Christmas Lights

A quick glance around my apartment indicated a couple of things – one, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when it came to decorating for Christmas and two, I was completely helpless and obviously ambitious in wanting to surprise my family, especially my mum. Three boxes labeled ‘Christmas’ stared at me and I had a tree standing in the corner in the stand ready to be decorated, but I had absolutely no idea where to start or what to do.

Every year, my mum would come down a couple of days before the rest of the family and help to make my place look like Christmas, but this year, I wanted to surprise her and show her that I was capable of doing it all on my own – especially because mum was coming down with the rest of my family this year.

I pulled my hat off my head and ran my hands through my hair. Help, I needed help with how to decorate my place. There was no way I could ask one of my teammates’ wives or girlfriends to help me because then the guys would know just how helpless I am at domestic things like decorating for Christmas. And it wasn’t like I had a girlfriend I could ask either.

Then I remembered. There’s a cute girl who lives just down the hall from me, maybe she could help me out in exchange for something. I think she likes hockey so maybe some hockey tickets would be a fair trade.

God I’m helpless. I stuffed my keys and phone into my pocket and slipped into the hallway to go knock on her door. Shit, what’s her name? I wracked my brain trying to remember the name of the only person who could help me with this surprise… Sarah? Rachel? No, fuck what’s her name.

Just as I arrived at her door and had knocked three times in quick succession, it hit me. Her name is Abby. I shoved my hands into my pockets, which collided with my phone and keys. Why am I so awkward?

The door swung open and I was greeted with a confused look. She looked a lot better than I remembered – shoulder length chestnut hair, thin framed glasses covering her dark blue eyes and she was tall but fit looking too. It was evident from her yoga pants and Hockey Canada t-shirt – it was a welcome change to the girls I usually met.

“Hi?” She offered softly.

Awkwardness struck. “Hi, I’m not sure if you remember me, I live just down the hall…” My voice trailed off.

She nodded. “Yeah, I remember you. It’s Lance right?”

I looked at her with a blank stare. Lance? Was she serious?

She laughed, it was one of the most pleasant sounds I had heard in a while, and kept a smile on her face, “I’m kidding. I know your name is Logan. What can I do for you?”

A shaky breath passed my lips. I didn’t understand how she could be so casual about this situation when the two of us rarely, if ever, talk. “Um, I have this weird favour to ask you, Abby.” Oh good job, that’s totally going to make her want to help you.

She raised an eyebrow at me and seemed slightly surprised that I remembered her name. “Go on.”

“I need help decorating my apartment for Christmas. My family is coming down and my mum usually comes early and does the decorating, but this year she’s coming with everyone else and –”

Abby cut me off and finished the sentence for me. “And you wanted to surprise her but you have absolutely no idea how she does what she does in your place?”

I nodded, “Basically yeah. I just don’t have the right mindset to do it I guess. I just spent the last half hour staring at boxes. I have a tree though.”

She turned behind her, shrugged and said, “Why not. I was just going to watch football all day today anyways. Give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you down at your place.”

“Okay, thanks,” I added as Abby closed the door. I practically ran down the hallway back to my place to tidy up any remnants of me being a complete slob in my own home. For some reason, I felt the need to impress this girl – I didn’t even know her – but I wanted her to like me.

It was a complete mystery to me as to what she drank or what she ate around the holiday time, I was thankful for the fact that I had some beer and snacks in the fridge and cupboards. Hopefully something appealed to her.

My bed was made, the kitchen was clean and the living room was vacuumed. All my place needed now was some Christmas cheer.

Abby knocked on the door and I quickly answered it, she walked inside with a bag looped over her shoulder which she dropped at the front door and smiled as she glanced around. “Your place looks just like a catalogue.”

At first I opened my mouth to protest, but I knew she was right. There were very few personal touches to the apartment and more often than not, it barely looked like anyone lived in the place. Hopefully the Christmas decorations would make this place feel more like home.

She must have noted the silence because Abby spoke up once more. “So what kind of decorations do you have?”

I led her over to the boxes that had been staring at me all morning. They were open but nothing was really touched inside of them. She settled in on the floor beside the boxes and slowly began to take things out. “Hm, this seems to be all stuff for the tree. It looks like half of this box is too. Oh, you have lights for your balcony, that’s awesome. And this last box is just random stuff to put around your place.” Abby pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, “Why did you need my help? All of this seems pretty obvious.”

The million-dollar question. Why did I need help? I shrugged as I sat down on the floor beside her. “I just want to impress my mum, which seems silly if you think about it, but she’s done so much for me…”

Abby put her hand up. “Say no more, I get it. Your family gets here when?”

“Tomorrow.”

She laughed as she stood up, “That’s plenty of time. Now what do you want to do first? The tree?”

Before I could answer, Abby started to pull things out of the two boxes that contained decorations for the tree. I didn’t know how I managed to have so many decorations; I figured it was because of my mum. There were several boxes of those Christmas balls on the couch, a couple strings of multi-coloured lights and some hockey themed ornaments. The last thing Abby pulled out of the box was the star to go on top of the tree.

She looked over at me with a smile. For someone who was just going to watch football all day, she seemed to be enjoying herself decorating with me, even if I was completely clueless. “You can put the lights and the star on the tree.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”

Abby looked at me like it was the most obvious reason to do it this way, “You’re taller? I can’t reach the top of the tree.” She started to untangle the strings of lights and make sure none of the little bulbs were damaged. I watched as she casually moved all of her hair to one side to make sure it was out of her face.

“Oh, um, right. I could just pick you up and you could reach?” My mouth blurted that out before my brain could even fathom what I had just said. Did I really just offer to pick up my neighbour so she could decorate the tree? She’s got to think I’m insane now.

Instead of looking at me like I was a crazy person, Abby laughed. It was a sound I was beginning to like more and more as I heard it. It was genuine and it was happy. It was something I wanted to hear more of. A smile crept its way onto my face as I carefully stole glances of Abby’s concentration.

She had a string of lights untangled in no time and was now looking for an outlet to test the lights. “You really think you could pick me up and hold me there while I made your tree look perfect? You do realize that I’m here to help you, not decorate for you.” I just smiled and shook my head as she went over to where the tree was and found an outlet, the lights lit up the room with their multiple colours. Already this place was beginning to feel more like Christmas.

Once all of the lights were tested and ready to go, and the star was plugged into the lights, it was time to put everything on the tree. Seeing Abby stand beside the tree made me realize that there really was no way that she could reach the top of the tree without some sort of help.

“Okay, how are we going to do this Couture?” She asked with the star in one hand and the string of lights connected to it in the other.

Without thinking, or giving her any warning, I walked over to where she was standing beside the tree squatted down and looped my arms around her legs and lifted her up. For someone trying to hint that I may not be able to lift her up, she was completely wrong. I could hold her like this for hours.

“Jesus Logan, how about a little warning next time. Now which way do you want the star to face, I’ve got to be quick so I don’t destroy your back or something.” She quickly went to work attaching the star to the top of the tree and looping the lights around at the top. She instructed me to slowly walk around the tree.

Abby’s stomach was at my face. Slowly her shirt was sliding up and a small sliver of skin was peaking out between her shirt and her pants. I was barely paying attention as the vanilla scent that surrounded her was filling my senses.

“Um, Logan?” Her voice pulled me back into focus. “You can put me down now, I can reach the reach of the tree from the ground.”

Instead of letting her drop down like I should have, I loosened my grip on her and she slid down me until my arms were around her and her hands were on my shoulders. Abby was tall but she wasn’t as tall as me, really she was the perfect height, only five inches or so shorter than me. She looked up at me over top of her glasses and had a half smile on her face.

“You can start on the balls,” she spoke softly; it was just above a whisper.

I swallowed loudly and nodded, “Right, the balls.” I let go of Abby and quickly made my way over to the couch where the boxes of balls were sitting. “Any particular way to put them on?” I had no idea of Abby had a vision or a pattern of how these were supposed to go on the tree.

She looked at me over her shoulder with a smirk, “Its your tree. Add your own flair to it.”

There were six different colours – red, yellow, green, blue, purple and white – I decided to go with a random pattern but the same colour could not be beside each other. Abby seemed set on letting me do this part entirely on my own as she sat down on the couch and started to watch me with a smile on her face.

When I came over to the couch for the last box, she handed it to me and added, “You’re cute when you concentrate like that.”

I felt my cheeks flush and smile found it’s way to my lips again. Since when did a little comment like that get me all flustered and out of sorts? I didn’t know what to say in return so I nodded and went back to the tree.

Abby came over to the tree with a box of random ornaments my mum had collected for me to have on the tree. She started placing them in different places, but seemed to know exactly which ones had a special meaning – and put those ones at the front – and the other ones around on the sides.

It took us forty-five minutes but the tree looked great. I knew my mum was going to be surprised and hopefully she would love it. Part of me was worried that I was taking away from something that she always did every year, but the surprise should be worth it.

She sat down on the couch once more and pulled the haphazard box of decorations for around the place closer to her. Slowly she was taking things out of the box and looking around as to where would be a good place to put it. I wondered if she was trying to get out of here as fast as she could, but I was starting to really enjoy her company. I wanted to keep her around longer.

“How about a little break? Do you want a beer? I have some other snacks in the kitchen…” My voice trailed off. It was stupid of me to assume that she drank beer. I hoped that I had a bottle of wine somewhere in the kitchen.

Her head snapped up and she had a genuine smile on her face. “Lead the way, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Without thinking, I grabbed her hand and pulled her up off the couch and didn’t drop her hand until we were almost in the kitchen. The heat was radiating off my cheeks once again. I have got to stop doing that!

“Um, there’s beer, I think I have a bottle of wine, I’ve got chips and dip, there’s veggies too…”

Abby laughed and a feeling of success resonated through me. It felt good to be the reason she laughed. “Someone is trying to impress mom. What guy regularly has veggies in the fridge?”

I ducked my head a little bit and chuckled, “You caught me.” I pulled the fridge open and grabbed one of the cheese and cracker trays I got at the store the other day. Abby was right, I was trying to impress my mum. “Wine or beer?”

Before I knew it, Abby had tucked herself right beside me and was staring into the fridge also. “Wine. You have a lovely cheese tray here so let’s keep it classy. Even if I’m wearing yoga pants and a Hockey Canada shirt.” She laughed once more and asked if we were going to eat in the living room. I nodded. Abby took the tray and I quickly followed with the bottle opener, the wine and two glasses.

The two of us sat close on the couch with the tray in front of us. Silence took over as we ate and drank the wine. Now was my chance to get to know this beautiful girl from down the hall.

“You’re not from San Jose, right?” I figured a broad question like that was a safe place to start. Immediately asking her if she had a boyfriend was not a good idea.

Again, Abby laughed. “What gave it away? The Hockey Canada shirt?” She tucked one of her legs underneath her and turned to face me. “No, I’m actually from St. Catherine’s, Ontario. I moved here for work. And before you ask, yes I’m one of those tech geeks.”

What were the odds that I’d meet a girl who’s from Canada and lived two hours from where I grew up? I copied her position and faced her, “What kind of tech geek are you?”

“To keep it simple, I’m a computer engineer. I mostly do software work but I’d love to get into more of the hardware but then I’d have to get some electrical done and I don’t really want to do that,” her cheeks flushed slightly. “Sorry, I just totally geeked out on you didn’t I?”

I shook my head, “No it’s cool. I used to think I was pretty technologically aware but I guess not now that I know you.” I laughed and took a sip of my wine.

Abby did the same then asked, “What’s it like playing a sport for a living? I mean don’t get me wrong, I obviously love hockey.” She gestured to her shirt. “But so much could go wrong and you’re just done.”

“I’m pretty lucky to be able to do what I do,” I nodded. “I know that there’s lots of risks but I think it’s worth it, I get to do what I love to do.” She had some good points in that so many things could go wrong and I would just be done playing hockey, but to not play hockey because of that would just be silly.

She nodded and smiled at me like she understood what I was talking about. It still wasn’t the time to ask if she has a boyfriend. A sigh passed my lips. I didn’t know why I was so curious as to whether or not she was available, but there was just something about her that made me want to know and see if this had potential.

“Okay, I can see the wheels turning in your head. What do you want to ask me?” She curled her other leg underneath her and leaned against the back of the couch. It just felt like she belonged on the couch here with me, it didn’t feel at all like it was our first time hanging out.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s kind of a personal question…”

Abby smiled. “You want to know if I have a boyfriend.” God was I that transparent? I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks yet again. I couldn’t remember the last time a girl made me this, I don’t know, uncertain of myself. “I don’t. I just moved here a couple of months ago.”

A feeling of relief rushed throughout me and I relaxed into the side of the couch, much like Abby had already done. “I don’t either.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Have a girlfriend that is.” New record for making an ass of myself … I couldn’t remember the last time I did it this often. It had to be back in high school.

“That’s good,” Abby smiled. “Now, let’s put these decorations out so we can veg out for a bit. Do you like watching football?”

“Yeah, the Bills are my team.”

Abby laughed. “I’m sorry to hear that. My best friend got me into the Patriots so I haven’t really looked back. And it’s Tom Brady.”

It was my turn to laugh. “I’m sorry for you, a Pats fan? Really?”

She reached over and hit my shoulder. “Shut up,” she smiled as she looked into the box in front of her. “So where does these penguins standing on an iceberg go? These are cute.”

I ran my hands through my hair – something my mum bought and put out when she was here – I didn’t know where they usually went or that I had three little penguins on an iceberg with Santa hats on – these little decorations could wait. “How about we put the lights on the balcony?”

After putting my wine glass on the table, I took Abby’s from her and put it beside mine. I picked up the box of lights that we had left and Abby followed me over to the balcony. She opened the door and stepped outside.

Quietly we looped the lights around the railing of the balcony and plugged them in. Then it was time to frame the sliding glass door that I had to the outside. Abby took the lead and was having some trouble reaching just above the door. I took it as an opportunity and stood behind her. I took the lights out of her hands and hooked them onto the lip of the door that she could barely reach.

Abby looked just over her shoulder at me and I looked down at her. Both of us had smiles on our faces and I felt the overwhelming urge to possibly kiss the girl I just met for real for the first time just over an hour ago.

“Surprise Logan! Logan where… Oh,” the sound of my mother’s voice pulled my focus into my apartment where my mum, dad and brother were standing at the entrance of my place and staring at Abby and I all tangled together trying to put up lights outside.

I could tell that Abby was trying to make it not obvious that she was talking to me by the sound of her voice. “I thought you said your family wasn’t coming until tomorrow?”

My mouth remained shut as I spoke through my closed teeth, “I thought they were too. I’m so sorry.”

“Is your mom going to assume we’re together?”

Shit shit shit, mum was going to assume that Abby and I were together and that I just hadn’t told her about the fact that I was ‘seeing’ someone. I dropped my arms from the lights and my hands instinctively went to Abby’s waist. “Um, she might?”

“What do you want to do about this?” Abby leaned back against me, pointed to something over on the side of the balcony like it would be something we would have to get before we go back inside.

The two of us walked over and I was able to talk freely. “I don’t want to force you into anything… My mum is pretty good at picking up on things…”

Abby laughed quietly. “Are we faking this or not Logan?”

I don’t want to fake it, I want this to be real…

She must have noticed my hesitation. “If we fake it now, doesn’t mean that this can’t be something real…”

Part of me wondered if Abby was able to read my mind. Without thinking, I closed the gap between us and quickly pressed my lips to hers. “I’d like that.”

“Me too, now let’s go before your mom thinks we’re avoiding her.” Abby threaded her fingers between mine and pulled me along behind her. I couldn’t help but think that I was lucky to have someone like her in this situation. I felt like she would excel.

“I’m so sorry, Logan wanted me to help him with the lights and as you could see he was enjoying watching me struggle,” Abby laughed as soon as we got inside. Right away I knew that she was going to make a good impression on my family. “I’m Abby, it’s nice to meet you.” She held her hand out to my parents and brother.

My mum shook her head and pulled Abby in for a hug. “It’s nice to meet you too. Logan didn’t tell us he was seeing anyone…” Mum took that opportunity to look at me pointedly like I should have informed her of this relationship.

“Mum,” I said shaking my head. I watched as Abby shook my dad’s hand and my brother’s. “It’s kind of new so I didn’t want to jinx it by saying something.”

She raised an eyebrow at me before pulling me in for a hug. “How new is it?”

A sigh passed my lips. It figured my mum would be asking the hard questions before everyone made their way into the living room. I tucked Abby into my side and she naturally leaned into me like it was second nature to her. I looked down at her and she looked up at me, “I think it’s been a couple of months?”

Abby spoke up with a smile on her face, “Yeah.” She leaned her head into my chest. “It’s been like two months but it’s been really good. You have an amazing son.”

I looked up at the ceiling, now Abby was laying it on thick but it felt kind of good to hear that coming from her. I wondered if that’s how she actually felt about me. “Why don’t we all sit down?”

“Oh all those decorations!” Abby announced and broke away from me and ran off into the living room to move everything off the couch. It was like she was purposely giving me some time with just my family.

My mum smiled. “She seems nice. Where did you two meet?”

Without thinking, I rubbed at the back of my neck. “She um, she lives just down the hall. We’ve seen each other a lot and then I just kind of asked her out one day and here we are.” I got a sceptical look from my mum and dad. “She’s a software engineer but she still hasn’t told me which company she works for yet. She’s from St. Catherine’s and I really like her, okay?”

As soon as the words left my mouth I couldn’t help but smile. It completely consumed my face and it just felt right.

Abby came right over to me, “Babe where are the wine glasses again? Your parents and your brother need to have a drink with us.”

“Just above the fridge, are you going to be able to reach it?” I teased with a smirk on my face.

She laughed and shook her head, “Just for that, I’m going to make sure I get it.” She gently hip checked me.

“Give her a chance mum,” I added as I ushered her into the living room where my brother was already sitting.

The couch was quickly filled up with my brother and my dad and mum took a seat opposite the couch. I sat down where I had been sitting earlier with Abby and wondered what she was going to do when she came back into the living room with the glasses.

Just as I thought that I should go give her a hand, she walked into the room with a smile. She had a second bottle of wine tucked under her arm and three glasses in her hands. Quickly she poured the three glasses and handed them out. “I’ll just grab a chair from kitchen,” she said when she realized there was nowhere for her to sit.

“No,” I stood up and grabbed her hand and pulled her onto my lap. “We can make room.”

“Logan,” she smacked me and shook her head. “I’m sure this is setting an excellent first impression for your parents.”

I wrapped my arms around her and made it impossible for her to get up off my lap. She caved in and put an arm around my shoulders as she leaned into me. I handed her her wine glass and took mine in my hand. I couldn’t help but smile, “It’s good to have you all here for the holidays. Can’t believe you guys managed to surprise me like this… We didn’t even get to finish decorating the place!”

Mum held up her glass, “We’re happy to be here with you Logan and happy that we get to meet Abby.”

Everyone raised their glass and took a sip. Abby sold our “relationship” completely by quickly pressing her lips to mine and smiling shyly after the fact. I squeezed her into me and had an overwhelming feeling of happiness. Who would have thought that a simple favour from a neighbour would have led to something like this?