"She says hello back...okay...okay...yeah sure I guess...alright alright...yeah okay," he lets out a slight huff and offers the phone to me. "She insists on talking to you," he tells me with a slight smile. I take the phone with a grin; I really like his mum.
"Hello?" I say into the speaker, Rhodes's eyes watching me as he places his free hand on my thigh.
"Hello sweetheart, how are you?" Eloise says warmly in response. I can hear the smile and warmth in her voice.
"I'm good, thanks. How are you?" I respond politely, running my finger over Rhodes's knuckle. It's slightly bruised; he said he got it getting back into boxing after being away in New York. It sounds like something that would be fun to watch him do sometime.
"Oh, I'm well, darling, thank you. Listen, I know you will probably have plans with your family for Christmas, but I was hoping you might want to join us for a little pre-Christmas celebration. Nothing too big, don't worry, just a couple of our close family members, and I would really like it if you came as well. We will do it a few days before Christmas, so it will be nice and festive. And don't you worry about gifts, it's just about spending time together. What do you think?" she explains sweetly. I'm sort of at a loss for words. I watch Rhodes's face; she's obviously just mentioned it to him before he handed me the phone, and he doesn't seem opposed to it. But is that too soon for us to be spending Christmas together? I mean, technically it won't be Christmas.
"Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, that sounds really nice. Thank you, Eloise, that's very kind of you," I stumble out a response. It's sweet that she thinks I will have such important Christmas plans with my own family. When in reality, I travel up to see Mum, have a subpar meal with her courtesy of the kitchen staff at the home, we watch some television reruns in her room, and then I go home. Last year my mum didn't even realize it was Christmas; the year before she had a freak out and we didn't celebrate at all.
"Wonderful! It will be so lovely to have you," Eloise says cheerfully. I swear I can almost hear her clapping her hands in excitement. "I will start making the plans and will give Rhodes the date and time when it's all figured out. Anyway, I'll let you go, enjoy your dinner sweetheart, and give Rhodes my love," she says quickly.
"Okay. Well, thanks, have a nice night," I smile widely as she says goodbye a final time before the line goes dead. I hand Rhodes back his phone and he takes it from me, sliding it back into his Danteet pocket.