Ms. CEO

Chapter 16

Not Edited

*Christmas Special*

It was that time of year again. You could hear the wind gushing and banging against the windows as if it wants to intrude your house. The bare trees danced around as if the cold was getting to them. The fluffy white snow decorated the roof of your house and the yard.

But inside the house, it was brightly lit and warm. The windows were bare and you could see the outside. You could hear the hum of the heater, the whooshing of the wind, and the sound of the television. The smell of gingerbread surrounded us. The fireplace cackled and engulfed Rose and I with warmth.

We were in the living room, Rose and I. I didn't know how difficult it was going to be to put up a Christmas tree. I never did it myself. When I lived with my parents, it was a tradition to decorate it together. When I moved out to a place of my own, I didn't have time to put a tree up. It was always work, work, and more work. Besides, I didn't have anyone to put it up with me and I didn't feel the need to put one up since it was just myself.

But this time, it was different. Rose was with me now. She was my daughter. I had a responsibility and a priority now. One of the many changes made in this house was putting up a Christmas tree.

We had gone earlier that day to a lot a few miles away to buy a real tree. Rose and I woke up early in the morning to go find our first tree together. When we got there, it was packed with people and trees. It was difficult finding a parking space, especially if you were trying real hard not to get your car scratched. When we finally found a parking space, we walked hand in hand to go find our tree.

The look on Rose's face was priceless. She looked at all the trees in awe. Her hazel eyes shined with joy. Her mouth made a small little "o" and I could her gasp. She would then smile, her white teeth shining against her face. Her rosy cheeks glowed against her porcelain skin. Her dark, brown ringlets framed her beautiful, doll-like face.

We searched and searched for the perfect tree. Yes, there were incredible trees. There were tall trees, wide trees, and small trees, but none of them stood out. We wanted the perfect tree. Just when I was about to say that we should come some other day, Rose walked ahead of me. I looked up to where she was going and that's when I saw the tree.

   

It was tall and wide. It's green color scintillated against the already shiny snow. The closer we walked to it, the more we knew that this was the tree we were looking for.

One of the salesman saw us looking at it's glory and asked us if we wanted the tree. Rose and I nodded our heads simultaneously, not even bothering to look at the man. The salesman chuckled and called for help.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He asked as his fellow people were loading our tree into a big, white truck.

"Yes, it is," I responded and looked away from our tree to look at him. He gave me a warm smile.

"I've been in the family business for years now, and it's always great knowing that you can brighten up a family's Christmas by providing them a tree." He glanced at our tree and his smile grew.

He was a handsome man. He looked to be in his late twenties, early thirties. His dark hair peeked around his black beanie. He seemed to be around six feet tall. He wore a khaki colored coat and dark pants. His dimples appeared whenever he smiled and his dark eyes glowed. He was a handsome man, but not as handsome as Mr. Lombardi.

I realized I was staring at his face too long because I heard him clear his throat. I quickly looked away and felt the blush creeping on my face.

"Thank you so much mister..." I trailed off, realizing I didn't know his name. I looked at him again and smiled at him in embarrassment.