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The living room was filled with warm, happy laughter.
Emma's older sister, Sarah, was sitting across from Michael with a very guilty look on her face.
"Michael, I seriously cannot look at you without feeling terrible," Sarah said, covering her face with her hands. "I am so, so sorry for what happened. I ruined your laptop with four cups of coffee!"
Michael smiled kindly and shook his head. "Sarah, please, it is completely fine. Honestly, I was due for an upgrade anyway. You actually did me a huge favor."
Everyone looked at him in surprise.
"A favor?" Emma's dad asked. "How is destroying a computer a favor?"
"Well," Michael explained, leaning back on the couch, "I was very emotionally attached to that specific laptop. My parents gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday. I wrote all my early stories on it. It was incredibly slow and old, but it was so hard for me to recycle it out. I just couldn't throw it away. So, Sarah, you forced me to finally move on. Thank you."
The entire room burst into laughter.
Sarah let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness! I thought you hated me."
Lily, Emma's younger sister, walked up to Michael and crossed her arms. "So, you write big, famous books. But do you know how to play video games?"
Michael gasped, acting very offended. "Of course I do! I am a master gamer. What do you play?"
"Roblox," Chloe, the other younger sister, said proudly. "If you are so rich, can you buy us a real pony?"
"I definitely can," Michael nodded seriously. "But only if your dad promises to clean up the pony's poop in the backyard."
Emma's dad immediately raised his hands. "No! Absolutely no ponies in my house! Do not encourage them, Michael!"
Everyone laughed even harder.
Michael looked at the heavy watch on his wrist. He sighed softly.
"I am having a wonderful time, but I may have to go home now," Michael said, putting his empty coffee mug on the table. "My mom needs my help preparing the Christmas dinner."
He stood up.
Seeing him get ready to leave, everyone in the room made a sad sound.
Emma looked way more sad than anyone else. She pouted slightly.
Michael said goodbye to Emma's parents, Erica, and her sisters. Then, he looked down at Emma with a very soft gaze.
"Cara mia," Michael asked gently. "Will you walk to my car with me?"
Emma nodded readily. She jumped up from the couch and followed him out the front door.
The cold winter air felt refreshing. They walked silently down the driveway toward Michael's car, their fingers laced together tightly.
When they reached his car, they stopped and turned to face each other. The streetlights cast a soft glow over them. They both had deeply affectionate, loving looks on their faces.
Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out the small, wrapped box holding the watch she bought him. She held it out to him.
"Merry Christmas, Michael," Emma said softly.
Michael took the small box.
He didn't even look at the gift; he just looked deeply into her bright blue eyes. "Merry Christmas, Emma."
Emma looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to make a move. Michael happily obliged.
He leaned down and kissed her tenderly on her lips. Then, he moved up and pressed a warm, lingering kiss to her forehead.
He pulled back just an inch, looking at her face.
"You are so beautiful," Michael whispered.
Emma smirked playfully. "I know. That is exactly why the world's best writer is dating me."
Michael laughed a happy laugh, and Emma giggled with him.
He looked at his watch again. "I really have to go. My mom will yell at me."
Before Emma could say anything else, Michael leaned in and kissed her on the lips one more time. "One for the road. Bye, Emma."
Emma laughed, her cheeks flushed red. "Bye, Michael!"
Emma walked back into her house, a huge, goofy smile stuck on her face.
As soon as she walked into the living room, everyone was staring at her with matching teasing smiles.
Emma stopped walking. "What?"
Everyone just shook their heads sideways, still grinning like fools.
Sarah clapped her hands loudly to get everyone's attention. "Alright, enough teasing! Let's see what Emma's lovely and caring boyfriend got us for Christmas!"
"Yes! Let's do that!" Emma exclaimed, happy to change the subject.
They all gathered around the pile of gift bags Michael had left in the corner.
"Mom first," Sarah said, handing her mother a large, elegant box.
Emma's mom carefully opened the box and peeled back the paper.
She gasped loudly. "Oh my heavens! David, look at this! It is a set of professional, Japanese steel chef knives! The exact ones I saw on that cooking show!"
"Wow," her dad said, his eyes wide. "Those are beautiful."
"Dad, your turn," Emma handed him a long, heavy box.
Her dad tore the paper off. He pulled out a shiny, incredibly expensive-looking object. "No way... This is a custom-made Callaway driver! This is the exact golf club the professionals use! How did he know?"
"He pays attention," Emma smiled proudly. "Lily, Chloe, these two boxes are for you."
The two young girls ripped the paper to shreds in two seconds.
"A PLAYSTATION 5!" Lily screamed, jumping up and down.
"AND VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSETS!" Chloe yelled, hugging the box tightly. "Michael is the best person in the whole universe!"
"Okay, my turn," Erica said, taking a sleek black box.
She opened it and raised her eyebrows in sheer respect. "A vintage, solid gold fountain pen. Okay, I really like this guy."
"And finally, me," Sarah said, taking a flat, silver box. She opened the lid. She stared down at the contents, completely speechless.
"What is it, Sarah?" Emma asked.
Sarah lifted a brand new, top-of-the-line MacBook Pro out of the box. She turned it over, and there was a sticky note attached to the bottom.
Sarah read it out loud.
"It says: 'Please keep all coffee at least ten feet away from this one. Merry Christmas, Michael.'" Sarah started laughing hysterically. "Oh my god! He is hilarious! He bought me a laptop!"
"Okay, Emma," her mom smiled gently. "Open yours."
Emma picked up the final box.
It was surprisingly heavy. She took the lid off.
Inside the box, there was no jewelry. There was no perfume.
There was just a thick stack of printed papers.
Emma's heart started to beat very fast. Panic rushed into her mind. "What is this? Is it a legal document? Is it a script he wants me to read? Is it a breakup letter written like a novel?"
She slowly reached in and took the stack of papers out. She stared at the front page. For a second, everything in the room seemed to pause.
She looked at the paper with wide, shocked eyes. She completely stopped breathing.
"Well?" her dad asked. "What is it, sweetie?"
Emma couldn't speak.
Erica got impatient.
She got up from her seat, walked over, and swiftly took the papers right out of Emma's frozen hands.
Emma just sat there, perfectly still, staring blankly at the floor.
"Let me see," Erica said, adjusting her glasses.
Erica read the first page for exactly two seconds. Her mouth fell open. She was completely surprised.
"What is it?!" Sarah asked loudly. In her mind, she jokingly thought, "Is it a marriage contract? Hehehe."
Erica looked up at the family, her eyes wide. "It is a contract..."
"A contract for what?" Emma's mom asked nervously.
Erica swallowed hard. "It is a contract from Samsung. A massive brand deal. For five years. Twenty-five million dollars. They want Emma as a global ambassador, starring alongside Michael Owen."
"TWENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS?!" her dad yelled, grabbing the edge of the table so he wouldn't fall over.
"WHAT?!" Sarah screamed.
"Is that a lot of money?" Lily asked, looking confused.
Everyone in the room was completely baffled.
Their minds were racing with a million thoughts. :How did he get this? Twenty-five million? Samsung?"
Emma suddenly snapped out of her shock.
She jumped up from her chair like lightning.
She grabbed her winter jacket from the couch. She ran to the key bowl on the table and snatched her dad's car keys.
"I need to meet Michael," Emma said breathlessly.
Without waiting for a response, she ran out of the living room and sprinted straight toward the garage.
Behind her, her family and Erica just stood there in absolute silence, still completely shocked by the sheer weight of the twenty-five-million-dollar contract sitting in Erica's hands.