<div style="text-align: justify;">Mandy's Apartment<br/><br/>Mandy was pretty happy that she would get to see her friends before Christmas. Since they lived in different cities, and, naturally, Christmas was for the family. They might find a way to meet up later, but with Joel's grandfather so ill, that might not happen, so Mandy decided she would gather everyone and give them a gift and a card before they could all go on their separate ways. And hopefully, everyone would like their gifts.<br/><br/>Sitting idly while she waited, Mandy looked at her phone when it buzzed. It was a reply from Eve. Good thing she was coming. Sometimes Mandy had this feeling that Eve wasn't really fond of them all, or maybe there was something going on? She couldn't really tell and, as curious as she was, didn't feel it was her place to ask. <span style="font-style: italic">'Cool, waiting for you here'</span>, she sent back, taking another sip of her wine.<br/><br/>Receiving Joel's reply made Mandy smile. She was happy he would come around. With all that was happening in his family, Mandy felt her friend could use some holiday cheer. And she was sure her gifts - a set of absolutely horrible sweaters with their initials - would at least get a good laugh out of her friends. Of course those were not their real gifts, but she loved the opportunity to toss in a prank gift every year. And well, they were warm and soft, so they could be used to sleep during the winter months. Which was what she planned on doing with her own.<br/><br/>Hearing someone knock on her door made Mandy jump up. After taking a moment to balance herself - it felt as though she had drank more than she thought  -, the girl went to the door, still feeling a little light-headed, and opened it to see both Nicole and Joel. "Merry early Christmas!", she greeted them cheerfuly. "Come on in", the girl invited her friends, stepping back to give them space to get in.<br/><br/>As she closed the door, Mandy took a look outside. She had hoped Ángel would have come earlier. Maybe something had happened at work, she thought to herself, deciding she would give him another ten or fifteen minutes before calling. Dinner wasn't even ready yet, after all. <br/><br/>"How are you guys? Is it too cold out there?", Mandy asked, trying to make neutral small talk for now.</div>