Christmas Confidential - 1. Maria and Annie

Maria and Annie

By Valkyrie

Maria pushed away from her desk and swiveled her chair to face the entrance to her cubicle. She rubbed her sore leg, hoping to relieve some of the ache. Raising her arms over head, she stretched, arching her back, then moved her head from side to side to work out the kinks in her neck. She’d spent her afternoon break browsing websites for Christmas presents. The search seemed pointless; however, because she couldn’t afford to get Annie what she really wanted.

I need to win the damn lottery, she thought. Even though they’d agreed to not exchange presents this year, they each knew the other wouldn’t honor the agreement. There were so many other things they needed to spend money on. Practical things. Like heat and electricity and medical bills, not to mention groceries. But finding the right gift would be just what Annie needed to lift her spirits. It had been a rough few years for both of them.

Maria sighed and pushed those thoughts away. No use dwelling on things I can’t change. Better to have a snack. She swiveled her chair back to the desk and reached for her bag of Oreos.

“Knock knock.”

She smiled when she heard the familiar voice. “Who’s there?”

“You know damn well who it is.”

“You know damn well who it is who?” Maria turned back toward the opening.

The woman standing in the entranceway smirked. “Your illicit lover, that’s who.” She winked.

Maria rolled her eyes. “Ha. Ha. You better leave before my wife finds out.”

“Somehow, I think she already knows.” Annie sat on the chair next to Maria’s desk. “Oooo… Oreos! Gimme one!” She reached for the bag.

Maria held them out of reach. “Nuh uh. You married me knowing full well I don’t share my Oreos.”

Annie exaggerated her pout, doing her best imitation of puppy dog eyes. “Aww… c’mon. You can make an exception this time. After the bus ride I had to get here, I deserve a cookie!”

Maria narrowed her eyes and lowered the box of cookies slightly. “What happened on the bus? Are you okay?”

Annie inhaled and closed her bright blue eyes momentarily before opening them again. “Everything was fine and then the bus backfired. I had a flashback, but was able to control it. Barely.” Her hand shook as she took the Oreo from her wife’s hand.

“I’m proud of you, babe.” Maria put her hand on Annie’s leg and squeezed gently. “I know how hard taking the bus is. Why are you here though? I get off work in a half hour. I could have picked you up and brought you wherever you needed to go.”

Annie frowned. “What do you mean? I have an appointment. They called and said to come talk to you about my benefits. That you’d take me to the person I needed to see.”

“Sweetheart, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t have an appointment with you. Who did you talk to?”

They both turned when they heard someone clear their throat. “I can clear that up for you. I called Annie to make that appointment, so I could see you both together.”

Maria and Annie looked at each other with puzzled expressions, then looked at the blond-haired man wearing a Santa hat and black peacoat standing at the cubicle’s entrance.

“My name is Gabe and I’m with the local news station. I’m here because an anonymous benefactor would like to give you a present. He heard about you and the good work you do and wanted to make your Christmas a little bit better.” He held out a small box wrapped in bright red, foil paper with a silver bow on the top. “This is for you, Annie.”

“I don’t understand,” she replied. “What’s going on?” Annie turned toward her wife. “Is this your doing?”

Maria shook her head. “Nope. I’m as surprised as you are!” She looked at Gabe. “Who is this from?”

Gabe smiled. “He prefers to remain anonymous. So, tell me about yourselves. You’re married, right? Where did you meet?”

“We met in the Army after we were both assigned to the same station. We started dating and fell in love. I proposed after we’d been together for a year.” Maria smiled at her wife. “Then we were both supposed to go to Afghanistan, but I ended up in a bad car accident, which shattered my leg and ended my Army career. So now I work at the VA, processing medical claims.”

“How’s your leg doing now?”

“Better. I needed several surgeries and still need physical therapy. They deployed Annie while I was recovering, but she’s back now to stay.”

Annie clenched her jaw as she fiddled with the bright red box.

“I understand you’ve had a difficult time since you’ve returned,” Gabe said gently.

Annie nodded. “I have PTSD from what I saw over there. It’s… well, it’s been….”

“We’ve been trying to save money to purchase a service dog for her, but with both our medical bills, it’s been impossible to come up with the funds.”

“Please, open the box,” Gabe said.

Annie slowly peeled the lid off the box. She removed a rectangular piece of paper and read what was written on it. She gasped, clamping her hand over her mouth. “What… how…?”

“We heard about your need and knew we had to help. That’s enough for you to get Sherman. It’s all been taken care of.”

“But… I don’t understand. How could you possibly know about Sherman?” Annie gaped at Gabe.

“I have my sources.” Gabe winked. “When a perfect match like that comes along, it would a travesty to let the opportunity slide.”

Annie had met Sherman, a beautiful golden retriever puppy, when she toured a local service dog training agency. The two had immediately connected. It broke both women’s hearts when they realized they couldn’t afford the training involved to make Sherman the support animal Annie desperately needed to control her PTSD.

Maria squealed and embraced Annie. Both women had tears streaming down their faces.

“Thank you. This means the world to us. I don’t know what to say,” Maria said, her voice trembling.

“There’s more. This is for both of you.” He held out a box to Maria.

“Oh my God… I can’t believe this is happening!” Her hand trembled as she opened the box. She closed her eyes and clutched the paper she removed to her chest.

“That’s a receipt from the hospital that performed your surgeries. Your bill has been paid in full.”

Maria looked at Gabe, her brown eyes glistening with tears. “Thank you. With all my heart.”

Gabe reached both his hands out and squeezed each woman’s hand. “It’s the least we can do.”

Annie and Maria turned toward each other, grinning. “I’m getting Sherman!” Annie laughed; a heartfelt sound Maria hadn’t heard in a long time.

“What news station can we watch this—” Maria stopped abruptly as she looked at the empty entranceway to her cubicle.

Happy Holidays!  I'll be posting a chapter per day until Christmas, so a bit of an abbreviated Advent calendar this year.  There will be a mixture of stories written by myself and Aditus, with maybe a surprise thrown in along the way   Thanks for reading, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the story.