This chapter is dedicated to the sweet @boekenworm100 and her little Snuffle ðð° You two are so cute, and I know you like Holidays romances too ð So this is my little gift for you, I love you ðâ¤ð
"Penelope!"
Finally, someone talks to me, and it's not just anyone. I'm happy to be met by sparkling blue eyes after what feels like hours of being alone with my glue gun, but maybe it's just been minutes; I don't really know because I've been too lost in the chaos of my thoughts.
One of the many knots in my stomach untangles with Lilly's smile. At least, she isn't mad at me after Theone's rudeness earlier, and she doesn't even seem upset, keeping her tiara high on her small head. I've kept mine too, though I surely don't look as gracious as she does.
"Theo needs you."
I widen my eyes. She definitely never gives up, and I doubt he even wants to see me, but she adds, "He said he needs help in the cold room."
"Why?" I frown, but of course, Lilly doesn't know, so she just shrugs as I ponder if I should leave my table centerpiece half-done.
I decide to get up quickly because I don't want him to make another scene and ruin the little Christmas spirit I have left.
I'm simmering so much in my thoughts that I'm in front of the cold room before I realize it, a shiver down my spine reminding me how dark and empty the hallway is. Theone wouldn't murder me, would he?
I enter the cold room before picturing stupid scenarios, when there are actually more chances that I murder him.
"Theone?" I call, and I quickly spot him in the narrow cold room.
He is crouching down, putting a few food assortments we've received for the tombola on a shelf.
"What?" He doesn't even lift up his head, and his annoyed tone reawakens my boiling anger, forming goosebumps with the contrast of temperatures on my skin.
"I don't know. You tell me, since you're the one who called me there."
He finally snaps his wide eyes towards me. They're less sharp than before, as confusion lifts up his eyebrows, yet they still miss their usual playful sparkle. "What? I've never calledâ"
The loud bang of the door closing cuts him off, and I suddenly take in the coldness of the room with a chill spreading throughout my whole body.
I rush to the door with a bad feeling spreading as fast as the cold on my skin. I haven't watched a lot of horror movies in my life, but I know this is often how they start.
"No! No! Please no!" I plead frantically as I try to push the door with all my strength, but it doesn't open. "No! No! No!" I repeat as fast as the loud thuds of my heart.
"Who told you I called you?" Theone asks way too calmly.
"We're stuck, Theone! Do you think this is the most important?!" I groan, still pulling and pushing on the door handle while his questioning gaze doesn't falter, and I sigh, "It's Lilly."
"Lilly?!" I hear his cocked eyebrow through his voice, and I cut him off before a smirk can follow.
"We're stuck! So it's not our main preoccupation!"
"We can't be stuck, there's a safety so we can open it even from inside, and there isn't even a lock." His smirk is back in his knows-it-all tone, making my panic turn back into irritation.
"Wow! I didn't know!" I reply with the roll of my eyes, letting him try the handle by himself, and guess what?
Surprisingly, Mr. Knows-it-all can't open it either.
"Fuck! We're stuck!"
"No?! Really?!" I gasp sarcastically before turning back to do something useful and bang on the door, calling for help.
"So it's Lilly who told you to come here?" He furrows his eyebrows, his calm attitude only spurring my panic, and I only pause my call for help to answer him quickly.
"Yes, why does it matter?"
"Maybe she's blocked us there?"
I freeze all my movements, which in a cold room could become literal quite rapidly. "What?! No! She's an angel! She's too innocent, and she wouldn't be able to do it anyway."
"Maybe you've contaminated her with your plans and all." He shakes his head, pulling away from the door.
"Me?!" I gasp, this time, really shocked.
"Yes, this could look like one of your crazy plans."
"What?! No â okay, maybe... it could have been part of my plan. Why I haven't thought of it? It could have been really romantic, well, except for the part where we freeze to death..." I add, thinking out loud, while shivers keep running on my skin.
Why have I taken off my sweater? Or more exactly, why haven't I put it back on before going in there? Now, my boiling mind and the long-slived cotton shirt I'm wearing aren't enough against the freezing cold.
"We aren't gonna freeze to death." He rolls his eyes, taking off his jacket and putting it around my shoulders.
I find back the same warm cocoon from yesterday, the same unique spicy scent wrapping around me, and with it, come also all the memories of what have happened, mostly the words Theone have said.
"Are you still mad at me because of what I've said to Alexis?" I ask, risking a glance up at his face, and as surprising as it sounds, I'm almost missing his dimples.
Well, it isn't his dimples that I miss, but the playful, easy attitude he always wears and that I'm more used to handle than this cold atmosphere â and I'm not only talking about the temperature around.
"I'm not mad at you." He lets out a sigh, and I can feel it tickling my eyes, as he hasn't pulled away. "I know you didn't mean bad, but sometimes you're just... stupid and annoying."
"Stupid and annoying?" I lean away to show him my lifted eyebrow, and I'm about to get mad when I spot the twinkle lighting up in his eyes.
"Yes, stupid and annoying," he repeats, now his smirk appearing fully as he adjusts his jacket around my petite frame.
"I just wanted to help." I look down at his fingers fastening the buttons. "I know she's awesome as she is, but do you know that they risk to be separated if they don't find a family who wants to adopt them both?"
"I've heard, yes. What? I was just beside so I overheard," he adds in front of my cocked eyebrow. "But do you think she would be better if she was in a family who doesn't love her for who she really is?"
"Maybe not..." I mumble, averting my gaze from his green eyes that now don't look like sharp glass yet still find a way to pierce too deep inside my soul.
Something in those green shades tells me the meaning behind his words goes farther, and I don't wanna see it.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you like that... I didn't even let you finish what you were saying to her..."
This pulls my gaze back to him, and I have to do a double-take to be sure I've heard it right. Theone saying sorry?! Well, it really means this is the end.
"At least, we'll have made peace before dying." I sigh, sliding my hands in the large pockets of his jacket.
"We won't die! Stop with this!" He chuckles, shaking his head and sitting down in the middle of the narrow room.
"It's freezing here, what if no one comes to find us?" I join him hesitantly, still glancing one last time at the closed door.
"They'll notice our absence. Your dear Aden will search for you, don't worry." He shrugs, offering me one of his dimpled smirks that I'm already getting tired of again. "And Lilly knows where we are."
"Our life depends on a little kid who doesn't even know how to read? Great!" I snuggle in his jacket, finding warmth and comfort in it. "But what if they don't find us?"
He opens his arms to invite me closer. "The worst that could happen is that we have to wait until tomorrow for the caterer to come hereâ"
"And find us frozen here?! You're really great at making me feel better, thank you!"
"It's not even 35°F, we'll survive," he assures me. "And if we're really too cold, I've got plenty of ideas to keep us warm," he adds, letting me hear both of his dimples in his drawling voice.
"You're a perv!" I swat him, yet I still stay close in his arms, just because I don't want to die out of cold.
"I didn't say anything!" He puts his hands up, and I laugh, rolling my eyes as I lift up my head to find his left dimple.
"But since we have time... maybe we have enough time for a long story?" He looks down at me, and I immediately regret his dirty comments as I gulp. "Like the one why you didn't do your round-the-world trip?"
He remembers, unfortunately. After everything that has happened today, I would have hoped he wouldn't remember such a tiny detail, tiny detail that still makes my stomach shrivel.
"Since I told you about my photos, I think it's only fair?" he asks, â yes for once, he doesn't sound like he's imposing me, and strangely, the words come out naturally.
"Well, you know... it's kinda a boring story..." I sigh, feeling his shrug even more than I see it. "I indeed had everything planned until my last year of college. We were supposed to take off and travel the world as soon as we graduated, with my boyfriend at the time..."
"Oh, yes, the one from high school? What was his name again? Jacob? Jimmy?"
"James," I correct, and the syllables feel so weird rolling out of my mouth again.
It's been so long since I've pronounced his name, and it almost sounds as casual as any other name now.
"Oh yes, what happened to him? You were head over heels since high school?" His voice becomes cautious just like his eyes as they're searching for mine under his furrowed eyebrows.
"I found him in our bed with another girl, and I learned that he was actually cheating on me with half of the campus." I close my eyes for a second as flashes of that day appear as vivid in my mind. "After this, I was devastated. I lost all my confidence, and traveling the world didn't appear as tempting. I knew that every country I would visit I would imagine how he'd planned to try something else than the food specialties."
Theone doesn't say anything, not even laughing at my snide comment. His clear jade eyes are staring enigmatically at me, and I can't guess what he's thinking, yet I feel like he can read all of me.
"So after I graduated, I took my first job as far as possible from all the memories I had of him and, that's how I ended up in San Francisco. I didn't trust men anymore, well except for my dad and Jason." I smile, remembering how they have suggested to pass James in one of my dad's panel saws, and they don't even know the whole story of cheating. "And that's also during this period that I became addicted to cheesy romances, they made me still have hope in love. That's basically the story..."
"I knew there was a reason I've never liked him. He's a jerk." Theone shakes his head, his frown becoming more severe, yet it isn't directed towards me.
"Well, I loved him. I really thought he was the right one." I shake my head too, though it isn't a frown crossing my face, just a bitter smile. "But yes, he was a jerk, a player." I shrug, playing with the hem of the too-long sleeves of his jacket as I try to come back to the question Theone has asked because it isn't a story about James, but about me and my old dream.
"Then the years passed... and I don't know, the routine has settled in... I started going out and seeing some guys of course, but nothing serious. I can tell you there are a lot of jerks out there!" I chuckle at the too many memories of failed dates I have that I can now find the humor in them.
"And then Aden came in... He's the total opposite of James, and yes, he might be oblivious to love and all my advances, contrary to James, who basically flirted openly with me, and apparently also with everyone else. But I know Aden got his heart broken too, and he will never do what James did." I let out a sigh, realizing that it's been easier than I've imagined.
I've never talked so openly about it to anyone, yet with Theone, the words are floating naturally out of my mouth; floating, that's the word because I don't feel that anchor in my chest that has been holding me down for all those years, and strangely I don't hesitate to talk.
I know Theone won't judge, and it's surely crazy when he always makes fun of me, yet there is this coziness that makes me feel safe, maybe because I'm in the warmth of his arms. So I let everything out without thinking.
"It's maybe stupid, but it's so rare to find someone worthy that... yes, maybe Aden is one of the reasons why I don't want to leave." I bite down on my lip as I've said everything that has been on my mind for too long.
"I don't think it's stupid, I understand..." he says softly, and he might notice my wide eyes because he adds, "I mean, my dad has followed my mom to heaven because he couldn't live without her. So I believe that if you love someone, you want to stay with that person."
I smile, well, after the shock from hearing those words in Theone's mouth. "They really loved each other."
"Yeah, just like your parents I think." He smiles back, and I can still catch the nostalgic glint there, although it's less sad than last night.
"Yes, they're the reason why I still believe in love, and that's exactly the kind of love I dream of."
"Me too."
"You?! The great player, Mr 'Bikini Inspector', Theone Homer believes in love?!" I gasp, unable to hide my smirk.
"Yes, but shh! Don't tell anyone!" He glances around with wide eyes before flashing me his dimples.
"More seriously, yes, I do. I may not have a crazy romance plan." He throws me a sideways twinkling glance as I swat him again. "But in a way, I'm just looking for the one. Maybe I'm a player like you've said, but I'm not like your ex. I'm just searching for true love." He shrugs, and the sincerity and simplicity in his eyes take my breath away.
"You're speechless, huh?" he taunts.
"Yeah, yeah... I'm just thinking that you're using this as an excuse to 'try' every girl around!" I quip, returning to the playfulness we're more used to with the line he's throwing.
Though the seriousness and sincerity seem to come back as naturally between us when he adds, "Okay, maybe when I was younger, but with my mom being sick and all, seeing my parents together through it all, it really made me think."
"Do you miss them?" The words are out before I can control them, as they've been on my tongue for a while now. "Of course, sorry, that's stupid!" I shake my head.
"No, it isn't, and yes, I miss them a lot, all the time. But I know they're in a better place. My mom has suffered enough, and I know my dad couln't live without her. He told me his heart wouldn't handle it, and he was right. He was gone before even spending one Christmas without her."
My hand reaches instinctively to brush away the crease deepening between his eyebrows.
"But they're still with me in my heart." He offers me a small smile, and I'm happy to feel the lines smoothen under my fingers.
Actually, it's his whole body that relaxes under my touch, and it tenses mine with the loud beats of my heart.
I realize how close we are, having drawn closer through all our confessions, and now, I can see every shade of green in his eyes, each color that are like memories of the places where he's been: sea green of those paradise islands to majestic forests and infinite fields in the sunshine, and to the deep shade of his childhood tree that is taking more and more space. I'm lost trying to decipher all those parts of him, and finally, there's another green color appearing: mint, like the memory of his lips that are an inch away.
"Penelope?! Theo?!"
We jump away from our trance â well, for me, it has felt like a trance â as the door opens.
"Are you okay?!"
I need a few seconds to take in what's happening as my head is spinning with everything rushing back. Aden, Patricia, Lilly, Alexis, and Benji are standing here in the cold room, where Theone and I have been stuck.
"Are you cold?"
The cold that I've been so scared of, I've actually forgotten it, lost in an indescribable warmth, and now I'm suffocating as everyone gathers around us.
My cheeks are burning under all those gazes, and it worsens as I picture what they've seen when they've entered the room: Theone and I an inch away from... From what? What would have happened if they'd come just five minutes later?
My heart jumps loudly as if trying to tell me what I don't wanna hear, and it's so deafening that I don't hear the questions around, so it's Theone who has to reply for both of us,
"We're fine, don't worry. It's barely been a few minutes that we're here."
"It's been more than one hour and a half, and it's freezing here!" Patricia notes. "We'll prepare you a hot chocolate, and you should go rest."
One hour and a half?! I don't even dare to look at Theone, but from what he's said, he hasn't seen the time pass either. It's like we've escaped time in this narrow room; we've escaped the cold like in a magical cocoon, and there's definitely been something special.
This pulls me out of my daze. "No! I mean, we have a lot of work, and we're fine, don't worry. A hot chocolate will be enough." I'm already burning anyway, and I need to busy my hands.
"Do you know what blocked us here?" Theone asks, his eyes settling on an angel-looking Lilly.
"There was a Jedi saber stuck in the lock," Aden replies, brushing his hands on my arms to warm me up as I join him.
"Benji's saber?!" Patricia furrows her eyebrows as we all turn to the green-eyed boy â the small one, but he looks like the older version when he shrugs.
"Oops? I lost it."
My gaze slides on each of these little elves, but they're too adorable for me to be mad at them, so I suggest, "Let's go back to work! We're fine that's the most important."
I throw one last glance at the cold room, a shiver running down my spine as we leave.
Though I focus on my main worry, at least, the one that I know how to solve.
"Alexis, can I talk to you?"
The dark-haired girl turns to me with wide eyes and an unusual shade of red on her face.
"Yes?" She glances around before finally following me, and I swear this attitude is awakening a hint of suspicion in my stomach, yet there are so many knots there that I don't really mind.
"I'm sorry about what I told you earlier. This was stupid. Theone was right."
Her eyes widen even more if that's possible, and I must admit that even myself, I'm shocked that I'm saying words like these.
"I wasn't thinking, but you're perfect as you are, and black looks really good on you. Don't ever change." I finally smile when I glimpse hers.
"Thank you, but don't worry, I'm not planning to change, and I still have hope that Santa will answer my wish and offer us a family for Christmas." She lifts up her crystalline blue eyes to mine, and I definitely know that those two sisters have my heart as I feel it clench painfully and then swell with hope and determination.
"That's my biggest wish for Christmas too."
My heart melted in this cold room ð Aren't they too cute?! And what do you think of their confessions? â¤
And the little elves, it looks like they are as creative as Penny and determined to set Theone and Penny up... ð Do you think they'll succeed? And do you think Alexis's wish will be granted? ð
I'm so excited for what's to come! If you are too, vote â and comment ⤠because I love to see all your adorable and often funny comments ð
I love you and Happy Winter solstice!! ââ