The Christmas Note | ✔

Twenty-Three

I pulled at the itchy collar around my neck. I hated shirts this tight. I was thankful I didn't have to wear clothes like this for work. I tugged some more where the tie held the shirt closer to my neck than I was used to.

"Stop that." Sara snarked her hair pulled back in a tight bun. She smacked my hand away from my neckline before pointing at the lights bundled up on the ground. "Start unraveling those so we can get this place looking good. She will be here in a few hours, we have to be ready."

I shook my head still taken back by the sudden abuse to my hand. I slumped down onto the park bench we had picked out, next to the fountain. I was hoping my note gave her enough information to find me. I grabbed the lights as I went to work on untangling them. It was just be getting dark when Amber got here, Sara would be hidden and as soon as she saw Amber coming she would turn the lights on.

I showed Sara what felt like a million pictures of Amber last night from her Facebook account. Sara had promised me that she would be able to recognize her in a crowd of a thousand people. I had hoped she was telling the truth. I swallowed hard, my nerves getting the best of me. We were counting down the last few hours before Amber showed up, before this whole game was over.

I freed one strand of lights from the bundle handing it to Sara as she began hanging it from the trees. She had paid for electricity for a couple of hours staring at 5:30. I hoped Amber wasn't late and the power was turned on at the right time. We wouldn't have any time to check it. Sara and I making sure to test every strand of light the night before.

I could feel the final note in my chest pocket every time I bent over to work on the lights. It reminded me of what was actually going down tonight. I could feel the sweat beading up on my forehead. I've never went through so much effort for a girl before and it felt good to know I had done all I could to spoil her to the best of my ability. I was hoping tonight would go smoothly. I needed it too, or else the Christmas party tomorrow would be very awkward. It felt weird inviting a girl to a family get together for the second date. That's if she made it through the first one.

I didn't know what else to do. I could have just called it good after tonight and invited her out on a normal date after the holidays were over, but that didn't feel right. I didn't feel okay with her not having anywhere to go for Christmas. I pondered further into my thoughts hoping I didn't mess anything up tonight. I was terrified I was going to scare her away.

"Hey, hurry up, we have other stuff to get done." My sister shouted reaching for more lights. I handed them to her flinching from her sudden tone. I was too captivated in my own thoughts I should have just let her plan the whole thing herself. I checked the clock on my phone. It was now half an hour past four. She was going to be here in thirty minutes. My heart jumped as I began to quicken my pace on the lights. My fingers fumbling with the strands uncontrollably.

"There's not enough time!" I shouted, the stress of the situation finally getting the best of me. I threw the lights down on the ground placing my head in my hands. "Nothing will ever be good enough."

"You were done... you've been tangling them and untangling them." Sara bent over grabbing the lights off the ground connecting the last strand she needed before running it down the truck of the tree. She took a seat besides me on the bench.

"Now we just wait for the food to get here. Once that is set up then everything will be perfect." She ran her hand along my back rubbing tiny soothing circles. "You can't give up, you've worked so hard."

"Thank you." I mumbled raising my head to look at all the decorations around us. People passing by probably thought I was proposing to my long term girlfriend. What they didn't know was this was hopefully the start of a beautiful relationship. The lights strung through through the trees were going to be perfect. I pulled the note out of my pocket placing it on the picnic bench. This envelope was the most stunning of them all. It had her name written across the front in gold letters. Inside was a very simple note, informing her of who I was.

When she read it I would appear, holding a bouquet of roses ready to surprise her. I glanced at the red roses sitting awaiting their time of glory. A delivery man came rushing on a bike a few boxes stacked on his back.

"I have a delivery for Sara." He read the receipt. Sara jumped from her seat next to me collecting the food from the delivery boy. She tipped him before going to work on placing the food on the plates, when she was finished she placed silver domes over the top of them to keep them warm.

She smiled at me looking at all of our hard work... it was finally finished. She gave me a quick hug before checking the clock on her phone. "Amber should be here soon so you should hide." She smiled once more before grabbing her sign. She stood down the pathway looking for the brunette I had fallen in love with over the years. I took a deep breath before hiding behind the tree we had decided would be best. Leaning my back against the rough bark, I felt it digging into my skin through my shirt. I tried to calm myself down. To plan everything I was going to say to her, even though I knew I would lose it all as soon as I saw her.

"She's coming." I heard a familiar voice shout from a little down the pathway. I glanced at my phone. The clock switched to 5pm. It was game time. I took one last deep breath waiting for my signal. My heart beating at a million miles per hour.