“It’s more than pretty, it’s wonderful. I love it.” The young woman wrapped her arms around Ronnie’s neck and pulled her in for a hug. “It’s so beautiful,” she whispered. “I love it so much, thank you.”
“I’m glad.”
“You really are my guardian angel, aren’t you?” Rose pulled back and looked at her friend, green eyes sparkling with moisture. “You’re the best friend anyone could ever have.” She reached under the afghan and pulled out the present. “I just wish I had something more to show you just how much you mean to me. Merry Christmas, Ronnie.” She nervously handed over the present, a million thoughts flying through her mind. Her anxiety grew as Ronnie slowly removed the gift tag and slipped it in her pocket. “Well, open it.”
The older woman laughed at Rose’s impatience and tugged on the thin red ribbon. “You’re as bad as I am…oh.” She opened the long velvet box. “Rose, they’re beautiful.”
“Do you like them?”
“Yes, very much.” Ronnie pulled the pen out and held it up to the light, the smile never leaving her face. “That’s a very pretty design. All those blues and greens swirling around. I like that gold band there too.”
“You really like it? You’re not just saying that to make me feel good, are you?”
“No Hon, I’m not just saying that. I really do like it.” She leaned over and gave Rose a hug. “It really is a thoughtful gift,” she said, leaning back.
“You said you could never find a pen around here.”
“I never can,” Ronnie agreed. “I guarantee I won’t lose this one.”
“I didn’t know if you liked mechanical pencils. Probably not since you can’t bite them, huh?”
“Rose, mechanical pencils are fine. Really, they are. I only use the wooden ones because that’s what we have in the supply office at work. I never had any reason to buy a pencil like this.” She turned the metal at the tip, watching the lead grow from the end. “I’ll promise you this, I won’t chew the end of this one.”
“You’d better not,” Rose playfully teased, her fears eased by the smile on Ronnie’s face. Her tone grew serious. “I’m really happy you like it. I’ve never bought anyone something like that before.”
“You know I would have been happy no matter what you got, even if it was just a card.” She looked down at the set and smiled. “These really are beautiful.” She reached over for another hug, much to Rose’s joy.
“This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” she whispered into Ronnie’s ear. “Thank you so much.”
The dark-haired woman smiled and hugged even harder. “You’re welcome. Thank you for making my Christmas so special.” She reluctantly ended the embrace, her hand still gripping the pen case.
She looked over at the clock. “Wow, I didn’t realize it was so late. It took that long just to open presents?”
“There were a lot of presents to open,” Rose replied with a smile. “I have no idea what to do with all those computer programs.” She gestured at the pile on the table.
“You’re going to learn from them.” Ronnie set the pen case down and picked up one of the software boxes. “This one teaches you how to type. It’s self-paced and shows you how to format business letters and memos.” She set the box on Rose’s lap and picked up another one. “This teaches the fundamentals of bookkeeping and accounting. There are programs to do all the actual calculations but if you’re going to be in the business world you really should know the basics.” She put the programs back on the table. “I’ll install them for you tomorrow and show you how to bring them up so you can work on them. Once you’re comfortable, I’ll show you how to log into the corporate network and you can go onto the Internet.”
“That sounds like fun. I’ve been on the Internet before. They had it at the library. I found a great site once that had all sorts of information about how to take care of cats.”
“Anything you’re interested in is out there on the Internet. When I first got used to being on a computer, I spent hours surfing the Net looking at different things. My bookmark file must have been a mile long.”
“Bookmark file?” Rose shook her head. “I don’t know if I can get all this computer stuff.”
Ronnie laughed. “Oh, Rose. Trust me. A few weeks and you and the computer will be best friends. I’ll have to drag you away from it.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I do. It’s very addictive.”
“Ronnie? I understand how the typing and the other programs are supposed to help me, but what is the Rescuer of the Maiden supposed to teach me?” She pointed at the brightly colored box with knights battling on the cover.
“Uh…well…” The executive’s face colored slightly and she gave a sheepish smile. “That one teaches you how to be the great knight who rescues the fair maiden from the evil king’s dungeon. I thought you might like a game to relax and take a break with.”
“A knight rescuing a maiden, hmm?” Rose glanced at the cover again, noting that the maiden was fair-haired, like she was. She looked over at her own personal knight in shining armor. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.” Ronnie smiled back and stood up.
“Right now I think we had better hit the kitchen and get dinner started or we’re not going to be eating until late tonight.” Rose watched as the wheelchair was brought over.
“Oh, okay.” She allowed herself to be lifted into the chair but before Ronnie could pull back she wrapped her arms around the executive’s neck and squeezed, burying her face into the dark tresses. “Thank you. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had and today is one of the happiest days I’ve ever known.”
Ronnie returned the embrace, smiling into the golden hair. “You’re welcome. And thank you for making it so special for me.”
As they reached the threshold of the kitchen, Rose looked up. “Hey, look at that.”
“What?”
“The mistletoe. You’ve left it up there all this time and I didn’t notice.”
“Hmm, guess I have.” Ronnie’s heart began beating faster. They were directly below the green leaves. “Um, would it be okay if…”
“Well, we’re both under the mistletoe and it is Christmas.” Rose swallowed, nervousness creeping in although she wasn’t sure why.“Yes.” She turned her face up to meet the dark head coming down. Their lips touched once…twice before Ronnie pulled back.
“I um…I guess we’d better get dinner started.” She guided them into the kitchen, knowing full well why her heart was pounding like a rocker’s drum. Rose’s lips were soft, so very soft she had almost lost herself in them, stopping just before her tongue could work its way out. Knowing she couldn’t afford another kiss like that one, Ronnie made a mental note to let the young woman wheel herself out of the kitchen.