Ace of Hearts - All We Are Series [NaNoWriMo 2014] [#JustWriteIt]

Chapter Twenty Seven [Edited]

December flew by. Lily and Charles broke up soon after Charles’ birthday. The two of them were fighting, and one day they just got to the point where it was too much. It was really surprising to the rest of us because they never showed any signs of it, although to be fair I hadn’t talked to either much with the departmental chaos. Neither of them seemed particularly heartbroken, though, and they just liked the convenience of their relationship. After a cry on Margaret’s shoulder, Lily was all good. Charles never seemed upset in the office, but I wasn’t sure how he was faring. It was none of my business, anyways. His work didn’t seem to be affected and the two were civil, so I didn’t worry about it.

For Christmas, Daniel and I went to visit my mom and Gabe. Daniel didn’t mind not seeing his dad. They didn’t really see eye to eye. Apparently they didn’t really hang out much, anyways. My mom was delighted to have us. She pulled me aside at one point, making sure to tell me how much she loved Daniel and hinting not so subtly that we should get married and have kids.

“Grandkids would be amazing, and you and Daniel would have beautiful children,” she told me, making me roll my eyes. Thankfully, she didn’t bug me too much about kids, and we had a stress-free holiday season.

For New Year’s, Shelly and Jack went on a double date with me and Daniel. We all went out for dinner and to a club afterwards. It wasn’t a huge party club, though. It was more of a relaxed atmosphere, which suited me and Daniel much better. We danced and ate surprisingly delicious bar food.

It was no surprise when Dave finally asked out Velisa. Despite her reservations about dating with Kaleb, she decided to accept, and they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend on January 30th. We were all enthusiastic. Will stated that he was happy Velisa had moved on after Donovan’s death. Dave was great with Kaleb and Kory, and he would make a great dad for Kaleb. The three of them got along splendidly. In February, they went ice skating. Dave confided in me that he was planning an ice skating trip in March. It was absolutely adorable to see them making it work, despite the child and age difference.

For my birthday, Daniel took me out to the new Ethiopian cuisine restaurant. Their food was delicious, and we spent the night feeding one another. We decided not to do anything big for Valentine’s, though. We spent the night in, watching funny comedy movies and some cop show episodes. Olivia came back late, spending the evening with Will and Margaret. They were watching Kaleb for Velisa as she and Dave went out to a nice restaurant for the evening. We didn’t hear from Shelly nor Jack around Valentine’s, of which became the subject of many jokes from Margaret.

“We’re married!” Shelly protested when we teased her. “That’s perfectly legitimate.”

We still teased her, though.

We didn’t do much for Margaret’s 28th birthday. Olivia and Will started dating soon after, on March 5th, and started spending a lot of time together. I didn’t understand how they could date after knowing one another for only a couple months. Daniel and I had known each other for half a year. I suppose different timings work for different people, though.

“Hey honey, are you ready to go?” I called out to Daniel as I put an earring in. Daniel was in my apartment and we were getting ready to go out to my favorite Thai restaurant for our one year anniversary.

“I’ve been ready,” he called back, waltzing into my room with a cup of tea in one hand. I never understood why he enjoyed tea; I was a huge hot chocolate drinker myself.

“Let me just finish putting my jewelry on and then we can go.”

“Sounds good,” he said, sipping his tea and watching me. I felt a little nervous under his gaze.