The Holly and the Ivy

Santa Tell Me

The buzzer to Holly's apartment sounded more like a death knell to her.

"I'll be down in a minute," Holly said over the intercom after she had finished wincing.

Adam had suggested that he and Holly go on a date that night to get to know each other better, which Mistletoe had eagerly agreed to on her behalf. Then, the two girls had spent the rest of the day shopping for an outfit for Holly to wear, with Mistletoe suggesting flashy, sequin-filled, tight-fitting short dresses, and Holly proposing comfortable blob-like sweaters and jeans. The two had finally agreed on a charcoal-gray sweater dress, which was undeniably comfy, but also clung to Holly's figure way more than she wanted.

"Can you try to be a bit more enthusiastic?" Mistletoe asked as she continued to mess with Holly's hair. "I know you have anxiety about this kind of thing, but Adam seems really sweet. And he already agreed to marry you. You have nothing to worry about."

"He agreed to marry me after knowing me for five minutes," Holly answered. "That's weird, Mistletoe. He didn't care about whether I had any bad habits. He didn't have any dealbreakers. We didn't talk about kids, or where we're going to live, or anything besides the fact we both need to get married."

"Maybe he felt like he didn't need to know?" Mistletoe suggested. "He seems like a really easy-going guy."

"There are some things to not be easy-going about, and the person you commit to spending your life is one of them."

The elf sighed. "You should just be grateful that you found a guy named Adam who agreed to marry you this easily. And he's hot Holly."

"Then why don't you marry him," Holly grumbled, irritated.

"Because I'm not the one who got herself into a giant mess and needs to figure out how to get out of it," Mistletoe replied easily. "Now go. Don't leave him waiting."

The surprisingly strong elf pushed her into her coat and shoved her out the apartment door before Holly could come up with a valid excuse to stay in. Sighing, Holly took the stairs down to the lobby and exited the building.

Outside, Adam was waiting with a single red rose. "Damn, girl," he remarked once he saw her. "You look incredible."

"Thanks," Holly replied stiffly. "You look nice too."

Adam beamed before extending his elbow to her. She linked her arm with his and followed his lead as he walked down the block.

"This is me," he said, gesturing to a nice-looking car. It had some kind of insignia on the hood, but Holly couldn't tell a Ford from a Ferrari, so she didn't know what it meant. Adam opened the door for her, and she slid into the passenger seat.

"Where are we going?" she asked once Adam joined her in the car.

"A surprise," he answered with another one of his dazzling smiles. "Don't worry, it's not far."

It took them about half an hour to get to their destination: Adam's family's restaurant in Queens.

"What is this?" Holly asked, pretending that she hadn't creepily and extensively researched him prior to meeting him.

"It's my family's restaurant," he proclaimed proudly. "But there's a private room in the back that wasn't booked for tonight. I'm going to make us dinner!"

Holly smiled - a genuine one this time. That was really sweet. And Adam's excitement was contagious.

"Come on, I'll show you the back," he said, waving her inside the back door.

Holly froze. "Is your family inside?" she asked.

"Nah," Adam answered. "I wouldn't spring that on you. Come on!"