I took the
letter, which was more of a note than mine had been.
Sabrina,
I paused,
glancing over at Nikki. Very few people knew her real name. I wasn’t surprised
by Nick knowing it, but it was still jarring to see it in print. I knew it
would be even more jarring for Nikki.
She nodded
at me. I continued reading.
I never had a way to reach you before; I’ve
missed you. But that’s changed thanks to our mutual friend. You may not be able
to sit on my lap any longer—not because you’re too big or too old (I’m older
than you, ha!) but for other reasons—but you can always write me a letter. Matt
can help you with that, and I’ll be sure to get it.
Nick
P.S. You could be a
little Nicer in the coming year
I read it
again, picking out a few details, filing them for later, not about Nikki, but
Nick. The guy was still an enigma to me.
“Wow,” I
said.
“I have no
idea what to write, Matthew.”
“Well, we
have plenty of time,” I sipped my hot chocolate.
“I suppose
so.” Nikki stared at her mug, unaware of the whipped cream moustache we both
wore.
“You seem
lost in thought.”
“The
implications in this, Matthew. Nicholas is real and has asked me to write him a
letter. He intimates that he misses me, and that he wishes I could sit on his
lap like all the other little girls of the world. What am I supposed to make of
this?”
I shrugged.
“Welcome to my world. I find it’s better if we don’t obsess about the good
stuff. This has to be a good thing, Nikki.”
“And what
of yours? Is that a good thing?”
I shrugged. “It’s a job. I get to
help you, at least,” I grinned. “But you could be nicer, particularly to me.”
“I have not heard you complain
about my naughtiness.” Her voice became smoky, and she sat up thrusting her
chest out and putting a hand on her hip. “‘I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that
way,’” she quoted.
“Right. I’m
going to petition Nick to get that kind of naughtiness moved over to the Nice
list.”
I clinked
my mug to Nikki’s. “Merry Christmas, Nikki.”
“And to
you, Matthew,” she smiled.