Page 97 of Daydream

“Can you let me have this moment? Tell me you’re proud of me for not being a people pleaser to the person who made me a people pleaser!”

“I’m proud of you. I’ll be so proud when you finish getting ready so we’re not late. That will reallypleaseme.”

“You’re annoying,” I grumble, turning to my messy floor.

He laughs. “That’s not very festive.”

WHEN THE HIGHWAY SIGNS SAYMalibu, I realize I have no idea what he has in store for us.

Henry ignores all my questions as we pull up to the valet at a fancy hotel. He walks around the car to open my door, helping me as our overnight bags are collected from the trunk.

“This is a really nice place,” I whisper to him as we climb the carpeted staircase to the lobby entrance. With only a couple of days until Christmas, there’s an expensive-looking red bow and various festive ornaments decorating the entrance. “I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere this fancy before.”

Thankfully, when Henry arrived at my house wearing dress pants and a shirt, I realized I needed to wear and pack something besides sweatpants.

“You work at The Huntington,” he says, like I’m ridiculous.

“That isn’t the same thing! I think I’m underdressed.”

“I don’t gamble, but if I did, I would bet you that Aurora calls you a goddess or tells you she wants to bow at your feet in the first ninety seconds. You look incredible, Halle. Like you always do.”

“Thank you, I’m ju— Wait! Is Aurora here?”

Henry groans, stopping on the last step before the doors. “Oh fuck. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. I mean, she’s never on time, so if I tell you she isn’t here, I’m unlikely to be lying. C’mon.”

He takes my hand and leads me into the hotel lobby, where to my surprise and confusion, Aurora and Russ are standing. “Oh my God.”

“Merry Friendsmas! Or Christmas Eve eve!” Aurora says as she approaches me, immediately pulling me into a hug. “I love that color on you. You look incredible! I sort of want to bow at your feet. Why do you look so powerful and goddessy?”

“Told you. Why do you ever doubt me?” Henry mutters beside me. I nudge him with my shoulder playfully, and he keeps me close by wrapping his arm around my waist. He looks at our friends. “I didn’t think you’d be on time.”

“You’re one to talk,” Aurora says. “You’re constantly showing up late!”

“I’m late because I don’t want to go, not because I can’t be ready on time. It’s different, Aurora,” Henry counters. Which, to be fair to him,istrue.

“We’re early because Ror wanted to get away from the sibling rivalry,” Russ explains, trying his hardest not to laugh.

Aurora rolls her eyes, and I can’t help but ask because Aurora’s family life is already a little strained. “Elsa?”

“God, no. My sister doesn’t do family; she’s in the Maldives. It’s that goddamn cat my mom stole.” Aurora holds up her arm to show us multiple angry-looking scratches covering the area between her wrist and elbow. “There isn’t even any rivalry; he’s already won, andhe knows it. He left a dead mouse in one of my shoes last night. Mom keeps trying to tell me it’s good luck and to stop being so negative all the time.”

“Have you considered that you’ve done something to offend the cat?” Henry asks her, looking at her phone screen as she holds up—yep, that’s a dead mouse in a shoe.

“Why are you victim blaming me? On Friendsmas?” Aurora says.

“Okay, I sense a debate brewing, and I would like to eat before the year ends, so maybe we should let them know we’re here,” Russ says, quickly interjecting between his girlfriend and best friend.

It’s funny, because Henry and Aurora seem to really like arguing with each other. I’ve watched them turn the smallest of things into a debate where their sole aim was to annoy each other as much as possible. As the peacekeeper in my family, I can confirm with absolute certainty that they act like siblings. Henry always says he’s glad he’s an only child without realizing he has a younger sister in Aurora and an older sister in Anastasia.

The amount of food we order is excessive, but somehow, we manage to eat it all. Henry has booked us a night at the hotel, so knowing my bags are upstairs makes Aurora try to convince me to get changed into pajamas with her to accommodate her food baby. It takes longer than it should to make her accept that the restaurant wouldn’t like that. By the time Henry and I are heading upstairs to our room, any of the negative feelings about not spending this time with my family are long gone.

Our bags are sitting by the door, and when we enter our room, I see several identically wrapped presents under a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the corner.

“It feels illegal to be thinking about opening presents before Christmas,” I say, watching Henry pick them up from the floor and put them on the bed. “What are you doing?”

“Breaking the law. Come sit.” He pats the bed beside the pile andit’s a conscious effort not to moan when my butt sinks into the mattress. Gently taking my ankle, Henry unstraps my shoe and drops it onto the floor behind him, repeating with my other foot.

I watch him shrug off his blazer and kick off his own shoes, followed by undoing another button of his shirt and rolling up the sleeves. He climbs onto the bed beside me, looking more like he’s going to be modeling for a magazine than hanging out with me. “It might be the wine talking, but you aresobeautiful,” I say. “Like you should be on magazine covers.”

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