"Hey, Sunshine. How's the weather in New York?"
Marie's groan came over the line. Baker had to keep himself from laughing to hear her response.
"As it always is during these winter months. Cold. Snowy. Miserable."
Baker chuckled quietly at his girlfriend's gloomy take on her surroundings. He knew that it wasn't the weather that had her down in the dumps. He had called to combat the real reason for Marie's unhappiness.
"Cheer up, love. There's only two days left until your favorite holiday," he reminded her.
"I'm not looking forward to it."
Baker smirked on the other end of the line. The more she sulked, the better. An unsuspecting Marie was the key to success for Baker's elaborate surprise.
"Why not?" Baker asked innocently, prodding for the answer that he already knew.
"You won't be home for Christmas."
Even though Baker couldn't see her, he could tell that the blonde was pouting by the sound of her voice. He couldn't wait to replace it with a smile. All in due time.
For now, he just had to play along.
As the taxi driver unloaded his luggage from the trunk, Baker offered up a sincere apology. "I'm sorry, Marie. I really wish I could be home for Christmas, but I have to take care of business first. Mr. Bendtner dispatched me to Hong Kong to secure this contract, and I can't come home until the deal is done."
That was a true statement. What Baker purposely omitted, though, was the fact that the business client had signed along the dotted line over the weekend. His employers estimated it would take at least six weeks for Baker to seal the deal. He did it in three.
There was a reason why Baker was the top performing employee at his company. He had an inherent ability to understand people and position himself accordingly. It worked well for business clients. It worked well for his girlfriend too.
He tipped the taxi driver for his work, and the Asian man smiled at the act of generosity. Tipping culture wasn't prevalent in the port city, in part because salaries were build to cover for the absence of gratuities. Nonetheless, it was second nature for Baker to do so.
"I know it's not your fault, Baker, but I can't help but miss you," Marie lamented as Baker wheeled his suitcase down the ramp to the check-in desk.
That struck a chord with the homesick salesman. Baker couldn't wait to be back in New York City, where his beautiful girlfriend was waiting for him at home.
"I miss you too, Sunshine."
Marie's tone suddenly shifted from sadness to curiosity. "What's with the commotion in the background? I can hear a lot of clacking noises."
Baker grinned to himself. Although being dispatched to Hong Kong for work had been a major inconvenience, the city did end up doing him a huge favor to conclude the trip.
The noises that Marie had been referring to was the sound of suitcase wheels clacking along the tiled ground. In any other city, the suitcase would give away Baker's location at the airport. In Hong Kong, however, the multitude of suitcase toting tourist on the street provided a smokescreen to mislead Marie.
"It's lunch time, Sunshine. The streets are hectic here during the noon hour."
Baker didn't want to lie to Marie. He certainly wasn't going to make a habit out of it. For this particular occasion, though, he had to make an exception.
Marie sighed wistfully. "That reminds me, it's time for me to head to bed. Midnight here. I have to wake up in seven hours for work."
"They're making you work Christmas Eve?" Baker asked, feigning shock. He figured that his girlfriend probably requested the shift. Marie's copy editing schedule was demanding, and she was a workaholic by nature. Their friends have often commented on the couple's tenacity.
"Yeah, there are still things to tidy up for next print run. Everyone has their work cut out for them. I can't leave the staff now."
"At least you'll get Christmas Day off, right?" A pause on the other end of the line. Baker frowned. The success of his scheme depended on the answer to this question. "Marie?"
"Um . . . "
"There's no way you're working Christmas Day."
"There is a lot of work on my plate right now, Baker," Marie explained. "I need to get those done."
"You will get those done. You're the most efficient person I know. I'm just asking you to have a healthy work-life balance and take Christmas Day off. Just one day. I know you will be back in the office on Boxing Day anyway."
Another pause on the other end of the line, followed by Marie's hesitant voice saying, "I don't know . . . "
Time to launch the second phase of the Baker surprise. The salesman delivered his lines as he handed his luggage off to the check-in staff and headed towards security. "Wasn't there that Broadway musical that you wanted to see?"
"Anastasia?"
"Yeah, sure, that one."
As the valedictorian at his high school, Baker was a smart man, but Baker also understood that sometimes it was better to play dumb. Especially when it came to surprises. Lowered expectations led to elevated reactions.
Baker had done his research. He knew exactly which musical was in question. Not because he had a particular inclination to see the show, but because Marie had expressed an interest in the performance. He kept tabs of things like that.
"What about it?" Marie asked.
"Go see it. Spend your Christmas Day doing something that you like."
"I don't know . . . " Marie hesitated.
That was a good sign. If Marie didn't reject the idea outright, it meant that she was mulling over the decision. Baker had a knack for swinging those fifty-fifty decisions in his favor. Time to work some magic.
Standing outside the security line, Baker made his pitch. "I think you should go. It will be a lot of fun. I'll get the tickets. Show's on me."
"No, no, no. You bought tickets to Ed Sheeran last time," Marie refused profusely. She didn't want Baker to be the one to continuously pick up the tab. She was both capable and independent, and even though it wasn't a perfect split, Marie wanted the costs to be as closely divided as possible. It wouldn't be fair to ask either party to assume all expenses.
Of course, Baker knew that. It was something that Marie made clear in the early days of their relationship. He didn't need the full four years to figure out the fact that his girlfriend was strong willed. Once the verbal agreement had been put into place, there was no way Baker could force her hand into accepting his offer.
In the world of negotiations, the first offer was always a decoy. It was never the best offer because the other party would always try and counter for better terms. The opening pitch only served the purpose to gauge interest and to understand how far apart the two sides were. It was the second offer that actually meant something.
"How about this? You let me buy you tickets to Anastasia and I'll let you take me to a Spring Training game when the Mets play again in March. Sound fair?"
Marie mulled over the offer. "Hmm . . . "
Baker knew when a conversation was warming up in his favor, and this was definitely showing signs of that. To seal the deal, he added, "Come on, Sunshine. It's the least I can do for you to make up for not being home on Christmas Day."
"Fine," Marie relented, "but you have to let me get the Mets tickets, all right?"
"Looks like you have yourself a deal, ma'am."
Baker closed his eyes and grinned from ear to ear. He couldn't wait to witness his girlfriend's excitement when the plan came to fruition.
A snapshot of Marie's facial features flashed in his mind. The forehead that she complained was too large but perfect in Baker's mind. The eyes that were a perfectly reflective shade of blue. The nose that hooked at a perfect angle to give Marie a sense of sophistication. Baker didn't want to overuse the word, but there was no way around it. Marie was just perfect in his mind.
"I'm suddenly excited for Christmas again," Marie's bubbly voice kept Baker's grin as wide as ever. "Not as excited as having you home with me, but this is a wonderful consolation prize. I'll be sure to tell you about the show."
"Can't wait to hear all about it." If only she knew.
Marie cleared her throat. "For the record, I have your present ready and wrapped up. I didn't forget about it. The gift is under the tree so you can pick it up when you're home."
"I'll be home soon, Sunshine."
"I'm going to hold you to that promise, Baker Wilson," Marie announced. "Don't keep me waiting."
***
New York City.
December 25th. Christmas Day.
The journey back to New York was long and tiresome. Between the time spent in the air and the time spent during layovers, it had taken eighteen plus hours for Baker to cross the Pacific Ocean and return to his hometown. When the airplane finally landed in LaGuardia airport, a flurry of snow quickly plastered the passenger windows. As heavy as the snowfall might have been, there was no amount of precipitation that could dampen Baker's spirits. He was finally home.
Baker raced through customs, picked up his luggage in a hurry, and hopped into the first cab that he saw to get back to his Brooklyn home. He had a narrow window to avoid detection. Marie was grabbing breakfast with her parents at Sarabeth's but she might return in an hour or two. He didn't have much time to stash his luggage and get out of the house.
When he walked through the doors of his apartment for the first time in three weeks, Baker couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Traveling was a perk of the job, one that he enjoyed greatly, but being on the road for an extended period of time wore him down. He missed the comfort of his cozy little apartment.
The three framed pictures on the living room table caught Baker's eyes. Some of his favorite moments with Marie had been captured within those wooden frames. Their first date at a chic coffee shop. Their first international trip together two years ago in beautiful Puerto Vallarta. Their four year anniversary dinner last month in a fancy Manhattan restaurant. Baker smiled as those memories flooded his mind. Another one was about to be made in a few hours.
The well traveled salesman quickly hid his suitcases in his closet. He changed into his favorite white button down dress shirt and a pair of dark jeans. As Baker made his way to the door for a hurried exit, he grabbed his black peacoat and dark brown boots to round out the neutral toned outfit. From start to finish, it took Baker approximately ten minutes to change into his new attire. That must have been a foreign idea to Marie.
Baker had a few hours to kill. He went to the coffee shop in the picture for an afternoon latte. He made a stop at the office to drop off some of the files from the trip. He took a stroll through Chelsea Market and wound up buying some things from a few local designers.
Finally, it was time for the show. Baker felt the adrenaline surge through him as he took the E Line towards the theater. The show itself still didn't excite him one bit, but the prospect of seeing his girlfriend again made his heart beat faster than the train that he was on.
He walked over to Broadhurst Theater, where a crowd of people had begun to form. The line was growing by the second. People stood outside the well lit theater dressed in all sorts of winter garment. Scarfs, knit hats, and gloves prevented Baker from getting a clear look at who's who.
But then he saw her.
Through the masses in line, Baker spotted Marie in her puffy winter jacket and gray knit headband which covered her ears from the cold. It was quite an inconspicuous outfit, but Marie's features had always jumped out at Baker. He could pick her out in a crowd with relative ease.
Baker had the sudden urge to run up to her and pick Marie up in a bear hug, but thought better of it. He had planned this surprise for days. It wasn't worth blowing the plan for just a few extra moments together.
Against every fiber in his body, Baker stealthily followed a small group to walk past Marie without detection. He stood at the end of the line by himself, behind a group of friends laughing and chatting amongst themselves. Maybe it was because he recently returned from a sub-tropical city or maybe it was because he was by himself, but the evening air seemed chillier than usual to Baker.
The line moved slowly. Agonizingly slow for Baker. It was as though they knew that he had this surprise up his sleeve and wanted to drag out the process to torture him. Seconds, then minutes ticked by. The line continued to drag along like rush hour traffic.
Finally, it was Baker's turn to go through the doors of the theater. The commotion and the dazzling lights overwhelmed him momentarily. He just wanted to find Marie at this point.
He looked at his ticket and made his way over to the right side of the theater. Right orchestra, row C. They were very close to the stage. Baker had splurged on the tickets to ensure that Marie had the best possible time.
Even from a distance and behind everyone, Baker could pick out his girlfriend with her gray headband. Marie was sat at the end of the aisle with her head down, probably reading the copy of Playbill that was handed to her at the door. She was an information scavenger. Loved to absorb every bit of knowledge that she could get. Baker always thought of her as his smarter, and obviously better, half.
His heartbeat started to accelerate again as Baker walked down the row to take his seat. This was the moment of truth. After all this time, he was finally back in New York City with his girlfriend to celebrate Christmas Day together.
Baker made his way down to Row C, took a deep breath, and cleared his voice. "Excuse me, ma'am. Is that seat taken?"
Marie looked up, startled. She must have recognized Baker's deep yet fluid voice. It was one of the salesman's most distinguishable factors. He had that Johnny Cash sound to his voice.
"Baker?" A smile quickly spread across Marie's face as she realized that her eyes weren't deceiving her and that her boyfriend was actually home for the holidays.
"That's me."
Marie dropped her copy of Playbill into the chair and jumped up like she was ejected from her seat. She threw her arms around Baker, who quickly returned the gesture with a tight bear hug. The embrace was long and much needed. A few eyes in the crowd watched on but neither Baker nor Marie cared. In this moment, it was only the two of them, reunited after a lengthy period of time apart.
"I can't believe you're home," Marie whispered.
Baker grinned. "Surprise."
The two took their seats, both giddy with delight to be in each other's presence again. This wasn't the first time that they have been separated, and given the nature of Baker's work, it wasn't going to be the last time either.
At the outset of their relationship, the two often rued and fought over the lost time due to these business trips. As the months progressed, the young couple learned to focus on the positives and appreciate these windows of opportunities to be together.
That attitude in itself was what Christmas was intended to be. A time of celebration with loved ones. As difficult as circumstances appeared at times, this was the day to be thankful for the positives in one's life.
As the lights dimmed to indicate the start of the show, Baker put his left hand on Marie's much smaller hand and gave it a light squeeze. He was most certainly thankful to be home with the love of his life.
"Merry Christmas, Sunshine."