S6 Ep 2 - Ho Ho Hopefully: Spreading Christmas Cheer With Wholesome Rom-Coms Inspired By The Maine’s Christmas Classic “Ho Ho Hopefully”
[00:00:11.870] - Adrienne
Hey there, listeners!
[00:00:13.460] - Katarina
Oh, ho ho. Merry Christmas.
[00:00:18.140] - Adrienne
Welcome to Rhapsody in Reverie, a show where music and storytelling go hand in hand. I'm your ghost of Christmas present host Adrienne--
[00:00:28.970] - Katarina
And I'm your sugarplum fairy host, Katarina.
[00:00:33.620] - Adrienne
Welcome to the Christmas episode gang.
[00:00:36.580] - Katarina
Ay-Oh! But that's not, uh, reindeer up on the rooftop. It's us.
[00:00:41.950] - Both
-Laughter-
[00:00:44.140] - Adrienne
Why?
[00:00:45.800] - Katarina
You know, I thought I was going somewhere with that...And then it was not going anywhere.
[00:00:51.610] - Adrienne
You were so confident in the lead up and I was hyped, I was like, 'Yeah.'
[00:00:58.840] - Katarina
Well, now that I have completely derailed this, it's the Christmas episode!
[00:01:05.440] - Adrienne
Woo!
[00:01:06.440] - Katarina
Carefully cover up the Halloween logo...on my shirt...
[00:01:12.230] - Adrienne
For the Patreon members.
[00:01:14.570] - Katarina
That's right, because if you are a Patreon member, you get to see video recordings of this. And for the Patreon people, please excuse the mess. My room's covered in Christmas gifts. None of them are for you. You've all been naughty.
[00:01:29.800] - Adrienne
All right, this is getting dirty and I don't like it.
[00:01:33.970] - Katarina
-Laughter- It's getting away from me again. OK.
[00:01:36.370] - Adrienne
So, all right. Here's the thing guys... We know we said that Cat Clyde, "I Don't Belong Here" was going to be the next episode. But then Christmas happened and we were like, yo, let's do a fun Christmas episode because we love Christmas.
[00:01:57.250] - Katarina
And the year has been spooky and tragic enough for, you know, the stories that were spooky and tragic could wait a little while longer is all we were saying. Because guess what? Cat Clyde's story's done. But we're going to sit on it for a little bit, we're just gonna sit on it.
[00:02:17.800] - Adrienne
You'll see, hopefully.
[00:02:19.600] - Katarina
Point is, guys, we have a festive, frolicking, phenomenal, phantasmagorical...ly, good Christmas episode for you all today. We put a lot of heart into this and a lot of thought went into making these Hallmark Channel worthy, sleazy, cheesy mwah mwah romantic comedies that we are going to present to you today because, yes, guys, we turned that cheese factor up to 11! We rammed that unrealistic Christmas magic--
[00:02:59.918] - Both
-Laughter-
[00:03:00.800] - Adrienne
You started that sentence. And I was very afraid of where it was going. That is not the point of this episode, or these stories--
[00:03:12.800] - Katarina
Santa Claus is getting pegged--
[00:03:15.560] - Adrienne
Stop! That is not what we wrote, Santa Claus is not getting pegged in these stories.
[00:03:23.420] - Katarina
No, the elves are. No, I'm kidding. No, but think about it, though, real quick. Real quick. Let's think about it. "Hey... Why weren't you at Elf Practice?"
[00:03:35.690] - Adrienne
What?! If Santa wants to get--you know what? No, I'm not going to go--
[00:03:41.710] - Katarina
I'm not going down this dirty, dirty, filthy heathen road that I started us on.
[00:03:49.270] - Adrienne
Santa is a good man, he is wholesome, he brings presents. He climbs in your chimney.
[00:03:56.330] - Katarina
For those who have chimneys, I guess.
[00:03:58.880] - Adrienne
Yeah, or he just breaks into your house like a normal person.
[00:04:02.240] - Katarina
We all saw the-- we all saw "the Santa Clause". We know what happens when you don't have a chimney. He magically manifests one and then, un-manifests it.
[00:04:12.710] - Adrienne
It would have been so much better if they just showed Santa like, breaking a window.
[00:04:18.170] - Katarina
Honestly, yes, it would have been.
[00:04:22.090] - Adrienne
Ho, ho, HO, mother fucker!
[00:04:24.710] - Katarina
And just like all the other good little children do this time of year, we hope that you allow us to break and enter into your home, to read, you--
[00:04:39.080] - Adrienne
Do not...no!
[00:04:39.920] - Katarina
To read you--
[00:04:40.580] - Adrienne
No!
[00:04:41.720] - Katarina
Our Christmas stories--
[00:04:41.720] - Adrienne
No! Pause!
[00:04:43.442] - Katarina
We're breaking and entering via their ears!
[00:04:43.700] - Adrienne
Why are you why are you incriminating us--
[00:04:46.290] - Katarina
--and their hearts--
[00:04:47.060] - Adrienne
And a crime we're not doing! I mean, if somebody frames us for a robbery, it's your fault.
[00:04:55.070] - Katarina
No, we're breaking in via their hearts and their ears in this magical Christmas time. Okay. We wrote some stories for y'all based on some Christmas music. Okay? Take it or leave it. It's what we do. What song did we pick this week?
[00:05:15.740] - Adrienne
You know what it is! You know why you're here.
[00:05:19.910] - Katarina
What song did we pick for the Christmas story?
[00:05:24.140] - Adrienne
So for our wonderful, cheesy Christmas stories, we decided to pick a personal favorite Christmas song of ours here at Rhapsody in Reverie, a good old little ditty called "Ho Ho, Hopefully" by The Maine.
[00:05:42.710] - Both
Yay!
[00:05:44.840] - Adrienne
Which you may have heard us talk about in an episode prior. In previous seasons, we did a Christmas episode a while back where we talked about our favorite Christmas songs. And this is a really good one.
[00:06:02.990] - Katarina
I think it's-- it's got the appropriate amount of yearning and the appropriate amount of seasonal flair because it does very much capture that almost-Christmas, how the lights look in December, fresh, fallen snow, a little bit of holiday cuffing season...stuff.
[00:06:24.830] - Adrienne
It's got mad cuffing season vibes.
[00:06:28.430] - Katarina
So we, I think we both wanted to focus on that aspect of, of like new love and of romance and grand gestures and being together by the Christmas tree because that's where we're supposed to be. So I think, I think you guys will enjoy them. I hope you enjoy them. And if you don't... Who hurt you?
[00:06:55.950] - Adrienne
--Laughter--Why don't you love Christmas?
[00:06:58.500] - Katarina
But before we tune in to our stories, how about we do our favorite segment--
[00:07:04.770] - Both
Up and Comers! Woo!
[00:07:08.620] - Katarina
OK. This week, it's my turn. So, I've been jamming pretty hard lately to a band called DBMK. How to describe DBMK? They are a duo that does a lot of really cool--
[00:07:29.880] - Adrienne
Dope as hell...
[00:07:31.000] - Katarina
Dope as hell electronic and pop... I would say. Maybe electropop, perhaps? I've introduced Adrienne to this band already. So she is familiar with what I'm trying to describe here.
[00:07:44.530] - Adrienne
Yeah, I get if, I don't know if you'll agree with this, but the comparison that comes to my mind is like if The 1975 and Waterparks had a baby.
[00:07:57.040] - Katarina
That's a fair, that's a fair description. I would, I would also say that they're like the peak of like 1985 and like modern day 2000s pop had a baby because some of their songs are so-- they, they fill me with the same kind of emotion I get from listening to really good 80s song, even though they don't really have that same sound. It's the vibe. Which I don't know if that's accurate or not, but I would agree. Waterparks and The 1975 had a baby. I really, really, really love how their tracks sound musically. Their electronic components sound so natural because sometimes, you know, it doesn't blend very well with everything else, but everything they do sounds so natural and it fits together so well. I love their lyricism, I love their vocals. I love everything about DBMK.
[00:08:46.810] - Adrienne
They're, they're really dope.
[00:08:48.580] - Katarina
That's all I have to say. They have, their latest, as of the recording this episode was "I heard you had a girlfriend" that came out in September. It was a single. But they are promising new music very soon. Hopefully that's true.
[00:09:08.200] - Adrienne
I love "I heard you had a girlfriend" so much...
[00:09:10.660] - Katarina
That song's so good.
[00:09:11.820] - Adrienne
It's so good.
[00:09:12.310] - Katarina
That's the most eighties sounding.
[00:09:15.190] - Adrienne
Yeah.
[00:09:16.510] - Katarina
I'm very, I'm very excited for when they put out more. If you want to follow them on social media, they are @DBMKmusic on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Look at that. Three for three. We, we never get that, where they're the same @. So yeah. Give them a follow, stream their songs, buy some records. Christmas is coming. And tell them Rhapsody in Reverie sent you, why don't you?
[00:09:46.870] - Adrienne
And listen to "I heard you had a girlfriend." All the time.
[00:09:49.450] - Katarina
And "Rot." Anyway enough about that. You know what we're doing, why we're doing it, what we're doing it about. Who's doing it first?
[00:09:58.540] - Adrienne
You mean reading stories?
[00:10:00.970] - Katarina
Yes.
[00:10:01.510] - Adrienne
Yeah, that's what we're about to do. And someone's gonna do it first. And you know what?
[00:10:08.320] - Katarina
What?
[00:10:08.680] - Adrienne
Just for that, it's going to be you.
[00:10:11.140] - Katarina
I respect that decision. I accept my punishment. It is just and fair. OK, I hope you enjoy it. I put a lot of thought into making it as cheesy as possible... While also being...heartfelt.
[00:10:32.780] - Adrienne
That's beautiful.
[00:10:33.980] - Katarina
I think I have my chest. -Laughter-
[00:10:41.770] - Adrienne
Try to keep it down. -Laughter-
[00:10:44.710] - Katarina
OK, are we ready, are we cozy? Do we have hot chocolate? No, but--
[00:10:48.580] - Adrienne
I'm ready. I don't have chocolate, but I'm still cozy.
[00:10:52.150] - Katarina
OK, good. I hope all of you listeners and I guess--
[00:10:56.440] - Adrienne
I'm making hot chocolate in my heart.
[00:10:57.700] - Katarina
Yeeeeaah... Cozy up with some hot chocolate listeners, it's about to get corny!
[00:11:03.790] - Adrienne
That's corny with a C.
[00:11:06.040] - Story 1
Ho Ho Hopefully. Inspired by "Ho Ho Hopefully" by The Maine. The piercing scream of the kid seated currently on Santa’s lap registered, to Dmitri, at somewhere around a high C. The general din of the mall around them rose to a mighty cacophony, swelling into that one, sharp scream, and for a second Dmitri wondered if the child would pass out from the effort, and thought his own ear drums might burst should he hear one more scream that day. That would certainly make a pretty picture, he thought, as his finger hovered over the shutter-release button. But Holly, the spry, blonde elf who stood at Santa’s side and helped move things along, sprang into action, and in a flash the terrified boy transformed into a calm, collected, almost-well-behaved child who gazed up understandably at the pretender in the red suit. Dmitri never could get over how patient Holly was with these kids. Holly backed off once the boy started to giggle, her work finished, and resumed her place at the mall Santa’s side. She winked at Dmitri. He grinned, and was able to take the picture, the last kid of this two-hour block. They’d have fifteen minutes of glorious nothing to do until 3:15, when the chaos would resume for the remaining four hours before the mall closed. That would be the big rush: after all, what kid wouldn’t want a last-minute appeal to Santa Claus on Christmas Eve?
But that was a problem for the Dmitri of 15 minutes from now. The Dmitri of right this minute turned off the camera, put the computer to sleep and slumped onto the bean bag chairs that were shaped like presents and other such goodies under the large Christmas tree. Holly flopped down beside him, sighing contentedly and placing her head on his shoulder, and he ran a hand through her hair, just as she expected him to. Ella Fitzgerald’s velvety voice sang out over the dingy mall speakers, “How’d you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island? How’d you like to spend a holiday away across the sea?”
“That sounds lovely,” Holly murmured, her eyes closed. “Anything’s better than here.”
“We’re in California,” Dmitri said. “Isn’t it basically like living on an island?”
“Spoken like a true East-coaster,” she said, and sat up. “This is nothing like living on an island. This is working in the smoggiest, busiest, most obnoxious place in the world. If I could disappear to Fiji, or one of the Greek islands, or Bermuda, I would. Which is why I’m taking off tomorrow.”
Dmitri, still sprawled out on the bean bag chair, didn’t look up. “You’re really going backpacking through Europe? Alone?”
“I told you, not just Europe—”
“I get it, I know. The world isn’t wide enough for Holly, is it?”
“It isn’t!”
Dmitri finally met her eyes. “I just…are you sure? That this is what you wanna do?”
She turned to him, the most serious he’d seen her in many days. “As serious as I was about becoming a mall elf thirty days ago.” She broke, grinning ear to ear, and punched him lightly on the shoulder. Her blue-green eyes lit up like the Christmas lights on the tree behind them. “Thank you again for flying out here. I know this was…”
“Another trademark Holly whim? A Holly Jolly Holiday whim, if you will?”
“Ew,” she laughed. “Don’t ever say that again. But yes. I’ve always wanted to be an elf, and I think this was the cut-off year.”
“What, were you worried you’d sprout grey hairs and wrinkles in a year or two?”
“I’m just saying, who wants to see a 27-year-old elf? Nobody.”
“As opposed for the skyrocketing demand for a 26-year-old elf?”
Holly rolled her eyes. “Sure. My point is, this was on my bucket list, so I just wanted to say…thanks. For doing this with me. I know this is your vacation time, probably not what you wanted to be doing, but I’m glad you agreed.”
Dmitri rubbed the back of his neck and sat up. “Holly, if there’s one thing I’ve learned since I met you, it’s that I’m just along for the ride, and if I trust you, it’ll be smoother.” He laughed as she threw a light punch into his arm. “And it’s been cool, seeing where you grew up. I’ve never made it to the west coast. Are you really sure you don’t want to stick around here?”
“I don’t feel like staying anywhere for very long right at the moment.” She turned and rested a hand on his knee, and warmth spread from it through his entire body. “It’s been really nice getting to spend so much time together, Dmitri. I’m glad you came out. I’ve missed you.”
“S-same here,” he said, trying to come off as cool and casual as possible.
They’d been best friends since they had gone to college in Connecticut together, Holly a SoCal transplant, Dmitri a native yankee. His parents had expected him to pursue a career as a doctor, he’d wanted to study archaeology. Eventually they met in the middle and Dmitri pursued a degree in Accounting, a boringly safe but honorable enough job that had one advantage: it was what led him to Holly, who sat next to him one day in Accounting 103, three weeks late because she’d forgotten she had even registered for the class.
Long nights spent studying over egg foo young, weekends spent hiking (an activity that Holly insisted on, having never seen leaves change in fall), and summers spent working together at the local ice cream parlor had cemented a friendship that Dmitri felt was going to last forever. Maybe they’d get a job together at the same firm, grab lunch every Tuesday at the same sandwich place. They went together like the winter and sweaters. And then Holly had dropped the bomb: she had decided, after four years and an internship later, that she didn’t want to be an accountant after all.
“Nobody wants to actually be an accountant,” he argued, only for Holly to retort, “then why should we stick with it?”
He didn’t have an answer then. To this day, he still hadn’t come up with one.
He still remembered the fire in Holly’s eyes as she pleaded with him to just take some time before he started working, to hit the open road. “We could do anything! Anything and everything! I know you aren’t happy--”
Dmitri scoffed. “What was the point of me going to school for four years then? Because I don’t think happiness has anything to do with it!”
She’d looked hurt, though he wasn’t sure why. “Maybe it was to learn what you weren’t supposed to do.”
This baffled and angered him. What was he supposed to do, write off the last four years as a loss? He had student debt to take care of. Traveling and working odd jobs was a ridiculous pipe dream worthy of a JD Salinger plot, and he told her as much. They fought that night, each saying things to the other that they didn’t mean, and before Holly left town, she did not say goodbye.
But Holly couldn’t stay mad at Dmitri for long, and when she got to her first ‘adventure,’ as she called it, she sent him a letter. At first this hurt him. She hadn’t called, texted, hell, hadn’t emailed him in weeks. He was torn between ignoring her and calling her that second, but he read the letter instead. She wanted to revive the dying art of the handwritten correspondence, she wrote to him, and besides, writing letters meant that enough time had passed that neither of them could very well be angry at the other any longer. For three years, they kept in touch this way, with phone calls few and far between but a letter every two weeks, where Holly kept Dmitri abreast of her adventures and Dmitri…Dmitri wished her well. There was the year she worked on a dairy farm in Wisconsin as a farmhand, until she grew bored of that. There was the summer she worked as a driver for a mobile library in Philadelphia. She even did some accounting for a small art gallery in Eastport, Maine, though it was pro bono; she was earning enough helping a local restaurant shuck oysters, among other things. All the while she sent Dmitri letters that he read at his Hartford office, where he went to the same sandwich place, ordered a turkey on rye, and watched the ducks swimming in the industrial park pond, wishing that he’d gone off with his best friend to see the country.
Then the day came when the safe, stable company that Dmitri had anchored his life to went under, and suddenly he was 26 and living at home with his parents. There was a glut in the market, too many young people with accounting degrees who did not have accounting jobs, and for the first time in years Dmitri did not know what he was going to do. That was, until Holly sent her latest letter: “Come spend a month with me here in Burbank. I’m going to work for Santa.” He didn’t have to think twice about this invitation, though at the time he had no idea what she meant: he booked the first flight out.
In the present, Holly stood and began adjusting some of the toys under the tree, sensing the end of their break approaching. “You know, I think you benefited most from this little escapade. Who knew you had such a talent for photography?!”
“It’s on a tri-pod, and I press a button. It’s pretty hard to be bad at photography.”
“Tell that to a photographer,” she said, “but I’ll admit it’s hard to screw up taking pictures of kids sitting on Santa’s lap. I mean it, though, you have an eye! I can see it.”
“The best I can do is take pictures of all your weird SoCal food,” he sighed. “And I’m not even very good at that.”
“Imagine how good you’d be at taking mediocre pictures of food made in the opposite side of the globe,” Holly said, her tone hinting to a question she’d asked him weeks ago, one he was still mulling over in his head.
They were quiet for a moment, staring off into the calm before the storm of the line that was now beginning to form. Dmitri looked away from it and briefly locked eyes with an intense woman sitting in the food court who was aggressively chewing on a churro until he looked away uncomfortably. He gazed back up at Holly and wondered where her mind was. Was she already on that plane? Or was she hiking through the swiss alps, unafraid of frostbite? Maybe she’d get a job farming snails in France. He felt a slight ache in his chest at the thought of his stay coming to an end.
“The invitation is still open, you know.” Holly didn’t look at him as she said that, but he could hear the tremor of nervousness in her voice.
“Holly…” he began, but he couldn’t say anything. He knew what this was: chance number two, gallivant with your best friend across the globe now before it’s too late! But how could he? How could he let his family down more than he had?
How could he let Holly down more than he already had?
“You don’t have to say anything now,” she said, “but there’s a seat for you if you want. There’s always been one fore you.”
Holly walked off to meet the actor playing Santa, whom she had to escort back from the break he took in a secret place where the kids couldn’t see him smoking. Dmitri stood and prepped the camera, thinking about tomorrow. Maybe he could swing it, maybe—no. He shoved that idea deep down. No use trying to dream of the impossible while dreading the inevitable. He planned to simply make the best of the rest of his day, go to Holly’s cousin’s Christmas party with her, and pack for his own flight home tomorrow.
But what did she mean by there always being a seat for me? — “Say cheese! Great job kid.”—Does she know that she makes these pictures easy? Does she know how easy it is to look at her all day? — “Look at me, that’s right” --Does she know how much I want to say yes? —“Aaaand, great, got it, thanks!”
“Hey,” hissed someone from behind him. “Hey kid.”
Dmitri turned. A woman who looked something in her mid-thirties was leaning over one of the barriers, between two waiting mothers, and hissing at him. He rolled his eyes. “I’m twenty—nevermind, Ma’am you have to wait in line like everybody else, you don’t get to jump the line.”
“I don’t give a flying—”
“Ma’am!” he said, urgently. “The uh, the kids. Come on.” He could swear that he’d seen her before, but his mind refused to place her. She gave a dramatic, angry sigh.
“Listen. I’ve been watching you little…elves…day in and day out for close to a week.”
“That’s…why?”
“there’s nowhere else to look when you eat in the food court!”
That was it! Dmitri smiled at the satisfaction of finally knowing where he’d seen her before. This seemed to enrage her.
“Listen! I’ve watched you both, you and that little blonde one—”
“yeah, you said—”
“SHUT. UP!!! If I have to watch you both pining over each other for one more minute without doing something about it, I’m going to—I’m going—I don’t even know what I’ll do, but it’s going to be violent and extremely cathartic for me, personally!” The woman pointed the end of a churro in Dmitri’s face.
“Ma’am, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave—”
“I’M LEAVING, OKAY?! I’M GOING. BUT I SWEAR TO CHRIST, YOU HAD BETTER TELL EACH OTHER HOW YOU FEEL BECAUSE YOUR LOVE IS MAKING ME SICK TO MY STOMACH! The NERVE, FLAUNTING IT IN FRONT OF US ALL DAY, I SWEAR I—” The woman was unable to articulate any longer, her rage choking her insults. “I…excuse me, I have to go,” she said, and walked away in a frustrated huff without giving Dmitri the satisfaction of telling her to go screw.
Dmitri shook his head and went back to the camera, reassuring Holly with a look that there wasn’t a problem. Imagine, he thought, being unable to see a healthy, perfectly normal friendship between two people. Just because we happen to be of— “Say cheese! Thanks, yes, happy holidays to you too,”—opposite genders we just have to be in love, don’t we? —“Merry Christmas, thank you!” –Besides…that would just…be impossible. She couldn’t…I could be…
He locked eyes with Holly again, focusing more on getting her to laugh rather than the toddler centered in the shot. Her eyes lit up with a warmth that made him feel a sudden pain at the thought of not being around them once again. Never in his life had he looked at Holly the way he was staring at her now...or was that the point? That he’d always been staring at her like this. That he’d always felt a little bigger, a little taller when he touched him or made him smile. That he always felt like nobody made him feel more like himself than when she was around. Holly bent over and pointed right at the camera, motioning for the little boy who was looking everywhere else to look at him instead, and as she did he thought he could see something in her, something he hadn’t noticed before… “There’s always a seat for you,” her voice echoed in his head.
--
They were standing in the parking lot of the mall, Holly walking to her car, Dmitri waiting for an uber.
“You’re being ridiculous, you know that? I can drive you to the liquor store. My cousin doesn’t need you to buy—”
“My parents had it drilled into me to always bring the gift of alcohol,” he sighed. “I don’t wanna keep you.”
“But I’m going with you,” she said, smiling. “I can drive.”
“You need to save your gas…for the airport…you know, ‘cause it’s…”
“A rental, yes, Dmitri, I know…” Holly sighed and turned to look across the lot at her car, and perhaps it was because she wasn’t looking at him that he had the courage to ask. “What did you mean when you said there was always a seat for me?”
She faced him, her cheeks little red. “I…what?”
“I just--” He felt a hitch in his voice, swallowed, and began again. “Holly I…I’ve been thinking…thinking a lot about everything over the last couple of years and I just…why did you even want me to come here if you were going to leave again?”
“Because I hoped I could get you to come with me this time,” she said, kicking a rock and avoiding his eyes.”
“It’s just—Holly, I’m just gonna disappoint you.” The truth steamrolled him. “I’m not like you, Holly. I bow easily to social pressure. I do what my parents want me to do. I gave up on my dreams because I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do and I don’t even know why you, someone who just does whatever she thinks of, would want me to come with you. I’m just going to bring you down, Holly. I don’t want to do that to you. I care—” the hitch in his voice was back, but he didn’t fight it this time.
She held his gaze, and for the first time since he’d known her, Holly looked vulnerable. “You couldn’t bring me down even if you tried, Dmitri.”
Dmitri wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say in this moment, but Holly saved him by continuing.
“It’s not that I don’t care about my life, I just decided that there had to be more than what they said there was. Happiness does matter, Dmitri and you…” She lamely gestured to him, then brushed a tear from her face, “you make me happy. I really care about you. I’ve always cared about you. You always had a way of making everything seem okay, especially when I was so uncertain about real life and…and everything. You are why I felt that I was strong enough to even go away…And when I left, every time I did something new or went someplace, I’d never been or saw some beautiful view, I just…I just wanted you there with me. To share it. You’re the only person I ever wanted to run away with, Dmitri. I love how you worry about me. I love how you keep me grounded and make me think things through. I love that you make me smile and I love that you dream, even if you say you don’t. I love…I love…” She smiled, but it was pained, as if something she’d tried to keep secret was now bubbling to the surface.
Dmitri said nothing, though his heart beat a million miles a minute. He couldn’t think of anything to say that would come remotely close to how he really felt. He had never been so articulate. So as she turned away again to wipe away a tear, he simply grabbed her arm, pulled her close to him, and kissed her. They didn’t move for what felt like an eternity, and when they finally came up for air, she didn’t pull away from him. She pressed her forehead to his and laughed.
“Thank God you did it, I don’t have the height or upper body strength to pull you down.”
“You worked on a dairy farm for a year throwing hay bales or whatever.”
“Why do you think I quit?”
They laughed and he kissed her again. “That extra seat isn’t taken, is it?”
“It is now,” Holly said. “It is now.”
--
“Are you sure your cousin likes Rumchata?” Dmitri asked, as Holly rang the doorbell for the third time.
“Sam? He’s crazy about it.”
“It’s just that, it was pretty cheap…And you’re sure he won’t mind me being here?”
“Hey, if he gets to bring his girlfriend to the party, I get to bring my…um…person...boyfriend? Significant other?”
“It’s his party though,” Dmitri said, but the door swung open.
The woman from the mall stared back at them. “The…the elves?”
“Hi! You must be Sam’s girlfriend, I’ve heard so much about you,” Holly said, playing it straight, though Dmitri could tell Holly recognized her from the kerfuffle at the mall.
“I…yes…sorry, he never showed me any…any pictures.” The woman gulped.
Dmitri stuck his hand out. “Hey. I’m Dmitri, Holly’s…well, we’re not putting a label on it right now,” he said, but he winked at the woman. Softly he said, “thanks for the tip.”
The woman smiled sheepishly. “Delilah,” she said, then, “I’m really sorry about all that. The holiday stress—”
“it’s okay,” he said. “it brought us exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
[00:33:24.570] - Katarina
The end.
[00:33:28.510] - Adrienne
--Slow Clapping-- Yay!
[00:33:29.890] - Katarina
Ah!
[00:33:31.500] - Adrienne
Okay.
[00:33:31.770] - Katarina
That almost killed me, that almost killed me reading it. I had to get silly at the end or I wasn't going to make it.
[00:33:38.280] - Adrienne
I have to commend you so much for writing a beautiful... like I need Hallmark, Netflix, somebody, let's go. Peak, absolutely great.
[00:33:52.010] - Katarina
Thank you.
[00:33:54.590] - Adrienne
Everything about their relationship aggravated me.
[00:33:58.300] - Katarina
Oh! --Laughter--
[00:33:59.360] - Adrienne
But that's mostly because, you know, the whole 'we're friends, but we don't say it,' that-- that trope always aggravates me.
[00:34:10.130] - Katarina
Yes.
[00:34:10.790] - Adrienne
So--
[00:34:11.460] - Katarina
It aggravates me, too.
[00:34:13.640] - Adrienne
So like, that's why. Your writing was great, as always. And Holly pissed me off. It's just Manic Pixie Dream Girl goes off to-- --Laughter--
[00:34:24.290] - Katarina
Listen, in a scrapped episode that none of you will hear, we were talking about how we were going to develop these stories. And at one point I joked, I was going to make Holly a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. And I don't think you believed me, but here we are.
[00:34:37.160] - Adrienne
I didn't, but yeah. She is the personification of-- she's literally an elf.
[00:34:46.320] - Katarina
I really--
[00:34:47.070] - Adrienne
Not a pixie, but it's close.
[00:34:48.510] - Katarina
Yeah, I don't know how else to make a twenty six year old be like, yes, I want to be a mall elf, which I think, but correct me if I'm wrong, mall elves out there in the world. I feel like this is a teenager's job. I mean, yeah, like it's usually a job for a teen. But who knows? Maybe there are career elves that are in their 30s doing this. So I can't even judge. My point is I needed a believable person to be like, 'yes, I want to work as a mall elf' and have that be the centerpiece of my romance. Because the original plot was for two actual elves in Santa's workshop to fall in love that I would name... I don't know, fucking Mistletoe and Dingleberry. I don't know.
[00:35:35.670] - Adrienne
Which also would have made a good story.
[00:35:37.680] - Katarina
Yes, not as good as this one. --Laughter--
[00:35:41.220] - Adrienne
No, this was very good. Your... Your confrontation scene is definitely different than the one that is in my story.
[00:35:49.470] - Katarina
I figured I just, I just needed to get it done because, like, I didn't know when you were going to finish. So I was like, 'let me just hurry up and get something down there just in case.'
[00:35:57.230] - Adrienne
Uh, because Listeners, this took me entirely too long to finish my part of the story. So. Yeah, but yeah, I liked your story a lot.
[00:36:12.120] - Katarina
Thank you.
[00:36:13.290] - Adrienne
I think it's peak-- it really is peak, like a Hallmark Channel sickeningly sweet romance.
[00:36:21.330] - Katarina
Listen, I said it's what I was going to do and I did my best. I'm glad it was up to par at least with "A Christmas Prince."
[00:36:31.500] - Adrienne
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I would much rather watched this movie than
[00:36:36.660] - Katarina
Than "A Christmas Prince."
[00:36:39.150] - Adrienne
Not-- hey, all for "Christmas Prince," as a sidebar...
[00:36:46.410] - Katarina
I wasn't, I didn't like that one.
[00:36:49.100] - Adrienne
You didn't like it?
[00:36:50.010] - Katarina
No, she--
[00:36:50.460] - Adrienne
Oh, wait!
[00:36:51.270] - Katarina
She was terrible, I liked "The Princess Switch"
[00:36:53.630] - Adrienne
I'm mixing, I'm mixing it up with the Princess-- they're all the same.
[00:36:58.080] - Katarina
Yeah, I know. Listen, we know. They're probably like, "what's the difference?" And we couldn't--well, the one that we actually--
[00:37:06.370] - Adrienne
"The Princess Switch" is actually the, the one we liked.
[00:37:09.000] - Katarina
That one was fun, at least. The two of them, although the second one was kind of unnecessary. The point is, is that "A Christmas Prince" just is a little, a little whatever. The woman is objectively terrible.
[00:37:21.570] - Adrienne
She's just not good.
[00:37:23.460] - Katarina
No, she lies!
[00:37:25.920] - Adrienne
Not a good person!
[00:37:26.130] - Katarina
Worms her way into this royal family, almost ruins this man's life, un-ruins it, but barely?
[00:37:35.460] - Adrienne
Okay, we're getting off subject, here. The point is... Definitely better than "A Christmas Prince."
[00:37:43.620] - Katarina
I appreciate that. I'm glad that it meant... Because I wanted it to be both. At least it was kind of good, but I still wanted it to very much feel like a Hallmark Channel story. So that's good. I'm glad that I achieved that. Hopefully it's better than Snow Bride. Again! Why would you lie about being a reporter? And then sneaking in to this man's house? Just get the scoop on his family!
[00:38:09.870] - Adrienne
I have no sympathy for you at that point. I don't care what happens.
[00:38:13.920] - Katarina
Why are you marrying this woman? She lied to you.
[00:38:17.640] - Adrienne
Yeah, I have no sympathy for her. And you kind of deserve what you get at this point if you're going to actually trust this woman.
[00:38:23.490] - Katarina
Yep, exactly. Anyway, that was my story. I'm glad you liked it. And I'm glad that it made you vomit 10 times. Did you-- did you, did you catch all of the lyrics from the song that I just slipped in there?
[00:38:35.730] - Adrienne
I caught some of them, but not all of them. So I appreciate the commitment to the song.
[00:38:42.060] - Katarina
That was-- I just was like, listen, it's the Christmas one. I might as well.
[00:38:47.280] - Adrienne
Yeah, no, totally.
[00:38:49.500] - Katarina
But anyway, that's done. I want to hear your story now.
[00:38:55.260] - Adrienne
So, uh, my story is not that great. But it's OK because I'm sure you'll get a chuckle out of it.
[00:39:03.630] - Katarina
It might be great. You don't know. Don't talk badly about yourself and your Hallmark Channel skills! Hire us, Hallmark Channel.
[00:39:09.390] - Adrienne
This is not fit for Hallmark Channel.
[00:39:11.910] - Katarina
Is it fit for Lifetime?
[00:39:13.800] - Adrienne
No.
[00:39:15.120] - Katarina
Is it fit for--
[00:39:16.650] - Adrienne
I just-- you know, you're right.
[00:39:19.230] - Katarina
General Hospital?
[00:39:20.670] - Adrienne
We'll just... We'll just... I think I went in a different direction.
[00:39:25.860] - Katarina
Oh, was it sad?
[00:39:27.810] - Adrienne
No. But-- no more talking.
[00:39:31.510] - Katarina
No more talking. Don't spoil it for me, just give it to me.
[00:39:34.480] - Adrienne
All right. So my story is called "Cinnabon Christmas."
[00:39:41.230] - Katarina
Oh, I love it. Yes.
[00:39:42.460] - Story 2
"Cinnabon Christmas." Inspired by “Ho Ho Hopefully,” by The Maine. You ever think about mall tiles? Seriously, every mall you ever walk into has the same boring bone or shell colored tiles on the floor. The kind that sorta squeak when you drag your sneaker against them just right. All lined up and adhered to the ground leading your descent into a contemporary materialistic fever dream accented by the occasional swatch of dreary carpeting, fake plants, and inexplicable water fountains feigning serenity in chaos.
It was someone’s job to pick that tile. Some person lived their whole life, traveled many miles, accumulated a wealth of knowledge, just to reach a time and place in their grand journey where they had to pour over and parse through dozens of overpriced flooring samples until one of them finally seemed to scream MALL in their mind. And they picked it. All for people of little consequence like me to spill holiday-themed lattes on it and leave black scuff marks with our heels. So it goes. I wonder if that unnamed person spent as much time thinking about these damn tiles as I have over the last several days in my proverbial Christmas madness.
“Hello there! Welcome back to Cinnabon! Would you like your usual again today?”
In my head, I reply to the well-meaning employee with a genial smile and a “Yes, mam, thank you!” but what comes out instead is more of a cross between a grunt and a half conscious murmur in the general direction of the chipper woman behind the counter.
“So how’s your holiday shopping going today? You must have a pretty big list!”
I should be nicer to her. It’s not her fault I’ve been floundering at picking out a gift for Sam and drowning my holiday woes in sticky sweet icing all week, but still she didn’t have to remind me of it. I mean really, lady, I don’t need my mall Cinnabon interactions to be any deeper than “Hi, welcome, what cinnamon flavored health risk would you like today?” That’s it! Why deviate from the script we’d had at the beginning of the week? That was cool with me!
I pulled out a buzzing phone from my pocket and stared at Sam’s name and photo filling the screen. God, that photo is so stupid. Him flashing that adorable dorky grin while practically bursting out of my favorite sweater.
“You’d better take a photo because I’m never giving this sweater back to you” he had joked while jamming his head through the neck hole. After I took the picture, he took one look at that cheesy grin on his face, heard the massive groan I let out at his ridiculousness, and snatched the phone out of my hand to set it as his contact image immediately. Of all the grade A photos we’ve taken in the 4 months we’d been seeing each other, that’s the one he insists on having fill up my screen every day. But even though my eyes roll back into my head with every phone call, I still haven’t changed it yet.
“One large Cinnabon for Delilah!”
Hmm A sweater? Is that a good gift? I could double back to the Macy’s and check the Men’s section again...for the 5th time this afternoon…
“Order for Delilah,”
You’d be amazed how quickly every item of clothing in existence begins to blur together and lose its appeal after spending hours grazing limp fingers against stiff polyester blends and cheap wool knits. My eyes glaze over just thinking about it. No. No sweaters, or jackets, or flannel shirts. Every single one in every single store is just… It’s all the same, isn’t it? Thousands of tiny strands woven together in organized chaos until it forms sheets and shapes of fabric. What really makes one sweater different from the next? Color, form, texture… Ugh, god get me out of this mall.
“Miss!” a loud voice snaps my face up from my now dark phone screen to see the woman holding up a baby blue box with a pile of napkins on top. And a long line starting to form behind me.
With another unenthused grumble, I snatched the box out of her hand, barely registering the flutter of paper napkins falling to the ground like snow, and scanned the mall for a table. I know Sam’s probably wondering where I am by now, but I’m gonna sit my ass down and eat this damn thing. Why? Because I am the idiot who’s spent weeks searching every mall in the county hoping to find the perfect present for her boyfriend. I’m the idiot who is still empty-handed 2 hours before his Christmas party, and I’m the idiot who thinks that this Cinnabon might be the only thing gluing together the last fragments of my sanity.
Anyway, technically, I was already late since Sam had invited me over to help set up before everyone else arrived.
“And by help set up, I mean come over and recite lines along with Christmas movies while I finish getting everything ready, just like my Halloween party” he had said after dinner a few nights ago, face practically glowing from his Chesire grin.
“What? You mean my killer Freddy Kruger Impression wasn’t helpful?” I quipped, grin mirroring his.
“Oh it was very helpful. Couldn’t have done without it” I can almost hear the jovial laugh that followed his reply along with a kiss on my temple that sent shivers up my spine. I know why this is so hard, he’s just so damn self-sufficient! How do you shop for someone who's so on top of everything?
Finding a decently clean table, I plopped myself into the hard plastic chair, ripped open the Cinnabon box and slathered the extra side of icing on top of the cinnamon roll before taking a bite. Tapping my phone awake, the clock at the top of the screen changed to 6PM. Ugh, it didn’t matter anymore, time is a construct and - OH! A watch? I could get him a watch! That! That is... a...terrible gift idea too… I bought my dad a watch last year! Sam doesn’t even wear a watch! Come on, Delilah, get it together!
“Your hair looks really nice today, Holly” a male voice from a few feet away chimed up.
Fucking hell. Of course, I picked the one table closest to the Santa’s Workshop set, where a chain smoking Jolly old St Nick and his two elves were taking overpriced photos with crying children. Look, I have no problem with mall Santas. Honestly. I get it, childhood memories and all. It’s the elves though… Well, just these two really.
“Oh thanks, Dmitri,” Holly said with an irritatingly sweet giggle.
I looked over to a man and woman dressed in brightly colored tights and jingle bells standing side by side behind a camera and beaming smiles just as stupid as their costumes. Every day as I have descended into this madness that is Christmas shopping at the mall, I have had to bear witness to these two horned up elves eye fucking and pining after each other all day.
I swear yesterday, I watched that guy Dmitri sprint like a fucking Olympic champion just to pick up the jangly green hat that fell off her head.
A hat? People wear hats, hats could be gifts. I could get Sam a hat? No, I’m not getting Sam a hat. He’d just end up taking it off anyway so he can do that thing he always does with his hair when he’s concentrating on something. He ruffles his fingers through it, then shakes his head a couple times as if he is trying to set it back into place again. It always makes me laugh, why mess it up just to try and fix it again?
“Oh hey, Dmitri, listen, it’s your favorite Christmas song” Holly remarked to Dmitri before guiding a little boy up the steps to Santa.
Come on, do you know how nauseating two people have to be for a literal stranger to notice how much they are crazy about each other? The answer is excruciatingly nauseating. He just keeps… looking at her. Even now from behind the camera, he’s just staring, grinning, looking like a damn fool. And the costume’s not helping.
How about a camera?! The thought crossed my mind and I had to shove a huge bite of Cinnabon in my mouth to keep from muttering obscenities to myself. Yes, Delilah, get your professional photographer boyfriend a camera. It will make a fine addition to the 5 he already has. I’ve really been at this for weeks and that’s the best I can come up with. At the end of each day this week I’ve thought, I should just pick something and be done with it. Literally anything. Only to end up back here. Scarfing down a Cinnabon and staring at elves. Will I ever know peace? Polishing off the last of the sugary confection, I closed my eyes for a moment only to hear Holly’s laugh echo through the mall. Fuck it, I’ve had it. The madness has to end.
Standing up abruptly, I marched through a crowd of impatient parents and children, muscling my way to the camera in Santa’s workshop where Dmitri was setting up for the next photo.
“Um excuse me, mam there is a line!” an irritated voice from the crowd of parents cried out.
“Shut up!” I barked as I tapped Dmitri’s shoulder, startling him and tearing his gaze away from Holly. “I have to talk to you”
“Uh hi? Do...do I know you?” he replied sheepishly as Holly walked over towards us.
“No, but I need to tell you something”
“Oh okay, why don’t we just go over here...Holly,” Dmitri turned to her with a soft and starry look in his eye that made me want to vomit “Can you handle the line-”
“OH JUST SCREW HER ALREADY JESUS!” I blurted out.
“Whoa ho ho, uh lady, do you have to do this now in...Santa’s workshop?” the mall Santa replied standing up and walking over to the three of us.
“YES! I DO! Because this has been going on for far too long for the love of God-” I began as Santa nudged us further away from the line of parents and children.
“I have been Christmas shopping in this hellscape of a mall all week and every day I come in here and am forced to watch you two idiots mentally undress each other with your eyes every five seconds. I mean, it’s so obvious what’s going on between you two. I can see it! Even Santa here probably sees it!” I turned to the guy in the Santa costume who suddenly began looking up at the skylight in the ceiling.
“I...I uh no comment” he muttered before walking back to entertain the children still waiting.
“Take that as a yes! Look, I don’t care what you elves do about this at the end of the day but dear god, can you at least not subject the rest of us to having to watch this bullshit. You clearly are attracted to each other, you keep fucking staring at her, you can’t stop blushing every time he speaks, you two are attached at the hip, you talk every day and you think about him all the time! You’ve memorized every goddamn inch of his stupid chisled face, the way he says your name in the morning makes you want to melt into puddles, and if you could give him the whole entire world on a platter, you would and it’d still not be good enough. Why can’t you just cut the bullshit and self-pity, get out of this fucking mall and admit you’re in love?!” I caught my breath for a moment and looked on at Holly and Dmitri, the silver bells on their costumes quivering slightly. and the realization that I was standing in the middle of a mall screaming at two strangers in elf costumes creeped into my brain. What the fuck am I doing here?
“I have to go.”
Sprinting out of the mall, I slid into my car and drove to Sam’s apartment only half aware of what my body was doing as I finally got there and knocked on his door.
“Hey,” Sam’s greeting came out warmly as he opened the door. Pushing past his extending arms, I entered the beautifully decorated living room, filled with twinkling white lights and the scent of freshly baked cookies.
“I can’t do it!”
“Uh do what?” Closing the door, Sam began to walk closer to me as I started pacing circles in front of a small Christmas tree.
“Aht! No, stay there with your fucking prince charming bullshit!” Looking down, I could see a neatly wrapped golden box labeled “For Delilah” waiting patiently under the tree. I don’t even know what’s in the damn thing and it looks perfect. Christ.
“Delilah, is-is everything okay?”
“NO! I have been in the mall for weeks. LITERAL WEEKS. Trying to buy a gift for you and I can’t! I can’t do it! I can’t hear the same 10 Christmas songs blasted through shitty speakers or watch horned up mall elves eye fuck each other in Santa’s Workshop day after day after day! I can’t fight over another parking spot, I can’t eat another Cinnabon, and I can’t walk into another store staring at 50% off sweaters, or watches, agonizing over what to get you while knowing damn well you’ve already gotten me a gift that’s probably perfect like everything else about you!
The concern on Sam’s face disappeared slightly to make way for another breathtaking smile, and though he attempted to interject, I continued on.
“See like that! You’re not real! You-you’re just gonna look at me with that smile, open your mouth and know exactly what to say to me right now to make me laugh or melt or cry or whatever I need to do at this moment like a goddamn wizard like you always do! Because you’re so so wonderfully...YOU! Why are you like this?! I mean, Jesus, how many more times can you make me fall in love with you?! It’s frankly just disgusting at this point! Is that egg nog?”
I asked, walking to a punch bowl and a stack of plastic cups placed squarely on a table behind the couch. I didn’t bother to wait for an answer as I filled a cup and chugged it down.
“So fuck you and the horse you rode in on cause I’m not buying you anything. I can’t do it, I give up!” Ignoring the searing burn of bourbon traveling down my throat, I filled the cup again and made my way to the front of the couch where I sank down into the plush cushions and throw pillows. Even his couch was perfect. After feeling myself settle down again, I finally looked over to Sam, whose grin had somehow grown even bigger and more radiant, “Why are you smiling at me?” I whined, burying my face into a pillow.
“Because, you just gave me the best Christmas present you could have given me,”
“What? A mental breakdown?” I muttered to which Sam broke out into a small fit of laughter.
“Why are you laughing at me?” I lightly tossed the pillow towards him, unable to suppress a grin of my own as he blocked it.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh,” he said as he grabbed the pillow and came to sit on the couch with me, “But...did you miss the part where you told me you were in love with me?”
“I What?”
“Just now, by the tree,” he stretched an arm around me, inviting me in closer. “Well, I believe the exact phrasing you used was ‘Jesus, how many more times can you make me fall in love with you,’ but I’ll take it.” I felt my face grow a little warm from slight embarrassment as I turned to look at him, though that might actually just be the eggnog.
“Well...that was… Okay, admittedly, I kinda blacked out there at the end but-” Before I could continue, Sam leaned down to capture my lips with his and all the days of melodramatic musings over elves and food courts flew out of my mind. All that was left was the warmth I found tucked underneath his arm. Pulling away slowly, I kept my eyes closed for a moment as I lingered there in the fading sensation of his kiss.
“Fine, I love you,” I finally said after opening my eyes again and smiling up at him. “Not exactly how I thought I’d say that to you for the first time”
“Oh, I couldn’t imagine it going any other way,” He tucked a hair behind my ear gingerly, “I love you, too, Lilah” The corners of my mouth somehow spread even wider as I nestled further into him.
“So” Sam finally said after a few moments spent in the most comfortable silence I’ve had all day. “is now a bad time to tell you your Christmas present is a lifetime supply of Cinnabons?”
“That’s not funny” I said with a groan as he broke out into another fit of laughs.
“It’s a little funny”
[00:58:50.180] - Adrienne
The end.
[00:58:51.400] - Katarina
Oh, my God. OK, so first of all, first of all, how dare you come out here with an "oh set your bar real low, I don't know about your--I think my story's not good," that was on par with the writing of the original "A Christmas Story," you know, like "aaah got my tongue stuck." You know, that, that? The writing in that, in my opinion, it's, it's... I don't know about Sam Levinson, because to me he's like the peak of comedy writers. But like that was really fucking good! It was, number one, genuinely heartwarming. It genuinely made me laugh. If I came across this in a collection of Christmas short stories, this would be one of my favorite ones.
[00:59:34.630] - Adrienne
Oh...thank you...
[00:59:36.660] - Katarina
This was... This was genuinely a delight to listen to and stylistically, it was wonderful because, like you really capture Delilah's frantic mental state of like "I'm at my wits end, I'm tired of the same Christmas music, I'm suffering as only a retail worker suffers, except I can leave!" From like from the intro of the mall tile, to like, the ultimate end where she just goes off.... This was wonderful! This was a great story. This was-- this at least gets a spot in ABCfamily or Freeform.
[01:00:12.993] - Both
--Laughter--
[01:00:15.360] - Adrienne
Coming now.
[01:00:16.440] - Katarina
But I'm just, I'm just saying, this was actually really well done and it wasn't schlock. Like it wasn't corny. It was actually just a really good time, and a pleasant story to listen to. I think you sold yourself very short on this one. I loved it.
[01:00:35.970] - Adrienne
Oh, thank you! I appreciate you for saying nice things about me because I was very insecure about this story.
[01:00:44.880] - Katarina
I don't know why! I don't know why. This is one of, I think... In a way, this is, this is uncharted territory for you. Because a lot of what you write is like the spooky stuff or the macabre stuff. And I already know you do that well. And this was literally just like... Happy, but also, you know, it was like a slice of life, but you really did capture-- it was a character sketch! Of this, of this woman going through this part of her life. And you did it so well. And I was genuinely laughing and genuinely finding joy from it. And I was like, "oh, yeah, we've all been there." Like, she's very relatable. I've never wanted to accost mall elves eye-fucking each other. But I think--
[01:01:28.860] - Adrienne
When pushed to the brink.
[01:01:30.840] - Katarina
When pushed to the brink, you know, who knows what I would do? And I think it's, I think this was a very well-written story. Again, I... If I came across this in a short story collection of like, Christmas short stories, this would easily be one of my favorite ones. And I know Christmas stories. I like to read them. That's a little fun fact about me. But I like --laughter-- I know what I'm talking about when I say that yours is actually like, actually good. Not like, oh, Hallmark Channel good. Or like, cheesy Netflix special. This was like actually good. I enjoyed this very much.
[01:02:05.940] - Adrienne
Thank you. That means a lot coming from you, because you're... I very much trust your opinion because, again, you are always a great writer. Like literally every time we do these I'm just like she's so good.
[01:02:21.660] - Katarina
Not this time. --Laughter--
[01:02:23.070] - Adrienne
No! Because that's the thing, even, like, your story-- you very obviously were going for a, like a romantic comedy feel, but like your story is easily better than like any Hallmark Channel. Like it had more heart.
[01:02:39.501] - Katarina
Yes and no.
[01:02:39.960] - Adrienne
It has more heart. No, no. It definitely did. Do not sell yourself short. If I can't sell myself short, you can't either. I actually believed the characters were real people. You know, you watch a Hallmark Channel movie and you're just like "these people, like they're so one-dimensional," like no disrespect to people that write Hallmark Channel movies because we all love them. You're-- your characters, like, they had like, real, genuine, like motivations and fears. You understood why there was this, like, hesitation and why they weren't taking things further. Like... And I think that is sometimes missing from a lot other stories that I read sometimes where it's just like you're like..."But why?"
[01:03:29.850] - Katarina
"But why?" Yeah.
[01:03:30.510] - Adrienne
Like this is happening. But why?
[01:03:32.670] - Katarina
That's fair. I also really love-- because I didn't know that your, that your Sam was a photographer.
[01:03:39.270] - Adrienne
Yeah!
[01:03:39.720] - Katarina
I love that I slipped in all those photographer-like... It's also, I mean, Delilah! Lenses are so fucking expensive. You could have bought him a very expensive lens, just saying. He would have appreciated it. As someone who eyes two thousand dollar lenses and up on the regular, he would have liked it, Delilah!
[01:04:00.120] - Adrienne
At the end of the day, it wasn't about like not knowing what to get him, really. It was just like she, she loves him so much and she just doesn't know. She just doesn't feel like there's anything she could get that would even equate to how much she loves him.
[01:04:18.720] - Katarina
This is what happens when gift giving is your love language. Again, Delilah was very relatable. But, but no, I really loved your-- the... The way you wrote her dialogue. Her inner monologue was so good. I want you to publish this in a magazine. I know the season's over, but I want you to publish this in a magazine. I want this Christmas story immortalized now.
[01:04:44.970] - Adrienne
I mean--
[01:04:45.540] - Katarina
It is on our podcast, but like, I want more!
[01:04:48.960] - Adrienne
Uh, I don't, I don't know if it's that good.
[01:04:52.290] - Katarina
I don't know. I feel like it could be. I feel like it could be. But that's my opinion. I just really liked the story. This was a very good Christmas story. So.
[01:05:03.250] - Adrienne
Again, I appreciate it and your story was equally as wonderful, and it made me, it made me choke and vomit on their adorableness, which is what I want.
[01:05:18.720] - Katarina
Yeah, it was the goal. I purposefully wrote--
[01:05:20.720] - Adrienne
That's what I want from a story like that.
[01:05:23.420] - Katarina
That's why when I edited it, I was like, I'm going to ramp up the --gagging noises-- factor, because I... It made me a couple of times, but I was like, it could be better. It could be better. So when I read it through on my own, I actually like messed it up multiple times on the recording because it was like," oh God, this is, I'm making myself sick!" --Laughter-- But thank you, friend, I think then that we've had a very successful Christmas episode, I guess that's it. Did we do it?
[01:05:54.690] - Adrienne
Uh, I suppose I suppose we did it.
[01:05:58.350] - Katarina
Yeah.
[01:05:58.600] - Adrienne
Thank you, "Ho Ho Hopefully," for inspiring so much... So much joy. And I do have to say the song really did kinda guide the direction of my story because there was something like.... There-- there are some things, there's like a... The line. There's a line in "Ho Ho Hopefully", 'when she's not around, I go insane' or something like that.
[01:06:27.710] - Katarina
Hold on, I have-- I actually have the lyrics up because I was learning how to play it on the guitar...
[01:06:33.290] - Adrienne
--singing--
[01:06:33.860] - Katarina
'When she's not around, I'm going crazy.'
[01:06:36.230] - Adrienne
' I'm going crazy.' Yeah, I feel like it kind of guided the, the madness. Thank you "Ho Ho Hopefully," for inspiring so much joy. And we've... We've come to the end!
[01:06:55.180] - Katarina
But it's also a time where we want to say thank you to all of our listeners far and wide, especially this season, especially this year, we want to say thank you to everybody who stuck around, to everyone who has found just a little bit of enjoyment and cheer from our episodes and our stories and whatever we bring you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And we hope that you all have a very, very beautiful holiday season with your families and-- or friends, depending on whoever you're with.
[01:07:30.340] - Adrienne
Couldn't have said it any better myself.
[01:07:32.430] - Katarina
And so, please, without further ado, we hope that you join us in next year for the rest of our season, because this will probably be the last episode we put out in this year, this year. But thank you for listening. And in the meantime, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter, @Rhapsodypodcast and on Instagram as well. I believe we're still @Rhapsodypodcast. Yes?
[01:07:58.450] - Adrienne
Yeah, @Rhapsodypodcast on Twitter and Instagram and @Rhapsodyinreveriepodcast on Facebook.
[01:08:05.320] - Katarina
That's it. Please consider becoming a Patreon member! Because if you do, you get our unedited video recordings where we live react to each other stories. Because I guarantee you, you did not hear all of us making funny vomit noises, or just funny squealing sounds as we read each other's stories because you weren't paying for the video. So if you want some fun bonus content, if you want to, if you want to jump in on the extra goodies, please consider joining. It would mean the world to us. We love making extra content for you guys and, you know. Join, join the cheer, join the--
[01:08:51.380] - Adrienne
--whispering-- Join us--
[01:08:52.670] - Katarina
Join us. But, uh. Subscribe to us, please, on iTunes, Stitcher, PodBean, Spotify, whatever Google's podcast app of the month is. Do they still have a podcast app.?
[01:09:05.720] - Adrienne
Yes.
[01:09:07.190] - Katarina
OK, that's good. They keep changing it. I can't keep track. Please go to our website for any announcements, any cool things, any articles, any fun uh transcripts, actual story things. So you can just read it if you want to. RhapsodyinReverie.Com. There you go. Nice and simple. And if you want news about the next episode. Because... What is next...The next.... Oh it's Cat Clyde.
[01:09:32.960] - Adrienne
It's Cat Clyde.
[01:09:33.470] - Katarina
Easy. It's what was going to come out before this one. And then we changed our minds because we wanted to just hurry up and put out a Christmas episode.
[01:09:39.440] - Adrienne
Yeah.
[01:09:39.800] - Katarina
Sooo.... So, yeah. Stay tuned for "I Don't Belong Here" by Cat Clyde! Coming sometime in the New Year. We'll keep you posted on social media. You know the drill.
[01:09:49.520] - Adrienne
Well, that's it. So. Ho, ho, ho. A merry Christmas to all...
[01:09:57.870] - Both
And to all a good night. Yay!
[01:10:08.030] - Adrienne
Merry Christmas, Fam!
[01:10:09.560]
Merry Christmas! I'm about to get some eggnog.