by Holly Rayner
I went into work on Monday morning still feeling the glow of the weekend. I hadn’t been able to think about much other than Aaron all weekend. I had already started planning our activities for the following Saturday. I just knew if I could get him to experience a few traditional Christmas time events and have fun while he was doing it, he would change his outlook on Christmas. We lived in the Christmas capitol of the world. The whole of Manhattan was lit during the month of December while we waited for the day to come. It was a travesty for him to miss out on that. I tried to convince myself that taking him out on Saturday was a charitable thing to do, but the truth was, I really couldn’t wait to see him again either.
I had a meeting with Max when I got in and when he asked me how my weekend went I said, “It was good, quiet.” That wasn’t a lie. After Friday night I hadn’t gone out again, and I had had a good one. I baked cookies and made Christmas ornaments and yes… I know I’m a dork, but I watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” three times and cried every time. I cried sometimes because the ending of the movie made me so incredibly happy and sometimes because the memories of watching it with my mom when I was a little girl. Those were happy tears too, happy memories.
Mostly, I didn’t want to complicate whatever this thing was between Aaron and I. I worked with some amazing, smart, professional people. One might be surprised at how fast a rumor can spread amongst them. I wasn’t delusional enough to believe that news I’d gone on a date with the CEO would be something even the people I was closest to would be willing to keep to themselves, so I kept it to myself.
Monday was as usual, a busy day. It was over before I knew it and as I was wrapping up and getting ready to go home I reached to turn off my computer. On impulse, I typed Aaron’s name into the company directory. There were job titles and short bios and a small photo of each of us in the company directory. Once I’d typed in Aaron’s name, I was looking at his face. He was more perfect in person, but since I wasn’t going to see him until Saturday the little photo would do. I wondered what kind of Monday he had and before I even realized what I was doing I started composing an email.
Hi Aaron! I just wanted to say I am looking forward to Saturday. I hope your Monday went well and don’t forget to ring at least one bell today. I hit send. While I was waiting to make sure it had gone through, I packed up some pamphlets I was going to take home. I was working on a new marketing campaign for the company and was using the old pamphlets to help design a new one. I got them packed into my bag and reached up to switch the computer off again. I saw that Aaron had responded to my email already and I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised at what he had written.
Why would I ring a bell?
Because every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings. I was trying to sneak Christmas in on him a little at a time. He didn’t respond to that, but I’d gotten it into his head. I switched off the computer and left for the night.
AARON
