The envelope lay on her desk and had done for a couple of hours now and she still hadn't seen it. She was too busy getting stressed to notice it was there, but had she noticed then her mood may have improved a lot quicker.
It wasn't until she was packing away her stuff, in favour of a hot bath and bed instead of another late night at work, that she noticed the envelope. Since her husband rarely came home anymore she favoured being at work to home where the memories of someone she fell out of love with a long time ago were at their strongest. Tonight though she needed a relaxing night with no thoughts of work or her cheating husband.
She picked up the cream envelope which had obviously once been propped up against her computer monitor but had fallen down. Considering she'd been cooped up in her office for hours it must have been there for a while. Opening the envelope she pulled the Christmas card out where she found no clues to who had sent the card. It wasn't until she put the card back into the envelope and put it in her bag that she realised that whatever it said on the front was too long to be her name.
Pulling the envelope back out of her bag she inspected it further and only then realised that the envelope in fact said 'Someone Amazing' on the front and not 'Jean'. She looked around her office from where she was standing in search of a clue that might give away who it was from but as she'd already known, there was nothing. That was until her phone beeped from with in her bag, alerting her to the fact that she'd received a text message.
"From: Number Withheld
I see you got the card. It's true; you are someone who is amazing."
The text scared her a little; she threw her phone back inside her bag and left her office, locking the door behind her. There were a few people still in the office, most of which wouldn't be able to see into her office from where they were stood or sat.
Jean knocked on the door which was opposite her office, in which only James was sat. He looked up at her and offered her a smile.
"Where's Lewis?" Jean asked.
"He's gone home, he had a headache. I'm just finishing this off."
"Okay."
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just needed to speak to Lewis."
"Anything I can help you with?" James asked.
"No it's fine, night." Jean said before she left the building.
She sat at home on her sofa with the same glass of wine that she'd been nursing for the best part of half an hour. In her hand was the envelope that had both brightened her day and made her feel loved but had also spooked her. It was at this point that she figured out who'd sent it as she'd been replaying the events since finding the card in the hope of remembering a detail that at the time she'd dismissed.
After jumping into the car and driving the short distance between her house and his, she found her confidence desert her as she stood on his doorstep. She'd pressed the
doorbell without consciously deciding to do so, leaving her now face to face with him and unsure of what to say.
"Ma'am?" He asked unsure of what she was doing there.
"Can I come in?" She asked hoping that her voice wasn't betraying how nervous she was.
"Course." He moved aside leaving a gap for her to walk in through. "Drink?" He asked as she sat down on the sofa. "No thank you." She replied so he sat down at the other end of the sofa. "Did you decide there was something I could help you with after all?" She considered his words for a minute as she tried to decide how to play this.
"You could say that."
"Go on then."
"Do you know anyone in the office who would write a text in perfect English?"
"No." He knew where this was going now but he was determined not to say anything to give the game away until she did.
"Did you go to see Elspeth Byrne this morning?"
"No, she's in hospital. She attempted suicide." "Ah, definitely worth perusing when doctors say you can." Now she knew he was in all morning when she wasn't and that he was the only one who wrote texts in full English. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"Like what?" For a second she thought that she'd gotten this all badly wrong but the glint in his eyes told her she wasn't wrong.
"How you block your number when you send a test or how I'm so amazing?" He laughed as she spoke which was further indication that she'd gotten this right.
"You really need to be told how you're amazing?" He asked as he moved closer to her. They were sat so close now that they were almost touching, they could feel the heat of each others breath as both of their breathing rates quickened. Still neither of them moved or even looked at each other until Jean tilted her head so that she could look up at him.
He was hoping he hadn't judged this situation wrong because simply not moving could occur through shock but she had moved and not away from him so that had to mean something. He brought his face closer towards hers but still they didn't touch, instead they were looking each other in the eyes, both giving the other the chance to get out of this before anything happened. Moments passed, which felt like hours, with neither of them having moved. That was it, get outs gone. Both of their eyes slipped shut as the gap between them closed.
"I always knew you'd be amazing." James told her breathlessly as he pulled her even closer.
No longer did she want to lose herself in work or in relaxing at home. Instead she wanted to lose herself in James and if that's all she did for the rest of her life then it'd be a life well spent.
