Loving With A Heavy Heart 63 Christmas Morning 2

On the other side of town Abby had just arrived at Elle's home. It was still early in the afternoon. Abby would be attending the party at the Shaw residence with her parents that night, but the girls had decided to meet earlier so they could exchange their gifts and then get dressed for the party together.

When Abby arrived Elle to her straight upstairs to her bedroom. The two girls sat on the floor catching up first. Elle told Abby about her recent projects at work, and Abby talked about her move. After a few minutes Elle got up and crossed the room to her desk. She pulled out a gold jewellery box from one of the drawers and handed it to Abby.

"Merry Christmas." Elle said with a smile.

Abby's jaw dropped as she took the box and saw MK's logo etched into the lid.

"You didn't!" She gasped.

"Open it and find out." Elle laughed.

Abby gingerly untied the ribbon and opened the box. Nestled inside was the necklace from MK's recent line, the necklace that Abby had fallen in love with at first sight.

"Thank you." Abby said, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears.

"Don't cry, it's just a necklace." Elle teased.

"It's beautiful. I love it."

"You're very welcome." Elle said with a huge grin on her face.

"Here, your turn." Abby said as she handed a gift bag to Elle.

Inside was a beautiful wooden box engraved with entwining vines and blooming flowers. The box itself was a work of art, but sitting inside were various gla.s.s bottles filled with bath oils.

"This is wonderful." Elle said, looking in awe at the craftsmans.h.i.+p. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Abby said with a smile of her own. "I know work has been busy for you, hopefully this can help you relax."

"Thanks." Elle said reaching over to give her friend a warm hug.

"Did you give your father his gift yet?" Abby asked.

"Yea I gave it to him this morning. He's surprisingly picky when it comes to gifts but he seemed to like it." Elle said mildly.

Her father hadn't gifted her anything in return, but Elle hadn't expected him to. It was tradition for him to give her cash for her birthday but, for as long as Elle could remember, her father had never gifted anyone anything for Christmas.

"Then who is that for?" Abby asked, gesturing to Elle's desk where a small box sat, wrapped in ribbon.

Elle felt a slight blush creep up her cheeks. "It's just for a colleague." Elle said, quickly getting up and shoving the box into a drawer.

When she looked back up she noticed that outside the window it had begun to snow. It was a proper snowfall, with huge, fluffy, clumps of snow gently falling to the ground.

"It's a white Christmas." Elle said with a smile.

"You're right. It's beautiful isn't it." Abby said, getting up to join her at the window.

There was something magical about watching the snow fall. Everything seemed so peaceful and quiet. For Elle the magic of the day was just beginning.