Once they got
into December, Jeff Forman was no longer disappointed at her absences as he saw
her every day.
It began on the
1st of the month when she helped me to put up the Christmas decorations and as
they were hanging the last of the garlands, she said
“I love
Christmas decorations”
“Me too” he
said “I’ll help you put yours up when we’re done here”
“No thanks”
Maxine replied
“Why not?” he
asked
“I never put
decorations up at home” she said
“Why not?”
“I don’t know
really” she mused “it makes me sad I suppose, it reminds me of a happier time,
and I suppose that makes me sad”
“But you love
decorations?” I said
“Yes”
“You love these
decorations?” he asked
“Yes”
“Do they make
you sad?” he asked
“No”
“Why not?”
“Because I
wasn’t a child in this cottage” she replied
“That’s nuts”
he said
“I know” Maxine
agreed “what can I say”
Anyway, Maxine
came to the cottage every day to enjoy the decorations, watch classic Christmas
movies and eat his stew, but they had kept most of her visits during normal
hours until Christmas Eve.
He was burning
the midnight oil because he was stuck on a tricky chapter, the first of three
chapters which needed to be submitted to his publishers by New Year’s Day.
It was partly
Maxine’s fault he had got behind, but she was such a pleasant distraction, but
to be perfectly honest she had become more of a distraction when she wasn’t
there.
So, it was just
after eleven o’clock on Christmas Eve and he was rewriting the same section for
the umpteenth time when Maxine knocked on the door.
He could tell
it was her before he opened the door by her unique knock.
“Hey” he said
“Do you mind me
popping in on Christmas Eve, I don’t want to upset your artistic flow” she said
“No flow to
interrupt at the moment I’m afraid, this chapter is giving me a lot of trouble”
he replied
“What is it,
writer’s block again?” Maxine asked
“No, I’m not
blocked, I’m writing ok, it’s just not very good” he said and laughed
“I could use a
break” he lied
They sat on the
sofa watching an old movie on cable, about half an hour into it she yawned and
rested her head on his shoulder, he assumed it must be one of her infamous cat
naps, and half an hour later she was still sleeping.
He could tell
by her breathing, even though he couldn’t see her, that she was properly
asleep.
So, he placed a
cushion on his lap and gently lowered her head onto it.
Her legs were
already on the sofa as she had been sitting in that side saddle fashion that
girls have.
So, he dragged
the edge of the throw from the back of the sofa and draped it over her slender
body.
He watched the
end of the movie and then switched off the TV.
Maxine was
still sleeping so he reached for the A4 note pad he kept on the end table and
resting it on the arm of the sofa he began writing and the words flowed from
his pen like an inexhaustible stream and after three hours of furious writing
he had put the troublesome chapter to bed.
Jeff looked
firstly at the sleeping girl with her head on his lap and saw she was still
sleeping soundly and then up at the clock which told him it was 6.45am,
Not that the
time was relevant, but he desperately needed to pee.
So, he slowly
extricated himself, being careful not to wake Maxine and settled her onto the
sofa and then tucked the throw around her.
As soon as he
was up, he realized the temperature had dropped so before he went to the loo,
he revived the fire in the grate and put some more wood on.
Jeff then
partly closed the door; he didn’t want her to wake up in a strange place and
panic.
After having a
much-needed pee he went into the kitchen to make a drink, which was when there
was a knock at the door.
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