Chapter 42
Christmas Comes Early


By the time the doorbell rang a third time Annie Joy was 99% sure it was Craig, the curly-haired, chipmunk-cheeked 7 year old from the apartment next door. His mom, Sandy, was probably doing some Christmas baking and sent him over to borrow something. She was half right.

“Here Miss Annie,” Craig said importantly and thrust the small square package at her. “Mommie said the mailman left this for you.”

“Oh, my gosh thank you Craig. This is so….this is great and thank your mommy and tell her I’ll talk to her tomorrow. OK?” Annie Joy’s words tripped out like excited puppies dashing into the yard as she turned to go back inside.

“Is it a Christmas present?” Craig asked eagerly.

Annie Joy turned around, “Yes, I guess it is Craig, an early Christmas present,” she said with a slow smile as she ruffled his curls.

**********

Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words?

When the music stopped Annie Joy realized she’d been sitting motionless, at times even holding her breath… swallowed by the music. She sat wrapped in one of Great Minnie’s afghans on the sofa where she’d crawled into the space between the notes and curled up still clutching Urs’ note.

This must be what feelings sound like, she thought. A mixture of silence and sound, sensual, pure, whispering in my ear that I should come near; achingly beautiful, tying the emotions into one universal artistic expression. Sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belonging to mankind, in all times and in all places.

From the opening minute the harmonies of their powerful, expressive voices were thrilling, at times tender and nostalgic and even reverent, but always seductive and romantic.

She looked at #6 on the Christmas playlist, the one that had caught her unawares and reduced her to tears. It would be awhile before she could listen to that again; maybe when the disappointment of today’s interview wore off or perhaps when she had a successful interview or possibly when she started a new job or probably when…

She opened her hand and smoothed Urs’ note flat on her knee.

Petit papillon,
Merry Christmas ! I hope you will think we are ‘real’ singers after you hear us. You have always been real to me.
Urs

Her lips formed a trembling smile. Thank you for showing me who you are and what you do, what you were born to do. Oh you are real alright…too real. She pressed the play button and snuggled down deeper into the sofa cushions. Fortunately she was asleep by the time #6 came on.

**********

“I expect you’re looking forward to your Christmas break?” the bright-eyed, blonde, female, morning show co-anchor commented earnestly. Seb, David, and Carlos looked expectantly at Urs and waited for his answer. It was his turn to be clever and witty; alright at least coherent seeing as they’d been up since 4:30am, but he seemed to be caught flat-footed, for the second time this week. He was usually so voluble, sometimes embarrassingly so. What was he doing just staring at her hair?

Urs suddenly realized he was on and as if someone had pressed a button he instantly turned on the Divo charm and managed to extricate himself without too much damage being done. It seemed an apologetic grin and a throaty laugh accompanied by a few pat answers could excuse any temporary lapse.

“Sorry guys,” he apologized when they were in the car, having run the gauntlet of fans at break-neck speed and made it into the waiting car relatively unscathed with just a few waves and smiles.

“There’s something about a blonde…” David mused, floating the idea out there to see what Urs would do. Although his nod was almost imperceptible his expression spoke volumes.

“Que? Cecile does not have the blonde hair,” Carlos piped up with a puzzled expression.

“The woman on the ship, the one we signed the CD for, Carlos,” Seb guessed and three pairs of eyes looked at Urs.

“She wrote to thank me and…nothing, forget it.. I don’t have a reason to stay in touch,” he said dejectedly.

“But you could just be the ami non?” Immediately Seb tapped his head as if to say how stupid of me. Urs gave him a look that seconded that opinion. Seb and David both had witnessed Cecile’s meltdown when Urs had innocently put his hand on a fan’s waist for a picture. In fact that had been the last time Cecile had visited Urs on tour.

Carlos began to play his conciliatory if broken record, “Only one week more and you will have the uniting with tu amor. You will do the talk of the visiting y adjusting, si? Then the feliz navidad,” he assured Urs and himself confidently.

“Si,” repeated Urs, wondering if Cecile would ‘si’ or was that see?

**********


12 hours and 10 minutes by plane and a week earlier Annie Joy was also talking of visiting. IKEA was opening a store in Houston and Annie Joy had sent in her application. She’d had email confirmation on receipt of her paperwork and was scheduled for an interview there on Wednesday.

It was now Tuesday after work and Syd was presently wearing her fashion consultant hat. “Well what do you think?” Annie Joy asked nervously as she modeled yet another possible outfit to wear for her interview.

Syd sat cross-legged on the bed holding several sheets of paper; the lone survivor floating amid the flotsam of a shipwreck of clothes. She motioned for Annie Joy to twirl and eyed her critically. “Yep, that’s the one,” she pronounced with conviction as she consulted her paper. “How could they not hire you on the spot? You embody the shared values of the company,” she giggled as she attempted to sound posh. “You DO remember what they are don’t you?” she asked in a tone that hinted of dire consequences if Annie Joy didn’t.

Annie Joy kicked off her less than four inch heels and gave an exaggerated sigh, “Yes, of course I do. Number One: Togetherness. You don’t think that means they go around giving everyone group hugs do you?” she grinned.

“Will you please be serious? That outfit shows you’re a very together person, not too matchy matchy, neat but with a touch of flair. Next.”

“Number Two: Cost-Consciousness. I suppose I could have left the price tags on but then I wouldn’t look together would I?” Annie Joy mused.

This time it was Syd who heaved a sigh. She knew humor was one of Annie Joy’s coping mechanisms when she was nervous but sometimes she could just throttle her! “Next.”

“Number Three: Respect. OK I’m being serious here, Syd. Do you think I need to look up a few Swedish words on the Internet? Maybe just hello or thank you or…”

“Annie Joy, Swedish is not the language of choice in Houston, Texas for God’s sake! It says here they have a store in Shanghai. Do you think they speak Swedish there? Get a grip! It just began in Sweden, that’s all. Now c’mon what the last value? It’s getting late and you need to get an early start tomorrow.”

Right, Annie Joy. You’re a butterfly, spread you wings. Deep breath, it will be fine.
“TA DA! Drum roll please. The last value is: Simplicity and as much as it pains me I’ll be good and refrain from any wisecracks.”

“Thank God for small mercies!” Syd rolled her eyes heavenward in exaggerated thanksgiving. Now my only comment is either the pin or the scarf has to go.” It was a no-brainer as far as Annie Joy was concerned. The pin joined the other rejects on the bed.

“I’m sorry, Syd. You’re a peach for doing this. I’ll be quick getting out of these clothes, but I do want to show you my latest idea. Five minutes, that all, I promise.”

**********

Great Minnie may have been fast becoming a fan of Il Divo but eventually she needed her say too.

You can turn that music down anytime now Annie Joy. I’m no match for that Carlos fella, nice kiss curl by the way. Now I don’t want to get your hopes up too high but I’m thinkin’ this kind of company fits you more than that last one. ‘Work hard, be yourself’. That’s what they say they want so you give it to ‘em girl. You can do it.

Annie Joy fingered her butterfly necklace, smiled, and squared her shoulders. “I’m Annie Joy Lindstrom and I have an appointment with Mr. Ohlsson.”

Strange, she though later to herself. Does Urs feel like this too as he steps out on stage? As her lively blue eyes met Mr. Max Ohlsson’s intelligent deep brown ones, Annie Joy forgot to be nervous, forgot to be apprehensive, forgot to be anything except pure Annie Joy.

She was thrilled when the interview ended forty-five minutes later; her two previous ones hadn’t lasted half that long. When Mr. Ohlsson said, “We want to recruit unique individuals,” she wanted to raise her hand and say, ‘Here I am, here I am.’ When he said, “Our way of working is less structured than that of many other organizations,” she wanted to fall on her knees and shout, ‘Hallelujah!’ And when he said, “I can see you have a strong desire to learn. You’re open and straightforward. I like that,” she could have hugged him.

“As I told you earlier, Miss Lindstrom, at IKEA we don’t just want to fill jobs; we want to partner with people. We listen and support each individual’s needs, ambitions, and capabilities. This ‘Homeland’ concept,” he tapped her portfolio, “using the colors of your country’s flag as a theme for our home furnishing products shows creativity and initiative,” he praised with a smile.

Although Annie Joy knew she should say something, she just had to bask in the warm glow of his compliment for another second longer, but then Mr. Ohlsson was speaking again.

“I feel confident you share our vision and would be a good fit within our organization. I have some details to sort out but you’ll be hearing from us by the end of the week with an offer,” he smiled.

Could your heart really swell with pride? At this moment Annie Joy would have said yes. Yes, Dr. Doom, I am recognized for my ingenuity and talent just as I am. Yes, Great Minnie, you were right to never let me give up. Yes, Urs, I took a risk and put myself out there and someone noticed.

Mr. Ohlsson watched in amused silence as Annie Joy’s mouth formed a silent ‘oh’. Finally she managed to gather her thoughts enough to get out a simple but heartfelt, “Oh thank you, thank you so much Mr. Ohlsson,” and gave him a smile so genuine he was sure no one could resist, least of all himself.

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat and returned to business. “I see on your application that you live in San Antonio. You do realize that this job would require you to relocate? Would that be a problem?”

“Oh no, not a problem at all. There’s just me. Well I mean I only have one brother and he and his family live near Boerne,” she rushed on, eager to reassure him.

“Good.” Mr. Ohlsson stood and Annie Joy followed his lead. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Miss Lindstrom. You’ll hear from me by Friday at the latest.”

“Thank you again, so much, Mr. Ohlsson,” Annie Joy said as they shook hands and she gathered her things.

Annie Joy sat in the car holding her cell phone. How she got from Mr. Ohlsson’s office to the parking lot she never knew. Her best guess was levitation.
Now Annie Joy, pull yourself together. Look at you. You’re a woman with opportunities and possibilities, a risk taker, an original, clever and resourceful. Start acting like it.

She would she promised herself…right after she called Syd with the good news. She had a job offer in Houston.