Room 241: A Josh Richards Story

74- Christmas Party

The next morning you woke up and made your way into the kitchen. You started to clean up the champagne glasses from the night before as quietly as possible because the guest room where Sam and Olivia were sleeping was right next to the kitchen. You shook your head as you tossed 3 bottles of champagne. You hadn't even had a drink, you figured you were emotional enough and the rest of them managed to drink that much. No wonder they were all asleep.

The alarm on your phone went off and you shut it off with a laugh that you never seemed to be able to sleep in as late as you hoped on days you didn't work. Josh and you had taken the next 2 weeks off so you could celebrate with family and friends visiting. You still set an alarm so you didn't waste any of the time but Josh would probably roll out of bed closer to noon.

Tonight was the big Christmas Party with all of the people you loved most in the world and you needed to get busy decorating soon. Just then the doorbell rang. Charli and Dixie piled in carrying boxes of decorations. Charli was annoyingly cheery and it was obvious her sister, Dixie wasn't amused:
"Do you need to play Christmas music already? Christmas isn't even for 2 weeks."

Charli: "If she can have a Christmas party this early, I can listen to my music so hush."

Oliva: *walking out from her room still yawning*
"Why are we having this party so soon?"

You: "I just figured with everyone here now we could use the party as a kickstart to the next 2 weeks of celebrating together. We might not always all be able to get together like this."

Sam: *walking out of the bedroom*
"You guys are loud."

Charli: *tossing tinsel at him*
"Hey this is a jolly zone so get decked or get lost."

He put his hands up and retreated back to his room with a glass of juice.

Dixie: "So that's your fiance? Lucky you."

Olivia: "Oh you're one to talk. Didn't you marry the Roman God looking soccer star of PAU?"

Dixie: *smiling and blushing*
"Yes, yes I did."

You: "Isn't it weird that we all ended up with guys who graduated from PAU-"

Before you could finish your sentence, silence spread across the room as all eyes turned to Charli.

Charli: "It's okay, guys. Chase and I did end up together for a while and we were really happy. Who knows, maybe this Christmas will be the thing that brings us back together?"

Everyone is starting to arrive for the party and you can't help but enjoy yourself. You felt bad for not warning Charli that Jaden was coming, but up until the night before last you weren't even sure he was going to make it. Then she said what she did about fixing things with Chase earlier and you really thought she wouldn't care.

The person who apparently needed the warning had been Chase. He was sitting across the room drinking and texting on his phone so you decided to make your way over:
"Hey bub, having fun?"

Chase: *taking another drink and answering sarcastically*
"A blast. Why are you still sober?"

You: "Well someone has to babysit you apparently."

Chase: "The only one who needs babysat is my son and he went to sleep hours ago."

You: "Chase... why are you acting so hostile?"

Chase: "Just don't feel very merry this year."

You: "Well instead of sitting here pouting why don't you do something that will make everyone... including you and your wife happy, and go dance with her."

Chase: "The last thing she wants is to talk to me."

You: "She's been standing under that mistletoe, watching you for the last 15minutes, Chase."

He sighed and walked over like someone walking to their death as the doorbell rang.

*CHARLI'S POV*

Chase just seemed so miserable tonight. How did anyone expect her to enjoy her night when the man breaking her heart was scowling at her from across the room. He was walking towards her, but she refused to get her hopes up because she'd just seen her best friend talking with him so he was probably pressured into talking to her. What had happened to them? They were really happy once, right? She hadn't imagined that, right? He was the one, Mr. Right, the safe one. The one she was supposed to be with so then why wasn't she WITH him?

Chase: "Buy a new dress?"

Charli: "It's a special occasion, figured it called for a special dre-"

The rest of her sentence fell off the tip of her tongue as a flash from the past waltzed in the front door looking as magical as the last night she'd seen him.

*END CHARLI'S POV*

You didn't even get a chance to process what was happening or say hello to Jaden before Charli raced past you looking upset. You glared at Chase expecting that he'd said something stupid since he was drinking... again. He did that a lot lately and it usually ended in him saying something rude to someone. You gave Jaden a quick hug and said:
"Best friend duty calls."

Josh: "Babe, it's the middle of our party. Do you have to go?"

You: "I'll just go find her and bring her back. It'll take 5 minutes, I promise."

Jaden: "Drive safe. It was really starting to snow when I pulled in."