KIRA

“What do you mean, who is this man? He is Brad… my fiance,” I said with an enormous lump in my throat. I was hoping Granny wouldn’t see.

“You weren’t expecting him, were you?” She inquired.

“We had a quarrel yesterday. No big deal…” I confessed, which wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Oh, I see. Well, you will sort things out. Lovers often fight, right?”

“Right…”

I hated how I felt like an open book in front of her. Maybe Granny’s wisdom had something to say here, too. But Granny didn’t give up so quickly. She felt there was more to it.

“There’s more to quitting your job story than you first told us, isn’t there?” she asked and I hated how closer to the truth she came.

“Although he may seem a sweet man, he is not the ideal fit for me… Granny,” I confessed with almost teary eyes. Why was I about to cry? It wasn’t like he was really my fiance.

Being all Gabriel needed was something I excelled at. However, because I wasn’t receiving what I needed in return and he couldn’t provide it for me, was slowly killing me from the inside out.

“I understand my dear, only the twinkle in your eyes, the one you came with three years ago is no more”

“Maybe that’s why it’s time for me to move on. Maybe three years of continuous work wasn’t the best idea,” I admitted playing with my fingers like when I was little and nervous. Granny knew me so well through slight gestures that seemed meaningless to me.

I met Gabriel in a restaurant where my fiancé at the time had dumped me. He was struggling to understand a marketing campaign. So I approached him without realizing that it would sign my own sentence to suffering.

Even then, I realized he was as beautiful and attractive as he was demanding.

But the little old me wanted to break the shell. And once I broke it, it was never the same.

So I told Granny the most predictable version of my resignation while intentionally leaving out the juicy details. There was no need to worry her any further.

Like the moments when we were alone in his office, the way my body vibrated at his every touch. Or how he’d always find reasons to work late into the night just so we could have privacy. But Gabriel never crossed that line. Somehow, maybe through my gestures, I didn’t let him either.

Sometimes it was so clear, like daylight, that work for him came first. Even now that I resigned, around the holidays, he came after me not to spend precious time with me and my family but to take me back into the company. That will never happen. At Hollow Peak, there were never any miracles.

I could hear wild laughter coming from the living area, where everyone was adorning the tree, and I started paying attention to Gabriel’s voice in the background.

I did not know what the night would bring or how I would spend it in his company when he was obviously furious with me but able to hide it with burning kisses.

Granny caught my lost look and moved closer to me, placing her warm hand on my shoulder. It was so comforting.

“It’s going to be alright, my dear. As soon as you decide what you want out of life, it’ll get better and better. Until then, live in the moment. Brad seems like a good man.”

I wish I could tell her it would not be alright. It couldn’t have been when I was out of a job and the man in the next room wasn’t Brad. Brad didn’t even exist. That was just the man I was so attracted to, even though I knew maybe it was my brains that mattered to him and how I was always saving his business.

“Kira”

When Gabriel called my name in a deliberate, deep voice, my heart jumped.

He was standing in the doorway when I swung around and noticed him.

“Yes?”

“You enjoy hanging the star from the tree, according to your mother”

“You enjoy hanging the star from the tree, according to your mother” He appeared to be struggling to understand what he was witnessing in my family and what he already knew about me and my life in London.

I forced a swallow.

“Yes, they like it,” I informed him, emphasizing the word they.

“Come, cheer up your mum!”

“Go on, my dear, go,” Granny said in her warm voice.

Gabriel’s gaze turned playful. He no longer had any of that harsh, demanding CEO look. Was I wrong about him? No, I wasn’t. He was just playing his part well.

“Come on, baby! Time to stop making people wait,” said Gabriel who, besides the playful look, also wore a big smile.

Gabriel was just waiting for me to throw myself into his arms. And that’s pretty much what was going to happen because the top of the tree was a pretty long way from where I could reach it. And that baby coming from him…

I had no choice but to approach and comply. As it was, Granny was suspicious. I wasn’t about to give her any more reason to.

I couldn’t understand why I was so shy about going near Gabriel. He was supposed to be my fiancé and somehow I had to keep up these appearances in front of my family.

“Okay...” I whispered, taking a few steps towards him. As soon as he saw me next to him, he grabbed my waist and lifted me easily. I let out a brief chuckle just as I felt the warmth of his palms. The faster I put the star up, the quicker he would put me down.

But somehow I wasn’t ready to give up his arms.

“There you go, love,” he said smiling.

This image of the perfect couple was getting on my nerves. The rest of the evening, we sang carols, ate gingerbread and brownies, and drank fresh orange juice. The typical evening here in Hollow Peak, whether it was Christmas.

“So, my dear Brad,” mom started the conversation again. More likely torture. “You are my daughter’s fiance. That means we will have a wedding soon?” she asked and not just I swallowed hard, but I choked on a brownie too.

“Darling, are you alright?” Gabriel asked, patting me on my back to ease the cough.

“I’m fine...my dear. Mother, how can you ask such a thing? We’re in the getting-to-know-you phase yet.”

“Well, nonsense, my dear. If you ask me, your mother’s right. We’ve known each other long enough. Besides, we’ve been together long enough to tie the knot.”

Dear God, save me from this too!

“Wow, Brad, I love the way you think. There’s plenty of room here in Hollow Peak for the miracle to happen.”

“Mom, please stop! What will Brad think?”

“Well, I don’t have what else to think but that your family is wonderful and that they care about you,” Gabriel said with a smile in the corner of his mouth that only I saw. And I, in turn, lectured him with just a look.

Already this gathering of ours wasn’t so interesting and boring anymore. It was becoming dangerous. Well, dangerous for me.

“Brad, what a nice thing to say,” mom beamed with a smile from ear to ear.

“And not only saying. I already hear the wedding bells”

“Oh, come on!” I snapped, as he was literally laughing.

Somehow, this made all of us smile, and for the first time in years, I could see and hear a genuine smile from Gabriel.

And I could also say he was really handsome while doing it.

When the cookies and juice ran out, I knew what I feared most was coming.

“My darlings, you must be exhausted. You’ve both come a very long way to get here. Maybe it’s time to retire. We have a full day tomorrow.”

I didn’t even have time to think that Granny had gotten close to me.

“Your mother’s right. It’s time to rest. Make her happy and listen to her. And take the young man next to you to your room and let him make you happy.”