The Christmas House (32 page)

“Yes, I am exhausted. Nothing a nice hot bath wouldn’t fix though,” she replied.

Michael responded, “Speaking of hot baths, I’m going to have a Jacuzzi installed at the house out on the deck over looking the back yard. I think that would be nice to come
home to after a hard day’s work, e
specially in the winter.”

“Oh, I love hot tubs. I was on vacation once in Colorado and this hotel had a hot tub located in the woods. It was a great setting. You could sit in the hot water and watch the snow evaporate before your eyes as it fell from the sky and into the steamy water. It was so relaxing,” Sharon replied.

“Well, I’m going to build a sun room over the Jacuzzi at the house. That way it will be totally private and you won’t have to worry about wearing a bathing suit to go in,” Michael said.

“At this hotel in Colorado, you didn’t where a bathing suit either,” replied Sharon.

“What did you do? Run naked from your hotel room to the hot tub?” asked Michael.

“No silly! You wore a robe and slippers. It was really cold and until you actually got into the hot water, you were freezing. One time I went to the hot tub really late at night and an older woman was the only other person there. I slipped off my robe and threw it on the side of the deck surrounding the hot tub and slipped into the water. I was so relaxed I almost dozed off. The old woman must have left during the time I was so relaxed that I didn’t even notice that she was gone. My skin was starting to get wrinkled, so I decided I better get out of the tub, when I realized my robe was gone. The old woman must have picked it up by mistake thinking it was a towel or something!” explained Sharon.

“Oh no!
What did you do?” asked Michael.

“Well, I didn’t have much choice. Luckily it was dark outside, so I made a mad dash for the villa I was staying in. I was so embarrassed, yet kind of excited.
Running naked through the snow right out in the open.
Guess I am a bit of an exhibitionist. I was freezing by the time I finally reached the door to my villa. I sighed with relief that no one saw me. Then I realized the key to my door was still in the pocket of my robe!”

Michael laughed. “So then what did you do?”

“I didn’t want to run to the hotel lobby and make a grand entrance, so I knocked on the door of the villa that was next to mine. Luckily, there was a woman staying there and not a man. She let me inside and gave me her robe. I explained my situation and she let me use her phone to call the front desk to have another key brought to me.”

“That’s a great story. Did you ever see that woman again?” he asked as he sipped the last of his coffee from his cup.

“I saw her when I was checking out. She just waved and said, “Nice to have seen you!”

“See you
is
right! Boy, what a situation to get into. But like you said, it could have been worse if a man had answered the door to that villa next door. Then again, what if it was some handsome man? That might have been okay, knowing you,” Michael said.

“No way Michael.
I am very particular about the men I share my life with. Contrary to what you may think, I am not a promiscuous woman,” she stated.

“I’m
sorry,
I didn’t mean it like that. I was just pulling your leg. It’s getting late. We better call it a night. Are you ready to go?” Michael replied.

“Yes, I am. Do you want me to leave a tip for the waitress?” Sharon asked.

“No, I’ve got it covered,” replied Michael.

They slid out of the booth they were sitting at and walked toward the door.

“So, you wanna come over to my place and fool around?” Sharon asked.

Michael looked dumbfounded.

“I was only kidding Michael!”

Michael started to laugh and realized she was just getting back at him for the promiscuous remark he made.

“You scared me there for a second Sharon,” he finally replied.

“Michael, we agreed that we would just be friends. I respect that decision. Now, drive me back to the house so I can get my car and we’ll call it a night.”

Sharon had been dressing down since she decided to back off from her direct approach with Michael. This evening, she wore a pair of jeans, a turtle neck sweater, a pair of flats and her winter coat.
Nothing flashy or sexy.
Michael was dressed in his usual attire of a lumberjack shirt, jeans and work boots. Michael was never much of a flashy dresser, but an attractive man nonetheless.

As Michael pulled out of the restaurant parking lot, he started talking with Sharon.

“You know, I am really glad I have been able to spend some time with you Sharon. I know we are just friends and that’s all we will ever be, but it’s nice to talk to a female once in a while. Guys don’t talk. I can spend an entire evening with a couple of guys, and not say a word. We just grunt and swear a lot. At the end of the evening we say good night and that’s it. Guys are strange.”

“That’s the understatement of the year. I have observed my brother and his friends when they are shooting pool or bowling or some other stupid male bonding ritual. They say maybe ten words all night to each other and those words include, “nice shot”, “wanna another beer” and “look at the buns on that one,” she replied.

“That’s actually twelve words. Your brother must have a pretty extensive vocabulary,” Michael said.

“Seriously Michael,
I am always available for you to talk with if you ever feel the need. Sometimes it is easier to talk to a woman.
I g
uess that’s because we are so much more intelligent then men.”

“Okay. Let’s not get into which gender is more intelligent or we will be here all night,” he said as he pulled in front of the house on Festive Lane next to Sharon’s car.

“Okay. That is a discussion for another time. Thanks for dinner Michael. I had a really nice time,” Sharon said.

“And thank you for helping me select the furniture for the house. I really liked what we decided on. You have a great eye for style.”

Sharon leaned over and kissed Michael on the cheek very innocently.

“Good night Michael. I’ll be around later this week. Can you wait until I get into my car?”

“I am always a gentleman. I would have waited even if you hadn’t asked me to,” replied Michael.

Michael put the truck into park and waited to hear Sharon’s car start up. Sharon turned the key to the ignition and heard nothing but a “click”. Michael heard the same click.

“Sounds like you have a dead battery. Pop the hood,” he said to Sharon still sitting inside of the car.

As she turned the key Michael once again heard nothing but a click. There was not enough juice from the battery to power the radio much less turn over the engine.

“It’s dead. I’ll get the jumper cables out of my truck,” Michael said.

Michael went to the back of his truck and looked for the jumper cables.

“Hmm.
I thought they were here just yesterday. Maybe I took them out for
something.”

“Do you have jumper cables? I seem to have misplaced mine,” he asked Sharon.

Sharon got out of the car and slammed the door shut. “No, I don’t have any cables.
This stupid car.”

“Well, nothing we can do tonight. C’mon, I will give you a lift home,” Michael said.

They both jumped back into the truck and he turned the truck around to take Sharon home.

“I am so sorry about this Michael. I guess I need a new battery for that stupid car.”

“Don’t worry about it Sharon. I’ll pick you up a new battery tomorrow and install it for you. It’s no big deal.
Really.
Where do you live?” he asked.

“I live on the north side of Evanston. I hope I’m not taking you too far out of your way,” she replied.

“Not at all.
It’s on my way home. I have an apartment on the East Side of Evanston.”

As Michael drove Sharon home, they talked about the problems with cars and batteries
; j
ust basic small talk to discuss during the short drive to Evanston. A few minutes later, Michael pulled up in front of the apartment building where Sharon lived.

“There you go. Right to your door,” Michael said.

Sharon pulled some money out of her purse and handed it to Michael.

“Hey, I’m no taxi service. There is no charge for the ride,” Michael said.

“This money is for the new battery you are going to pick up for me tomorrow, not for the ride home Michael.”

“Oh.
Yeah, sure.
I knew that,” Michael replied.

“Well I will be without a car until you install the new battery, so can you call me when it is ready and I will take a cab to the house?”

“Don’t be silly. I will come pick you up. But I do need keys to your car so I can
pop the hood from the inside,” Michael replied.

“Oh, I have an extra set in my apartment. Why don’t you come up with me and I will give them to you?”

“Why don’t you just give me the set on your key ring?” asked Michael.

“Getting keys on and off this ring is really hard on the finger nails. C’mon up, it will only take a second.”

Michael agreed to accompany Sharon up to her apartment to retrieve the spare set of car keys. As they walked to the common entry door for the apartment building, Sharon smiled and thought; “Well this worked out just as planned.”

Chapter Twenty-A Critical Night for Michael

222 East Pleasant Street

Apartment 326

Evanston, IL

10:30 p.m.

Sharon slid her key into the lock of the eggshell painted door with the numbers “326” displayed at eye level, as Michael stood behind her.

“This is a pretty nice building for being so old. You can tell a lot of renovation work went into keeping it up to code. I like the ornate trim and cove molding at the ceilings. It’s really distinguished,” he said.

“Yes, I looked for an apartment in this area because I like older buildings. There are more problems to contend with, but you can’t beat the old time construction quality for warmth and quiet,” Sharon replied.

As she opened the door to her apartment, she reached around the corner and flipped on the wall switch that lit a table lamp sitting nearby. The apartment was very nicely decorated, but that was expected considering Sharon was a decorator. The door opened into the living room area, which boasted hard wood floors covered with custom designed area rugs.

The walls were painted a light gray with accents of deep and light beige ruled lines toward the top of the walls. The furniture featured a modern set of dark green leather pieces, which included a couch, love seat and oversized chair. Glass tables could be found throughout the area as well as very modernist pieces of art and oil paintings.

“Wow, you have very modern tastes for yourself. I can’t believe that you were able to suggest the Victorian style furniture that you did for my house,” Michael said.

“Decorating is based on the person that lives in the environment Michael. I have to judge the person and then make a recommendation. I have different tastes for different rooms. Excuse
me,
I have to use the bathroom. I will be right back. Make
yourself
at home,” she replied.

Michael sat down on the leather couch and looked around the room. Much of the art hanging on the walls was very expressive and featured nude subjects. He walked around the living room area inspecting the different articles that were properly displayed. Sharon peeked out of the bathroom where Michael could hear water running.

“I’m going to take a quick hot shower. I am freezing. It won’t take but a minute. There is coffee on the burner in the kitchen. Help
yourself
,” she said as she ducked her head back inside and closed the door before Michael could even have a chance to answer.

Michael walked toward the bathroom to ask where the extra car key was and noticed that the door was not totally closed. He stopped and watched through the door opening as Sharon entered the shower. Michael could see the image of Sharon’s body through the frosted shower doors as the steam rose out of the bathroom.

He decided that he should just go sit down on the couch and wait for Sharon to finish with her shower.

Meanwhile Sharon was in the shower hoping that Michael noticed that she had purposely left the door slightly ajar. As the hot water streamed from the showerhead above and caressed her body, she prayed that Michael would slide the glass shower door open and join her in the shower. Wrapping his arms around her and taking her right there. She waited for a few minutes and then a few minutes more. She came to the realization that Michael was
either gay
, stupid or just not interested in a woman taking a shower. She turned the water off and grabbed a towel. She dried off with the towel and brushed out her still dry hair. She reached for her robe and then stopped. She picked the towel back up and wrapped it around her body and tied it evenly with the top of her breasts.