The next day was December 2nd. A Saturday. This meant Courtney would go to Marcie's house for a few hours, leaving me alone with plenty of time to wrap up and hide her presents. I went back into my bedroom and emptied the bags. Looking at everything, I'd realised I'd bought way too much and would never have enough time to wrap everything. I threw my head back in despair and sighed. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind; Lee said if I ever needed any help that I should call him. But would it seem to desperate? Focusing on the toys again, I decided getting Lee's help would be the only way I'd get everything done in time, so I went ahead and called him.
"Hello?" he answered
"Hi Lee, it's me, Faye, from the coffee shop yesterday? I don't know if you remeb-"
"Oh yeah, hey Faye. What's up?" he asked
"Well, I was wondering, are you busy? I could really use a hand with wrapping all these toys up" I prayed silently to myself that he'd be free
"Of course, I did tell you I'd be free to help didn't I?" he replied
"Are you sure? You really don't-"
"I'm sure, text me your address, I'll be there as soon as I can"
"Thank you so much" I breathed, and hung up the phone.
I quickly texted him my address and looked in the mirror to make sure I looked presentable. Not long after, I heard the doorbell and quickly ran downstairs to open the door. There he was, looking all sweet and innocent, and I couldn't help but blush a little.
"Hey" I smiled
"Hi" he replied
"Come in" I gestured into the house and he entered, "Follow me"
I showed him into my bedroom and the array of toys that were spread onto the floor.
"Wow, you sure did buy a lot" he laughed gently
"I know" I rolled my eyes at myself
Without much other discussion we got down to wrapping the presents as quickly as we could, as I knew Courtney would be back soon.
"So, you have to do all this for her too?" he asked
"Well, my parents are, like, never around" I shrugged. Technically, I wasn't lying.
"What do they do?" he probed
"They're lawyers. They work on the other side of the city" Again, I wasn't lying, they just weren't lawyers anymore. Hadn't been for 3 years.
"That's impressive" he nodded approvingly "Are you going to follow in their footsteps?"
"Not exactly," I shrugged "The whole world of law hasn't really interested me. Besides, what with them never being around I'm far too busy with Courtney"
"I see. How old is she?"
"Seven" I replied nonchalantly "do you have any siblings?"
"No" he shook his head "Although, I do have a cousin, Claire. We're so close in age and we see each other all the time, we're basically siblings"
"Mhmm" I nodded
We finished wrapping the presents in silence, when I heard a knock at the door.
"It's probably Courtney, I'll get it"
I left the room and ran down to open the door, and sure enough it was her.
"How was Marcie?" I asked
"Good" she replied dismissively, as she walked towards her room. Luckily her room was on the ground floor, so she wouldn't have a chance to see all her presents. When she had shut the door, Lee emerged from the stairs.
"Should I go? I mean, everything's done and Courtney's back so..." He trailed off
"No, stay. If you're free" I smiled
"Okay"
Shortly after Courtney returned, having changed her clothes. She must've seen me and Lee because she piped up, catching both our attention.
"Who's this then sis" she winked "getting some are we?"
"Courtney, you're seven. How do you even know what that means?" I rolled my eyes
"Well I'm a smart seven year old" she casually replied
"Courtney, this is Lee, my FRIEND" I emphasized the last word "Lee, this is Courtney, my sister"
"Hi" he smiled at her
"Okay" she replied, uninterested "Now, I want to write letters to Santa"
"Sure, go get some paper" I said
She ran off to grab some as I gestured to the couch, motioning for Lee to sit. When she returned, we had already turned on the TV and were finding a good movie to watch.
"Nuh uh!" She said, snatching the remote from my hand "You have to do it as well"
I rolled my eyes at her, "Really?"
"Yes" she shoved some paper into my hand "And give that other piece to your friend Luke"
"His name's Lee" I corrected her, slightly exasperated "I'm sorry" I mouthed, handing him the paper
"It's okay" he mouthed back
For a good few minutes I sat, completely irresolute on what to write. Courtney and Lee were scribbling away and it made me feel slightly self conscious. Finally, I came up with something, and in the most precise hand writing I could muster I wrote
I know exactly what I want this year.
Santa, can you hear me?
I want my baby, baby.
I want someone to love me.
Someone to hold.
Maybe, maybe,
He'll be all my own in a big red bow,
Santa can you hear me?
I have been so good this year
And all I want I one thing
Tell me my true love is near
He's all I want, just for me
Underneath my Christmas tree
I'll be waiting here
Santa that's my only wish this year
I signed the letter and sealed it with a kiss before placing it down onto the coffee table. I noticed that Courtney and Lee had also finished theirs so I collected them and assured Courtney I'd send them to Santa. We then decided to watch Love Actually to get in the Christmassy mood. It wasn't long into the movie before Courtney fell asleep so I carried her into her bedroom and put her into her bed. I went back out into the front room and sat down next to Lee. As time went on I started to get sleepy and I rested my head on Lee's shoulder. It wasn't long before I was out cold. It was the best sleep I'd had in a long time.