The Christmas Elf (Jenlisa)

Chapter 3

"I'm a little drunk!" Jennie said, during a slower song, "I think I might need to go home."

"Fair enough," Lisa said. "Hope I did my part to save your Kissmas Eve. Wait...Christmas Eve. Shit, I might be drunk too!" she said with a laugh.

"You said you have a four-wheel drive. You can't drive now!" Jennie said, concerned about Lisa getting behind the wheel after several glasses of the strong stuff they'd shared.

"It's fine. When I was pouring that third one for myself, I decided I'll stay here tonight. Rich' has a recliner in the office, I've slept on it before. What about you? You're not driving, right?"

"No, I was walking home when I happened to stumble across this place. But...look, I know we just met today-"

"Yesterday," interrupted Lisa, then said in her Santa voice, "Ho Ho Ho!"

"Right. Look, I only have one bedroom, but I have a pretty comfortable sofa. I'm about eight blocks from here, if you'd rather sleep on a couch instead of a recliner."

Lisa eyed her for a moment. "That's...really generous of you. But I shouldn't...I don't want to impose."

"Oh, please! You've done everything you can tonight to make me feel better about being alone for the holidays. And you saved my last-minute trip to see Santa with my daughter. And you're alone too. And to be honest..." She trailed off.

Lisa arched her eyebrow at Jennie. "I'm sensing you want to say that you'd like to be friends but you're being shy about it."

Jennie gratefully nodded. "I know I'm being silly, but the last few years, taking care of Ella and managing school and our lives, I just...I haven't had much time for friends."

"Okay...I'm in." Lisa smiled at her. "I probably can't get away with taking that bottle of bourbon, but I can find something to bring if you want. We can keep getting sauced for Christmas Eve."

"Or I could make hot chocolate?" Jennie sounded a little leery of the idea of more booze. "Tonight's the most I've had to drink since before Ella was born."

"Fair enough. Hot chocolate it is. I love chocolate anyway." She hit the button on the remote to shut down the sound system. "Let me close up. Give me five minutes." She quickly counted out the drawer then disappeared into the back with it, while Jennie put on her coat.

Lisa came back from the back room wearing a black leather motorcycle jacket with a gray hoodie sticking up out of the neck and fished her tips from the jar. "Ready? Okay, stand still while I set the alarm. Don't move until you hear the three beeps, then we have sixty seconds to get outside."

Once outside they both put their hoods up. If anything, the snow was coming down harder than before Jennie had arrived at the bar. It was a few degrees below freezing, and while the snow was sticking to the grass and most of the sidewalks, three to four inches deep in places, the streets were an icy, slushy mess.

"Lead the way," Lisa said. As someone who spent a lot of time walking, Jennie could tell she was dressed better for the weather than Lisa, who was clearly someone who was used to jumping in her car. "Holy shit, it's cold out here," the barkeep complained as they headed off into the storm.

They were hunched over, walking against the flow of road traffic, past a group of row homes when Lisa saw the snowplow flying down the street toward them. Her eyes widened as she saw the giant puddle of slush along the curb. "Watch out!" she yelled, pushing Jennie back against a wall.