Extraordinary Love

Chapter 40

Song: 4 Minutes by Avant

Christopher

It had been pretty quiet, a quiet he hadn't experienced in a while with the lodgers in his house. Joyce was out and about, running around the city doing last-minute Christmas shopping. Though she was disappointed in Chris at the moment, she was a faithful woman and wanted a cheerful Christmas celebration. She would put her feelings aside for her savior. Robyn hadn't been around much either. All of her things were packed up and ready to go. She would leave tomorrow evening for rehab and wanted to spend as much time as she could with her baby so she was up at the hospital. 

Chris spent his day moping around his house, as he had the day before that and the day before that one. He didn't want to hear any Christmas carols or watch any of the overplayed movies. He dreaded his mother asking him to sing his rendition of This Christmas, an annual tradition he usually enjoyed as it was his favorite holiday song. He just wasn't in the festive mood. All he could think about was Aaliyah and think about her not thinking about him. He had been checking their message thread compulsively hoping something new would appear like if he opened and closed it enough times she would have to answer. When he did finally get a message from her, he could barely believe his own eyes.

Aaliyah: Can we talk?

They weren't exactly the words that he was hoping to see but it was a start. He was optimistic. 

Chris: Yeah of course. When? Where? I can come over right now.

He was already searching for his keys, patting down his pockets. 

Aaliyah: No I'll come over there. Be there in 30.

Thirty minutes.

He rushed up to his room, taking the stairs two by two to go freshen up.  He took a shower, shaved his face to get rid of the prickly stubble that had started to poke through and spritzed on some of Aaliyah's favorite cologne.

Downstairs he closed all of the extra doors, took out the trash and sprayed Febreeze all over the house. Satisfied, he turned the tv on and sat on the arm of the couch as it neared the thirty minutes. Five minutes passed of him tapping his foot against the floor. He turned the tv off so he could hear just in case she knocked instead of ringing the doorbell. Another five passed. Chris got up to stand in the hallway, which turned into waiting by the door as he crept closer and closer. Finally, over forty-five minutes since he had responded to her text, she knocked. 

He waited a few seconds to make it seem as if he had walked from some other part of the house to answer it and then opened up the door. 

She looked good, dressed up more than usual. She had straightened her hair and had on a formal dress. He wondered what her family was up to for the holidays. She definitely wasn't going to spend it with Estella but were the Hamptons going to have dinner? Would Nico be invited, taking the spot of Aaliyah's plus one instead of him?

"You look beautiful." He complimented her.

She didn't respond, instead, her eyes looking around the place as she stepped inside. The house was about as festive as he was at the moment. He didn't even have up a string of lights. 

"Where's Desi?" Chris asked, following her down the hall and into the living room. "I've missed her."

"She's with her uncle."

Chris felt like he was walking on eggshells, trying to find a topic to talk about that didn't seem like a sore spot. There were too many elephants in this room. It was inevitable that one of them was going to make a stink sooner or later.

"Merry Christmas," he offered up. It was Christmas Eve and he had been worried that he wasn't going to get to see her for the holidays from her silence. He would've liked to see Desi too but he'd take this small win.