(A "Christmas special" of sorts. Written 12.25.11.)
Eleven rummaged noisily through her desk.
She slowly removed all the junk and old papers from the drawers, dumping most everything into the trash. Old bills, progress reports, and dictations were all discarded immediately. The gum wrappers and indigestible Hershey's kisses were all thrown out as well. She wanted to clean everything out and organize in time for the new year.
As she continued rifling through the mess, one piece of paper in particular caught her eye. It lay at the bottom of one of the desk drawers, folded neatly into quarters. "Eleven" was written on the front.
Recognizing the paper, Eleven opened it nervously. It was from a different time in her life. A different era. The handwriting inside said:
Hello, beautiful.
I know you said that we can't get each other Christmas presents in a work environment like this. I get that, but I hope that you can accept this piece of paper instead.
Thank you for an amazing evening. I wouldn't have wanted to spend the holiday with anyone else. I just hope that, someday, we won't have to do it in secret while training for a war. It's going to sound cheesy, but I'm gladly giving you my heart for Christmas. You have it now, and you always will.
I'm yours, Ells.
David
Blinking furiously, Eleven crumpled up the piece of paper viciously and threw it in the trash bin. She continued working on organizing the rest of her desk…
Not two minutes later, Eleven dove back into the trash can and retrieved the crushed piece of paper. She flattened it out hastily, trying to return it to its original state. Then, she read it again. And again. And again.
How things change.