Page 4 of All the Way
“Nothing. She had on nothing. All I did was pull her into a bedroom, she pulled down my pants and sat down on my lap, and I could feel that wet pussy right there. It put me right into the holiday spirit.” He rolls the end of the cigarette around in his mouth.
“Damn,” I say. “I haven’t been to a holiday party like that in a while. Not since college.”
“You should come, man. You’d fucking love it. It would get your mind off whatever’s bothering you.” He stomps out his cigarette under a heavy, uneven foot. “Unless you got someone at home.”
“No one at home except my old man, and we don’t do anything for Christmas.” I’ve tried not to let on that the holidays aren’t my favorite time of year, but Josh seems to have noticed. Never pegged him for the emotionally intelligent type.
“So come with me. I have a girl in mind for you who you’d love. Long red hair, green eyes. Last year she wore this skin-tight emerald sequined dress that stopped right under her ass. You could see her thong when she bent down to pick up her Secret Santa gift from under the tree,” Josh says.
“Not tonight, man. Maybe another time.” I take out my phone to grab his number. He’s a good guy, even though he might be a little crude.
“Sorry miss,” Josh says to someone walking up to us, “not a lot of selection right now. You should have thought about buying a tree earlier. It’s Christmas Eve.”
“Oh, it’s okay! I’m just happy I caught you!” Her voice is frantic, but sweet and familiar, and as I look up from my phone, she stops dead in her tracks. “Chris?”
It’s Jess. The girl I’ve been hung up on for over a year now, who I used to go on late evening drives with in her pickup, blasting music and singing our lungs out. Who I used to drive to the airport with and park at the end of the tarmac and lie in the bed of the truck beside her, watching the planes as they flew over us. That Jess.
“Chris. That is you, right?” she asks again.
“Yeah. Wow, Jess. I guess I just didn’t expect to see you back here.” I put my phone into my pocket as she throws her arms around my neck, nearly pouncing on me. She smells just like Christmas, and it’s something I haven’t been close to in awhile. It’s spicy and sweet, and fresh like pure snow and calm air.
“I just got in this afternoon!” she says, pulling away from me, her hands on my arms. “It’s been a year, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I say, “a year.”
“Where the hell are you manners?” Josh says, stepping next to me and putting out a hand to Jess. “I’m some random nobody. Would you like to purchase a Christmas tree? We have only the best trees in this part of the state, and I only hope we can find you a tree as beautiful as yourself.”
“I’m Jess. It’s nice to meet you. You’re clearly a better salesman than Chris is.” She’s beaming with a bright smile, shining eyes and a dusting of pink across her cheeks and nose.
“I just know a discerning customer when I see one,” Josh says. “How do you know my pal Chris here?”
“It’s complicated,” I say without thinking. “I didn’t know you were coming home this year.”
“Yeah,” she says, adjusting her scarf. “It was kind of a last-minute thing. You still living with your dad?”
My breath rises and falls deep inside my chest. Now I’m glad I polished off those last few beers, and I wish I had another to dull the feeling stirring inside me. “So you’re here to buy a tree?”
“Miss, right this way.” Josh guides her through the snow over to the two trees we have left on display. Jess looks back at me for a lifeline, but she looks away faster than I can figure out what I want to say to her next. I follow behind her and Josh, but I keep my distance.
“You know procrastinating on something as important as a Christmas tree is a bad habit,” Josh says, slicing open the thin red plastic netting on each of the trees. “Lucky for you, we had these two sitting in the back, waiting for the ideal customer.”
“I didn’t know tree farms held back their best merchandise.” She flashes her gorgeous, sweet smile to me and Josh. “Which one would you choose?” she asks, looking at me.
“Well,” I say, stepping between her and Josh, reaching for the trunk of one of the trees. “This is your classic fir tree. This is what you think of when you think of an old-school tree. Dark green, wide at the base and coming up to a sharply tapered tip. Depending on the kinds of ornaments you want to hang, this is a good bet. Sturdy needles and branches.”
“And this one is only thirty-five dollars,” Josh adds, “but for you, we can do a friends and family discount.”
She looks the tree up and down, inspecting it from every angle. I reach for the trunk and lift it up, giving the base a good smack onto the pavement, sending the snow from its branches into the air, mixing with the snowflakes already falling.
“It’s a good tree,” I say. “But we also have this one.” I set the fir down and lean it against the fence. “This other tree is a balsam. You’ll notice the branches are a little bit less sturdy, but the color of this tree is very pretty. Has a blue tint to it.”
Jess takes her gaze off the tree and looks into my eyes. There’s something warm behind those eyes, and it gets into my core and makes me feel a little something deep inside. It’s a memory I can’t articulate. It’s something deep inside my bones.
“Which one would you choose?” She reaches out to touch a branch on the balsam, running her fingers along its needles and looking over at Josh.
“If you want my opinion, I like the fir. But it’s really just up to which one you like better. They’re both solid.” Josh brushes some snow off the front of the balsam. “Just depends on which one you like.”
“I think I’ll go for the balsam,” she says, nodding with approval of her decision.
