I slept wishing me a merry Christmas.The company is letting everyone out early. Nobody worked today, really. There was the office party, with the ridi...ulous exchange of CDs, in a poor parody of the Christmas spirit. It's not about getting something that costs money, it's about sharing something, life, and presents are not stuff that you spend three minutes buying, but something that has a meaning, that will be treasured for the intention more than for itself.I keep my stupid smile all the time,. It didn't take long for Grace to notice. It seemed to amuse her. She guided me through by the hand to the sitting room, she sat on the sofa.''Why don't you kneel here?'' She tugged on my hand as I knelt down in front of her. She reached forwards and tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. She exhaled heavily and slumped back onto the sofa. "Take off my shoes Portia.''I careful took off her heels and placed them to the side. My heart of pounding even at her fairly innocent order. Her. The tiny dining area sat on the second floor of my downtown house. Eve and I had left early in the morning and now it's 6PM. So damn much had happened and it wasn't even dark yet.I went to the old safe, which had been salvaged from a local hardware store. Since lots of the downtown buildings were being scraped, or being re-purposed like mine had been, I was able to find all kinds of unique things available just for hauling them away. My re-purposed gunsafe had been the most difficult to get. Try as he may, Ron couldn’t get a moment alone with her. Finally he gave it up, thinking he would see her in the morning.The next morning, nothing had changed; Kellie was absolutely cold and distant to Ron. She did spend a little time with Nancy, but avoided Kerrie. Ron decided not to play her game, and got the new book he wanted to read and settled down in the common area. After lunch, they got ready for work. As they drove to town, Ron asked if they knew what was happening, why Kellie.