Catching a glimpse of a legendary all-white reindeer is supposed to bring good luck.
Not for Georgia Greene.
As Georgia makes her way home for Christmas, a white reindeer dashes across the road in front of her, causing her to crash her car into a...
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Georgia
"Put them right there, on the back counter," Sue said, directing Georgia to the back wall of the gift shop. She moved a small stack of red cups—the same cups she had served coffee to them in the day before—out of the way to give Georgia some room.
With a great heave, Georgia dropped the insulated tanks down on the counter. Full and sloshing with the hot liquid, they landed with a great thud. Sue made the hot chocolate in her own kitchen and transferred it over to large insulated dispensers to serve. Once they were down, Georgia rubbed at her sore arms, hoping to warm them up—it was actually pretty chilly back here. The warmth of the big living room fireplace didn't quite reach this side of the building.
"Rethinking your offer to help out?" Sue teased.
"A l-little," Georgia said through the chatter of her teeth.
Georgia would've loved to go back to the warm side of the house and curl up on the couch next to the fire to spend her afternoon staring up at the glittering tree. She shook her head, banishing the thought.
"No," she added. "I said I'd help, so I will."
Sue shrugged like it didn't bother her either way. She bent down beside the cupboards and began to pull out more supplies. More signature red cups, a few packages of paper napkins, a stack of cardboard cup sleeves. She stacked them all up beside the dispensers, ready for Georgia to dole them out.
"These are pretty self explanatory," Sue said, standing up again. She patted the dispenser. "The hot chocolate is complimentary, so you don't need to remember any prices. Don't fill the cups all the way otherwise the kids will just spill on themselves. And give them a napkin, just in case they do anyway." She laughed like she'd seen that very thing many times before.
"Got it," Georgia said with a nod. This was giving her flashbacks of her first job in the city as a barista, working alongside her sister, when they were much younger.
Sue moved along, heading over to the main counter and the till on top. "This is a cash only operation, so you don't need to worry about cards and whatnot. This old till still works, but it can be a little temperamental. If it gives you guff, just smack it." She demonstrated just such a smack, and the cash drawer popped open, already full of small bills.
"It probably won't be too busy today," Sue continued, wandering back around to the empty shelves. "Since it's the last few days before Christmas it will be less... coming-for-a-good-time and more panicking-about-last-minute-decorating." She laughed again. "That reminds me," she motioned to the few remaining bits and bobs that sat around on the mostly empty shelves. "Any of the remaining merchandise is on clearance. Their prices are on their tags, so just cut whatever that is in half. But I really just want it gone, so if someone wants to haggle, just take whatever they offer. Y'know, I should probably group them all together." She was just muttering to herself now. "And I think there's still a box of stuff in the back still, too..."
