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Tears threatened to form in my eyes, and I blinked them back with a laugh.
"I'll let you get back to your party, hon. Don't feel the need to spend all night with me." She said, shooing me.
I left my mom to talk with some Experience employees, and worked through all the other guests, thanking them for coming until I bumped into Shell, Raph, and Kendall by the bar in the kitchen.
"Hey, babe. Awesome party!" Shell raised her glass of champagne.
"Shell! I thought you couldn't make it."
More surprises. Shell was away on a work assignment across the country, so I thought I wouldn't see her.
"Come on, I had to find a way. It's not every day my bestie hosts a party. I had to see it to believe it."
"This party is all Raph. He took care of everything while I was out of town." Raph smiled down at me. He gave me a light kiss and rested his hand at the small of my back. I leaned into him.
"Are you having a good time, my love?"
"I am. This is perfect."
"I'll admit it's nice to have somewhere other than my mom's house to go for Christmas Eve," Kendall interjected.
"She was invited, why couldn't she make it?" Raph asked.
"She doesn't really like to rub elbows with us. But I'm supposed to say she's visiting her sister." Kendall said, shrugging.
"Well, we'll always extend the invitation. She's welcome if she ever changes her mind."
While Raph and Kendall continued their conversation, I split off to catch up with Shell. It felt like ages.
"So how are you? I know that's a lame opener, but seriously. How was the trip?" Shell poured a fresh glass of champagne for me, handing it over.
"It was intimidating, but I did it. Plus, they offered me another job. I'm going to be pretty busy over the next few months at least. How about you? You've had so much going on."
"That's amazing about your job! You working for yourself has been a real inspiration. I was out in Cali trying to live the dream."
"How's that going? And whatever happened with that guy? Evan?"
"Ugh, I don't want to talk about it. He's pretty much been the bane of my existence since age eight."
"That bad, huh?"
"Exactly that bad."
Shell and I talked for a while until the party guests started trickling out. Before he left, Kendall asked Shell if she wanted to grab a drink with him, so they left together.
"They seemed to hit it off," I said.
"Yeah, they did. Think anything will come of it?"
"A good time's guaranteed."
Raph smiled and put his arm around me. "You know, I really love our life like this."
We flopped down onto the sofa in the cluttered living room.
"It was a great party."
He pulled me onto his lap and nuzzled into my hair. "Marry me."
