Page 68 of Joy to Noel
The tone of Hamlet’smeowchanges slightly, and I try to peek under the bed without moving too abruptly.
“Come on, I hear you, Hamlet. You don’t have to be scared,” Liam continues in a soothing voice. Hamlet has crept a few inches closer to the edge of the bed but is still hesitating.
I suggest, “Maybe you should try the British accent.”
“That works onyou, not Hamlet,” Liam says.Geez, I wish he were here to kiss me senseless right now.
“Has he come out yet?” Liam asks.
“No. He’s a little closer but still hiding,” I say.
“You might just have to give him space and wait him out then,” Liam says. “Hamlet is in a dark place right now. Whatever did you do to offend him so egregiously?”
“I was excited and slammed my hands on the desk. He did not appreciate the sudden loud noise,” I explain, rolling to my back again.
“What were you excited about?” Liam asks.
I fill him in on the email from Elizabeth and what it could mean for the future of MJE. I can’t stop myself from grinning ear to ear as I talk.
“MJ, that’s incredible!” Liam says. “That’s it—we’re celebrating tonight.”
“Celebrating how?” I ask.
“You’ll find out when I pick you up at five-thirty,” Liam teases.
I groan. “You know exactly how much I hate surprises!”
“One hundred percent. Which is why it will be even more fun to not tell you where we’re going,” he replies, mischief in his voice.
Hamlet emerges from under the bed and stands on my stomach.
Meow.
“Hammie has forgiven me, it seems,” I say, and Hamlet meows again loudly enough for Liam to hear. “He says that you should tell me where we’re going so I know what to wear.”
Liamtsks. “I’ll be wearing the suit I wore to work today. Match accordingly.”
He left this morning in his charcoal gray suit and black dress shirt. I remember because that particular combination is my personal kryptonite.
“Fine, fine,” I sigh. “Now go back to being all important and stuff.”
“See you in a few hours, love,” Liam says.
It’s a good thing I’m already lying on the floor, so there’s no damage done when I melt.
I don’t have a full-length mirror in my room, so I drag a chair into my bathroom and stand on top of it to get a view of myself in the mirror. The deprecating inner voice that typically nitpicks everything about my appearance is oddly silent as I consider my reflection.
When Liam refused to tell me where we were going, I briefly considered raiding his closet to steal a hoodie as payback.You’re not going to let me mentally prepare and dress appropriately for the situation? Fine, I’ll wearyourclothes on our date then, just to irk you.
But we’ve been taking our list of rules very seriously, so there’s no way I would actually break the “no stealing his clothes” rule. I haven’tneeded to worry about what to wear with him since we haven’t gone on any real dates—considering we see each other any time we’re both at home. And the fact that there aren’t a whole lot of date-worthy locations in Noel.
Also, there’s the fact that we haven’t really publicized our relationship. Naturally, Clara told Clark, but it’s not like he’s the hub of the rumor mill. Otherwise, our official relationship is still under wraps. I don’t think either of us consciously feels like it’s something to hide, but it also feels a little odd to widely report to a town that isn’t exactly home for either of us.
Due to our lack of official dates, Liam has only ever seen me in casual shorts, leggings, and jeans on rare occasions. I stare in the mirror at the coral flared mini dress that Clara had admired when I first moved here. I don’t know why I brought the summer dress in the first place when I came here at the tail end of winter, but I’m grateful to my subconscious for packing it. It perfectly hugs my body (a necessity since there are no straps to hold it up), accentuating my waist but flaring out with a little fun. I smile. Because I think Liam isn’t going to know what hit him.
I applied makeup with my signature cateye and painted fresh nail polish—mint green with a matching coral color as the accent. I also curled a few waves into my hair, which was probably pointless given the summer humidity. Still, I’ll have one “wow” moment when Liam walks in and sees me in all my styled-hair glory.
Hamlet meows from the floor, looking up at me like I’ve lost my mind.
