Ugly Sweater
An excerpt from A Very Merry Ex-Mas
Stuck in a cabin with her ex during Christmas, Aijah discovers that Travis hasn’t forgotten their time together.
The snow had stopped the day before and apart from their cars being buried, it was a spectacular day. Above was a taut sheet of blue only marred by a blazing sun that barely warmed the crisp air and did nothing to the blinding white snow.
As Aijah sat in one of the Adirondack chairs out front, bundled up and curled around a mug of hot chocolate, she was really considering coming back to the cabin. Especially when the Christmas festivities would be celebrated at Uncle Theo's. Maybe she would invite her family up. She smiled at the notion that as she knew Kaycee would have Gerald in tow.
Taking a sip of the still hot chocolate, her mind went to her little sister and her accountant boyfriend. They were cute, she had to admit, and it wouldn't surprise Aijah if they got married. At this Aijah snorted. Even thinking the words and 'marriage' and 'Kaycee' in the same sentence felt like a sin. She could almost see her little sister scowling at her.
With a sigh, Aijah peered out at the snow. A tinge of homesickness had burrowed its way into her and had caught root. No, she didn't miss her uncle's pompous monologues, but she missed sharing a bottle of wine with her sister and mother while talking the day away. Maybe she could arrange to go home for a weekend.
Aijah smiled to herself as a plan began to form. It grew and blossomed as she drank chocolate and enjoyed the view. Then the cold began to creep beyond her barriers of wool and cotton, forcing Aijah to get to her feet and retreat into the warm cabin.
As expected, Travis was stationed at the dining table, tapping away on his computer. Aijah was on her way to her station, the sofa when she came to an abrupt stop.
Slowly turning to look at him directly, she narrowed her eyes. Is that? Aijah craned her neck up. That isn't... She ducked low and observed Travis like a big cat stalking its prey. He did not.
Straightening up, Aijah saw all she needed to see to get confirmation. "What are you wearing?" she demanded, forgetting that he had his earbuds in.
Eyeing them, she scowled and began to wave her arms as she stalked over to the where the offender sat, innocently. When she was standing over him, he pulled out the earbuds. "What are you wearing?" she sniffed.
Travis looked down at his jeans then made his way up over his dark green sweater. Pinching the fabric at his shoulders, he looked up at Aijah, "A sweater."
"Noooo," she leaned forward and braced herself on the table. "That is an ugly Christmas sweater," she hissed.
"Is it now?" Travis glanced back at his laptop and pressed, "Ctrl" and "S".
"Don't act so innocent, mister. Ugly sweaters on Christmas Eve. That is a Washington tradition," Aijah announced.
"If it is so much a tradition," Travis shrugged. "Where is your ugly Christmas sweater?"
"As if," Aijah clawed at her muffler, plucked at the buttons of her coat and ripped it open. Her chest surged forward as though she was Super Woman about to give some evil doers a butt whooping.
Travis reeled back as he took in the chunky blue monstrosity that was liberally placed in the category of apparel, specifically sweaters. Bedazzled and adorned with fringe. It wasn't absolute if it was Santa Claus or Elvis blazed across the front.
Giving into his laughter, Travis held up his hands. The roar of laughter eventually came to an end with a bout of coughing. "Okay, okay," he sputtered and inhaled. "You win."
"Of course, I win," Aijah shrugged off her coat and placed her hands on her hips. "But why are you wearing that?" she jutted her chin at his chest.
Sobering up, Travis shrugged and turned back to his laptop. "Just felt like it."
Aijah inhaled, prepared to school Travis on the history of the Washington tradition as though it was handed down generation to generation. Words, sentences, a monologue that would make any History professor beam with pride filled her head. Then nothing as the indignation fizzled away as she watched Travis return to work.
What am I really mad about? she asked herself. That Travis had adopted her family tradition or because she missed her family? The realization stole her voice for a handful of seconds.
"Tell me this," Aijah crossed her arms, then let them fall away as the sequins poked into them. "Do you wear an ugly sweater every Christmas?"
"No," The short word seemed to curve and pop out as Travis's eyes remained on the screen.
"Oh," Aijah reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her phone. "Soooo, if I go on your social media, I won't see a picture of you wearing an ugly sweater last Christmas Eve," after clicking the side button, she clicked on the Instagram icon.
Before the app fully loaded, Travis pounced on the phone, but Aijah hopped out of the way. Then with a sigh, he said "Fine." He shrugged and held his chin up, "Fine, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Yes, Aijah, I wear ugly sweaters on Christmas Eve."
"And you know we own that, right?" she all but did a victory dance.
Leveling a deadpan gaze at her, Travis said, "Planning on getting the copyright?"
"Ha ha. It's just..." Aijah's eyes fell away and she looked down at the black, mirror-like surface of her phone.
"You miss your family," he offered.
Aijah's answer was a slow nod. She thought she had figured everything out, but she didn't anticipate that she would miss the little things like her mother's hugs and Kaycee's, where could she begin when it came to her little sister.
"Do you miss yours?" she looked up at him.
Travis hooked his arm on the back of the chair and leaned back slightly. "Yeah, but it's just..." he began as though he had something profound to say but in the end he said nothing.
"You have to get some work done," Aijah offered.
Peering up at her, Travis bobbed his head, then he tipped his head in the direction of the laptop, "I better get back to it."
"Uh, yeah," Aijah muttered as she watched Travis tuck the earbuds back into his ears. "And I..." but he was already lost to his work.
Aijah walked over to the sofa and fell into it. Bringing her phone back to life, she opened up the gallery app and opened the camera album. Clicking on the thumbnail of a picture of her and her ex, she enlarged it.
With a slow swipe, Aijah scrolled through pictures of her and Jaden. This time she saw them with new eyes, skeptical eyes, honest eyes. She had to be honest with herself that she and Jaden were never really in sync, not like she was with.....
Aijah looked across at Travis. So much were they in sync that she knew he wasn't being truthful about something. But what was that something?
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