Engraved

Ch. 16) Christmas Eve & Deliveries

Stephanie's Point of View:

It was the day before Christmas, and the household was a mirage of colorful Christmas lights and festive decorations, galore! The gifts under the tree were piling up; Aunt Lori had spent a lot of money on buying gifts for Ryan and I.

I had also bought gifts for Aunt Lori and Ryan.

As we were having a nice Christmas Eve lunch, there was a knock at the door. Aunt Stephanie went to answer it,

"Im Lori Kabowski, Merry Christmas eve!" she said politely.

The man stood at the doorway with a clipboard,

"Merry Christmas eve to you too, ma'm. I am making a large delivery by Premium Petals Flower Shop. There are about $1000 dollars worth of flowers in the delivery truck." he said.

Aunt Lori gasped,

"Wow, from who and to whom?"

The deliveryman read off his clipboard;

"From Eli Leer to Stephanie Brandt."

I overheard and I dropped my fork, my calm chewing had turned into gobbling.

Aunt Lori was certainly surprised as I was,

"Thank you, you can unload the flowers onto my porch. I will take them in once you are finished."

"Alright, then." the delivery man said enthusiastically.

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Half an hour passed by and the delivery man had finally unloaded the flowers.

Aunt Lori tipped him $40.

"Goodbye & happy holidays!" she waved as the delivery truck left the drive way.

I shook my head in disbelief,

"Looks like Eli's sorry." Aunt Lori said as she help up one of the flower displays. 

I heard Eli's name and a knot filed my stomach - I didnt want to have anything to do with him or his sister. He was so terribly rude the other night. How could I forget? 

"Maybe this is his way of apologizing, but you dont have to accept his apology. Gifts shouldnt buy his apologies. It's all up to you." Aunt Lori said as she observed the flowers.

I rolled my eyes - she contradicted herself! I knew she was totally thrown off and pleased with the flowers, and she would totally forgive him if she were in my position. But I wasn't her. 

The doorbell rang once more, this time, to my delight, it was Jeff.

Jeff's Point of View:

After spending sometime with my step-mom, I decided to drop by Stephanie's house. As Stephanie opened the door, she had greeted me with a hug.

"Who is this?" a lady spoke as I entered.

"This is my Aunt Lori." Stephanie said.

I shook her aunt's hand and introduced myself,

"I'm, Jeff Bosh."

There were a bunch of flowers outside for some reason. 

I couldnt help but ask who they were from and who they were for.