Alice still remained at the office after 12am although hoping she would be finished she still had a lot of mess to sort out for the front cover to be printed. Dana sat around she waited and waited, as time ticked by it was now 1.15am and Alice still hadn’t pulled up outside, she was tired and couldn’t believe that their tradition wouldn’t be carried out for the first time since they had been together.

She cast her mind to her trip to London, and the fact she would just make it home for Christmas. This would be a way of building new bridges, a chance for her to gain some new commercial sponsoring. Maybe it was just the break she needed as Alice was working hard and rarely at home when she was what would it make if she was on the other side of the world? Dana retired her limp body to the bed they shared together and coaxed herself in between body sides. Lightly picking up the scent of Alice’s hair on the pillow which she lay her own head on falling into a deep slumber.

The next morning Dana arose to find the bed was empty on Alice’s side; she looked around the room slightly confused and sleepy. Trying to focus her attention on the bathroom off their bedroom, looking to see if Alice was in there. As she got closer she called out to her “Al, are you in there?” but instead her voice just echoing through the room. Her faint smile dropping to bring a look of coldness to her face, her eyes seemingly empty and missing something. She could feel her tears welling up behind her eyes, and this was it she couldn’t hold them back no longer. The tears trickled her face, she fought them back with the back of her hand.

This was the first time in a long time she had cried so openly, she just let go of all the hurt she was feeling. Her thoughts reeling off the time herself and Alice had spent together and how much she was feeling alone lately. She knew that in the end Alice would come home but you can’t fill that time you once missed and they rarely had the chance to renew their love. This was hard, she gulped back her tears and tried her very best to dry up her tears that had befallen on her cheeks. She moped around the house for most of the day, eventually deciding on hanging all the decorations maybe this year doing it together would not happen as she was leaving for England in a few short hours.