~ Zoie's POV ~
Zoie tiptoed across the floor of the living room. It was quiet in the Van Zandt estate as it was still very early. The sun was just barely rising and no one was up yet, except for Zoie of course. With a big smile hanging on her face, she made her way to the corner of the room where the Christmas tree was put up. The tree was huge and grandiosely decorated. There were maybe a hundred wrapped gifts underneath the big tree, and there were stockings hanging by the fireplace, stuffed with more presents.
Zoie went over to the tree first and inspected the presents underneath it. She moved around the boxes labeled for her brothers or parents. She picked out the ones that were addressed to her and her shoulders slumped with disappointment every time she read the label. None of them were from Asher.
Unsatisfied, Zoie went over to the stockings next. The stockings had all their names embroidered, starting from Damon to Violet, Talia, Liam, her brothers Zach, Zander, and Zane, her own name, and then Asher and Landon.
Zoie swiftly went to her stocking and checked the content. There were several tiny boxed gifts and her heart raced in excitement as she checked them one by one. When she got to the last box and saw that it wasn't from Asher, Zoie couldn't help but frown.
He really didn't get me anything for Christmas...?
"Sneaking up early to scope out the presents, huh?"
Suddenly, a voice was heard and it startled Zoie. She turned around to see Landon standing by the archway.
"Landon!" she gaped.
"Impatient as always, Zee," he laughed. "I guess some things never change,"
"W-what are you doing up?" she stammered, quickly putting the boxes back into the stocking.
"Jetlag, I can't really sleep," he shrugged. "Besides, I knew you'd be in here,"
Zoie couldn't help but smile and shook her head.
"Gee. You know me so well," she said.
Ever since she was little, opening presents on Christmas morning was her favorite activity of the year. Sometimes, she'd get so impatient, she'd sneak into the room late at night or early in the morning just so she could get a glimpse of what kind of gifts she was getting. This was a well-known fact in the Van Zandt household, and no one knew about this better than Landon, Zoie's ultimate partner in crime. Ever since she was eight years old, she enlisted Landon's help to act as the lookout guy whenever she was sneaking in to rummage through the gifts. Landon did such a good job that Zoie never got caught after that.
Letting out a smile, Landon walked closer to Zoie and he too inspected the stockings. Zoie arrived home two days ago and Landon arrived just last night. He was in Greece, running some meetings for a potential business client for Damon's company.
"Looking for something in particular?" he said to her.
"Umm, no, I was just looking around," she laughed nervously. "You know me,"
"You're not disappointed, right?" he asked.
"W-why would I be?" she stammered.
Does he know something I don't?
"Because you're missing one present," he said point-blankly.
"Huh?"
"Mine's not in there yet," he continued.
"Oh! Yours! Right!" she let out a breath of relief. "Where is it?"
"It's right here," Landon pulled a small box out of his back pocket and handed it to her. It was a small white velvet box. It looked and feel luxurious too.
"Sorry, I didn't have time to wrap it, I was in a hurry," he said again.
Zoie took the box and slowly opened it. Inside, laid a beautiful gold necklace with a pearl pendant. She couldn't help but gasp when she looked at it. It was totally gorgeous.
"Oh my God, Landon!" she gaped. "This is so beautiful!"
Landon smiled triumphantly and picked up the necklace from the box. He stepped closer and put the necklace around her neck. Zoie tilted her head to the side to give him more access as he was securing the clasp on the back of her neck.
"This is an antique pearl necklace that I tracked down while I was in Greece. It was made by hand by these artisans on the Island of Milos. The pearl came from the beach and they hand-poured the gold. There are only a handful of these ever made and the minute I saw it, I knew you'd like it, so I got it for you," he explained.
Zoie went to the mirror on top of the fireplace and looked at her reflection. The necklace was sitting on her chest, looking absolutely beautiful.
"Oh my gosh," she gaped again, touching the necklace with her hand. "This must've cost you a fortune, doesn't it?"
"Meh," he shrugged. "Uncle Damon's paying me well, so don't worry about it,"
"Landon," she hissed. "I can't take this, this is too nice!"
Zoie was about to unclasp the necklace, but Landon stopped her.
"There's no such thing as 'too nice' for you Zee," he said.
"You're really sweet, Land, but I can't," she shook her head.
"But do you like it, though?"
"Well, of course, but-"
"Then it's yours,"
"Landon!" she protested.
"I'm not gonna be wearing a pearl necklace, so either it's yours or it goes to the trash,"
Landon wasn't taking no for an answer. Zoie couldn't do anything else but gave in.
"Aww, Landon!" she said as she gave him a hug. "You're absolutely the best! Thank you!"
Landon hugged her back and he was taking his time, burying his face into the crook of her neck. Zoie was about to pull away, when suddenly--
"Woah, woah, woah, what do we have here?!"
Zoie looked to her side and her brothers, Zander and Zane, and Asher were standing in front of her. Her brothers were all smiling and nodding at Landon, but Asher didn't seem so amused. In fact, he looked rather mad.
Is that... jealousy in his eyes?
"Someone's trying to sneak in earlier to get her presents, huh?" Zane teased her. Zander followed by grabbing the velvet box from her hand.
"I'm not early, you guys are just late!" Zoie stuck her tongue out at her brothers.
"What's this?" Zander asked.
"My Christmas present from Landon," she said proudly, gesturing to her neck. "This is a rare necklace from the island of Milos!"
"Oh, dang, that looks nice!" Zane hollered as he came closer, inspecting the necklace.
"And I only got a pair of fúcking socks?" Zander scoffed at Landon. "Thanks a lot, man,"
"Hey, I'm only returning the favor," Landon replied. "You got me a pen from freaking La Quinta Inn last year!"
Landon and her twin brothers were now laughing as they talked about last year's Christmas presents. Meanwhile, Zoie stole a glance at Asher when no one was looking. It had been kind of hard to be around him when there were other people nearby. They had to keep their distance and they looked so awkward doing it.
"Good morning," she said lowly.
"Morning," he replied, pausing for a beat before adding, "Merry Christmas,"
"Merry Christmas," she said, fidgeting with her hands because she didn't know how to act around him. "Your present's in there, by the way,"
Zoie motioned to the tree and Asher nodded his head.
"Thanks," he said. "I'll go look at it,"
Asher gave her a quick smile before moving to the tree. When he was walking past her, Zoie almost wanted to stop him, demanding him of her present. But alas, she did nothing instead.
"Oh! This one's from you!" Landon exclaimed as she went over to her again. In his hand was the present Zoie got for him, wrapped nicely with a red bow.
Her brothers and Asher were now rummaging through the sea of boxes underneath that tree. Zoie stood next to Landon by the fireplace as he opened his present. It was a thick book with a leather cover.
"A collection of poems... Keats, Shakespeare, and more..." Landon said as he read the title of the book.
"Well, the last time we talked, you told me you like this girl but you don't know how to talk to her, so there you go. You can borrow a couple of lines from the greatest poets in history," Zoie beamed.
"Ah, you're sweet, thanks Zee," Landon said as he gave her a quick hug.
"Speaking of, how's it going with the girl?" she asked.
Landon and Zoie couldn't talk as much since he was busy with work and Zoie was busy with... well, Asher. But in their last conversations, Landon mentioned something about liking a girl, but he was too scared to make a move on her.
"Ah, I don't know," he shrugged. "It's not really going anywhere,"
"You still haven't asked her out yet?"
"It's kinda complicated,"
"Why? Because you two work together or something?"
"Yeah, something like that," Landon looked antsy and he quickly switched the topic. "Anyway, enough about me, what about you? How's the love life going?"
"Honestly..." Zoie paused to glance at Asher. He was standing pretty far away with Zane and Zander, so he probably wouldn't hear her. But still, she leaned closer to Landon and whispered, "It's going really great,"
"Oh, whoa, is there something you're not telling me?" he whispered back.
"Well, it kinda happened recently... just a few weeks ago,"
"Okay, keep going," Landon nodded his head.
"There's this guy... the guy that I met at the bar before I went away to college, remember him?"
"The one night stand dude, sure,"
"Well... we... kinda ran into each other again and we're sort of seeing each other now,"
"Whoa, wait a minute! How come?" Landon almost shouted out loud and Zoie motioned to keep his voice down.
"Apparently, he goes to Stanford too..." she smiled nervously. "I know, what are the odds, right?"
"Yeah, what a coincidence," Landon narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms suspiciously. "Some people will call that fate. Or rather, stalking,"
"Landon," Zoie rolled her eyes at him. "He's not stalking me, I promise,"
Landon paused for a beat to study her expression.
"So, he's not the one night stand guy anymore. Does he have a name?"
Zoie thought for a moment before saying, "D,"
"D?" Landon frowned. "What does that stand for?"
"Just D," she said simply.
"Ha, alright, you don't wanna tell me his full name, I get it," he laughed.
"You work for my dad's office, Landon. I don't want you to be running background checks on him and have my dad find out about it,"
"Hey, I can keep a secret," he said. "You don't trust me?"
"I trust you, but you need to trust me too. I'll tell you all about him when I'm ready, okay?"
Landon cocked his head to the side and let out a sigh.
"Don't worry, this guy's a really good guy. You'd think so too once you've met him," Zoie couldn't help but glance at Asher again. He caught her eye and they gave each other a knowing smile.
"Really? What's his credit score?" Landon interjected.
"Landon," Zoie rolled her eyes at him again.
"Just kidding," he said. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy too,"
Landon was smiling from ear to ear and Zoie smiled back. She went ahead and gave him another hug. And in the corner of her eye, she noticed Asher was watching her. Watching her like a hawk.
*
*
*
- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -