stuffed my hands in my pockets. "How did you know I like reading?" she shrugged.
"You said you liked Woody Allen. And, everyone likes chocolate and plants so I decided to add that one in too."
"I did?"
"Yeah. You mentioned it only once but I remembered...You didn't forget did you?" I began to blush as she chuckled. "Well, I gotta get back to work. We're so busy today, it's unbelievable."
"I'm surprised you guys are even open..." I added as she nodded. I then gasped slightly as I remembered the main reason why I came. As she tried to step in front of me, I stepped with her and stopped her. "Oh w-wait, I almost forgot. I wanted to ask you something..." she raised a eyebrow and tilted her head.
"Oh? What is it?" I bit my lips and licked my lips nervously. I wasn't sure how to approach the question without coming off weirdly or too suddenly.
"I-I-I..." she smiled a little more and put her hand on my shoulder.
"Go on, I'm listening. There's nothing to be nervous about." she chuckled and rolled her eyes playfully. My hand shook as I put my hand on her wrist. I used my finger tips to caress her skin and looked into her eyes, staring at the color. I smiled at her before slowly taking her hand away from my shoulder. I moved my hand from her wrist to her hand and held her hand in mine.
"I have to go away for a while, as my family wants me to visit..."
"Okay?" she chuckled and went to walk by me but I stopped her again.
"I get back on the thirtieth. I wanted to know if later that day...You would maybe go see a movie with me?" her lips parted as she looked as if she didn't know what to say. As if she was baffled and she thought it would never happen. I gave a small smile and squeezed her hand before tilting my head. "Please?"
