Brooke Whittaker had all but forgotten Nicholas Williams after the "Great Christmas Disaster of 2010." But, when her father announces a business arrangement that will not only move Brooke and her family to New York City, but also forces Nicholas bac...
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The Williams's mansion was decorated just like I remembered it from eight years ago. I figured it must've taken at least a week to hang all of the red, green, and gold decorations all over every square inch of the house. Inside and out. Not to mention how long it must've taken to string the white lights on every tree and bush that surrounded it.
"Brooke, I'm so happy to see you back at my Christmas dinner," Mrs. Williams gushed, hugging me as soon as I walked through the door.
"I'm happy to be back," I responded. "It's been eight years too long."
"I completely agree, come in," she said, ushering me further into the foyer I was now entirely familiar with. "I think Nicholas is still upstairs, but everyone else should be over in the great room."
What she called a great room, I called a 1,000 square meter elaborately decorated room that just happened to have seating for at least fifty people. No doubt there was at least triple that many people already here, and I wasn't even that late.
As I made my way through the massive gathering, I realized I had forgotten just how many people Alexandria Williams invited to these things.
"Sage," I called out, catching her attention and then squeezing my way through the crowd of people.
"Brooke!" She responded, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards her and Nate. "I was worried you might try to ditch last minute."
"That thought crossed my mind," I joked, sending a hesitant glance at Nate. "No surprises this time?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Nate said, holding his hands up innocently.
"Good." I took a minute to look around. "I forgot that the guest list for this party included people from all over, not New York exclusively."
"Tell me about it," Liam said, exasperated as he fought his way through a mass of people to reach us. "I swear more and more people come every year."
"Is that Ophelia Pruitt?" I asked, looking at the tall brunette model I vaguely recognized.
"Yes," Sage rolled her eyes. "She slept with Ben a while back and now assumes she's invited every year. How do you know her?"
"She slept with Ben while we were dating. I resent that I even know who she is," I said, though I wasn't nearly as angry as I had been last time I saw her.
"What an asshole," Nate muttered, and I couldn't help but smile knowing I had his support on that issue.
"Hey, have any of you seen Nicholas yet?" I asked, looking around the room for him, though that was rather useless even with my height.
They all shook their heads.
"I'm going to go look for him," I said, bracing myself for the trek through the sea of partygoers.
I finally found the boy in question walking down the stairs in his foyer as soon as I managed to enter the room.
"Hey you," I smiled, causing his attention to snap towards me.
