CHRISTMAS CHEERS

Instead, he lifted his head and sniffed the air, “you smell the Christmas already, don’t you?”

“It intense this year…,” Linda chipped in, “and I can’t wait to be with my mother. I’m spending the holidays with her”

Her last statement was enough to stop him from asking his next question. He said something else, “I haven’t figured out anything yet. I might visit family too. Maybe finally meet the girl my mother says she has found for me” he smiled and Linda laughed out, her head falling back. Mike was happy he could make her laugh like that.

“Your mother doesn’t have any business looking for girls for you. You’re capable of doing that all by yourself,” she said.

“Then why haven’t I been able to get you to have dinner with me?”

Lis chuckled, “Because I’ve been busy…, you know something always comes up”

“Yeah right,” he was jovial about it, “Maybe one of these days very soon,” he suggested and Linda smiled and nodded.

“Very soon,” she said. She knew it was never going to happen. It was a long story, one she wasn’t ready to tell but she was certain a date with Mike, or fraternizing beyond what they already had was not going to happen. she decided it was time to end the conversation. She exhaled softly, “Let’s call it a night then,” she said and Mike nodded. He sensed the sudden shift and he didn’t want to push it.

Maybe he wasn’t the kind of man she wanted. But she certainly was a nice person to have around and he didn’t want to lose that either. He stepped back as she lowered herself into her car; strapped her seatbelt and started the engine. She shut the door and lightly waved at him. He lifted his hand and waved back — and watched her drive away. When love almost seems impossible, he thought. He found his way to his car, settled and drove out of the premises too, calling it a night.