"I don't know if you noticed, but Christmas was months ago." I mock her, sitting at the edge of her bed. "Perhaps you'd like me to give you a calendar as a belated gift."

She waves me off with her tongue sticking out, and she continues to fold and pack what it is fairly the biggest, most hideous collection of Christmas sweaters, leggings and stockings I have ever seen in my life.

"That won't be necessary. I know exactly when Christmas is." She retorts as she looks around to see if there's another ugly item to add into her bag. "But since my dad had to travel for work that week, we decided to postpone it until we could celebrate it together. We're big fans of the Holidays."

I chuckle loudly and she scowls.

"I can see that, love. That's quite a selection you have there."

I poke my finger inside the bag and I take out a particularly funny sweater that features a Gingerbread man with actual googly eyes and fur pom poms along its body.

"Give me that!" She snatches the sweater out of my hand, putting it back carefully in its place. "Now... you can stay here if you want, but there's a few things you should know about the flat. A few... tricks."

I watch her pace around the room as she begins to enumerate the handful of things she thinks I may need to know.

The elaborate technique that needs to be followed by the book in order to stop the toilet from overflowing, the special ritual one needs to perform not to freeze to death or get first degree burns whilst showering, and so on.

I watch her but I don't necessarily listen to her. I've been practically living in this apartment for over a month now, so I'm quite familiar with it's quirks by now.

Plus, as the moment of her departure to her hometown rapidly approaches, I am more and more keen to the idea of not being left behind.

"Or I could just go with you." I suggest, seemingly detached, as if it wasn't about what I want so much as what I consider most convenient. "You know... so I don't flood the place or perish in the shower."

She sips the bag closed and looks at me, standing straight and tilting her hips to the side in a pensive manner.

"What about you sister? " She asks, scratching her chin. "Or... I don't know... your own flat? Because you have one in the city, don't you?"

As a matter of fact, I don't. I used to have one until the year before last, but once the media found out about its location it became almost impossible to get in and out without it ending up in the news; so I decided to sell it and crash with friends or my sister whenever I needed to spend some time in the city.

That arrangement seemed to work just perfectly when I was touring, but now that that is over, I guess I should be looking for a much more permanent one.

"Or... I could just go with you." I insist, bullheadedly overruling her other options like they are nonexistent.

"Sure." She caves, lifting her hands up in the air in surrender. "But didn't you have that thing tomorrow?"

Damn. She's full with excuses today. And really good ones at that, because actually I do have something that requires my attendance tomorrow.

"That's true." I unwillingly state, unable to ignore the sour tone she used to remind me of it. "But I can go after that."

She drops her shoulders, rolling her eyes with evident annoyance.

"I'll tell you what... Why don't you explain to me what is it that you're doing tomorrow, and I'll consider you tagging along?"

She walks forward, rather proud of herself for turning the game in her favor, and I can't help but to smile widely at her.

I want to tell her, of course. But this is not about what I want. I can't talk about it until it's official and, even though I know I can trust her to keep it between just us, I fought for this for a really long time and I can't afford any missteps.

"You'll consider me tagging along, eh?" I divert, knowing that she is fully aware that one single touch from her would have me spilling my guts. "That's hardly fair, don't you think."

"It is what it is." She stops inches away from me, mischievously staring into my eyes.

"I can't. I told you." I jump backwards like I just got an electric shock. "Not until it's done. And it will be... tomorrow."

She studies me for a few long seconds, narrowing her blue eyes whilst chewing the inside of her cheek in deep thought.
For a fleeting moment, something flashes through her features but I catch it, nonetheless.

"We're okay. You know that, right?" I cradle her face between my hands, stroking her jawline with both thumbs, and she closes her eyes in obvious relief. "This has nothing to do with you, with us. It's a work thing and that's all I can say for now. But please know that you'll be the first to know all about it."

She slowly nods and sighs deeply before opening up her eyes again. This time, there is nothing haunting them. And I kiss her.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" She whispers in my ear when I pull her into a hug.

"Save me some turkey."

As I let her go, rather reluctantly since I still hate the idea of loosing her off my sight even if it is just for twenty four hours, I take a mental note.

But where the hell am I going to find a Christmas sweater in March?

*****

"They love you, there's no doubt about that. But they're still a bit reluctant, that's all."

I lift my eyes from my wringing hands to look at my manager from across the table.

I'm mentally drained and physically exhausted. All I can think about is how much I want this to be over, whatever the outcome may be, so I can grab my bag, jump in the car and drive my way to her.

"I get it. I'm too famous or whatever..." I say with a roll of the eyes and a tone of disdain. "But at this point, I don't know what else to do to prove myself, and how seriously I'm taking this."

I have been chasing this for months now. Ever since the break started, and I heard about the project.

I talked to Geoff, I told him that I was interested and he moved a few contacts to get me an audition.

I could see it in their faces; the first time I showed up. They were looking at me as if I was just a child putting up a show a the living room of his house and they were the amused adults that let me get on with it just to shut me up.

But I did good. Really good, actually. And by the time I finished my reading, their minds were beginning to change.

It wasn't enough, though. They thought I was too famous, too exposed, and they were convinced it would become a liability.

So they pushed me harder, changing the auditions schedules and even the cities, probably thinking they would eventually break me and make me desist.

But I didn't. London, Los Angeles, even Paris. Wherever they asked me to go, I went. Six times to be exact.

"They know that. And something tells me they'll come to a decision today."

Let's hope he is right about that. And I hope they decide to give me the part.

But, like I said, all I want at this point is for it to be settled once and for all, so I can go ahead and have myself a merry little Christmas.