The One Where The Lines Get Kinda Blurry

The One Where Christmas Gets Creative

Jen had no real idea what to expect from this evening as she walked down the pathway to her gated front entrance to collect whatever it was David had arranged to be brought to her. The only thing he'd told her was that she should get dressed up for dinner and to expect a food delivery at around 7pm which it was now. The air was slightly cooler than it had been of late, and Jen had pulled the soft black pashmina style scarf around her bare arms as she'd headed outside to collect the package. She was back inside within a couple of minutes, and she did as he'd directed, pressing call on the iPad which sat on the kitchen counter, leaned up against the coffee machine.

"It arrived then?" he asked as the call connected.

"It did" she replied, her eyes travelling over his upper body which she could see was dressed in the collarless black shirt she'd bought for his birthday. "You look so good in that" she said with a smile.

"Thanks, you chose well. I love it. And you look sensational as always" he said, his eyes travelling over her slender frame which he could see was dressed in a figure hugging, low cut black dress, her arms semi covered by the scarf which she soon discarded onto the counter as she began to open the box as he did the same, unloading the contents of his own package which had been delivered about ten minutes before Jen's had. "So, if you'd been here tonight as planned this is what I would've got for us to eat" he said as he pulled various cartons from the bag. "It's kind of a Jewish tradition, or at least in our family, to eat Chinese on Christmas Eve."

"Ooooh I love Chinese" Jen exclaimed with enthusiasm as she peeled back the lids on several containers. "You do realise there's only me here, right? There's enough food here to feed you, me and Cleo for about three days."

"I know, I went a little overboard" he grinned, "I always like to order lots of dishes then share so I kind of wanted you to have that experience too. I've ordered exactly the same here for me so there'll be enough for my dinner tomorrow since I'm not cooking ham or turkey just for me."

"Chinese leftovers for Christmas dinner sounds so completely and utterly sad" she said with a sigh, "but it is what it is and there's no point dwelling on it. So, are you going to talk me through what you ordered, or should I just put it all out on the table, grab the wine and then we can eat together?"

"That sounds good to me. Let me just get the music going." A few seconds later the soothing tones of Michael Bublé filled the air, crooning his way through a well-known festive tune. "I know it's cheesy but it's Christmas" he grinned as he sat down at the table. A table set for two since that had been the original plan and something in his heart wouldn't let him just set a single place when he still desperately wanted her to be beside him. He set down his screen on the table where she should have been sat right now. "That's better, at least you're almost with me like I'd planned it in my head" he said, his voice unable to disguise the fact that this was still incredibly raw.

"Let me look around quickly" she said, "I want to see your decorations and tree." David did as she asked, lifting the tablet up again and taking her on a mini tour of the room he had spent hour decorating painstakingly for her benefit. "It's so beautiful" she sighed as her eyes cast over what seemed liked millions of twinkling lights, the stunningly decorated tree that was adorned with a mixture of gold and red ornaments alongside some special ones he'd shown her that were made by Cleo. "It's exactly like I imagined you'd do it only a hundred times better." He flashed her around to the wall where she had so carefully hung all the photos a few weeks back and they were still there, still pride of place, and, she noted, there were a few extra pictures that he'd added which were obviously from his phone. "Let me see the new pictures you put up on the string" she commanded, a command to which he immediately responded by walking over and giving her close ups of some pictures that were very close to his heart. There were two pictures that instantly tugged at her heartstrings. The first being a shot of her and Cleo taken from behind. They were stood side by side out on Jen's terrace, Jen's arm wrapped protectively around Cleo's shoulders as the girl's sat comfortably around her waist, before them was the beginnings of a beautiful sunset and everything about the photo screamed happiness, togetherness and loving family.  The other photo that made her both smile and pine for him even more, was one of her, fast asleep in his bed, covered with just a sheet but obviously naked beneath it, her arm snaked over David's bare chest and a look of complete contentment on both their faces as he watched her sleeping at the same time as snapping the picture. "Please can you send me that photo" she said quietly, "I can't believe you've never shown that to me and I absolutely love it." Within seconds she heard her phone ping.