It was late, but yet, there
they sat, the boss and his young assistant folding and stuffing envelopes for
the funeral home’s annual Tree of Remembrance ceremony they were once
again holding. As they folded, hundreds of envelopes surrounding them, they
laughed and talked and tried to make it as fun as they possible could.
“Oh, I loved this song when I was little.” He said
happily as his favorite Christmas song came on the radio. “I use to play this
over and over as a child. Use to drive my father crazy!” He added, as she
smiled. She loved it when he shared memories like that with her.
“My sister had a hard time pronouncing the words when
she was little. She learned to talk right around the time my brother had broken
his two front teeth and was learning to talk without them. Unfortunately, she
learned to talk like she didn't have front teeth either.” She said, as she
handed him another stack of stuffed envelops for sorting.
“So what about you? Don’t you have a favorite
Christmas song?” he asked, as she smiled at him over the stacks.
“Anything by TSO is fine with me. But they have this
one Christmas song I like, Wizards In Winter. It’s one of the ones they
tend to play a lot on the radio.” She said. “They’ll play it at the concert
next month.” She added quickly, as he smiled.
“Not to change the subject, but have you driven yet?”
he questioned her, as she cringed. Driving? There was no way she was ever going
to drive again if she could avoid it.
“No I haven’t. Haven’t had the time or a reason to
drive.” She stated plainly as she stuffed a few more envelopes. “Why do you
ask?”
“Because you need to start driving. It’s like that
old saying, fall of the horse, get back up and ride. If you don’t, you won’t.”
he stated as he looked over at her and gave her a slight grin.
“We’ll see.” She replied, as she stood up and poured
herself more to drink before sitting back down, as a commercial came on the
radio regarding Christmas shopping. “How are you on your Christmas shopping?”
she quickly asked, changing the subject before he could say any more about her
driving.
“Nope. Haven’t had time between funerals and getting
stuff ready for tree. It’s been crazy.” He answered. “I’m one of those last
minute shoppers. The one year, I was actually sliding under the gates at
Victoria Secret to buy her a present.” He said, as the memory brought a chuckle
to his face.
“Oh? You’re first Christmas I’m guessing?” she asked,
as he continued to smile.
“Our very first one yes. We weren't even married
yet.” He said, as he saw her eyes get wide.
“You’re very first Christmas together, not even
married and you bought her Victoria Secret? Sounds like you were living
dangerously.” She said, surprised at this side of her boss that she never
thought she would ever see.
“Yup. I bought her a satin nightgown and a bottle of
perfume. I was living dangerously back then. Her parents were horrified that I
bought it for her. Not the perfume, they were okay with that. But the nightgown
certainly raised a few eyebrows.” He said with a giggle.
“Did she like it?” was the next question asked, as
she continued to look at him with a certain look of surprise on her face.
“She never said she didn’t so I guess so.” He
replied, as he went back to working on the envelopes. As she went back to
stuffing the envelopes, her curiosity got the better of her.
“Chanel No. 5?” she questioned, as he looked up at
her.
“I’m sorry?”
“Was it Chanel No. 5? The perfume you bought her that
night?” she asked once again, as he began to think back to that night, trying
to remember.
“Yes, I believe it might have been Chanel No. 5.” He
said, as in silence they went back to finishing the job at hand.
~
Coming into the living room a few hours later, after
having dinner at their usual hang out, he sighed, as he slipped off his coat
and went into the living room to sit down. Pulling out his phone to put it on
charge, it chimed in his hand. Clicking on the text message box, he smiled at
the simple two words staring up at him:
Thank you
Pulling up his keyboard he
quickly typed his reply:
You are more than welcome
Leaning back in his chair, he sighed. The message
meant more to him then he could have ever imagined it would. He had gotten her
to drive, her first time, since the accident the week before and while she was
terrified, he couldn't help but smile at how grateful she was that he had done
that. He knew in time, she would be just fine.
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