Chapter 17 The Christmas Spirit

New York in December is just as magical as anyone could imagine. The streets are lined with Christmas lights, holiday markets pop up everywhere selling red and green felted trinkets, even the cold seems cheery when it brushes against your face. There were holiday parties, tons of them- for work, for different organizations, at bars that offered special deals for anyone interested in holiday cheer. It was exactly like every holiday movie Leah had seen and she couldn't wait to celebrate her first Christmas this year with Gabe.

Sure, she'd seen a Christmas tree, she'd even visited the giant one in the Boston Commons while in college, but she'd never celebrated Christmas. Unless of course, you count ordering Chinese food and discussing the history of this long-standing yet bizarre Jewish tradition. But this year was different. She and Gabe were meeting after work to see the Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center and then he promised to take her somewhere that served alcoholic eggnog.

"Earth to Leah!" Mark yelled over the cubicle. "You already headed off into space? "

"She's daydreaming about her goyfriend's sexy Santa costume." Alex stood up and leaned over. "It's probably just a red satin thong, right? And a big white pompom on the front."

Leah nodded and glanced back at her computer before looking up at Alex. "Ew."

"Yes, Ew!" Mark repeated. "Alex, you're the only one who likes wearing red satin thongs. I feel disgusting just saying that word."

"And now I can't get that image out of my head," Leah responded.

"Neither can the victims! I bet there are now at least five therapists that specialize in failed sexy Santa trauma!" Mark laughed and Alex rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"In college that was Alex's side job." Mark snickered.

"Stop!" Alex snapped.

"Seriously, he was a seasonal stripper."

"I was not."

"He was!"

"You're jealous because you couldn't get hired as one."

"What's a seasonal stripper?" Leah asked. Her cheeks started to get warm as she started to picture Alex naked. He was good looking. Objectively. He was tall, probably fit, even though Leah had only seen him in business casual attire. He had deep green eyes and a military-style buzz cut. His teeth were a little crooked, but it was only part of his charm.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Mark said smugly.

"It's a very profitable profession," Alex chimed in. "In fact, it's part of the reason I don't have as many student loans as Mr. Straight-edge over here!"

Mark rolled his eyes. "Anyway, are we going to happy hour today?"

"Wait, I'm still interested in this seasonal stripper thing," Leah asked. Her curiosity came from her journalistic instincts, she reasoned to herself. "You only stripped seasonally?"

"A lot of women hire strippers around different holidays," Alex explained as though he were giving a tutorial about organizational processes. "Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, you name it. Whenever there is a holiday, girls get horny."

"Or lonely," Leah added.

"Umm, I think horny," Alex winked. "I was a contractor for an escort company that didn't have enough contractors on hand during busy seasons. So when everyone else was studying for finals, I was getting bills stuffed in my thong." Alex returned Mark's smug look.

"So, happy hour?" Mark asked again. "Is there a reason we're still here talking about male thongs?"

Leah glanced at her clock and the Word document on her screen. Since her first successful article, Tony had been giving her consistent new assignments. Most of them didn't take much research. They could be written from the dry financial data she combed from the TCR and her data entry. But she was writing. And she was getting bylines. She was now writing a summary of a new loan drawn by a Fortune 500 company. Two months ago, she wouldn't have been able to understand a word of what she was writing.

"I have plans tonight," she smiled.

"I knew it was the goyfriend!" Alex commented. Despite her previous explosion about them calling Gabe her goyfriend, they continued to use the term. Leah was starting to warm up to it, she'd even used it once herself over drinks with Maya, who had gotten a real kick out of it. "If he needs to borrow a red satin thong, have him call me." Alex winked.

"I think he'd be a little cold in the thong. We're going to the tree-lighting." She felt like a little kid gearing up for their first trip to Disneyland.

"Oh no." Mark shook his head. "Should we tell her?" He looked at Alex. "Nobody warned you?" He asked Leah.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a disaster. Tourists have been camping out at Rockefeller since five in the morning to see the lighting. You won't be able to get within 10 blocks of it by now. "

"I'm sure it will be fine," Leah responded with the optimism of a non-New Yorker.

"All right, well have fun," Mark said. "You'll end up standing in a crowd on Madison and watching the lighting on your phone while people push to try to get a glimpse."

"I guess we'll see." Leah smiled, but inside she could feel the pangs of disappointment. She looked at her phone as the screen lit up with a text from Gabe.

Be outside your office in five.

She responded to let him know she'd be coming down and turned off her computer. "Enjoy happy hour!" She said to her friends as she stood up.

"Happy hour?" Someone whispered from across the room. "Where are you guys going? Have you been to Rolf's? It's the best place for Christmas." Malcolm approached their area.

"Rolf's?" Mark laughed. "Come on…"

Leah waved goodbye and left before hearing the rest of the conversation, but she tucked the name Rolf's into the back of her mind. Another New York landmark she'd need to experience.

Gabe was waiting for her when she walked out of her building. He kissed her and they started walking to the Subway. "Mark said Rockefeller is going to be really crowded now."

"He's right," Gabe responded with a smile .

"So where are we going to see the tree?"

"Do you trust me?"

Leah felt like Jasmine on the balcony when Aladdin held out his hand from the magic carpet. She definitely would grab his hand. "Of course."

"So just follow me." They rode the Subway, talking about their days at work. Leah told him about the article she was working on, but not about Alex's college profession. They got off the Subway right at Grand Central, which seemed even more crowded than usual. Gabe led her through the crowd toward Rockefeller Center. With every step, the crowds seemed to be getting thicker. Gabe even led her on the street, jumping to avoid taxis, just to get around the crowds. He continued to push forward until they were right on Fifth Avenue. When Leah looked up, she could see the tip of the tree, just as an elbow knocked her rib.

Gabe then pulled her into the lobby of a building. He smiled at the doorman and led Leah to the elevators. "Where are we going?" she asked, feeling like she was trespassing. She did not fit into this building with gold lining in the lobby.

"To see the tree!" They rode the elevator to the 11 th floor and Gabe led her to a door at the end of the hall. He unlocked it to reveal the most beautiful apartment Leah had ever seen. There were wood floors, leather couches, and full-length windows facing Rockefeller Center. "Come inside!" Gabe beckoned when Leah hesitated in the doorway.

"Gabe, what is this place? Who lives here?"

"My colleague," Gabe responded. "He said we could come here to watch the tree lighting. Come look!"

Leah stepped inside and carefully walked toward the window. She could hear her footsteps echoing on the floor. From the window, she could see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. It wasn't as big as she imagined it, but maybe that was because she had never imagined watching the lighting from above. "You sure this is OK?"

"Would he have given me his key if it wasn't?" Gabe dangled the key and then put it in his pocket. He then walked to the kitchen and pulled two beers out of the fridge. He popped the tops and handed one to Leah.

"We can't take his beer!"

"It's open, if we don't drink it now, it will go to waste."

Leah couldn't argue with that. Despite her discomfort and total disbelief, she took the beer.

"Cheers," Gabe said. "Merry Christmas." They clinked their bottles and took a drink. Leah looked around the apartment, afraid to sit down or touch anything. "They're going to turn on the lights soon." He seemed to pick up on her discomfort. "Don't worry, you can't ruin anything."

She giggled and snapped a picture of the tree from the window.

How's this for a view? She texted with the picture in the group she had with Mark and Alex.

You didn't tell us your goyfriend was rich! We would have joined! Alex responded almost instantly.

She put her phone away and leaned into Gabe. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lips. She put her hands around his neck and felt his hands start to grab into her back as his kisses became more passionate. "Gabe!" She slightly pulled away, even though she wanted him to keep kissing.

"It's OK," he said right into her mouth between kisses. "Don't worry." His hand felt around her legs and in between her thighs.

"Gabe, come on," she said, still not really wanting him to stop. He didn't. He slowly unbuttoned her pants and let the zipper fall. "Gabe…" She melted into his touch, even though she couldn't dismiss the discomfort.

"No one can see in the windows. Even if anyone is up this high, they won't be looking at us. Everyone is looking at the tree." He bent down in front of her and started to kiss her below. Her eyes darted out the windows looking around at the other buildings to see if she could see anyone. No one. But she could see the tree and suddenly it lit up, with thousands of tiny lights glowing around it.

"Gabe! You missed the lighting!"

"I have a better view from down here," he smiled and then picked her up and took her to the leather couch.

"Gabe, we can't, what if your colleague…"

"It's OK," he reassured her and they made love on the leather couch that Leah couldn't stop thinking about. But she looked to the side and stared at the giant lit up Christmas Tree in front of her. She focused on that and then on the electricity that she felt when Gabe touched her. She ran her hands through his hair and closed her eyes as she came, the image of the Christmas tree still in her mind.

After a few minutes, he got up and pulled her up to sit. "Amazing," he said, kissing her cheek. She looked down at the couch and saw a white scratch across the leather. She traced it with her finger.

"Was this here before?" She asked, wondering if a button from her shirt could have done it.

"Fuck," he said. "I don't know."

"I don't think it was."

"Oh well? What can we do?" he said with such calm and nonchalance that made Leah relax.

"So, eggnog?" he asked while still sitting naked, next to her on the couch .

She giggled while tracing the scratch on the leather between them. "I've never had eggnog before."

"It's actually disgusting," he said. "But if you've never had it, you need to try it. It's one of those things."

Leah giggled again and stared at his body. He was so sexy. Everything about him was lean and muscular and she wondered if that was from all the running he did or if he was just lucky.

Her stomach grumbled as she was staring at his abs.

"All right, get up!" he said. "I can't have you here starving during the Christmas season!" He stood up and pulled his clothes back on.

Leah slowly got dressed and wondered if this was what Christmas was all about. Passion, pleasure, and the anticipation of more. If so, she liked Christmas. She liked it a lot.