30 minutes later, Elle was dressed in her pajamas and sitting in front of the TV watching the Christmas Day Parade. Minutes into the broadcast, her telephone rang. "Hmm, I wonder who that is?" Elle thought to herself sarcastically. On the second ring, Elle pushed the TALK button and said, "Hi Nick."
"Okay...Els, how did you know it was me? Millions of other people call you each day and out of all of them, you knew it was me." Nick said.
"Well, you have only called to check on me about 20 times in the last 3 days." Elle pointed out.
"Oh...really," Nick asked sheepishly. "Well, then make this call number 21, and by the way, Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you to," Elle said. "Thanks for your call."
"You're not ending the conversation here are you?" Nick asked playfully.
"I don't know," Elle started. "I really don't know how much I can take today."
"What about coming with me and the boys to Christmas dinner. Howie and Kevin are gonna try and cook."
"I'll think about it."
"Elle, HOWIE AND KEVIN ARE GOING TO TRY AND COOK!! You can't miss this. What about if I call back in about an hour. Is that enough time."
"Sure, why not?" Elle said sarcastically. "I'll talk to you then." With that, Elle hung up the phone, suddenly realizing how mean she was being to Nick. "He's only trying to help, maybe I should go with him to the dinner after all. I owe him at least that much."
Nick's call was right on time. Elle agreed to go with him. "I hate to say this Els, but this is a formal dinner. Kevin wants everyone to dress up. You know Kevin." Nick said. "Is that okay with you? I know how much you love dressing up." Nick added sarcastically.
"Yeah, I'll just have to dig my old prom dress out of some box in the living room." Elle joked as she half-smiled.
"Okay Els. I'll see you at 2:00."
At 2:00, Elle was frantically tearing apart boxes to find which one her shoes were in. "God damn it," she screamed. "Can't I do anything right?" With that, there came a knock at the door. Elle got up to answer it even though she was fighting back tears, both of frustration and sadness. She unlocked the door and let Nick in.
Instantly, Nick was taken by how good Elle looked. Her midnight blue dress with a hint of silver sparkles beautifully complemented her deep blue eyes. Her brown hair was swept effortlessly into a French twist. Elle's voice finally broke through Nick's somewhat dazed persona. "Nick...are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah, I am...ah...good. And you." Nick said, still gawking as he shifted his eyes to the floor.
"I am ready to try and have a somewhat decent Christmas, but, my shoes are in one of these boxes and I don't think that Vogue would agree with my shoeless fashion statement. Do you?"
Nick changed his glance from the floor to the huge barricade of boxes that were crowding the living room of Elle's hotel room. "That could be a problem Els, but the sooner we start looking, the sooner we can eat." At that, Nick and Elle began looking through boxes. Finally, 40 minutes later, Nick said, "Elle, what would you say about a stop at K-Mart for some new shoes."
"On Christmas...K-Mart?"
"Yeah...what's your point. We can get you a pair of 10 dollar shoes and still make it back to the hotel in time for the party."
"All right Nick, whatever you say."
Nick and Elle walked out the door and headed for the parking lot. Nick started the car and prayed that maybe Elle would have a good time at the party. Elle looked solemnly out the window as they drove off.
Chapter Fifteen
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