Merry Christmas/thank you for reading my stories last month! Here's a story!
He'd been home from his new internship at the university hospital for about thirty minutes and was watching the nightly news before he heard the taxi door open and close. The key jangled in the lock and heels clacked down the hall before his wife collapsed on the sofa next to him. Rory kissed Amy's after she sighed into him.
"You know something's wrong with the world when the head and model of a popular perfume company gets home after her hard working nurse and full time college student of a husband." She leaned down and pulled off her heels.
"Got stuff done today?" he asked, pulling her back down next to him once her shoes were off.
She nodded and turned her neck to the side, and he leaned over to sniffed it, "Nice. Holiday?"
"Christmas, yeah." She curled into him gently.
"Got a name?"
"Had to fight for it." She shrugged, "But yeah. My name."
"The top secret one?" He teased, kissing her neck lightly.
She rolled her eyes, "You can probably guess."
"Last Christmas I almost died in a space ship crash?"
She elbowed him gently, "No, dummy. Honestly, guess."
"Christmas Present?" He kissed her gently on the cheek, "As in ghost of?"
"No, but that's a good one. Maybe next year, for that." She snuggled closer as he turned off the TV, "Give up?"
He kissed her forehead, "I give up."
"Halfway Out of the Dark."
He hesitated for a moment before responding, "That's a bit of a mouthful."
"Yeah, but it's just right, you know? It smells like the snow from there, the holly and the old-timey smell that was there."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. That Christmas smoke."
"Plus, there's an edge to the scent of the perfume, you know? It smells like Christmas. Not that they thought so." They were the others on the board at Amy's company—she had invited them on the basis that every company had a board, so why shouldn't hers? Now she couldn't figure how to make them do what she wanted without taking off her skirt.
And since she was married, that was off the table.
Which made things so much more difficult.
"It does." He agreed, "What did they want to name it?"
"Swan Pond."
"What?" It took him a moment to figure it out before—"Like, Swan Lake?"
"Doesn't it sound dumb? Besides, I'm technically Amelia Williams, and I told them I wouldn't have my fake name attached to something so perfect for Christmas. It would ruin it. This Christmas, I want to be Amy Williams."
He didn't respond, but hugged her tighter.
"They want to work on a new scent, too."
"Isn't this a new scent?"
"Yeah, but it's a holiday one. It's totally different. It's like…the difference between the final and a pop quiz. But I can't tell you much more about it. Spoilers, you know." She felt him nod, and then she sat up, "Wanna see the concept design? For Halfway Out of the Dark?"
"Sure. For the bottle, the case, or the picture?"
"All three. They didn't let me have the real ones, but while they were talking about price and marketing I doodled them out."
"You should have paid attention." He almost scolded.
She held up her cell phone, "I have the meeting recorded on this. No, they didn't know, but I'm going to review it after supper and then call up my secretary and see what she thinks."
"I've got a paper to write," he warned her, "So I'll be up late tonight."
"Yeah, the meeting was three hours long, Rory. We'll both be up late." She dug around in her brief case, "Anyway, here's the bottle." She handed him the paper.
He examined the snow man bottle carefully, "It's rustic. Almost like the ones we saw. Except I'm sure he has some exact degree for the eyes that is important to make the snowmen look perfect."
"Yeah, I know." She sighed, "They wanted a smooth, clean look, but the perfume doesn't smell smooth, so I told them no. And this is the case."
"That sleigh looks just like the one the Doctor showed us that he flew the love birds around on." Rory laughed, "Did you get to draw it up?"
She nodded, "Yeah, I did. They're letting me have a little more to say about stuff these days."
"That's good."
"I mean, I am the head of the company and they're only my heads of production and marketing."
"You should listen to them sometimes, just so you're not stepping on toes." He suggested.
She laughed, "I did, and that's the reason for this." She held up the last paper with a hint of a smile.
"Really?" He stared at the image with a mix of amusement and disbelief. "Is that an elf suit?"
"I think it's supposed to be." She laughed, "That was the photo shoot from last week."
"It's the same length as the police women one." He looked at it a little closer, "I think it's shorter than the police woman one."
"Yeah, I know."
He paused, "Are you sure it's an elf?"
She looked at it again, "No, actually. But it was this or a sexy Mrs. Claus, so I went with the elf." She shrugged, "They wanted an image that would sell."
"Well, as much as I would prefer the image they were selling wasn't my wife, I have to admit how amazing you look."
"Aw, you say just the right thing. Guess I've got you trained well." She teased him and he messed up her hair. With a laugh, she glanced out the window, "Rory! It's snowing!"
"Really?" He sat up next to her, "Real snow? Not the fake snow that the Doctor does every day in December, no matter where he lands?"
"Do you see him?"
"No, but that's nothing new. I don't see him half the time and I die anyway." He grinned, "Forget work. Let's go outside."
"Christmas for one more day?" She asked wistfully.
"We don't need a time machine for that."
Thank you for reading this and have a happy holidays! If you want something funnier and more Christmas-y please check out my other Christmas fic on my page!
Please drop a review!