Decorated with Love

4

"Wake up, sleepy head!" Blair opened the door to Ivy's room the next morning and walked over to open up the curtains so she could let the sunlight in. True to her word, she had cooked breakfast for the two of them.

She had her fingers crossed hoping that Ivy would forget that she had also promised to help decorate, but that was unlikely. The girl could remember something someone told her 10 years ago, so there was no way she forgot what Blair had said less than 12 hours ago.

"Do I have to get up?" Ivy rolled away from the window and pulled the quilt over her head. She had stayed up later than she meant, going back over every little detail of her date with Ender until she finally drifted off.

"If you want to see your man today, then yes, you surely do. He's expecting you there early, remember?" Blair reached under the quilt to grab Ivy's ankle and started to pull her out of the bed. "Come on, cold eggs are gross."

"Okay, okay!" Ivy snatched her leg out of Blair's grasp and threw the covers back, slipping her feet into her slippers and wrapping her robe around her before walking past Blair and into the living room. "And he's expecting both of us. Don't think you are going to get out of helping us. I need to keep a close eye on you anyway.....you acted incredibly strange last night."

Blair ignored Ivy, not wanting to discuss why she had acted strangely. Over the course of their friendship, Blair and Ivy had both shared their dating woes with each other, so Ivy knew more about why Blair was acting strangely than she realized. She just didn't know who it involved.

"It's too cold, it's supposed to snow tonight. Snow.....in Atlanta....in December. I should probably stay here and make a run to the grocery store to make sure we have everything we need." Ivy rolled her eyes at her friend, determined to get to the bottom of what was bothering her, but right now, she didn't have time to pry.

The girls finished breakfast quickly and got dressed, bundling up to combat the cold air that was descending on Atlanta. They would finish up most of the outdoor decorations that day and then Ivy would just have to decorate some of the indoor areas. It would have been done in one day had they hired a large company, but that was part of the appeal of the company that Ivy worked for. It was a smaller company, a growing one but still small, and everything had a personal touch rather than the usual mass decorations you saw.

"Hola, chicas...." Ender opened the door to the room where they were storing the decorations waiting to be used with one hand, carrying a cup holder full of coffees in the other. "I brought coffee."

"Gracias...." Blair took one of the cups, putting some creamer and sugar in it before turning back to the plans Ivy had laid out on the table.

"Blair, seriously?' Ivy giggled at her friend's Southern drawl. She took her cup from Ender and gave him a shy smile. "Thank you, Ender."

"You are very welcome. I know I definitely needed a cup or two this morning" Ender nudged her playfully with his elbow, taking a sip of his coffee. "I stayed up late because I kept replaying the night I had."

"Oh. Um, was it.....good?"

Ender looked over to where Blair was engrossed in something on her phone, not paying the two of them any attention. He leaned in close and Ivy thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he turned his head at the last minute, his lips brushing her ear. "There is only one thing that was missing, but I have faith it will happen at the right time...."

Ivy swallowed the lump in her throat, her mouth suddenly dry and the room seeing exceptionally warm. "Um, let's go ahead and get started, it's warm in here and some fresh air will be nice."