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“Heh.” Talia shook her head. “Third actually. The lady at the airport while we were on the phone said it too. I guess my followers really enjoyed meeting you and they’ve been trending #hohoyes all day.”
“Why?”
“Because on the video of us, I put #hohoyes or #hohono on it. You know, about sleeping next to each other. Apparently, it’s a resounding yes. Also there’s been a lot of #takecandycanesfromstrangers, so I think it’s safe to say that they’re shipping us.”
“Sorry, I’m really not a social media guy. What does that mean?”
“It means they’re rooting for us to…” She smirked. “Get to know each other.”
Heat rushed to his face and he cleared his throat. “You mean they want us to…”
“Yes, sir.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement. “Wait till you see what they’ve been saying about you and your…candy cane.”
“Oh my god.”
“Yeah, apparently, that’s what they think I’ll be saying.”
He groaned. “I’m sorry, I need to go find a hole to crawl into.”
“Yeah, that’s what they’re…”
He biffed her with a pillow before she could say anything more and she snickered. “Okay, okay, well in other news, I’m going to be anti-social for a little bit, while I finish editing this video. Do you want me to do this with my earbuds in, so you don’t have to hear the same clips play over and over?”
Happy for the subject change, he shook his head. “No, l want to hear. This is interesting.” He sat beside her, acutely aware of how close their bodies were while he quietly watched as she arranged the pieces of the video and enhanced things, adding little images and text.
She must have gone outside and filmed in the snow. In the video, it fell down on her, catching in her eyelashes as she talked about the melancholy of the holidays for some people and how it was alright not to feel holly and jolly. And that traditions could be broken or reclaimed and that was alright too.
His chest tightened as he listened. “I can see why people love you,” he said. “This is stuff they need to hear. It’s so hard when things change.” A lump formed in his throat. “All the traditions that used to fill you with joy suddenly leave you empty, but everyone expects you to just carry on like the joy is still there.”
She tilted her head, as if she expected him to say more, but he’d said enough. “Anyway, that video was beautiful.”
Her hand covered his and gave it a squeeze before returning to the laptop and he took it as an opportunity to change the subject. “What um, do you do for Christmas?” he asked.
“You mean besides sleeping next to strange men in airports?”
“I’m not strange. But go on.”
She seemed a little puzzled by the question. “Um, nothing.”
“You wouldn’t be putting up a tree, or wrapping gifts? None of that stuff?”
“No, I don’t really…do that.” She sat back. “Holidays in the Evans household were about as much fun as getting a mammogram. We didn’t put up decorations ourselves, we had a service come in and put them up for us, so they’d look perfect. We had two huge trees we weren’t allowed to touch. We weren’t even allowed to buy each other presents. My parents gave us short lists of what to get everyone else in the family, we picked one item and then they bought them, had them professionally wrapped and delivered to whomever, on our behalf. There were horrible family holiday photos and…” She took a breath. “You get the point. It sucked. Christmas is just a holiday I’ve never enjoyed.”
“So have you ever tried, like, reclaiming it like you said in the video?”
She made a face. “No. I think that ship has sailed.” Her phone pinged and she turned off the sounds. “Here come the comments. Anyway, I’ve talked plenty about my family and you’ve dodged talking about yours every time I ask. What were your holidays like?”
Despite the jolt of anxiety her words brought, he couldn’t help but laugh at her bald statement. “You don’t pull any punches do you?”
“I pull plenty. But this one is bugging me. You keep digging into me about mine and I get the feeling something in you wants to talk about yours.”
“I really don’t,” he said. “My family was great. The holidays were fun.”
“But?”
He shrugged. “I think we should focus on reclaiming the holidays for you.”
She groaned and flopped down on the bed. “You know what I think?”
