✨ The Gift Left on the Windowsill✨ from LULU's blog

✨The Gift Left on the Windowsill✨

Snow drifted over the city like soft confetti, settling on velvet coats and glittering storefronts. Malik pulled his collar higher, the wool brushing his jawline, and kept walking until the familiar brownstone appeared—quiet, warm, glowing like a heartbeat in the cold.

He wasn’t supposed to come back here.
Not after last December.
Not after the whirlwind year that pushed him from castings to campaigns to hotel rooms that all smelled the same.

But Christmas has a way of slowing the world down just enough to make you notice what you’ve been missing.

As he stopped at a crosswalk, Malik passed a boutique window filled with beautifully displayed Holiday Giftcards —the kind people bought when they didn’t want to get it wrong. Behind the glass, soft gold lights shimmered over rows of curated fashion brands, little envelopes promising effortless gifting. For a moment, he wondered how many choices in life were like that—easy on the surface, complicated underneath.

He paused beneath the upstairs window—their window. The same place where they once taped tinsel, where she teased him about mirror selfies, even before he ever stepped onto a runway. That room held the version of himself he had forgotten somewhere between deadlines and late-night flights.

Maybe that’s why he returned tonight.

Malik reached into his coat pocket, fingertips brushing a sealed envelope. Inside was a single line, handwritten:

“Some gifts aren’t wrapped.
Some are choices.
This year, I chose to come back.”

He placed it on the windowsill, brushing away the thin layer of snow with a gloved hand.

City lights flickered on, turning the street into a runway of warm amber and cool shadows. From a nearby apartment, laughter spilled into the cold—sequins, champagne, velvet blazers, and strangers celebrating simply because it was December.

For the first time in months, Malik felt something ease inside him.

Christmas wasn’t about luxury or grand gestures.
It was about returning to moments, to memories, to yourself.

He looked once more at the soft glow of the window…
Then walked toward the lights, letting the night pull him forward.

Because sometimes the most meaningful gifts are the ones that bring you home—and sometimes, the ones that remind you who you are.