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“No, that’s fine. You rest,” he said. “I needed to leave within a day or so anyway. I might just see if there’s a better flight I can take and fly out a little early.”

“Where are you headed?” she asked.

“The Big Apple!” he exclaimed. “Then LA. You know, I heard this rumor about New York City. Maybe you can verify it. I heard the city doesn’t even sleep.”

Maye laughed and then groaned. “Ouch! Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

“Aw, I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m just thinking, do they even have beds if no one sleeps?”

“I’m hanging up now!” Maye said.

“Okay, you get back to sleep. Call me later.”

- 36 -

The

Christmas Convention

Maye and Tracy agreed on a plan to leave the Thursday before the big Christmas convention. It was only about nine hours away, so they planned to make another road trip out of it.

“We are only going for four nights, you know that, right?” Maye said as Tracy unloaded three rolling suitcases from her car and lined them up next to Maye’s trunk.

“Ugly sweater options for the contest, outfits for photo ops, boot shot outfit, snacks because the food options are meh…what is this your first Christmas convention?”

“Yeah, actually, it is. What’s a boot shot?” Maye asked.

They were on the road ahead of schedule, even with Tracy’s impromptu request to stop at the gas station before they got on the highway, and managed to remain on track all the way to the hotel they were stopping at for the night. Both had agreed before the trip they would not step foot in a casino. Though, as they neared their stopping point for the night, Tracy had a gut feeling.

“What if we gave it one more shot?” Tracy said, looking at her phone. “We’re close to a handful of casinos. I have a good feeling about it this time.”

“Absolutely not, Tracy.”

“Fine.” she pouted. “We’re missing our chance at a fortune. I can feel it. And that’s completely on you.”

“I will gladly live with that the rest of my life,” Maye said. “While reminding you that we agreed together.”

For the rest of the drive to the hotel, Tracy sighed heavily every time they drove by an exit with a casino sign.

The next day they arrived at their hotel in New Jersey ready for the weekend. Maye grabbed a hold of as many bags as she could while Tracy rushed into the lobby and began hugging people she hadn’t seen since the last convention they all attended together. Tracy’s voice boomed in the spacious lobby as she told them all about her soon-to-be-famous cousin.

“This is my cousin Maye,” Tracy repeated to everyone she saw. “I’m her Christmas cousin. I saved her Christmas spirit and now she’s working on a top-secret project with someone very, very famous. She can’t talk about it, but you’re going to want to walk, not run, (exaggerated wink) to the premiere Saturday night.”

After they settled in at the hotel, Tracy guided Maye on their first drive to the convention center.

“I kind of expected it to feel a little more…festive around here,” Maye said, as they winded their way into an industrial park.

“Yeah, it’s like the opposite of a present,” Tracy said. “All of the ribbons and bows are inside the convention center.”

When they arrived and found a parking space, Maye zipped up her jacket and gathered her winter hat and mittens.

“What are you doing?” Tracy asked.

“Getting ready to step outside, aren’t we going in?”

“You don’t want to bring all that,” Tracy said.

“Tracy, it’s freezing outside. What am I, a college student?”