Chapter 11
The store was warm and just a bit crowded as they stepped in. Jody started to peel off her scarf and mittens as Taylor shivered. He dusted some snow off of Jody’s jacket.
Somebody spoke to them.
“Cherchez-vous pour un cadeau?”
Taylor was about to respond when Jody cut him off.
“Non, monseur. On juste cherche.”
The man motioned toward Taylor. “Il ne comprend pas le francais?”
Jody shrugged. “Je ne pense pas.” She elbowed him playfully. “Mingnon, pas francais.” The man laughed.
Taylor looked on, absolutely stunned. “Si vous besoin des choses, demander.”
“Oui. Merci monseur.”
With that, Jody pulled Taylor further into the store.
“What was that?” Taylor asked, completely confused as to what had just transpired.
“What was what?” Jody asked as she leafed through some books. Everything in the store was French.
“That whole thing up there.”
“Oh, he just wanted to know if we needed any help.”
Taylor was still amazed. “And then what?”
Jody shrugged. “Nothing really. Just asked if you spoke French. I told him no.”
“No no no. You said something about me.”
Jody smiled. “You have to speak French to understand.”
“Oh come on Jode.”
She eyed him over once. “You really wanna know?”
“Uh huh.”
“I said that you were cute, not French.”
Taylor nearly burst out laughing. “That was clever.”
“Let’s see what there is downstairs,” Jody said with a grin.
“So where’d you learn to speak French?” Taylor asked as the two descended the steep stairs to the basement of the store.
“Four years in high school. It was my favorite class.” Jody laughed to herself. “I’m so rusty I’m surprised he understood a word of what I said.”
“Sounded good to me,” Taylor remarked as she looked around and saw everything from Disney movies to Rambo in French. “They’ve got everything here don’t they?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“So I take it you’ve been here before?”
“It’s one of my favorite places in the City.”
“Really?”
She turned to face him. “There’s a lot more to me than you know.”
Taylor rolled that thought around in his head for a while. “Like what?”
Jody smiled at him. “Let’s suffice it to say that there’s a lot more to me than meets the eye.”
“Can you be more specific?”
She shrugged. “Not right now.” Taylor looked disappointed and slightly hurt. Jody sighed and tried to figure out how to get out of the situation. “I’ll tell you another time. It’s Christmas tomorrow and I don’t wanna ruin it with psychobabble about what’s already happened. I can’t change the past, so there’s no use whining about it- at least not right now anyway.”
Leave it to Jody to put a positive spin on things.
“Psychobabble?” he questioned with a smirk.
Jody smiled as well, relieved that she didn’t have to go into anything right that second.
“Come on,” he said as he motioned toward the steps. “You’ve got a bus to catch.”
“Trying to get rid of me already?” Jody asked as she ascended the steps.
“I can try, right?” he teased as they approached the top of the stairs and started toward the door.
“Mademoiselle,” the man at the door said. “Avez-vous un Joyeux Noel.”
“Et vous aussi. Joyeux Noel.”
“Et votre garcon, est-ce qu’il y a votre ami?”
“Oui,” Jody said with a grin. “Il est le mien.” She took Taylor’s hand and smiled up at him. “Joyeux Noel monsoeur.”
Taylor and Jody left the cozy store shortly after that.
“Alright you,” Taylor said as they crossed the street. “What was that about?”
“He wished both of us a Merry Christmas,” Jody answered strategically leaving out the man’s asking about Taylor. He had only asked if they were together, but answering yes had made Jody a little giddy.
“So what are you doing for Christmas?” Taylor asked. “I mean, besides going home.”
Jody shrugged. “Just spending the holiday with my parents. The family party’s on Saturday. I’m hoping it’ll snow so we can sleigh riding.”
“Oh, so all your cousins are younger than you.”
“Ha,” Jody laughed. “All but four are older. The rest of us refuse to grow up.”
Taylor smiled, somehow unsurprised by Jody’s submission. “Sounds like fun.”
“It’s a blast. I’ve got the greatest family.” Jody paused. “What are you doing for the holiday?”
Taylor shrugged. “Natalie’s bringing Ezra over at noon and Zac and Kate are coming over at one.” He paused. “Who knows if Ike’s gonna show.”
The two rounded the corner and Port Authority loomed into view. Jody frowned. She was having so much fun talking to Taylor that she nearly forgot about the bus.
“No frowning,” Taylor said, catching her look.”None of that.”
“I just don’t wanna leave. The City’s so pretty and I really like spending time with you.”
“The City’s not the only one that’s pretty,” Taylor said as he messed up her hair playfully.
Jody was shocked. Taylor had said something so sweet and followed it up with something so silly that she didn’t even have time to blush. “You’re gonna pay for that,” Jody said with a gaping mouth.
“Gotta catch me first,” Taylor said as he took off across the street and continued down the block.
Jody immediately took off after him, dodging tourists and avoiding taxis. She promptly caught up and all but tackled him. Jody messed up Taylor mop of hair just as much, and probably more, than he did to her. The two of them stood outside Port Authority, hair a mess, and out of breath. Taylor shook his head to rearrange his hair and Jody ran a hand through hers to ensure that she wouldn’t be too disheveled when she got home.
They looked at each other and laughed.
He wrapped her in a giant hug and swayed her side to side so she was off balance. He liked the way she held onto him. It made him feel special and wanted. He hadn’t felt that way in quite some time and hadn’t realized it until that moment.
Jody looked up at him, still laughing, before snuggling back into him. Taylor placed an arm around shoulders and she placed her arm around his waist. They began to walk into the warm building, causing both of them to let go of each other to rearrange their jackets. Jody promptly took off her mittens and put them in her pockets. After that she loosened her scarf. Taylor hadn’t been wearing mittens, but he had loosened his scarf as well.
They made small talk as they made their way up the escalators and to the lines that waited to take Jody back to New Jersey. Jody’s line began to move and they were almost at the bus when they decided to say their goodbyes.
“So I’ll see you when I get back, right?” she questioned as she adjusted his scarf.
“Eh, I’ll try to fit you into my schedule.”
Jody rolled her eyes good naturedly, knowing full well that he had nothing planned.
“Come back safe, OK?” Taylor said as he wrapped her in a giant hug.
“I’m only gonna be gone 3 days. How much damage could I cause?”
Taylor hugged her tighter. “See you when you get back.”
Then, just as tenderly as he did the first time, he bent down toward her, lingered by her mouth, and gently pressed his lips to hers.
For cranky New Yorkers, nobody rushed them. Both knew it was only a matter of time before somebody said something, so they wrapped things up.
“I’ll call you when the bus gets into town.” They looked at each other. “Merry Christmas.” She hesitantly kissed him.
Her taste lingered on his lips. She tasted just as sweet as he remembered.
She turned and went into the bus. He watched her go and saw other people follow her lead. He knew that even though the relationship was new, he really was going to miss her.
She watched him watch the bus as it pulled out of the station and into the busy streets of New York. Pretty soon she was in the Lincoln Tunnel and traveling over a bridge and into Fort Lee. From the bridge, she could see across the Hudson river and to the beautiful skyline that was New York City. It was comforting to know that someone in that big city was thinking about her.
Chapter 12
Index
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