She then took the third box from me and placed it with the others. She then seemed to just pause for a moment as if to examine her handiwork. After a ...ew minutes she got up and asked me to join her on the sofa. We sat there for a moment just taking in the sight of the gifts under the tree, as the polished ornaments reflected the slowly blinking Christmas lights.“You know, this reminds me of when I was a kid,” she started, “those were simpler times.”“Yes, sitting here looking at the Christmas. I shivered from the thought. “I ... um ... I don’t know. I don’t have a lot of spare cash on me.”She smiled. “It’s cool. I don’t mind.” She removed her hand from my leg and patted the dash of her car affectionately. “It’s not like I can’t spare a little money for my new friend.”New friend? I barely knew her, and she barely knew me, yet she considered us friends? I didn’t know what to feel, but the small smile on my face made me realize that I liked the idea.“Here we go,” she said, pulling into. He said, ‘It’s just something she said last night. I just wanted to chat with her.’ ‘Can you tell me what it was she said, or is that a secret?’ ‘It was nothing much, I just want to chat. Cheers, Elizabeth, have a good weekend!’ He rang off before Elizabeth could ask any more, took a deep breath, and called Elaine. The phone rang several times before being answered, somewhat sleepily. ‘Hi, is that Elaine?’ Stan asked. ‘No, it’s not. Do you have a wrong number?’ ‘Oh. Wait, you’re Susan, aren’t. ' Most of the neighbors are invited, so the boys always have friends from school there and they can have their own New Years Eve party, but not be too far away or unchaperoned. Shelly already told me you could come, too. Most of the parents who are invited were also at the Christmas concert," she concluded, matter-of-factly."Sounds like fun," Mark replied, somewhat absentmindedly."Did you have other plans?" No, no! I had no other plans about the night except wanting to spend it with you. I want.