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I got my answer before I could even say the question, so immediate, so sudden, I wasn’t even sure I heard her right... so I tried for some clarification here.

“No... what?”

“No...” Adalia repeated again, returning her focus back to her side of the tree. “I... will not... invite my sister here...”

Times like these, answers like those, I’m not sure if she was really just this perceptive, or if Matriarchs have innate telepathic abilities she hasn’t told me about yet. But actually, I think there was a much more simple explanation...

“You overheard Tyler and me talking, didn’t you?” I asked.

“I hear... everything...” She said, and as if to prove that very point, raised a finger and pointed right behind me. “Amanda... wants your... deer...”

.....

True enough, seconds later, I heard a rumbling stomp coming from the other direction. Burglar Nick has shown up for his pick of pieces, but like hell, I was gonna let him have anything off my back, especially since I didn’t have much on it already.

“Have a heart, why don’t you?” I said, striding forward and standing in the way of his attempts at playing the Grinch. “You’re like the upper-class of decorations already, still feel the need to steal from the poor? Can’t even bother with a trade?”

“Amanda said that deer of yours would look much better on our side,” Nick said in his weak attempt at justification, extending his arm over me regardless. “And I’m inclined to agree.”

But then something stopped him, something that completely deterred him. Sera saw him reaching for one of her more cherished finds and did not appreciate it one bit. She let out a snarl that would fit right at home coming out of the bloodied fangs of a fierce lioness, and Nick must have definitely thought the same. He took a second there to reconsider his options, before slowly backing off, and then promptly walking off.

Giant like him backing down ’cause of someone as small as her? He’s either very wise, or just all bark and not bite. Either way, can’t say he made the wrong choice there. Then again, if he didn’t find me as intimidating as she was... what does really say about me, then?

Eh, whatever.

“Anyway,” I began, whirling back around the other way. “Can you at least explain why you won’t...?”

I blinked, for a second there, confused... ’cause Adalia had suddenly grown a few inches, had a drastic appearance and hair color, and also inexplicably turned into Hayley.

“You have a problem with my partner, there?” Hayley asked, raising a quizzical brow at me. “Gave you a bad deal, perhaps?”

Turns out Adalia was elsewhere going ’round from person to person attempting still to trade in her bells, ultimately reaching the negotiation phase with Tyler over yonder which I assume was an attempt from him to get in her good graces. Sadly, it seems Adalia was the type to keep things strictly business only.

“Well I guess she did leave me a bit dissatisfied there, not gonna lie,” I said to Hayley, prompting her to hit me with that trademark impish smile of hers.

“Then how about a better offer?” She leaned back, reaching over and plucking something out of one of her branches, brandishing the object forward with her sultry gaze peeking right above it. “Know what this is?”

I saw green, I saw leaves, and made a good guess. “A shrub?”

“Mistletoe, silly. A lowly shrub, how dare you,” Hayley corrected, cocking her head sideways. “Anyway, interested?”

Honestly, not really. Adalia’s all I needed at the moment, but since she ain’t back yet, might as well just play along for now. Not like I had much to lose anyway.

“Cool,” I said in a good try at feigning interest. “Um, will give you two candy canes for it. Here, give it here to me first and I’ll-”

The moment I tried reaching for it, Hayley instantly pulled it away from my reach, holding it out right above her head.

“Actually,” She mused, her tone long and suggestive. “I can think of a much better deal than that.”

“I’m not kissing my boss, boss,” I immediately told her. “Company policy and all that. More importantly, I already have someone else I rather kiss.”

“Then go kiss her already, won’t you?” With a weary sigh, the mistletoe went flying out of her hand with me barely catching it by my fingertips and looking up to see her with the subtlest frown on her face. “Cause so far from what I’ve been hearing, you haven’t been doing much of that kind of thing lately, have you?”

Looks like Adalia isn’t the only one hearing things that she shouldn’t...

I sighed right back, passing along the mistletoe to my designated decorator. “What has Amanda been telling you exactly?”

“That you’re an absolutely wonderful person,” Hayley began, arms crossed and expressions bombastic. “That you’re funny, you’re handsome, you’re caring, that you’re all that she could have ever wanted, and more. Trust me, the way she talks about you on and on... it’s almost enough for me to fall in love with you myself.”

I nodded silently, just waiting to hear the inevitable snag that she’s slowly coming to, and sure enough... there it was.

“But see, it’s what I’m not hearing about you that is the problem here, you understanding me?”

“Uhh...” More as a way of distraction, I began to help realign all of Sera’s avant-garde attempts at decorating. “Not really, no.”

“No?” She slanted her head the other way. “No zoo trips? No movie nights? Dinner dates? Amusement park rides? She’s not wearing any rings you bought for her, necklaces... seriously, there’s a dire lack of jewelry present on her is all I’m saying.”

“I never took Amanda for being the materialistic kind,” I said. “And I don’t think you do either.”

“Missing the point, loverboy,” She said. “See, she can sing your praises and never tire out... but I know dissatisfaction when I see it. Have you looked into her eyes lately? She’s craving, she’s wanting something badly out of this... she’ll never say it, of course... but with how tame you guys seem to be taking this relationship, that’s not really surprising. But you must have noticed it, haven’t you? How she’s always taking the first step, always the one with the plan, the goal... even now... I mean, let me just ask you... who really orchestrated this whole party, hm? And yet, no matter how much she plans and schemes, nothing ever really seems to happen, does it? I wonder why that is...”

Again, it seems Adalia isn’t the only one here with the eyes of a hawk when it came to reading people... but the way her gaze was peering at me... I didn’t like that.

“It’s not like I don’t appreciate what she does for me, y’know?” I said. “It’s just an unlucky streak of inconveniences and coincidences that things would sorta fizzle out, and it kills me inside every time it does. Look, I’d never take her for granted, alright?”

“Hey, I never said you did,” She said, chuckling, smiling now. “In fact, it even goes both ways. If you could just hear her worrying about you worrying about her, you’d probably feel a lot more guilty having been worried in the first place. That’s how I know you two are a perfect fit. The peanut butter to her jelly, the yin to her yang and whatnot...”

“Right, sure...” I said.

“Getting off track here...” She said, clearing her head with a rigorous shake. “Sorry, didn’t really plan this out! Just thought maybe I should say something, is all.”

“And trust me,” I told her. “I get what you’re saying.”

“Then do something if you do, then!” She urged in a yelling, amused whisper. “For once, hm? Give it a try. For once, why don’t you take the first step sometime, alright? For once, I’d really like to hear her say something more...”

And with that, Hayley turned around with a parting smirk to begin bargaining a two-for-one deal with someone else, leaving me contemplating, pondering, and rifling through a mess of intrusive distracting thoughts in my head.

Like a pull of a magnet, the slight glimpse of Amanda in the corner of my vision had my gaze shifting. I looked at her, for a moment, just idly watching her intensively slave away making meticulous work of her side of the tree... and honestly, the way she was working, decorating, tip-toeing high and crouching low, anybody could tell she already had this contest in the bag with what she had... but in spite of that, she was still doing more...

More than getting the prize, I think she just wanted to give me a nice-looking tree. And as presumptuous and narcissistic as that sounded, I don’t think that I was too far off the mark thinking that.

After all, it’s what she’d do. Always taking the first step...

Next time, Amanda. Soon, I swear. Your patience with lowly, dastardly me will pay off. Just wait a little longer, alright? For now, though...

“Kinda rude running off on me like that, y’know?”

Adalia returned to not much fanfare from me, carrying along with her much more than she had left with. Must have been a pretty good deal she managed to strike. Tyler must have really loved her bells...

“I got... birds...” She said, slowly showcasing her haul one at a time. “Socks... ribbons... bows... do you want... some...?”

“Does it come with a free answer too, I hope?” I said, taking up on the offer and grabbing a pair of socks. “C’mon Adalia... is there a reason why you don’t want Tyler to see Amelia?”

She blinked at me with those big gray eyes of hers, so full of mystique, mystery, and not to mention.... surprises aplenty.

“He can... see my sister... if he wants... her choice... I told him...” She said slowly. “But not... here... not... now...”

“Why not?” I asked.

Adalia blinked again spoke, and frankly, in hindsight, I should really have seen her answer coming...

“Because I... do not want... my sister... to see... you...”