Maybe Next Time

Chapter 2

I write out a special card for him later on that night and leave it on his doormat, along with a tiny bag of my special home made Christmas cookies. I want to see if he'll accept them or not. I know he's not going home for the Christmas holidays, as like me he prefers to stay in his rented flat every year, so I know they won't go unnoticed. Still, he could just take the card and cookies inside and throw them away, but I'm sure he won't do this. He'll probably just leave them and the card on the doormat instead if he doesn't want them, so when I leave to get breakfast the next morning from the coffee shop in town you can imagine my surprise when I see that both the card and the cookies have gone. I had been so sure I would find them still sitting on the doormat this morning.

I'm smiling as I head to my favourite coffee shop for breakfast. I finally know what my next good deed of the year can be, and I make it my mission to try and pass on a little of my enthusiasm for Christmas.

While sitting in my usual coffee shop I jot down a short list of small items I can leave outside his door to help him get in the Christmas spirit. And for that next week, when I walk around all the Christmas shops and buy myself some new decorations for my Christmas tree, I leave a few extra decorations outside his front door. I don't know if he has a tree but I still buy him some colourful tinsel, which he can hang up in the flat if he doesn't have a tree, along with a tiny wreath which is dusted with fake snow and hangs on some string. I've hung my own small wreath up above my small mantelpiece and because it had looked incredibly cute and festive I knew I had to buy him one too.

After the decorations I leave him a bag of home made gingerbread men, covered in red and white icing to make them look even more festive. I love baking, especially around Christmas, and it's nice to share my special homemade biscuits and cookies with someone else for once.

None of my festive gifts end up being left on his doormat for those next few weeks, and it gives me a sense of accomplishment every time I leave my flat and see there's nothing still sitting on his doormat. Of course he could have simply taken them all inside and just thrown them away, but I have a strong feeling he hasn't.

As Christmas Day gets ever closer I continue leaving him home made biscuits and cakes outside his door, right up until Christmas Eve when I finally decide to kick my plan into high gear. After putting on some festive clothes I leave my flat and pay him a visit, with some mulled wine in my hands which I've made for both of us to share.

I only have to knock once before he opens the door. 'Hey, Ellis,' I say brightly. He doesn't look surprised to see me from the passive expression on his face, as I flash him one of my friendly smiles. It's as if he had expected me. 'I, uh, thought you might like a glass of mulled wine,' I tell him while holding up one of the small glasses I'm holding. 'I ended up making a little too much.'

He looks at me with those intense, brown eyes and I think he's going to turn me away, or shut the door in my face, but instead he gingerly invites me inside and after setting down the two glasses on his nice looking coffee table, I notice a cardboard box which is full of the few decorations I had left outside his door. The thought that he had kept the few decorations I had bought for him warms my heart, even if I am disappointed to see he hasn't hung up any of the colourful tinsel.

He motions for me to sit down on his plush, green sofa and I happily do, before I hand him his glass of mulled wine.

'I've never tried mulled wine before,' he says as he takes the glass and sits down next to me.

'Really?' I exclaim. 'It was always a tradition when I was still living with my parents.' I swirl the red liquid around in my glass before I hold it up, thinking we should do a toast first before tasting it.