The Christmas Beau

Charity’s mouth hung open as Elisha disappeared to the other side of the door. It came as an unwelcome surprise that she was expected to spend most of her time around a man whom she had dated her senior year in high school, but also parted ways on a sour note. He had graduated high school with Elisha four years prior and around the time of the break-up, he had just completed classes for an undergraduate degree. The romance had abruptly ended the night before Milton left for basic training in the Air Force. Everything was going as planned when he had completed his degree so that he could enter the Armed Services as an officer, but this particular evening something went awry.

It was a night Charity would never forget, although she had desperately tried to so many times before. They hadn’t seen each other face to face since then, but coincidentally they were both visiting their hometown at the same time.

After a few moments of thinking, it no longer seemed like such a coincidence to Charity that her mother wanted her home for Christmas this year. Margaret knew that Charity often came home to visit during Thanksgiving, but this year would be different. The mayor had a month-long celebration planned with Margaret as one of the hosts to several events already put in place. The plans had strategically been organized, and Charity along with Milton would be a part of it.

As Charity peered into the closet that her mother had directed her to earlier, there she saw draped on a single, satin-covered hanger was her outfit for the morning: a sleek, purplish linen blend A-line dress with soft ruffles on the collar. Her mother had also taken the liberty of purchasing a pair of sheer, silk stockings and matching designer pumps to complete the outfit.

With thoughts of Milton rampantly racing through her mind, Charity snatched the dress off the hanger and rushed off to the bathroom at the end of the hall.