The Devils Of New York

Chapter Sixty Four

Nathanial Winters

A day passed as Arilynn and I got used to being in Monaco where it was almost perpetually warm to some degree reaching sixty five during the day, and forty-five at night providing us with just enough warmth to actually go out each day though I was also focusing on getting Arilynn gifts that she would hopefully like. Though both of us were difficult to shop for since we continually bought whatever we wanted or needed, and so here I was knowing that I would have to think of something that will blow her away while she decorated the Christmas tree in the living room with ornaments that had been flown in from Milan.

Walking out into the garage I crossed the floor to my LaFerrari and lifted the door to the car before getting inside and starting the engine which roared to life and echoed through the garage space giving an added back hum to the engine.

Speeding out of the garage I began making my way through Monaco from Monte Carlo down into the shopping district of the city passing numerous other people and their expensive cars which brought to light the reality of Monaco, the people who truly lived here couldn't pay to own a shoebox in this city, most people that worked here lived outside of the city where property prices fell drastically.

I knew of true Monaco residents whose families had been here for generations and had nothing to their names but expats from all over the world came in and made the city ridiculously expensive to even rent in. Spotting a store where there was a spot I pulled in behind a Porsche before getting out of my car and shutting the door while looking around as had become a commonality over these past few months.

Locking the Ferrari though I could probably leave it unlocked in a place like this I walk away to go and find special gifts that I'm sure Arilynn would enjoy.

Walking along the sidewalk I walked into certain stores that were more boutique or bespoke works rather then designer since Arilynn didn't actually like a ton of designer items. There was a few exceptions but not many, mostly it was the bags that we used to carry all of our items to places where we didn't typically go to or travel so there was no easy way to have clothing and transportation.

As bag after bag amounted on my arm I made a stop back at my car to put them in the front seat and in the foot well before shutting and locking my car again so that I could go and get a coffee to get through more of my day.

Walking off along the sidewalk to a Starbucks I stepped inside and began surveying the menu that was displayed before making my selection and going back to waiting for my place in line until I was waved over to a cashier.

"En anglais merci" I say knowing that most people spoke French and English in Monaco.

"May I have a caramel macchiato with extra espresso, and foam please" I say pulling out my card and waiting for my order to be typed in before I paid and walked over to the waiting area all while looking out of the glass front of the building where people drove by and walked talking to one another without a care in the world.

I could also tell who had grown up here where wealth and money was so common that it seemed normal to see a Ferrari and Bugatti drive by in the same minute. In New York I looked around and saw people of all lives walking around with the same amount of not caring just there was a level of compassion towards those who weren't so well off. Not everyone was a cold business executive that wanted nothing but money and looked down on people that were less fortunate then them. I didn't and neither did any member of my family. That was the way it should be, but Monaco was like the Las Vegas of rich people, you could do anything here and no one questioned shit, it was also known that the median net worth in Monaco was two million dollars.

Getting my coffee I tipped a hundred euros and walked out knowing that I had given every person in that establishment a little more money to be paid at the end of the day for when they went back to their homes.

Walking out of the café I spotted my car and a group of car spotters around it before I stepped through the crowd to get to the door of the LaFerrari and slipped into the front seat before starting the vehicle which made a few of them jump. Carefully under the flashes of phone cameras I pulled out of the spot and sped off on the road back towards the penthouse while observing Monaco.

Eventually I got back to the building and slowed before pulling into the garage and parking the expensive Ferrari. I then didn't move I just sat in my car listening to music as it played loudly from the speakers. I had decided that I'd wait exactly five minutes before going back up to the penthouse in the hopes of me being able to slip past Arilynn who if I had to guess would be going to get a ladder to reach the top of our tree so that it could be topped by a silver star. The Five minutes was because said ladder was in our storage room on the roof, and she wanted to do everything perfect so it would be smart to wait for her to likely have the ladder set up before bringing up gifts.

As my song ended with the cue of my five minutes I got out and rounded the car before grabbing all of the bags, and walking to the elevator and went up to the floor that our penthouse was on just to find her just as I had thought she would be. Standing near the top she was listening the Christmas music and being incredibly cautious to not knock the star off the top of the tree that was easily ten feet tall.

Walking quietly towards the office where I would wrap all of Arilynn's gifts. As I got them all by the wooden desk I took them all out of the bags and grabbed two rolls of tape and the wrapping paper that I'd chosen for Arilynn and began figuring out how much I would need for the boxes in front of me.

I then took out my phone and set it down on the ground and began wrapping the gifts whilst poorly singing along with Michael Bublé. When I finished each gift I then set it in a pile where I would move onto the ribbon section afterwards since I tended to do things uniformly and without any break in pattern.

Once I had completed wrapping the gifts and making them look presentable I looked at my work and then put away all the things I had used so that I could carry all of the gifts out to the living room where they would go under the tree wrapped in shiny forest green wrapping paper with golden ribbon so that it would stick out to Arilynn in two days when it would be Christmas day.

"Nathan when did you get home?" she asks looking down at me as she descended the ladder.

"About ten minutes ago, you were focusing so I went and wrapped your gifts before coming out here to put them under the tree and find out if you need any help" I ask and she shakes her head.

"No, I'm just glad you're home" she says wrapping her arms around me and looking up at me.

"I'm glad I'm home too, I can be at peace here with you" I say and she smiles brightly.

"Peace is with you, my peace is" Arilynn comments and I lean down and gently kiss her.

"Love, you have always been my peace. Nothing bad has happened when I am with you in moments like these" I remark, "and once more I get to celebrate our anniversary of being together after seven years".

"You say that as if you don't think you'll make it to the next year".

"I say it like that because my life is a mess unless I'm with you" I correct and she beamed at me.

I then looked around the room at the other boxes of ornaments and the numerous wrapped items before looking back at Arilynn.

"Do you want to put more ornaments on our tree?" I ask and she looks over to them.

"I guess we could see how many we can get on the tree before it looks ridiculous" she shrugs and I laugh before walking over to one of the boxes and pulling out a ornament and crossing the room to hang it on the tree. I then watched Arilynn peripherally do the same and soon enough we were covering the tree in every ornament we could find.
    
    
I didn't really have much of an idea for this chapter the next one will be the opening of gifts and the family surprise so yes there will be a Winters Family chapter. Comment, vote, and share. Anyways

Peace✌