“I don’t care.” She said. If anyone has ever said that indifference to money was not a legitimate aphrodisiac, they were so wrong. A flame of passion ignited within me, and our lips crashed together once more. She was now climbing from her kneeling position on the floor, and came to straddle me on my chair. Our bodies pressed up against one another, and for the first time in a long time, we felt as one. It was a feeling I had missed more than I allowed myself to acknowledge – it was a relief, as if I’d been holding my breath.  One of her hands was wound into my gold locks, the other was running up and down my side. The scent of magnolias overwhelmed my senses, enveloping me in a surreal bliss. This was all too much.

            “Wait” I breathed as our mouths parted unwillingly.

            “For what?” She whimpered. “Don’t worry, I won’t actually give you Swine Flu.” She laughed, her mouth diving for mine. I turned my face away reluctantly.

            “No, really.” I paused. “Don’t you want your gift?”

            “Ugh” She moaned.

            “Don’t sound so enthusiastic” I laughed sarcastically. “Okay seriously. You gave me mine, and now it’s your turn.” She nodded grudgingly and peeled herself away from me, seating herself cross-legged once again on the floor. I stood up and began to walk to the closet. I turned to her before opening the door. “Close your eyes” I smiled. She rolled her eyes and then shut them. I watched the smile linger on her face, and I honestly felt like the richest girl in the city.

I pulled her gift very tenderly from the closet and walked over so that I was standing just in front of her. “Oh, and before you open your eyes, forgive me for not really wrapping it – I was kind of at a loss as to how.” She smiled a little wider beneath closed eyes. I laid it across her arms, and took a step back so that I could watch her reaction.

            When the guitar made contact with her arms, her eyes flew open, and for a moment I thought time had stopped. All was completely still, and her eyes maintained the very same astounded glaze. After a few seconds though, she burst into tears and leapt from the floor. One of her arms wrapped around my shoulders and the other tightly gripped the neck of the guitar. She pressed her face into my shoulder, and I felt the warm tears soak through my sweatshirt onto my skin. She heaved into me for a few minutes, and I knew at once that this wasn’t just about her gift, but about us. About what we had endured this last year. She cried for how desperate we were, how much we pushed each other away. I don’t think she had really noticed how distant we really were until now, when she was pressed right up against me – her heart nearly brushing my own. I pressed my face into her hair and inhaled the magnolia, closing my eyes.