“Did everyone have the same idea we did?” Troy grumbled as we stood in line at the movie theater.
“Looks that way.” I shifted on my feet and shoved my hands deep inside my coat pocket.
We had left the party a few minutes before six due to boredom and eagerness to get the hell out of there, and Troy reminded me I said he could drive. The party was just as boring as the years prior, with the only difference being the gift exchange. Sure, there were a few bursts of raucous laughter at some of the wild gifts my coworkers received—my soap cock getting the loudest laugh of all—but once that was done, there was nothing else to do. A few people milled around, poking at the food on their plates, but I knew that was because they weren’t ready to go home to their spouses and children. But for the most part, it had winded down, and most of us were ready to have an extra day away from there.
Now Troy and I were in line to get our tickets, and it seemed like half the town had decided to do the same thing. Great, a big crowd and a Christmas movie—the perfect recipe for a big pile of Nope. Why did I agree to go?
“Everyone seemed surprised you bought the Christmas cock,” Troy told me as we slowly shuffled forward in the line.
“The Christmas cock?” I asked.
“Oh, you didn’t hear? When I was in line to grab some more punch, I heard a few guys talking about how funny the gift you picked out was. They couldn’t believe it was you who picked it out because it was so funny.”
I grunted. “I don’t know why it’s such a surprise. I do have a sense of humor.”
Troy shrugged. “I know you do, but do they? I don’t really see you conversing much with them, so it’s not like they’ve really had a chance to get to know you.”
My body tensed as his words. Give them a chance to know me? Why in the hell would I want to do that? I barely tolerated them at work, so why would I want to spend more time with them than needed. Eight hours was more than enough. They were only my co-workers and nothing more. But yet, wasn’t that what Troy was as well, only a coworker? And now look at us.
“Are you passive-aggressively telling me I need to talk to them more?”
“If that’s what you think I’m doing. Oh, look, we’re next.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that he changed the subject. I was already cranky over standing in a long line to see a Christmas movie. I didn’t want to further sour my mood by thinking about trying to converse with my annoying as fuck coworkers, as well.
“Do they do this every year?” I asked.
“Do what?” Troy pulled his wallet out of his pocket to retrieve his credit card.
“This,” I said and waved my hand around to encompass the theater and line of people. “And you’re not paying for me.”
“They do. But they only do it the two days leading up to Christmas. I forgot Christmas Eve was the most popular night,” he grumbled. “And we discussed this in the car—I invited you, so I’m paying.”
It was an argument we had in the car on the way to the theater. He must’ve assumed I’d given up when I stopped arguing with him, but he was wrong.
“Fine, then I’m buying concession.”
“Are you always so stubborn?” he asked me.
I snorted as we stepped up to the window. Troy requested two tickets before handing his car over to the teller manning the window. After she ripped the tickets in half, she handed us our stubs, and we stepped inside. As soon as we entered, scents of buttery popcorn, salty pretzels, and meaty hot dogs hit my nose. The main area of the theater was packed with people standing in line to grab concession, hanging out in the foyer chatting with their friends and family until their theater allowed them admittance, or playing in the small arcade that was situated off to the side.
“Like you have room to talk. You’re just as stubborn as I am.”
“No way.” Troy shook his head as we got in line behind two couples. The women were chatting animatedly while the men who flanked their sides looked just as miserable as I had been. “You are the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”
“And yet, here we are, about to see a Christmas movie together,” I pointed out as I arched an eyebrow in his direction.
The line moved slowly as we waited to get our popcorn and drinks. I was also eyeing a bag of chocolate-covered raisins while we waited, and I kept noticing how the longer we waited, the more miserable the men in front of me seemed to get. My mood, oddly enough, was the exact opposite. The longer we waited, the more relaxed I seemed to become.
“What is it about Christmas you hate so much?” Troy asked after a few minutes.
The way he asked the question was done in such a way that I almost wanted to tell him. For being someone who seemed to love it as much as I hated it, his voice didn’t hold any malice or disappointment—he just seemed genuinely interested in wanting to know why, wanting to know more about me.
“Uh, I’d rather not discuss it right now.” Or ever, I silently added.
Troy looked around at the crowded theater. “That’s understandable. I’m sorry for being so nosy.”
“There’s no need to apologize. I just don’t want to talk about it around a bunch of strangers.” Or at all.
“Well, if you ever decide you do want to talk about it, I’m here.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Tucked far, far away in the back of my brain.
We finally reached the front of the line, and after grabbing bags of popcorn, large drinks, a few packs of candy, and tons of extra napkins, we made our way inside our designated theater. For the exclusive showing, the place had opened up multiple theaters to accommodate the crowd, so when we went inside ours, it wasn’t nearly as packed as I’d feared. Troy led the way to two empty seats that were near the top of the stadium-style seating and directly in the center. Between waiting in line for our tickets, and then grabbing our food, we ate up a lot of time so we wouldn’t have that long of a wait.
We kept up the small talk and watched people slowly trickle in until the theater was almost packed to capacity and made a huge dent in our popcorn by the time the lights dimmed. Then, loud music blared, and the theater darkened before the screen began to play the opening credits. I shifted in my seat to get more comfortable and cast a quick glance in Troy’s direction. His hand was paused with a piece of popcorn halfway to his mouth, but all of his attention was on the screen. The movie hadn’t even really started, and already he was enthralled. It must’ve been a hell of a movie to capture his attention the way it did. Hell, glancing around, it seemed like it was working its magic over the entire theater. Everyone had quieted down, I didn’t see a single cell phone out, and all their attention was on the screen. It was a Christmas movie for crying out loud. What in the hell could possibly be that good about it?
With a giant roll of my eyes, I shoveled a handful of popcorn into my mouth and debated opening my box of chocolate-covered raisins. Did I really want to be that person? The one who wrinkled plastic or made a loud noise during extreme silence? Or did I suffer and take them home to eat later? Another quick glance around the theater told me it would be best to wait. I didn’t need an angry mob of Christmas lovers to come after me with sharpened candy canes for ruining their precious movie. I gave my box of candy a longing look, shoved more popcorn in my mouth, and settled in my seat. I couldn’t believe it. I was about to willingly watch a Christmas movie. Yup, I had to have been taken over by a pod person. That was the only explanation I could think of. I just hoped whatever was inhabiting my body didn’t start making me eat candy canes. I’d much rather have my chocolate covered raisins.
Chapter 10
Here we come a-caroling, and I cannot fucking sing.
“What did you think?” Troy asked a few hours later when we were walking back to his car.
“It was good.” I shrugged. Because what else could I say? It wasn’t a terrible movie, but it wasn’t one I’d want to watch time and again. “I liked it.”
“The theater picks a different Christmas movie to play e
ach year, and when I saw this year it was White Christmas, I was ecstatic.”
“Why’s that?” I asked and couldn’t help but smile a little at Troy’s enthusiasm over the movie. “Do you like it that much?”
“It’s actually my favorite.”
“And you wanted me to go watch it with you?”
“You sound surprised.”
“Because I am. I’m not exactly holly jolly over here.”
“That’s exactly why I wanted you to come with me to see it. It’s a great movie, and what better way to watch it than with a friend?”
Friend? Is that what he considered me? A friend? I enjoyed his company, and he didn’t seem to despise mine. But still…
“Don’t you have other friends who’d appreciate it more than I would?” I couldn’t help but ask. I was already acting awkward as hell, why not make it worse?
Troy didn’t seem fazed by it. Maybe he was used to my blunt questions and abrasiveness by now. Instead, he pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car with the fob.
“Sure, I do, but I didn’t want to watch it with them. I wanted to watch it with you.”
Troy got inside the car and started the engine while I stood outside trying to reattach my jaw. He was really surprising me lately. Why in the hell would he want to spend time with me? I was a recluse—an introvert. I tried to avoid any conversation at all costs, and everyone at work went out of their way to ignore me. I was alone and had gotten used to remaining that way, but it looked like Troy was going to stir things up for me.
Troy rolled down the passenger side window and yelled out, “are you working on becoming a snowman, or are you going to get into the car?”
“Shut up,” I muttered while he rolled up the window. His laugh came through the glass and got louder when I pulled the door open. “I was enjoying the fresh air.”
As soon as I slammed the door shut and snapped my seatbelt in place, Troy put the car in gear to drive down the road. We rode in comfortable silence until he broke it with a question I loathed hearing.
“What are you doing for Christmas?”
“I’m getting caught up on homework and getting a head start on some other assignments.”
“You go to school?”
I nodded and cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. I have a few more semesters left before I get my degree.”
“What are you going for?”
“Social work.”
“Nice. That’s admirable work, but tomorrow is Christmas, man. You can take a day off from schoolwork to spend time with friends and family.”
I didn’t want to tell him the truth. Hell, I didn’t want to have the conversation at all, but I couldn’t be an asshole and disregard the conversation completely. I wasn’t that fucking rude. Instead, I said, “what about you?”
Troy literally beamed at my question, like headlights on blinding head-beams. I almost raised my hand to shield my eyes. Jesus, did Christmas make him that excited?
“I’m going to my grandmas to spend time with my family. We have lunch and dinner, and then we spend the evening after we eat opening gifts before going caroling with my neighborhood.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.” And…okay, I’ll admit it, it sounded like a lot of fun, too.
He laughed. “It is. But we all bring a dish for each meal, and we all pitch in for clean up as well, so my grandma doesn’t have to do much cooking. She just has a big enough house to accommodate us all.”
“Did your family come from a Norman Rockwell painting or something? Or one of those Hallmark movies? Because that’s how it seems.”
“Not at all. My family has had its share of fights and bickering, but we all share a love for Christmas. Because of that, we’re able to put our differences aside for one day and enjoy the magic of the holiday.”
I nodded. I wouldn’t exactly call Christmas a magical day, otherwise…nope. Wasn’t going to go there. I’d been able to evade the dark thoughts, and I refused to allow them to creep in now. Not when I was actually having a decent evening, even with the Christmas movie and conversation.
“Hey! I have an idea!” he suddenly burst out.
I turned to stare at him, completely startled by his outburst. He seemed so excited by whatever lightbulb moment he just had; he was practically bouncing in his seat. “Should I be worried?”
“Why don’t you come with me?”
“What?”
“Come with me!”
“Why on earth would you want me to come with you?” Was he nuts?
“Why not? We always have tons of food, and my family would love you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Troy. I appreciate the offer, but I do have a lot of schoolwork to do, and as you can tell…I’m not much into Christmas.”
Troy didn’t look convinced, and in the dark interior of the car, I could see the disappointment on his face. “Okay. Well, if you change your mind, the offer still stands.”
“Thank you. I understand some people really get into the holidays, but they aren’t for me. Though, someone keeps trying to rectify that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone keeps leaving little presents on my desk. A candy cane, a tree, little things like that.”
“Any idea who’s doing it?”
“Nope. I tossed the candy cane in the trash because I hate them, but I can’t bring myself to throw the other stuff away. So, I left them on my desk.”
“Well, maybe someone just sees how much you don’t like the holidays and wanted to cheer you up a little?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.” Suddenly I had a thought and turned to pin Troy in place with my gaze. “It’s not you, is it? I know how much you love Christmas.”
Troy laughed. “That does sound fun, and entirely coincidental, but nope. Are you going to try to figure out who it is?”
I thought about his question for a second before shaking my head. “Nah. Not worth my time. Whoever is doing it, I appreciate whatever gesture they’re trying to do, but I know once the new year rolls around, it’ll stop. Maybe they think doing this is helping them get some good karma after a year of fuckery or something,” I said with a chuckle, but Troy didn’t laugh with me.
“I see.” He pulled up to work where I’d left my car and turned to look at me. “Are you sure you don’t want to come tomorrow?”
“I’m sure. Thank you, though, for the offer and for the movie. I had a good time.” It was true. Even though the movie was a holiday one, I still enjoyed myself.
“Of course. I’ll get ahold of you soon.”
I only nodded and got out of his warm car to climb inside my much colder one. It was only when I was inside with the engine started that Troy pulled away as if he wanted to make sure it started okay. Finally, it warmed up enough I could drive home. It was only when I pulled into my complex that I realized I left my white elephant gift in Troy’s car. Not that I wanted the thing—a tool to turn different foods into noodles. I didn’t really cook aside from microwavable meals, so I was in no hurry to get it back. I’d let Troy keep it.
Once I let myself inside my quiet apartment, I sat down heavily on my couch, tossed the unopened box of chocolate-covered raisins on the coffee table, and stared at my textbooks and laptop. I was too tired to worry about tackling the amount of work that was waiting for me, and I’d be able to catch up tomorrow. While everyone else was celebrating a day that signified family time, presents, and an obese man in red, it was just another day on the calendar to me. A dark, dismal day that I couldn’t wait to get over with.
Chapter 11
Santa, baby, slip tequila under the tree for me. I need to be a drunk boy. Santa, baby, hurry to the liquor store tonight.
I woke up as soon as the sun hit my window and groaned when I realized what day it was—December twenty-fifth, the darkest day on my internal calendar. A day I dreaded more than a trip to the dentist. As I laid there in bed, the memories I kept at bay tried to come back, but I refused to allow them to inf
iltrate my mind.
“Next year,” I said out loud to myself, “next year, I’ll take a vacation.”
It was a promise I told myself every year, and every year I stayed put because life got in the way. But not next year. Next year I was determined to get the fuck out of town. Yeah, I couldn’t run away from my memories or Christmas, but it would sure make the day much more bearable while sipping a fruity drink on a white sandy beach. If I closed my eyes, I could smell the saltiness of the ocean, feel the gritty sand and warm sun on my skin, and hear the call of the seagulls flying overhead as the waves crashed into the shore. Yup, I definitely needed to get away. School would be done by then, and I would no longer be at the call center—hopefully—so I could make a vacation happen.
Even though I was off work and really not on a schedule, I knew my schoolwork was awaiting me, so I finally dragged my ass out of bed. After doing my morning ritual in the bathroom, I trudged to the kitchen, where I poured myself a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. Once I had my breakfast, I made my way to the living room and settled on the couch. The remote was on the coffee table, but I didn’t bother turning on the television, even for background noise. I knew what would be on every channel, so there was no point in wasting my time channel surfing. I had stacks of DVDs I could sort through if I wanted to watch something. Instead, I ate a few bites of my fruity, sugary cereal before grabbing my laptop to get to work.
Bite Me, Santa Page 5