A Yuletide Universe by Brian M. Thomsen

Author:Brian M. Thomsen [THOMSEN, BRIAN M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780446562614
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

“What I thought,” Scott said when they got in the car, “was that instead of going out for supper, we’d take these over to your apartment and order in.”

“Order in?” Lauren said, clutching the bag of Portable Plutocrats on her lap to her.

“I know a great Italian place that delivers. Angel hair pasta, wine, everything. Or, if you’d rather, we could run by the grocery store and pick up some stuff to cook.”

“Actually, my kitchen’s kind of a mess,” she said. There is a Christmas tree in it, she thought, with organic by-products hanging on it.

He pulled up outside her apartment building. “Then Italian it is.” He got out of the car and began unloading shopping bags. “You like prosciutto? They have a great melon and prosciutto.”

“Actually, the whole apartment’s kind of a disaster,” Lauren said, following him up the stairs. “You know, wrapping presents and everything. There are ribbons and tags and paper all over the floor—”

“Great,” he said, stopping in front of her door. “We have to put tags on the presents, anyway.”

“They don’t need tags, do they?” Lauren said desperately. “I mean, they’re all exactly alike.”

“It personalizes them,” he said, “it shows the gift was chosen especially for them.” He looked expectantly at the key in her hand and then at the door.

She couldn’t hear the TV, which was a good sign. And every time Fred had come over, the spirit had disappeared. So all I have to do is keep him out of the kitchen, she thought.

She opened the door and Scott pushed past her and dumped the shopping bags on the coffee table. “Sorry,” he said. “Those were really heavy.” He straightened up and looked around the living room. There was no sign of the spirit, but there were three Evian water bottles on the coffee table. “This doesn’t look too messy. You should see my apartment. I’ll bet your kitchen’s neater than mine, too.”

Lauren walked swiftly over to the kitchen and pulled the door shut. “I wouldn’t bet on it. Aren’t there still some more presents to bring up?”

“Yeah. I’ll go get them. Shall I call the Italian place first?”

“No,” Lauren said, standing with her back against the kitchen door. “Why don’t you bring the bags up first?”

“Okay,” he said, smiling meltingly, and went out.

Lauren leaped to the door, put the deadbolt and the chain on, and then ran back to the kitchen and opened the door. The tree was still there. She pulled the door hastily to and walked rapidly into the bedroom. He wasn’t there, or in the bathroom. “Thank you,” she breathed, looking heavenward, and went back in the living room.

The TV was on. Edmuud Gwenn was shouting at the store psychologist.

“You know, you were right,” the spirit said. He was stretched out on the couch, wearing a “Save the Black-Footed Ferret” T-shirt and jeans. “It’s not a bad movie. Of course, it’s not as good as It’s a Wonderful Life, but I like the way everything works out at the end.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.