Him & I

All I Want For Christmas

I don't need expensive things
They don't matter to me
All that I want, it can't be found
Underneath the Christmas tree
You are the angel atop my tree
You are my dream come true
Santa can't bring me what I need
'Cause all I want for Christmas is you
——All I Want for Christmas, Vince Vance and the Valiants

December 21, 2018

Jackie MacBride had been so distracted with work that she was way behind on her Christmas shopping.  And she was leaving soon to visit her family. 

She left a twittering Ramon, who was staying in the City for the holiday, and forced herself out into the rainy Manhattan day, berating herself for not just ordering from Amazon the week before. 

She was fighting the crowd at Saks, contemplating a Kate Spade purse for her sister, when she heard the voice. 

"That bag is fantastic," he said.  "But go for the plaid one.  Black is boring." 

She looked up to see a familiar face, although she didn't have a name to go with it.  But he recognized her confusion.  "Brennan Besser," he smiled.  "I was in your studio the other day.  A friend of Grayson Allen's."

"Oh!  Of course," Jackie smiled.  "I recognized you, but I'm afraid I don't have all the names straight yet.  I didn't realize you guys were still in the City."

"Everyone is leaving straight from here to fly home for the holiday," Brennan offered. "So we have different flight times.  I'm from Chicago, so I'm leaving tonight."

"Yo, B!  What're you doing looking at purses?" another voice called from behind Jackie.

Justin Robinson knew damn well that Brennan wasn't hitting on the girl he was talking to.  But when she turned at the sound of his voice, Justin's eyes immediately got wide.

"Oh, um, hey Jackie," he managed with a bright smile.

"Justin, right?" Jackie returned the smile.

"That's right."  He was still smiling.  "It's nice to see you again."

"You too," she was still smiling too, and Brennan rolled his eyes at the awkward looks the two of them were giving each other.

"So, um, finishing up your shopping?" Justin asked.

"Try starting," Jackie admitted. "I'm usually more organized, but your friend's wedding has been taking up a lot of my time."

"Well, I guess we'd better let you get back to it," Justin said with what seemed to be genuine regret.

"I guess I'll see you, uh, both of you, in June in Hawaii," Jackie said.

"Unless my prayers get answered," Brennan muttered under his breath.

But Jackie didn't hear that. She was too mesmerized by Justin's smile.  By those warm brown eyes. And his response. "It's a date," he grinned.

*****

Grayson slept for a long time.  He'd been pretty much exhausted the night before.  He had no idea what the day held, had stopped trying to anticipate where he'd be when.  He was trying to just go with the flow.