FROM THEN ON

Chapter Twenty-two

December had finally arrived and so snow had begun to fall. Christmas was approaching and joy had filled the air as well as Christmas decorations and ads of Christmas promotions and sales at every corner. I was busily working in my office, trying to get a whole month's work done in one week since I didn't want to have anything to do with work over the holidays or didn't want to spend my January trying to finish the work meant for December. Because of this, I used to stay late at work and mostly left the office around midnight coming back at five in the morning the next day and as for my meetings around the world, I crammed all of them for the mornings of the last week before Christmas so for the past three weeks, I was so busy and moving in and out of the country so much that Bree and I hardly got to spend any time together. She was also busy with more customers than ever at the restaurant because of the holiday season so we only got to talk before bed which was usually a five to fifteen minute talk because one of us always ended up dosing off on the phone. So I was busily working in my office one day when my mum called, ''Hey mum. Can I call you back? I'm kinda busy right now,'' I said when I answered the call. ''Mi hijo I just wanted to remind you that you're the one hosting this year's Stenson family Christmas vacation,'' my mum said. ''What?! It's my turn already? Mum I don't think I can pull this off. I had no idea and it's almost Christmas and with the workload I have to finish before Christmas, I don't think I'll have enough time to prepare,'' I complained. ''What are you talking about? You know that every one of us has hosted except you so you can't be telling me this. I don't care how much work you have to do, you're still hosting so find a way to make it work. Period,'' my mum said sternly. ''But mum...'' I tried to defend but before I could even utter another word, she hang up. I dropped the phone on my desk and ruffled my fingers through my hair in frustration. The Stenson family Christmas vacation is a family tradition that my mum brought up a few years ago. Looking at how all her children had dispersed to different cities and how we were no longer involved in each other's lives, she decided that every Christmas, we'd all meet up in one person's house and spend the whole of Christmas and new year's there. That way, we would be able to catch up on each other's lives and spend time together as a family. The first one was hosted by my parents, the second one by my sister Raina and her family in Los Angeles and last year, my brother Ricardo who lives in Chicago hosted it and now, it's my turn. I had no idea how I was going to balance planning to host my family and finish my workload in so little time. I needed help. Sabrina's help. That evening when I called her, I brought it up during the conversation. ''Hey..so my family those thing where we all spend Christmas at one person's house every year and apparently, this year, I'm hosting it and I had no idea until today and I need your help,'' I explained. ''Rob, I'd love to help but between how busy work gets these days and my preparation to go back to Washington for the holidays, I don't know how,'' she explained. ''Wait what? You're going back to Washington?!''I asked shocked. ''Well yeah. You didn't expect me to spend Christmas without my family did you?'' she asked. ''Well no......but when were you planning on telling me?'' I asked. ''Today......'' she dragged. ''You sure about that?'' I asked uncertain of her answer. ''Well you know now.......isn't that the most important thing?'' she asked swerving the question. ''I guess so,'' I replied. ''So what am I going to do now? I can't do this without you Bree,'' I stated. ''Yes you can. You've got this, trust me,'' she encouraged. ''Maybe I can if I had more time, but I don't,'' I said stressed. ''Okay you know what? Why don't you send me a list of all the stuff you have to do and I'll see what I can help you with,'' Bree suggested. ''Alright. Thank you Bree, that would be awesome,'' I said gratefully. ''Anytime,'' she said.

''Okay.....so I got everything on the list including the Grill lover's hot sauce which took a trip to three different grocery shops, one super rude shop attendant and a clash with the leader of a biker gang to get,'' Sabrina said exhausted on Friday evening as she dumped the back of groceries on the kitchen counter. ''I'm sorry, are you okay?'' I asked apologetically as I drew her into my arms and hugged her with my chin right on top of her head. ''Yeah I'm fine, the biker passed out and I filed a complaint to the manager of the shop about his manner less employee so it's all good,'' she said embracing me in the hug. ''Wait you didn't punch the biker for him to pass out did you?'' I asked surprised. ''What? No,'' she laughed. ''I think he was drunk,'' she added. ''Why are you even asking?'' she asked. ''Just making sure,'' I said casually. ''Although, it won't be bad to know that my girlfriend could fight a biker and win,'' I said smiling. ''Oh I totally can, I was just way too tired and besides....violence is never the answer,'' she defended. ''Sure babe,'' I said casually as if I hadn't just called Sabrina ''baby'' for the first time in our relationship do over. But Bree did something that shocked me instead. She didn't freak out or pull away from our hug. There was not even a muscle movement from her. Instead, she said, ''You know what baby, this Christmas is going to be the longest holiday season of my life. I'm gonna miss you so much.'' ''I know baby I know. I'm gonna miss you too,'' I replied and then the place went silent for a few minutes before I finally asked, ''So are we just going to pretend as if we didn't just call each other ''baby'' for the first time since we started dating again?'' ''Well, I'm okay with it. Aren't you?'' she asked. ''Of course I am, I just thought that.....'' I trailed off. ''I would freak out?'' she interrupted. ''Yeah,'' I laughed. ''Nope, I'm cool with it babe,'' she replied and I smiled. ''So when are you leaving for Washington?'' I asked. ''Sunday,'' she replied. ''So I'm guessing Jaya's going to manage the restaurant until you get back?'' I asked. ''Yhup, she can handle it,'' she replied. Just then, the notification sound on Sabrina's phone went off. She pulled her phone out and released herself from my grip before her face went blank after viewing the screen. ''Why? What's wrong?'' I asked worried. She handed me her phone and it was a text from an unknown number and it read: