Page 71 of Tinsel & Tools
I blinked. “What are you doing here? I thought you were spending Christmas with Ryan.”
She dropped her bag next to my luggage, which I still hadn’t unpacked, and kicked off her boots. “Christmas is still two days away, and I couldn’t enjoy the holidays without making sure you were doing okay first.”
I leaned back in my office chair. “We’ve been texting. I told you I was fine.”
“Uh-huh.” She arched a brow and walked toward me. “Because nothing says ‘fine’ like hiding out in your apartment with all the blinds closed, no Christmas lights on, and obsessing over a manuscript about a guy you clearly miss.”
“You’ve been here for five seconds. How do you know I haven’t been doing other things?”
She rolled her eyes. “You act like we haven’t been best friends for years. And also”—she held up her phone—“I’ve been checking your location. You haven’t left the apartment since you got back. Not even to get coffee.”
“That’s what delivery apps are for,” I muttered.
Allie crossed her arms. “You can’t keep brooding in here forever.”
“It’s been three days. Besides, I’m working.” I hooked a thumb toward my laptop.
“Working?” She glanced at the open document on the screen. “How many words have you written today?”
I sighed and dragged a hand over my face. “Fine. Maybe I’m brooding. Creatives are allowed to brood.”
“Don’t pull that tortured artist crap with me,” she shot back. “If you want to sit in your feels for a bit, that’s okay. But you’re not going to do it alone and definitely not without a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.”
“There isn’t any ice cream in the freezer. I already checked.”
She moved back to the entryway and grabbed my coat off the hook by the door. “That’s why we’re going to go out and buy some. I want to do some shopping and check out the window displays. Then we can go get some junk food.”
“I don’t think I’m in the mood for shopping.”
“The fresh air will do you some good.” She dropped the coat on my lap. “Now get a move on.”
There was no point in arguing with her when she was this determined. Thank goodness I’d at least thought to shower this morning.
“Okay.” I let out a breath. “Give me a few minutes to get ready, then we can go.”
I went to my room and changed out of my hoodie and sweatpants and pulled on a black sweater and dark jeans. Near the door, I tugged a beanie low over my head, grabbed my gloves, and threw on my wool overcoat.
“Ready,” I announced as Allie typed away on her phone.
She looked up and smiled. “All right. Let’s go.”
Despite my protests, she dragged me to Fifth Avenue. The sidewalks were crowded, and inside the stores were even worse. It seemed everyone in the tri-state area had waited until the last minute to do their holiday shopping.
A light snow started to fall, and it felt as though the temperature had dropped ten degrees.
“It’s freezing out here.” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my coat and shivered, the cold seeping through the material.
She tugged my sleeve with her free hand. “Just one more stop.”
“Allie, it’s snowing. I really just want to go home.” The whiny tone in my voice was annoying to my own ears, but I didn’t really care.
“But we haven’t gone to Rockefeller Center and taken our picture by the tree.” Her big eyes looked up at me hopefully.
“Do we have to?”
“We’ve taken a picture there every year since we met. In a few years, do you really want to look back and remember why the picture from this year is missing?”
“I hate it when you make sense,” I grumbled.
