by Angela Blake
Julie put her hands on her hips. “I blame Melissa. She never allowed someone to bully her or be rude to her. I got that habit of fighting back from her.”
“Well it suits you,” Chace noted. “You’re a little too shy at times so having that spark in you really lets me see the other side of you.”
“Uh-huh, the side that nearly broke you apart last time,” Julie said with a melancholic note. “I know I’ve said sorry a thousand times but I really need to say it again. Cheating is cheating no matter the reason and I find it a miracle that you’re here with me despite all I did.”
“It did hurt, it really did,” Chace explained. He stared out into the void, never really focusing on anything as if his gaze was affixed on a memory more than an object in the room. “I never felt so betrayed than I did then yet even when I was so mad and frustrated I couldn’t help but miss you and long for you. I still loved you and maybe that was why it hurt even more. But the truth was there and the truth was that I needed you. I wanted you. If I had to suck in the pain and do what I could to make it all work, I’d do it.”
“You pushed me away,” Julie said. “For the longest time you never answered my calls or messages.”
“Well, I guess it was just fate that the time we did start talking to each other was the right time because look at where we are now.”
Julie smiled and recalled their Christmas reunion dance. “You know, when you lifted me up during the dance you brushed your hand on my pussy?”
Chace grinned and Julie saw the naughty fire burning in his eyes. “I know. I was hoping I could squeeze that little move in somewhere. No one would notice anyway and if anyone did I could say it was just a slip-up during the heat of the moment. Dances can be complicated things.”
“Just like you.”
“Just like us.”
He then put his coffee down and moved over to sit by her side. She put the laptop on the floor and snuggled in to his embrace. Chace then gave her a kiss on her forehead. That kiss moved down, descending until their lips met and soon his hands were all over her. Julie tried to keep their moment wholesome but in the end she was the first one to slip out of her clothes and turn the heat up. She didn’t try to stop him from making love to her – she needed it. She wanted it. The Christmas season wasn’t over just yet and she would take all the lovely gifts she could get.
Together they were happy. The rest of the night passed in peace and quiet. For Julie, this was the way things were meant to be. For Chace, this was the achievement he so strived for but never quite reached. This time around, however, they could finally have the happy ending they always wanted. For them both, this was the best Christmas ever.
THE END
Christmas Bells
Chapter One
Jordyn Ross could immediately tell that it was going to be one of those days, where from the moment you peeled your eyes open till the moment you crawled into bed hours later, nothing seemed to be going right for you.
The shrill sound of her alarm clock pierced through the bubble of quiet that enveloped her room in the early hours of the morning, right before the sun came up.
Jordyn peeled one eye open, cursed the watch, rolled on her side, and tried to go back to sleep. She was having a rather lovely dream. She was on an island somewhere. There was light breeze, making the palms sway to and fro, and she was sitting there in her one piece, sipping on a Pina Colada while a young tan man was fanning her.
She knew it had to be one of the cheesiest wet dreams ever, but it was her wet dream, and she was entitled to it, and God, she was going to enjoy it.
She moaned a little as her dream took a rather heated turn when she spilled her drink all over her chest, and the man offered to help her clean it up.
Jordyn smirked in her sleep as she began saying something dirty to the man. She blinked, but instead of seeing the face of the hot cabana boy who was about to take her into his arms, she was met with the rather amused expression of her best friend, Franny.
Franny was a petite blonde with short hair, brown eyes, and a rather agile body for someone her size. She was a lot like a monkey, with all the climbing and haggling she did.
Jordyn blinked at Franny. “Um, Fran, what are you doing?”
“I was going to try to wake you up, but then I noticed how your face was caught up in the throes of passion, so I was getting my camera, but then when I leaned in to take a picture for blackmail purposes, your eyes flew open.”
Her phone hung by her side, and Franny gave her a cheeky grin.
“Just exactly what were you planning on doing with that picture?” Jordyn yawned as she brought her hands up to her eyes to rub the sleep away.
“Oh, you know, the usual stuff. Get you to do my chores, finish my work, and maybe even world domination.”
“Well, that took a rather unexpected turn. Isn’t it rather early to be thinking of world domination?”
Franny pretended to think. “I don’t think so, no. It’s never too early for that.”
Jordyn bit back a sleepy laugh. “I thought we agreed we’d find boyfriends first and then take over the world.”
Franny snorted. “That’s taking too long. Besides, I want to be free to pick any man I want without being tied down by a guy. I mean, suppose Ryan Gosling was available all of a sudden.”
Jordyn pretended to think. “You make a good point. Well, I guess it can wait.”
Franny nodded. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
Jordyn began to stretch before she stopped. “Fran, not that I don’t love you or anything, and it’s not that I don’t find you attractive, though you are, but you aren’t exactly the person I was hoping to wake up to.”
Franny looked down at Jordyn, and she moved one of her legs, so she was no longer straddling her. “You mean this isn’t doing anything for you?”
Jordyn gave her a solemn shake of her head, an amused smile tugging on the corner of her lips. “Nope, it really isn’t. Sorry to disappoint.”
Franny laughed as she hopped off of the bed and dusted her shorts. “Oh, well. A girl has got to try at least.”
“A valiant effort, no doubt,” Jordyn commented, very dryly.
“By the way, you’re late for work,” Franny called out over her shoulder as she bounced out of the room. Jordyn shot out of bed and wildly glanced around for the clock.
She let out a stream of curse words as she struggled to untangle the sheets from around her body. She landed with a thud on the floor as she gazed at the bedroom door. “You couldn’t have told me that sooner?”
“I could’ve, but I got distracted,” Franny’s voice called out.
Jordyn scowled as she twisted her body backwards and began to frantically undo the sheets from around her legs. She had exactly 40 minutes to take a shower, grab a coffee, and hit the road, or her boss was going to bust her ass.
She finally succeeded in freeing her legs, and she let out a little victory yelp as she ran to the bathroom. She began rubbing her sore bottom as she hopped into the shower and decided to skip washing her hair this morning, or she’d take too long.
She emerged a while later in a towel and hurriedly rummaged around in her closet for something to wear. She managed to find a long skirt and a clean, pressed blue blouse to go along with it. She wriggled into the skirt, did the buttons on the blouse, and slipped into a pair of comfortable flats.
She dabbed on some perfume and raced down the stairs to the coffee pot.
“Franny,” she groaned. “Did you forget to fill up the coffee pot again?”
“Sorry,” Franny called out sheepishly.
Jordyn checked the time and realized that she could either wait for the coffee machine to make another batch, or she could grab a cup on her way to work. She decided on the latter as she grabbed her keys, her purse, and an apple.
“I’ve got to go, Fran. I’m going to be so late. I’ll see you later,” she called out as she twisted the knob, opened the door, and shut it behind her.
Sh
e ran down the stairs, and burst out onto the sidewalk a couple of minutes later, panting as she tried to fan herself. She located the car and wasted no time in getting into it, and revved up the engine.
Jordyn raced against the clock as she prayed that traffic would be light, so that she could make it to work on time.
***
Jordyn tried to tiptoe into her office as she checked her watch and realized she was 30 minutes late. She slipped off her shoes, and held them in her hand, hoping she’d make less noise entering the office that way. She quietly dumped her empty coffee cup into the bin, and crossed with baited breath, hoping she wouldn’t get caught.
She snuck a quick glance at her boss’s office, and quietly let out a sigh of relief when she noticed that he wasn’t at his desk. She made it to her desk with her heart beating wildly in her chest as she anxiously drummed her fingers against the desk, and waited for her laptop to power up.
She checked her drawers and took out some notes to at least try to look busy while her laptop powered up. She looked around the office and noticed how everyone was engrossed in their work, typing away at their laptops, or writing furiously in their notebooks.
She smiled to herself as she went over a couple of notes for her big presentation in a few hours.
Jordyn worked at an advertising firm, and right now they had one of their biggest clients, and her boss felt like she might be ready to handle it. The army felt like they needed more people to join, so they asked them to create an ad for people to join.
Jordyn bit her bottom lip as she stared at her laptop and tried to come up with an end scene for the final shot. They had finally acquired the rights to use Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Photograph’ for their ad, and she just needed to figure out an ending with a punch.
This ad had to pack enough emotional weight to carry them through otherwise the whole concept of the video would be lost in translation, and her pitch would be shot to hell.
“Jordyn!” her boss barked out.
Jordyn flinched as she wondered if her boss had in fact noticed that she was late. She tried to slink lower in her seat. “I see you trying to melt against the chair, and you aren’t a chameleon, Ross. Get in here.”
Jordyn slinked out of her chair, smoothed down her skirt, and made her way towards her boss’s office, every step she took forward making her feel like her feet were made of cement.
She stepped into her boss’s plush office done in neutral colors, and she noticed her boss sitting there with her hair tied in a bun. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, and her skirt looked a little rumpled. She looked a little frazzled, and Jordyn couldn’t blame her.
“Sit, Jordyn. Sit.” She gestured to the empty chair, never once taking her eyes off of the massive amount of paperwork that lay in front of her.
Jordyn plopped down into the chair and nervously fiddled with her notebook.
Her boss, Carrie Montgomery, gazed at her from behind her glasses, and gave her a tired smile. She lowered her glasses and carefully placed them on the desk.
“Jordyn, sorry if I scared you earlier. It’s just that we’ve been under a lot of pressure with the merger and everything. How’s it going with that ad?”
Jordyn smiled at her. “It’s going really well, actually. I just finished editing the final shot. I quite like the final product.”
Carrie nodded her head and clasped her hand together. “Excellent. I knew I could count on you. It’s right on time too because we have two people joining us from the military today who will be reviewing the ad to tell us what they think. We need their opinion as people who know the profession.”
“I totally agree,” Jordyn responded. “When will they be here?”
“They’ll be here in about one and a half hours, maybe two. Can you have it ready by then?”
“Consider it done.”
Carrie nodded. “Great, okay. I’ll let you get back to it and see you in the conference room then. I’ll buzz you when they’re here.”
Jordyn gave her a small smile. “Thank you for trusting me with this, Carrie. I hope I do you proud.”
Carrie beamed at her. “I’m sure you will.”
Jordyn left, feeling a little bit lighter, as she exited the office and made her way to her desk. She felt a lot better than she did when she entered. She plopped down onto her chair and twirled around in it for a second. She felt like her day was finally starting to look up, considering she initially thought being late meant her day was off to a bad start.
She re-watched the video, put some final touches, and stood up to stretch. She made her way to the bathroom to straighten out her appearance, then headed to the break room where she sipped on some orange juice.
She checked her watch, made her way to the desk, and grabbed her stuff to head to the conference room to set up before they arrived. She got the projector ready, set up the speakers, and had the notebooks open on the table, so that when they entered, everything would be in place.
She nervously tapped her foot against the floor as she waited for her phone to buzz. It finally vibrated a few minutes later, letting her know that her clients had arrived. She nervously shuffled some papers around as she took a deep breath and gave herself a pep talk.
Carrie walked in a while later, looking carefully composed and put together as two military men walked in. One of them was an older man with salt and pepper hair, a professional smile, an impeccable uniform, and stiff posture as befitting a man in his position. He was introduced as General Jack Jones.
He gave Jordyn a warm smile, and she smiled back at him. She couldn’t see the other man’s face because he had his back to her and was talking to Carrie, but he looked to be significantly younger with a lean back and wide shoulders.
Carrie began introducing him to Jordyn, and when he turned around, Jordyn felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She swallowed audibly as she took in the familiar sight of sandy blonde hair and brown eyes with an easy-going smile, and a fit physique.
There stood her ex—Thomas Grant. Captain Thomas Grant.
Chapter Two
“And that’s the closing shot of the ad,” Jordyn announced as she switched the overhead lights back on. She caught sight of General Jack Jones discreetly trying to wipe away the tears, no doubt thinking that a man of his stature shouldn’t be this affected by a simple video considering the horrors and tragedies he has to witness on a daily basis.
“Well done, Jordyn.” Carrie said, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
Jordyn tried, but failed not to notice Thomas’s reaction. He was sitting there, the blood gone from his face with a death grip on the table in front of him. It wasn’t his paleness that struck Jordyn though, it was the fact that he had obviously been crying. His lashes were wet with tears, and Jordyn even saw a lone tear make its way down his cheek.
Her heart twisted painfully at the memories of all the things that used to tie them together, and the gulf that now stood in between them. He was farther away from her now than he was when he was overseas.
Jordyn shook her head to keep the memories at bay. “Thank you, Carrie.”
She cleared her throat. “So, gentlemen, what do you think? We’d really like to be the company you choose for this ad. As you can see, it’s something we’re very passionate about.”
General Jack scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Yes, I can see that. Your passion for this project, Ms. Ross, practically leaps off the page. It’s very moving. It makes me wonder if this is something quite personal to you if you don’t mind my asking.”
Jordyn hesitated briefly as she felt Thomas’s eyes travel to her face. “My father used to be in the military, Sir.”
General Jack nodded thoughtfully. “That definitely explains the perspective of the little girl waiting for her father to come home, and the song just suited it to a tee.”
“What do you think Captain Thomas?” General Jack turned to face Thomas who aside from a slight twitch in his jaw showed no sign of having heard the question.
***
“It’s perfectly fine, Sir. It showcases exactly what we need. It tugs on emotions, and we need that if we’re going to get new recruits any time soon.” His voice dripped with practicality, and it almost made Jordyn wince because she knew that he was affected too. He just didn’t, or couldn’t show it. She understood why.
She missed him too. Everyday. There wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t think of how differently things could’ve turned out if she was still around.
“Yes, indeed.” Amusement laced General Jack’s tone. “As you can see, Captain Thomas is not easily swayed by his emotions. He’s a very practical sort of man. Not a bad trait to have, but remember Thomas, that it’s okay to feel too. It’s what makes us human.”
Thomas gave him a polite smile. “Of course, Sir.”
“May I have a few minutes alone with Ms. Ross? I’d like to discuss some aspects of the video that I feel need a little work.”
General Jack looked surprised. “I don’t mind at all, Tom. If it’s okay with Mrs. Montgomery.”
Carrie waved the protest away, but not before shooting Jordyn a curious look. “That’s perfectly fine, gentlemen. We can go to my office General Jack, and we can discuss the details until they are finished here.”
They both stood up and made their way out the door. Jordyn stared at them in dismay, wishing she wasn’t the one who had to sit here and talk to him. She would give anything to not be in this room right now, face to face with her demons.
“Jordyn.” Her head snapped up as she took in the sight of Tom standing there, his hair sticking out at all ends, the pain reflecting clearly in his eyes. “How are you?”
Jordyn swallowed. “I’m fine, Tom. How are you?”
Thomas looked startled. “I’m fine.”
They lapsed into silence once more. “I don’t know what to say about this video to be honest.”
Jordyn shrugged. “I think Gracie would’ve approved.”
