AUDREY
"Sebastian?"
"Hmm?" He looked up from his laptop, his work was momentarily forgotten.
"What would you like for Christmas?" It was the night after my birthday, meaning there were forty-three days until Christmas.
He pondered about it for a moment. "Your smile."
"I swear." I scowled, rolling my eyes.
"Surprise me."
"Surprise me? SurpRISE ME? Are you serious?"
He laughed and shut his laptop. "I can't think of anything. You don't have to get me a gift you know."
I looked up to the ceiling in defeat. I huffed before sitting on the couch. "What kind of things do you like?"
He joined me, turning his body to face me. "You."
I playfully slapped his arm. "I'm serious."
"Okay, okay. I like...Oh, I can't tell you that."
"What is it? You can tell me." Is this a feeling of hope?
"No, you'll make fun of me for it." He began to get up but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.
"I promise I won't make fun of you for it."
"Promise?"
"I just said that didn't I?" He nodded and held his pinky out to me. I giggled before wrapping my pinky around his.
"Okay, fine. I like," he mumbled. His voice was so quiet that I almost didn't pick up the last part.
"What was that?" I had a wide smile on my face.
"Build-a-bears." I was doing my best to hold in my laugh at the sight of this poor man who is looking anywhere but me. A single laugh slipped past my lips and his head whipped back to me. "You said you wouldn't make fun of me!"
"I'm not," I reply, another laugh letting loose, "I'm laughing. You didn't say anything about laughing."
"Oh, do you want to take my job as a lawyer, I swear you would do it better than me."
"Of course I would, I'm Audrey fucking Parkinson, I'm amazing at everything."
"Damn right you are." His eyes shone brightly as he laughed along with me. We quieted down after a while to a comfortable silence.
"Seriously though. You don't need to get me anything." His voice was slightly hoarse from laughing. If only you could hear his laugh, it was one of the most beautiful melodies I've ever heard.
"Eh? No, I'm going to get you the best damn build-a-bear there ever was."
"Wait, really?"
"You'll see on Christmas day." He groaned in annoyance, clearly upset that he won't find out for another forty-three days.
"Hey, Audrey?" He asked after a moment of silence. "Do you want to come with me to visit my family sometime leading up to Christmas?"
"Are you sure you want your family to meet me?" I asked, pointing at myself.
"Yes. They'll love you. My parents already love you and have probably already accepted you into the family as their daughter-in-law." He chuckled, shaking his head a little.
I groaned, covering my face with my hands. "I... don't know what to say."
"Yes possibly?" He coaxed, pulling my hands from my face and holding them in his own.
"Alright, I'll go." I decided, nodding.
"You will? Aw yes!" He threw his hands up in victory. "You won't regret it."
"You better make sure of that." At this, he nodded and kissed my cheek, going off to continue his work.
My phone rang, breaking the atmosphere of whatever just happened. "Hello?"
"Hey Audrey, how are you?" Libby's voice was groggy as if she had just woke up. "I just woke up." Oh, well there you go.
"I'm good, how are you and everyone else?"
"Sleeping, like logs." They had taken the day to rest from travelling. It warmed my heart that they trudged through the jet lag to keep energised for my party.
"Then why are you calling me? Go back to sleep."
"But I missed you," she whined. I could hear James release an annoyed groan in the background.
"You saw me yesterday, no go sleep," I ordered, a giggle passing my lips.
"Okay, nighty night," she mumbled, ending the call.
"What a weirdo." I then turned to Sebastian, "I'm going to bed now."
He smiled at me, the light from the computer making him a stark white. "Ok, goodnight. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight." I made my way to my room, snuggling in my fluffy blanket.
SEBASTIAN
Okay, she's asleep now. I sighed as I clicked to the internet tab and resumed my search. I was trying to find a Christmas present for Audrey but she came in and wanted to talk to me so I had to quickly click off.
Fifteen pages later and I now feel defeated. The problem was that I wanted to give her everything, but since that was impossible I have to go for plan b. It needed to be special, something that she'd cherish, and most importantly it had to be something she liked.
By the thirtieth page, I accepted defeat. I'll try again tomorrow, but for now, my eyes are trying to close themselves.
The next morning I headed off to work as usual. When I arrived, I opted for a hot chocolate instead of my usual coffee.
"Morning Sebastian." I smiled, raising my cup slightly.
"Good morning Micheal, or should I say Bonjour et bon matin."
"You've been learning!" He praised.
"Thank you, Audrey taught me that." I beamed, taking a sip of my hot chocolate.
"Ah, the famous Audrey. How is she nowadays?" He inquired, making a cup of coffee.
"She's good. She has agreed to come with me to visit my family during Christmas time."
"Woah, you're taking her to meet the family? You're moving quickly." He gawked.
"Well, she's already met my parents and my brother and they love her to pieces. My other family members really want to meet her too, so this should be a good time for that." I explained, taking a spoon and stirring my hot chocolate for a second time.
"Good luck with that. Do you know what to get her yet?" He asked, beginning to walk to his office.
"No clue. But I will have my brother make another godawful unicorn jumper, that's going to be the family Christmas card now, I have decided."
"Send me one?" We stopped at his door.
"Of course, send me your address." I head down the corridor to my office.
I plop down in my chair, taking another few blissful sips of hot chocolate before booting up my computer. "Let the day begin."