The city streets were lit with Christmas lights and the faint glow of the street lamps. A man was coming out of the local coffee shop, warm drink in hand. He brought it to his lips and began to drink, thinking about the long day he'd had.
"Aaah now that's better." Than man smiled as he continued walking. "Nothing like a great cup of coffee after a long day. But it's not over yet, I better hurry back to the office. Mr. Grossberg is expecting me." The man hurriedly ran back to Mr. Grossberg's law office, managing to finish off his drink upon arriving.
"Diego my boy!" a booming voice could be heard from above, "come over here with that box of decorations and give me a hand would you?" Diego looked up to where his boss's voice was coming from and noticed he was on a ladder, hanging Christmas lights and garland around the waiting area.
"Mr. Grossberg, I'm not so sure you being up there is such a good idea." Diego grabbed the box as instructed, and carefully carried it over to the big man on the ladder. Mr. Grossberg peered down at Diego, his beady eyes hidden by his big round glasses. He looked cheery, smiling under his big mustache. He reached for the box and Diego handed it up to him. "What if Mia catches you up here?"
"Mia is the exact reason I'm trying to finish this so quickly." Mr. Grossberg reached down a little further, being too high up on the ladder to reach. "She left in a huff to go pick up her sister for our little office party but she seemed rather annoyed about something. I felt it was best I try to quickly put up these decorations while she was gone, lest she get annoyed with me and kick the step ladder out from beneath me!"
"Well, that's Kitten for you." Diego laughed, but it was short lived. He suddenly stopped and stood completely still realizing in horror that whatever aggression Mia had was about to be turned on him. "Uh Mr. Grossberg, I have to go!" Diego let go of the box as Grossberg's finger barely touched it and flew out of the office.
"D-Diego! Wait, the box!" Grossberg leaned in too far to try and stop the box from falling and tumbled down the ladder, pulling down the strand of lights and garland he had just hung and getting himself tangled in them. Picking back up his glasses and putting them back on his pudgy, round face Grossberg sighed and shook his head as he attempted to get himself out of the tangled mess that had been made.
Diego rushed around town, trying to find what he had forgotten; the perfect Christmas gift for Mia. The had only been dating for about a year and working together under Mr. Grossberg for just a while longer. But, Diego felt like he had know Mia Fey for an eternity. She had a temper, but when she smiled she lit up the whole room. No, his whole world was alight when she was happy. He felt warm and blessed to have a lover like her. She was always there to provide companionship and comfort when he needed it. She was, probably, the love of his life even. Diego left every store he went to disappointed. Just what gift do you get for such an incredible woman on Christmas?
Diego strolled out of the nearby coffee shop, Christmas cards and coffee in hand. He didn't know what else to get her. Nothing seemed good enough. Defeated, he sipped quietly on his coffee as he headed back to the office.
"Mia's surely back with that little sister of hers now and I'm about to go back empty handed, except this little card." He'd bought Christmas cards for Mia and Mr. Grossberg and the dollar store when he noticed the card display in the window. He couldn't beat the price, so he figured why not as least get something. "I bet she got me something great…. extravagant even and I can't even give her that." Diego sighed sadly. He didn't know what it was about today, it had just been so melancholy and dull. He hadn't seen Mia at all and he was just about afraid to when he got back. He looked up and noticed he had taken a wrong turned while lost in his thoughts and he looked around to see the names of the businesses to figure out where he was. "There, that's it!" Diego exclaimed as he caught sight of a jewelry store display while trying to gather his bearings. The bell began to go off, signaling it was now 7 in the evening. The jewelry store was only open a half hour more, so Diego hurried inside. He may be late to the office party, but he would have something to show for it.
"Tell me again, Diego isn't here yet?" Mr. Grossberg sat in his office chair, being interrogated by Mia Fey, one of his best understudies. Although she was a fabulous lawyer, she had quite the temper. Grossberg wiped his brow with a handkerchief from his pocket and looked up at Mia.
"H-he claimed he had forgotten something my dear. You know how he is." Grossberg gulped. He was expecting a hard punch from Mia any second, she loved to throw those out while she was angry.
"Well, he should have at least helped you finish putting up the decorations! You were wearing them in a tangled mess on the floor." Mia shook her head in disgust as they both heard the front door to the law office open. "Looks like he's finally here. I better go back sure Maya doesn't scare him away and that there's even any food for us left." Mia left Grossberg's office and he sighed in relief. He really did not want punched on Christmas Eve, although he was sure he had several coming after the holidays were over. He stood up, straightened his suit, and joined Mia in the front lobby.
Diego walked up to the main door of the office building to find a simple wreath hanging on the door. "Looks like the decorations managed to get up. Maybe I shouldn't have just left like I did and helped. " Diego shrugged and took a sip of yet another cup of coffee in his hand. He hoped Mia like the present he found, it was the most inexpensive piece of jewelry he could find there. As he walked into the lobby, he saw a Christmas tree and lights with garland and ribbon hung all around. It was simple yet elegant looking. There was a food and drink bar set off to the side and a young girl was hovering over it. She had long black hair and was wearing a purple Santa dress with a matching hat on her head. He figured this was Mia's little sister that she talked so much about and wondered briefly if Mia was wearing anything similar to her. He noticed the girl had two different burgers in both of her hands and a full bowl of ramen sitting in front of her. "Hey, you're Mia's little sister right?" The girl spun around just as she was about to take a bite out of one of the burgers in her hand.
"Yep!" She took the bite and then quickly devoured the rest of the burger. "I'm Maya. You must be Diego, Sis always talks about you." Maya was looking Diego over while he sipped on his coffee. She eyed the small present box and a mischievous grin spread across her face. "Is that a Christmas present for Sis?"
"Y-yes, it is." Diego nearly choked on his coffee. He felt his face grow hot. Why did he find the fact that Maya knew about him buying her older sister a present so embarrassing? It wasn't like she knew what it was or anything.
"What is it?" Maya drew closer to him and devoured the other burger she was holding. "It's a ring, isn't it?" Diego nearly dropped his coffee on the floor. How was this young teenage girl so smart? Was he really that easy of a person to read?
"Okay Maya that's enough, you can stop teasing him now." Mia entered the room, dressed similar to Maya only her outfit was blue. She put her hand on her hip and gave him a very intense look. Diego gulped as Mia raised her arm and pointed at him. "Diego Armando, you are LATE." Mia took a few steps forward so that she was closer. She put both hands on her hips. "You better have a good excuse."
"Well, I'm sorry Kitten." Diego looked a bit apologetic. He tossed his paper coffee cup in the trash and started messing with his hair, not really sure of what to say next. Maya came back over, holding the bowl of ramen she had dipped out earlier.
"Diego bought you a Christmas present Sis. Isn't that right, Diego?" Maya looked like the evilest person on the planet as she slurped on her noodles. Diego looked around for moral support, but the only other person in the room was Mr. Grossberg. He motioned for Diego to explain himself, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh really? I bet you had forgotten to get it beforehand because you left Mr. Grossberg here all by himself to hang up these decorations." Mia sighed "Well, I can't say I'm any better. I was so busy helping Maya make these outfits for the party that, well, this is all you get." Mia looked apologetic. Diego just laughed and pulled her to him. Mia gasped in surprise and just melted into him, enjoying his warmth.
"It might be too early for this but, here" Mia titled her head as she looked up affectionately at her boyfriend. He seemed nervous, yet pleased with what he was handing over to her. She took the small box from him, thoroughly examining it. It was nicely wrapped in a heavy foil wrapping paper that was red in color with a snowflake design. There was a gold ribbon around it tied into a nice bow at the top. Maya looked like she couldn't contain her excitement as Mia began to pull on the ribbon.
"Hurry up Sis! Open it!" Maya was standing on her tip toes trying to see what was inside the box as Mia pulled on the ribbon, and tore the paper off. She opened the plain white box to find a small jewelry box. "It's a ring sis!" Maya beamed. Mia looked shocked.
"It's a uh…promise ring." Diego looked as red as some of the Christmas decorations around the room. He didn't know why he had butterflies in his stomach, he normally didn't feel this way. But giving this ring to Mia was important to him and he felt like it was the only gift worthy of being gifted to her. Mia's look of shock soon turned into one of genuine happiness as she put the ring on her finger.
"I don't really know what to say. I'd been wondering for a while if it was okay for us to take the next big step in our relationship." Mia looked up at Diego, studying his expression. The whole room was silent. Maya and Grossberg both watched the couple with eager anticipation. Maya was excited that her sister had found someone special to her, someone she loved. Grossberg wanted nothing more than his two star understudies to be happy and he had secretly thought they'd be the perfect pair all along.
"You don't have to say anything," Diego pulled Mia in for another tight embrace. "Putting that ring on your finger is enough and accepting this kiss." They both leaned into each other with earnest as if they had wanted nothing more than this moment. Mia's eyes closed as she melted into the kiss. Nothing else mattered; not the party, Grossberg, Maya, or the silly outfit Maya insisted she wear. All that mattered was this moment, this kiss, and the man whose arms were wrapped around her protectively.
After the kiss broke, the lovers continued to hold one another for a short while and then broke apart. Everyone continued to enjoy the evening, until it was almost midnight. Maya had to be back home soon, so Mia packed up their stuff and prepared to leave, but not without one last kiss. This kiss was far shorter than the last, ending with the chimes of a clock announcing that it was now midnight and in turn, Christmas day. The couple smiled at each other and wished each other a Merry Christmas. Once Mia had left, Diego helped clean up and headed home himself. On his way home, the only thing he could think about was Mia and how she was the perfect end to a stressful day.