Linger

Awakening to the troublesome vibrations of her phone, Dolores groaned inwardly. She could hardly fathom that she had slept for eleven hours because she was feeling as motivated as a sloth. Perhaps, she thought while sitting up, that getting too much sleep was the greatest factor of her weariness on this special day. Though then again, her sleeping schedule was never perfect. As a child she suffered from a slight dosage of insomnia, and then a couple of years later into her adolescence, she found that nothing could ever wake her up.

Stretching her legs, Dolores concluded that she was just having an off morning, which she graciously hoped would not infringe into her afternoon or evening. She had planned to have cooked a recipe passed down from her mum and to attempt at being optimistic, like John usually was. It made her feel like she was progressing with her life, rather than living it down and always being shady.

Seeing John stir at the side of her, Dolores made quickly to get off the bed and exit the bedroom so that he would be able to go back to sleep easily. It was from past experiences that if she was awake in bed before John, he would soon wake up and stay up even though he always complained of being exhausted. He just never wanted her to be alone and for him to not be there to see her at every moment.

Dolores walked silently into bathroom and began performing her daily routine, which consisted of going pee, brushing her hair, showering, brushing her hair again, and then brushing her teeth. Her arm was always worn out from performing so many actions with it and usually once she left the room, she plopped on the couch to catch her breath. She began thinking over the ways to prepare the food, the temperatures she was to keep the oven on, and lastly what exactly to wear to impress John's friends.

Her fingers played with the loose strings of the couch's arm, and her lips turned down at the pessimistic thoughts whirling around in her mind. So far, she concluded, that her emotions were not as uplifting as they should have been. She was doubting her luck and the warm wish that John had promised her that last night. The fact that he said everything was going to alright made her happy at the time, but it was as if sleep had drained all of her jubilation and therefore she was becoming a grump.

An hour into preparing the meal that they all were supposed to eat at dinner, Dolores heard a shuffle from the archway of the kitchen. When she looked over, she saw her man playing with the short stubbles on his chin and a look that told her he was thinking hard or rather just processing everything slowly considering he was still waking up.

"Good morning," she murmured, before averting her gaze back to the paper with so many directions adorned on it. Again she heard shuffling, but it had stopped when there was a friction-created resonance in the air from the way John pulled a stool out from the island of the kitchen.

"How're you feeling, babe?" he questioned right off the bat. Perhaps that was what was worrying him when he first entered the room and the look on his face showed that clearly.

"I'm actually doing alright," she began, before sighing. "The stress has gotten to me though. Not a lot, but enough to where I feel paranoid about things..."

"Like what?"

"Like if I don't prepare the turkey thoroughly and then everybody gets food poisoning. We only have one bathroom, John. I'm pretty sure that won't handle what will go down if everybody gets sick from my cooking."

Dolores heard him sigh and clear his throat before the sound of wood galling against tiled floors emitted into the air again and soon enough he was standing at the side of her. His whole face had turned somewhat stern but his eyes were full of indirect sympathy.

"I thought I promised you everything will be fine... did you not believe me when I said that?"

"Of course I believed you John, I always do. You just have to understand that even though someone assures me, I still get nervous. Listen," she turned to face him, eyebrows turning down slightly from seeing the disappointed look on his face. "I'll be fine in a couple of hours and when your friends do get here, my anxiety will go away because I'll be trying not to be awkward. Just give me some time, John..."

His eyes were looking anywhere but her face as he was nodding his head. His hand went through his hair once and then his eyes flicked to hers. A smile began creeping on his face and Dolores almost melted at the sight of how quickly he could change moods.

"Then I'll trust your word," he said warmly.

He left her side, which made her feel cold considering the awe she was just in evaporated with his departure. She loved just gazing into his green eyes and whenever he acted so encouraging, Dolores was in complete love with the man.

He messed around with the food and beverages packed tightly into the refrigerator- most of the substances being for dinner- and finally settled on a beer and a slice of Syrian bread which he accompanied with some humus.



About two hours left until the turkey would be done cooking, there were several knocks on the door and very obnoxious shouting beckoning John to open the door. Dolores had already felt her stomach drop abruptly and she took a deep breath before fixing her cotton dress and walking out of the kitchen to see at least four other men dressed up in very nice clothing.Looking back on her choice of sartorial, Dolores felt she wasn't dressed quite appropriately enough, but it was too late now...

John was laughing and smiling greatly at his friends who all went up to hug him before noticing the oddly placed girl standing off to the side with a shy smile. They all gave John a knowing look before asking, "So is this your girl, John o'?"

"That's her," he laughed bashfully and then looked over to her with a small smile on his face. His arm outstretched to her as his eyes wandered down her body. He thought she looked like an angel considering her choice of a white dress, and it was almost as if she intimidated him. He never really kept his eyes down while trying to look at her, but he couldn't set a right mind to raise them to stare back at her full on.

"She's really beautiful, John. You chose real nice..." said a man with short brown hair and a plaid long-sleeved shirt. He kept flickering his eyes from her to John and back.

"Thanks, man," John replied wrapping an arm around Dolores' waist. "Um, I guess I'll introduce you all. Guys this is Dolores, and Dolores this is Kennedy, Jared, Garrett, and Pat. These are my best friends and band mates!"

Everyone except John echoed a hello to one another, while Dolores took notice that Kennedy was the one who had complimented her. She had a feeling that she was going to grow close to him the most in the next few years... that is if John still wants to see her after this night.



Time had surprisingly flown by and a timer had gone off in the kitchen signaling that it was time for Dolores to start making the homemade mash potatoes and begin heating the vegetables that were freshly picked that morning. She politely had excused herself and jogged off into the kitchen.

John had known by this time, his friends were ready to start the interrogation now that his girlfriend had left the room and when he heard Jared clear his throat, he already began smiling.

"Listen guys," he spoke in a hushed voice. "You don't know how much Dolores means to me... especially after having plenty of relationships before that were always unstable. She makes me happy all the time just by looking at her, and she also makes me feel more confident because she always wants to please me. She honestly will not fight back or decline when I ask her to do something really small..."

"So are you just pushing her around then?" Kennedy said, speaking up. "Finally satisfied because you have a maid or-"

"-no Kennedy, not at all. She does it because she wants to. Besides I hardly ask her to do anything- like I said I only ask her to do small things- but all of the other things she does for me, it's her choice. She does it willingly and I always make her feel good about herself too. It's not a one way train..."

Garrett asked the majority of the questions afterwards because he wanted to make sure that John really liked her. He was the friend who knew if John really disliked someone, he could see right through the wall, but tonight, Garrett could honestly say straight out that John was in love with her.

When Dolores came back out, she wiped her brow and informed them all that the food was ready to be served and then afterwards they would open presents, which none of them had declined in doing. Once all plates were on the table, food on each, Dolores finally noticed the smirk on John's face.

Walking around to her seat, making sure to pass John and flick his head, Dolores stared intensely down at her food. She was almost paralyzed just staring at the gravy that was lavishing the turkey. It all came down to the meat in this dish. She was feeling slightly satisfied knowing that the meat had cut perfectly and looked delicious, but her esteem had always gotten the best of her.

"Now guys, I really want you to know that Dolores, here, spent so much time worrying about how this food would come out and she spent so much time preparing it and making sure it was perfected as it was cooking."

John stared at all of them, Kennedy the longest, to let them know that he was right when he told them how she liked to please others and make them feel the best they could.

"Well, then it should be really good." Kennedy smiled back and made sure to give a facial gesture to John to tell him that he wasn't mad anymore. He then cut up a piece of turkey that was on his plate, dabbed it into the gravy, and ate it wholly.

Dolores was watching bewilderedly as if someone had stolen her favorite CD and was about to smash it. Having him eat it so fast after just seconds of John saying what he did almost gave her a heart attack. So when John did finally look over at his girl's face, he wasn't surprised to see her widened eyes and her fingers tapping her leg... and being the darling he is, Dolores almost sighed contently when she felt John's larger hand gently grab hold of hers.

Her head turned almost robotically over to face John, where he was sitting with a very adorable smile on his face. He knew that the turkey had come out good and that she was going to be praised for it. All they had to wait for was Kennedy to finally swallow the piece and give the most welcomed feedback.

"Dolores," the man had said, rolling up his plaid sleeves. "This is fucking delicious."

And that is when John completely marveled how absolutely gorgeous Dolores had looked with a huge smile corrupting what usually was a small one. This had to be the most prettiest one and he thought, right there, that this memory would always stay with him dearly. Now, he just couldn't wait until she opened her Christmas present. After all, this was what the whole day was about: the pros and cons of Christmas.