Page 38 of Safer Together
I reach up and collect my hair from my shoulders holding it up high on my head. He then reaches around and places the diamonds around my neck and fastens the clasp. It sits just below my collarbone. In the light of the fire it glistens like crazy. I reach up a hand to touch it to make sure it is real, and the hard metal feel confirms it is.
I feel a tear forming in my eye. Before I get choked up, I say my piece. “Oh, Elliot, I love you and I love this necklace. I’m never going to take it off.” I leap into his arms and wrap my own around his neck and my legs around his waist, holding him close to me. He catches me easily and hugs me hard. In this moment I don’t know how life can get any better. He loves the photo; for that I am so very happy. It wasn’t an expensive gift and yet he appreciates it.
I let my legs slip from around his waist and drop to the floor, once I feel my feet touch solid ground, I unwrap my arms too. I glance outside through the window and note it is getting dark, a quick look at the clock above the mantle reveals it is almost 6:00 pm. “Are you hungry, babe? Should we cook something for dinner?” I ask.
Looking at his watch to confirm the time he responds, “Sounds like a plan. The fridge is fully stocked in preparation for tomorrow, so let’s go throw something together.”
We walk into the kitchen and open the fridge. He wasn’t overstating when he said the fridge was fully stocked. It is almost overflowing with fruits and vegetables, a turkey that is already on a baking tray with onions and garlic around it; on closer inspection it had also already been stuffed, no doubt thanks to Andrew. Elliot retrieves a couple of tomatoes from the crisper, a block of cheese and a leg of ham. “Feel like a toasted sandwich? I figure we are going to eat our weight in food tomorrow.”
I grab the fresh loaf of crusty bread from the pantry and place it on the kitchen island. “Sounds great. I’ll get the toaster” I find what I am looking for in the large cupboard next to the oven. We set to work toasting bread and slicing tomatoes. While waiting, I select two glasses and fill them with filtered water from the fridge. Elliot pulls his carving knife from the block and commences slicing the ham. The toast slices pop and I butter them, layering the ingredients and finishing with salt and pepper. We eat these while standing in the kitchen. Once we have eaten our fill, I load the dishwasher with all of our dirty dishes. “Should we prepare any of tomorrow’s meals?” I ask.
“I’ll put the turkey in the oven early tomorrow morning. Andrew made sure to tell me to give it at least two hours. We can prepare dessert in the morning too. Trifle or pavlova. I have the ingredients for both.”
I rub my hands together in eagerness, hearing those yummy desserts. “I can prepare them tomorrow morning, no problem. What time are your family arriving?” I am hoping not too early. I don’t want them hovering while we are cooking.
“When we spoke last, they mentioned around 10:00 am. That way we have time to open our presents prior to eating lunch.” He looks over at our pile of gift bags which he had moved to the dining table. “Speaking of gifts, I still need to wrap a few items. Want to help me?”
“Of course. Where do you keep your wrapping paper and tape?” I ask. He wanders away and comes back a few minutes later with a long bag. I meet him as he places it on the table and opens it. Inside are several rolls of Christmas paper, some ribbons, gift tags and tape. We then pull out the gifts that still need wrapping; a Canon Camera and two lenses, a Nespresso coffee machine with several packets of coffee pods, two Apple iPads, and a few smaller items that Elliot referred to as stocking fillers: wallets, ties, scarves and a couple of board games.
We set to work wrapping the larger items first and then continuing on with the smaller ones. For the better part of an hour we are concentrating on the task at hand. I wrap and add ribbon and then I pass them over to Elliot so he can write on the labels, since they were for his family. I do notice that each time he signs the label ‘Love Elliot & Angela,’ I feel my cheeks go red and a smile forming on my face. He, of course, chooses that moment to look over at me and see my facial expression. “What are you smiling about?” he asks.
“I’m just surprised you’re signing from both of us when, in fact, you purchased them all with your money.”
He shrugs when I finish speaking, “You helped pick them out, therefore they are from you, too.”
I want to make a comment about how that didn’t matter, instead I go smartass instead, and change the subject. “Am I wrapping any of my own gifts?”
His answering smile is gorgeous, “I wouldn’t do that. I already wrapped yours and placed them under the tree among the others.” He indicates with his hand the beautifully decorated tree in the corner of the room with presents galore underneath. I stand up from the table and make an attempt to walk over to the tree, but his hand snakes out and grabs me before I get farther then two steps. “No snooping,” he chastises me in a playful way.
“Okay, I promise I won’t snoop.”
I gather up an armful of parcels and walk over to the edge of the tree and place them among the others, only glancing at the others looking for my name. I don’t see it once. Elliot is beside me with the remaining gifts and I pluck them out of his arms and set them in too. “All done. Do you want to watch a movie before bed?” he asks.
It was far too early to go to sleep yet, and since I don’t have any other ideas on how to fill in the evening, I decide how can I refuse? “Sounds like a plan. What are you thinking about watching?”
He leads me into his media room, a soundproofed room attached to the main hallway. His large television takes up residence on the main wall, and underneath is a cabinet running the full length of the room at knee height. He slides open one end of the cabinet and it folds to the middle; he then completes the same action on the other end with the two folds coming together in the center. The cabinet appears to be full, but the lack of light makes it hard to make out what is inside. He then steps back and turns on the light so we can see better. It is revealed that the cabinets are full of DVDs, hundreds of them in fact.
I kneel on the ground in front of the cabinet to get a closer look and soon discover they are alphabetized. And if there is a collection like the Lord of The Rings trilogy, which I notice immediately as it is one of my favorites, they are all together. “Are all of these movies?” I ask, waving my hand at the array of cases in front of me.
“Not all of them. I have some television series too. Mainly on this side” he positions his hand towards the right-hand side of the cabinet.
“I thought I had a collection, but it’s got nothing on yours” I find several titles that are familiar to me at once, and quite a few I also have back home. It is quite a diverse collection; comedies are quite plentiful, as are actions, a couple of horror films I have heard of are sitting together which I quickly scan past, not being a fan of the genre. Animations and romantic comedies are also present, however not in as great a number.
I do notice that there are quite a few classics: Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Wizard of Oz, all films that are timeless. By the time I reach the television series part of the cabinet I am sure to see a variety and that is indeed the case. I run my hand along the spines of the cases looking at each of the titles. If I had looked at every single DVD in those cabinets, it would have taken me at least an hour. Instead I sit back on my heels and hold my hands up in a gesture of not knowing. “I don’t know what to pick—your collection is so diverse.”
He clicks his tongue in response. “That it is. I enjoy watching movies. It’s how I spend most of my weekends. That’s why I have a large collection. I have seen every one of these at least once.”
“I believe that you have. Is it’s lady’s choice then?” I wiggle my eyebrows hoping he will say yes. I can see the movie I want to watch: the talented Sandra Bullock and the dashing Ryan Reynolds.
“Sure, you choose.”
As soon as he says yes, I lean back and snatch out “The Proposal.” It is one of my favorites. “I have seen this movie a few times and it always makes me laugh.” I pass the DVD to Elliot to set it up. I stand up and make my way to the oversized couch, I sit down, and it is amazingly comfortable. I push myself back into the cushions and draw my feet up at my right, there is plenty of room on my left if he wants to sit by me, however I also leave both single chairs, too, just in case he wants space.
Once the DVD previews are playing on the screen, Elliot dims the lights and comes to sit next to me on the couch, leaving his legs overhanging the seat. “I may or may not quote this movie, word for word. Just wanted to give you a heads up.” I can’t help but laugh at his statement “What’s so funny?” he asks.
Once I get my laughter under control I say, “Don’t worry, it’s possible I will, too.” My laughter starts again and he joins in with me.
We watch the movie together, laughing and quoting several lines of the film. By the time the end credits are rolling across the screen I am leaning against him with his arm around my waist, as we enjoy the warmth of each other’s bodies. The disc menu pops up along with the accompanying music which indicates it is time to either put another movie on or head to bed.
