Playing the guitar again made me feel a bit more whole, like I gained back some of what I lost when I had to move to Walkville.
“Play me something?” Daria requested.
I thought of a good one. I played the opening chords of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ and began to sing, “I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need…”
My sister grinned and sang along.
Later, Daria brought me my coat and insisted, “Come with me. There’s something I want to do.” She walked me to a Christmas tree stand in town and urged, “Let’s get a tree.”
With all that was going on, I hadn’t thought about decorating the apartment. “Good idea,” I agreed.
Daria picked the biggest tree because our huge apartment had tall ceilings. We lugged the thing home. “How are we going to get this in the elevator?” I asked.
The answer was, we didn’t. It wouldn’t fit. We had to drag it up eight flights of stairs. “Maybe getting the biggest tree wasn’t my best idea,” Daria admitted and laughed.
We finally got the tree in our apartment. “Now we need a stand, lights and ornaments,” I pointed out.
“Already got it covered,” my sister surprised me. She brought four big boxes out of the guest bedroom, and they were filled with everything we needed. “I found these in the storage locker,” she explained.
It turned out my grandparents had excellent taste in Christmas tree decorations. The lights were all white, and the ornaments were mostly clear glass or gold. A big gold star went on top.
That night, I put Christmas music on the stereo and we turned off all the lights except for the tree. We cuddled on the sofa and drank eggnog while staring in delight at our tree. “It’s beautiful,” Daria sighed.
“Thank you for thinking of getting a tree,” I told her and kissed her. “And I’m glad you picked the biggest one. A smaller tree would be lost in this freaking big living room.”
==
DECEMBER 21
For the Wallace Trust Christmas party I wore a silver sequined mini-dress with full sleeves. The tight dress conformed to my body like a glove. Light reflected off the metallic silver in bright sparkles. I loved it.
Daria loved it too. I finished dressing first and she pressed her naked body against me. “You sparkle like a disco ball,” she teased.
“Is that a good thing?” I asked.
“Mmm. So hot,” she giggled.
My sister stepped into her panties and then wriggled her gold sequin mini-dress up her slender body. She slipped the straps over her shoulders and examined herself in our full-length mirror.
“You look stunning,” I told her. I stepped behind her and caressed her bare back. The scoop back of the dress left her bare almost down to her butt. She couldn’t wear a bra with it but her firm little boobs didn’t need one. The gold dress wasn’t super short but it was hemmed well above her knees.
Daria’s long red hair was pulled back in a fat plait, the way I loved it. It hung down her bare back in beautiful contrast to her pale skin.
She leaned back against me and fretted, “Are you sure I should go to this company party?”
“Of course you should go. Significant others are invited.”
“But I’m just a poor, dumb country girl. I won’t fit in.”
I kissed her neck and said, “You’re anything but dumb. And you’re not poor. My money is your money, which means you’re richer than any of them. You are a country girl, but plenty of country girls will be there. We’re in east Tennessee.” I kissed her neck a couple more times.
“Stuff like this makes me nervous,” she admitted. “You’re the only person I’ll know.”
I whispered in her ear, “You’re a Wallace and you deserve to be there more than anyone.” My hands snaked around to cup her little tits through the dress. “I’m going to show off my sexy sister to the world.”
“Oh Ellie,” she moaned and spun around to plant a fevered kiss on my lips.
As soon as we arrived at the party, my assistant Crystal and her husband approached us. “Ellie, that dress is gorgeous!” she exclaimed.
I grinned and returned the compliment, “Thank you, Crystal. I love yours too.” Her red velvet dress had traditional holiday grace. “This is my girlfriend, Daria.”
Crystal and her husband talked with us and introduced us to people we didn’t know. Daria relaxed and demonstrated her smart, witty side that I saw often but was usually hidden in public by her shyness.
We chatted with Jack Warner and his wife for a while. They were both charmed by Daria. The three of them carried on like old friends.
My sister and I danced, drank champagne and danced some more. At one point while we danced to a slow tune, she looked deep in my eyes and said, “I love being your girlfriend.”
I pulled her tighter against me and thrilled to the feel of her long lean body. “Me too,” I purred.
She blushed in her cute sexy way. “No, I mean, our alone time is amazing, but being your girlfriend out in public like this makes me… proud.”
My hands slowly stroked her bare back while we danced. “I feel that too. Being a couple with you makes me feel better about myself.”
“You’re proud of me?”
“Oh Daria,” I cooed, “everyone who meets you, loves you. The fact that you’re with me makes me the luckiest girl in the world.”
She put her hand behind my head and pulled me into a fiery kiss. “We’ve been here a couple of hours,” she whispered. “Is it okay to leave yet?”
We quickly found our coats and sneaked away from the party unnoticed. We held hands as we walked home. “I thought you were having fun. Why did you want to leave?” I teased. I knew why.
Daria laughed. “It was fun, but now it’s time for fun at home. Alone.”
“I should get you liquored up on champagne more often.”
She grinned. “I hardly had any champagne. I’m high on going out with my girlfriend.”
==
DECEMBER 22
My office phone buzzed and Crystal’s voice announced, “Ms Milko is here to see you, Ellie.”
Daria? “Send her in Crystal.”
My sister walked in and I exclaimed, “Wow! Look at you!”
She wore a dark gray pant suit. The jacket was cut to be formfitting and the trousers were slim to hug her long legs. A white satin blouse peeked out from under the jacket.
We hugged and kissed. “You’ve been shopping again,” I said.
Daria grinned. “I wanted to look businesslike when I came to your office.”
“Why are you here? Did I forget something?”
“Nope. I’m taking you to lunch.”
“Great! I’ll grab my purse.”
“Ellie, let’s invite Crystal and Mr Warner too.”
“Okay,” I replied. I had never had lunch with them because I preferred to get away from everyone for quiet time.
Crystal happily accepted our invitation. Daria poked her head into my CEO’s office. “Mr Warner, I’m taking Ellie and Crystal to lunch. Will you join us?”
The gruff man surprised me by answering, “I’d love to. How nice to see you again Ms Milko.”
“Please call me Daria.”
“And you can call me Jack.”
“Hold on!” I exclaimed. “You’ll call her Daria but insist on calling me Ms Wallace?”
“I don’t work for Daria, Ms Wallace,” he explained with a smirk.
I frowned and the three of them laughed.
When we were seated at a nice restaurant, Daria surprised me by pulling gifts for Crystal and Jack from her purse. Trust employees didn’t do gift exchanges, so I wondered how this would be received. “These are from me,” Daria said. “Thank you for all you’ve done for Ellie and for Walkville during a difficult Christmas season.”