Falling for the Grinch ✔️

One | Santa

Holly

"So, when are you leaving?"

I've been coming to the same coffee shop for six years. Six years. I'm so familiar with the layout. Stained concrete floors, distressed wooden tables, and chairs with bright green walls. The chalk-painted wall near the back corner of the shop is my favorite. Everyone writes down their names and some put their favorite quotes. There's one that stuck out to me that makes me giggle every time I read it.

"People will always be bitter. Just like my coffee."

The truth behind it is why it's my favorite. It doesn't matter where you go in life, people will always be jerks for no reason, but it's the way you brush them off that says a lot about you.

Before I stepped near the counter, smiling at Rae who knows me like the back of her hand, she grabs a cup to start making my drink. It's pretty convenient her knowing my coffee order every time I walk through those double doors.

As I take a sip of my white mocha espresso I look up from the mug and reply to Megan. "Tomorrow."

Megan's been my sidekick since college. Every blonde needs a brunette, right? In this case- she's the brunette. Her thick, chocolate hair sits right on her shoulders. She nods, grabbing a piece of her blueberry muffin. "Lucky. I wish I could escape this city, but I have no family outside of Seattle."

I smile at her as I watch a few people enter the coffee shop. The tiny bell above the doors chimes when a customer walks in. "What's wrong with Seattle?"

"You haven't lived here since birth, Holly. I'm over it."

The warmth from my drink stirs in my belly. I take another sip and lean back in my chair.
"I love it here."

Megan takes another bite from her muffin before typing a message on her phone. "You must love the cold then."

Going back home to Montana would confirm that. I love the cold. I love everything about it. Snow reminds me of a winter wonderland. Almost all my memories as a kid were spent with my parents during the holidays. Building a snowman with Dad while my Mom is inside getting the hot chocolate ready for us when we come inside. We would sit by the fireplace, bundled up beneath the fleece blankets, and watch A Christmas Story on repeat.

Christmas will be a lot different this year, though.

As much as I love winter, wearing thick coats and scarves nearly wrapped around my nose, Megan is the total opposite and I love that about her. I envy how mellow she is.

"When are you coming back?"

Her words grab my attention as I admire the six-foot Christmas tree near the chalk wall. They changed the theme this year and I'm diggin' it. Tiny coffee mugs are hanging on the branches with a huge burlap bow resting on the top. "Right after New Year's Day. I fly back here on the 2nd."

I've been getting homesick lately, even though Seattle has been my home for six years now. I miss everything about Helena, Montana. Just thinking about leaving again on the 2nd tugs at my heart. I'm not ready to see the look on their faces when I hug them goodbye and plant a kiss on my Dad's cheek.

The entire month of December is going to fly by faster than I can say bah humbug.

"What will you be doing for the holidays?" I ask Megan after clearing my throat. This conversation is now making me sadder by the minute.

She chews on her last bite of muffin before turning her phone over on the wooden table. "My Mom wants us to go ice skating."

I nearly squealed in my seat. The short-haired barista, Rae, eyes me with a smile on her face. She knows how excited I get over the silliest things.