Page 36 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

“What’s aparol?”

Evan’s not sure if he should explain that his family never gets into the holiday spirit like the Ramoses do. The most the Saatchis ever did to decorate was hang a “Christmas tree” made out of driftwood on the wall. No lights, no pine needles, no candles. And then after the divorce, his dad didn’t keep up with that tradition either.

“Aparolis an ornamental star lantern,” Mrs. Ramos says.

“Oh. Okay, then leave it to me!”

Mrs. Ramos goes back inside, and already Evan’s wondering if it’s too late to run home to grab a jacket. The sky is unusually gray and chilly for the Bay Area. If he’d known he’d be working outside all day, he would have worn more layers. His hoodie does a poor job keeping out the rain as it barely falls—spits, really—on Evan as he climbs the ladder, balancing precariously, to hang the lights across the gutter on the roof.

It’s slow-going, and his fingers are numb by the time he’s secured one string of lights to another, but he won’t be caught dead complaining about it.

Shivering, his whole body tense from the cold, Evan climbs the ladder again with another bundle of lights. This high up, he’s level with the bay window on the second floor, and he can see right into the living room, where it looks sowarm and inviting. Their Christmas tree stands in full view of the window, capturing the spirit of the holiday with pale twinkling lights.

He doesn’t mean to be a creep, but he keeps watching as Dalisay comes into view carrying a box of ornaments. She completes the welcoming scene in her cozy sweatpants and hoodie, and unprompted, his chest tightens with longing. Through the glass, he watches her laugh and joke with Nicole as they hang up some handmade ornaments, likely from their childhood, on the tree. When she reaches up to hang one on a higher branch, Dalisay’s hoodie rises and reveals the small of her back. Her skin looks warm and soft, and a thrill goes up Evan’s spine. He looks away, for her sake.

Like the changing of the season, there’s been a shift inside of Evan. He’s been thinking less and less about the bet. Seeing Dalisay every day for servitude has done something to him, made something malleable. He can’t quite place what exactly it is, just that he knows it’s different than before and that it wasn’t one thing that made it happen but a matter of time.

Whatever change this is, Evan isn’t sure what to make of it.

While he gets back to hanging the lights, Dalisay notices him through the window and her face brightens as she smiles at him. A real smile. And all at once, he can’t help but wonder … Is she actually starting to like him?

He can’t be imagining it, can he? The way her dimples get deeper and her eyes light up like that when she sees him, what else could it be? If anything, they’ve become friendlier toward each other, but—Evan reminds himself—that doesn’t mean anything. They were both clear that there weren’t anystrings attached to this bet, and he intends to uphold his side of the bargain.

She said no; he would always respect that. After this is all over, they can go their separate ways. He can’t read into anything so simple as a smile. It wouldn’t do anything good for his heart.

By the time he’s done, the Ramos house looks like it belongs on a Christmas card festooned with warm yellow lights. All that’s needed to complete the picture is snow. Of course, there’s no chance of that, but Evan amuses himself with the idea of flakes falling from the dreary gray sky. Crazier things have happened to him recently.

By the time he brings the ladder back into the garage, it’s already dusk, and Evan can’t feel his fingers anymore. He breathes some feeling back into them by cupping them over his mouth and blowing. All he wants to do is get indoors to warm up, but he remembers he has to bring theparolto the living room. He searches everywhere in the garage, opening and closing seemingly every box labeled “Christmas” until finally he finds it inside the last one, cradled with packing peanuts and copious amounts of tissue paper.

When Mrs. Ramos said it was ornamental, he expected something small, but theparolis huge, the diameter as long as his forearm, and fragile. While the frame is made of aluminum, the faces are made of some kind of translucent pink shell and there’s a lightbulb inside. It’ll look incredible when it’s lit up, that’s for sure.

Eager to finally get warm, Evan carries theparolinto the house with numb fingers and Daniel stands with a mug of hot chocolate, greeting him from the top of the stairs. “All set?”

“Thanks for all your help,” Evan teases as he kicks off his shoes.

“You had it covered,” says Daniel. “Careful with that.”

“I’ve got it. No problem.” He climbs the stairs and spots Dalisay and Nicole still in the living room, debating what kind of Christmas music they should play, and Dalisay smiles again when she sees him. Evan’s body feels just like his fingers, tingly.

“That’s a family heirloom,” says Daniel to Evan.

“I said I got it.”

Just then, Little Luis comes tearing from around the Christmas tree, running full tilt for Evan as he chases his fire truck rolling across the floor. Evan’s too busy staring at Dalisay to notice quick enough. By the time he does, it’s too late.

The toddler knocks into his shin, and Evan pulls back before he can do any harm, but he loses his balance.

Evan tips forward, and so does theparol. It slips from his numb fingers and the star hits the floor, fracturing into pieces like glass.

Little Luis’s screams bring Melinda running. Everyone’s asking what happened.

Evan tries to apologize, but the toddler is inconsolable. At least he’s unhurt. Evan doesn’t know what to do as Melinda carries Little Luis to another room to calm him down.

“What is it? What happened?” Mrs. Ramos appears, wide-eyed. She must have heard the commotion. Then she gasps and covers her mouth at the sight of theparol.

Pieces of shell glitter on the floor, the bulb inside broken too. The only thing that remains is the skeletal frame of the star, but it’s dented now.

“I am so,sosorry,” Evan says. His brain finally starts working again as he scrambles to pick up the pieces. But Mrs. Ramos rushes to him, hands fluttering.

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