Page 22 of Unwrapped

“You wear enough red and green for the both of us, but,” I reach over and put my hand between her thighs, “maybe we can sneak away for a night. I know a place in New Hampshire that a Christmas addict like yourself would love.”

“Maybe,” she says, giving me a sly look before glancing away. When she sees where I’m heading, she looks back at me in surprise.

“You’re getting on the turnpike? Where are you taking me?”

I ignore her and skip to the next song. “Not even someone as beautiful as you can get me to listen to the Chipmunks.”

^^^^

She’s pure nervous excitement when I pull into the parking lot of Perigold. By the time I walk to her side of the truck, she’s so busy looking at the building, she doesn’t realize that I’ve opened the door for her.

“Madam,” I say, clearing my throat. She looks at me, pulls out her phone, and punches in the name of the store. I quickly snatch it from her and put it in my pocket. “We have an appointment.”

“Appointment? Who makes an appointment at a furniture store?”

“I do.” I unbuckle her seatbelt and lift her out of the car. She’s wearing a pair of tan Uggs, the kind with the fur that comes to the middle of the calves. She looks from the building and back to me, most likely thinking about her next words, but when a few snowflakes suddenly start to fall, she shrieks in awe and spins around with her head lifted toward the sky.

While she’s looking around in wonderment, I lace our fingers together and walk us inside the building, where we are greeted by a middle-aged woman by the name of Nancy.

“And who is this?” Nancy asks, extending her hand to Miranda.

“This is my girlfriend, Miranda,” I say. Instead of taking Nancy’s hand, Miranda looks at me, opening her eyes wide. I nudge her ribs with my elbow, and she finally snaps out of it and shakes Nancy’s hand.

“Miranda,” Nancy says. “What a beautiful name, and you are one lucky girl.” Nancy wiggles her brows at Miranda and reaches up to pat my face.

“Nancy,” I say, “show us your best sectionals.”

For the first few minutes, Miranda walks next to me in a daze, her hand firmly in mine. She doesn’t say much until Nancy walks us into a room with nothing but sectionals. As soon as we step into the room, she pulls her hand from mine and proceeds to sit on every sectional. She even lies down on the ones she really likes.

Nancy hands us a scanner, telling us to scan whatever we’re interested in. For the next hour, Miranda goes on a scanning spree. As long as I nod at something she likes, she scans it. Like a kid in a candy shop, she scans furniture for every room in the house, including my empty office. It’s not until we’re almost done that something dawns on her.

“Nick,” she whispers, “there are no prices on anything.” I’ve noticed she has a nervous tic. Whenever something is bothering her, she bites on one of her thumbnails.

“Did you notice that, too?” I whisper back to her. “Let’s go settle up with Nancy so we can go to lunch. And those Christmas decorations aren’t going to buy themselves, pretty girl. My house is bare, and you’re my last hope.”

Nancy comes and escorts us to her office and prints out everything we’ve scanned. She turns on her computer screen, finds the layout of my house I provided, and arranges everything we’ve scanned in their respective rooms.

“Wow,” Miranda says, clearly impressed.

“I’ll take everything, Nancy.” Nancy rubs her hands together, smiling like a Cheshire cat at the thought of her commission. She prints out the invoice, laying it on her desk for me to review.

Miranda slides her chair so close to mine, the armrests touch. I know the exact moment she sees the total amount, because she makes a loud choking while covering her mouth with both hands.

I lift slightly to pull my wallet out of my back pocket, and as I pull out my black American Express, I look up to find Nancy rubbing her fingertips together as she waits for the card. As soon as I put it in her hands, she jumps out of her seat and runs out of the room.

I put my arm around Miranda and pull her closer. She looks up at me, her big brown eyes marred with confusion. I lean down and kiss her full lips. As soon as she opens her mouth to me, Nancy returns with something for me to sign.

Once everything is done, she assures me everything will be delivered by Tuesday. She shakes both our hands and offers Miranda her card for any future needs.

Neither one of us speaks. She doesn’t bother to stop to admire the falling snow that’s now left a soft blanket on the ground. I open the door for her, and she climbs in. By the time I let myself in the car, she’s looking straight ahead with that damn fingernail in her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” I say as I start the car but make no move to leave the parking lot. “And don’t say nothing. Something’s obviously wrong.”

She finally puts her hands down and turns her body to face me.

“That was a lot of money. I’ve never even heard of this place.”

“I wouldn’t have bought it if I couldn’t afford it, Miranda. It’s not a big deal.”

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