The Christmas Catch

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Then you head back to go and start all over again.”
    “That’s just it,” Ellen said with a worried frown. “I don’t know if Christine will ever head back to go after this.” She sipped from her champagne. “Where’s John tonight?”
    “Likely moping about his place with that old mutt of his,” Carlos answered. “What do you think Christine’s doing?”
    Ellen sighed. “Probably sitting around in her apartment with Tyler, watching the ball drop on TV.”
    The two of them sat for a moment in silence.
    “Do you think Christine will be okay?” Carlos asked with concern.
    “Oh yeah, she’ll bounce back. She’s tough. I don’t know about in the love department… but, otherwise, she’ll get her life together. Christine always gets her life together. She’s got to, right? She does it for Tyler.” She pursed her lips and looked at him. “What about John?”
    Carlos shrugged. “Tough as nails, too. He’ll be fine.”
    But, by the way the two of them stared at each other, it was as if neither one believed it.
    Carlos perused Ellen thoughtfully. “What time do you leave in the morning?”
    “Ten o’clock.”
    “Then let’s not let tonight go to waste,” he said, clinking her glass.
    Ellen smiled warmly, thinking what a rare and unexpected treat it was that the two of them had met. “To us,” she said, toasting back.
    “And to living in the moment, when the moment’s right.”

    Tyler dozed in a large leather chair, a New Year’s hat askew on his head, as Christine watch the ball drop in New York’s Times Square on television. Happy New Year, indeed. She shared a silent toast with the air, then frowned. Everything felt wrong about how things had ended with John, but she hadn’t really seen another way around it. What was she supposed to do? Fall at his feet with gratitude when he’d surprised her at the airport with that ridiculous plan?
    She tapped her glass with her fingers, eying the manila envelop on the end table. What could be so hellfire important that he’d raced to catch them before they boarded their plane? A way to get from point A to Z? Well fine. John could keep his unsolicited advice, and Christine wished he had. Seeing him at the airport had just made things worse. She’d known he’d really hurt her, but hadn’t understood how badly until he’d appeared at the last minute and caused her battered heart to hope. For an instant, she believed him to regret letting them go without so much as a word. But he’d shown no hint of remorse at all, only confusion in light of his damnable insistence that she read what he’d brought.
    Christine drew a deep breath, steeling her emotions. She didn’t need a sexy professor from New England anyway. She and Ty had done just fine before he’d come along, and would do great going forward without him. He could keep all that snow, and those tobogganing hills, the warm nights by the fire, and his dog. Christine sighed, recalling Tyler’s joyful bonding with Mason. Maybe she’d have to get him a puppy. But not any time soon. There was enough going on in the balancing act between being a single mom and working.
    She took another sip of champagne, weighing the demands of her job and all it entailed. The truth was that she’d been asking for more responsibility at work, but Ellen had been resistant. Perhaps it was true that Christine had seemed out of focus before, but the trip to Vermont had done her good. She sensed greater clarity now. While John had been wrong in many ways, most especially in the way he’d treated her, he actually was correct in assuming Christine wanted more for herself than what she currently had. She was capable of it too. She knew she could develop her own line, and had several ideas for interactive products with Internet potential as well. It would likely take time, but she was still relatively young, so time was on her side. John’s prescient words came back to her like a haunting refrain. The future is long…
    She set down her champagne and lifted the manila envelope, almost afraid of its contents. What if John’s plan was more helpful than she’d imagined? She had enough of a level head to separate a business opportunity from a personal disappointment, didn’t she? If she ultimately had a different path for herself in mind, wouldn’t it make sense to think out the logical steps to achieving her goal now? She tentatively broke its seal, her heart pounding. It