Saint Nick

5. December

• Get ready for the first disappointment •

As Hazel opened her eyes that chilly December morning, a slow smirk spread on her lips as she remembered the night before. Even 24 hours later, she still felt him down there.

It had been a wild night. Resting had been only to catch their breaths before either one of them had jumped the other again. She couldn't remember how many times they had done it. Her condom supply had run out, which might've been the only reason they truly stopped. That and exhaustion.

Getting out of bed, taking a slow, warm shower and putting on a warm layer of clothes, Hazel walked into her kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee. Her one-night-stand had been a fifty-in-one-night-stand, but she regretted nothing. It had been just what she needed, and to her delight, he hadn't been clingy. He knew what it was as much as her, so when dawn came, he had borrowed her shower, given her a last kiss goodbye, then walked out with a smile on his face.

The same kind of smile Hazel had woken up with.

On her second cup of coffee, her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket, ringing. Pulling it out and checking the ID, she rolled her eyes and pressed answer. "You little bitch."

"How's the hip?"

She put her mug of coffee down and shook her head. "I cannot believe you set me up like that. I thought you were my sister."

"Oh yes, I left you with a sexy, hung stranger, what a horrible sister I am. My sincerest apologies."

"How do you know he's hung?"

"Ahh, so he is. I knew you couldn't resist those dark brown eyes."

Cursing under her breath, Hazel sighed as her sister snickered in the other end. "I hate you."

"And I want the deets later. When do you get off work?"

"At 3. I'll swing by the store on my way back—oh, hey, did you figure out what that rash was?"

"Erythema multiforme. Jim ran to the 24-7 pharmacy around the corner after I came home. Poor bugger won't stop crying."

"Aw. I'll bring him a little something to make him feel better. Anyways, I gotta go. I'm gonna be late for work," Hazel stood up, walking her mug to the sink. "I'll talk to you later, take care!"

"See you around 3!"

~~~

"God, those were the days," Camille sighed longingly after Hazel finished retelling every glorious detail of her hook-up the previous night. "I shouldn't feel jealous, but some days..."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that!" Jim called from the kitchen. He was feeding Michael while her and Camille sat in the living room in front of the fireplace with each their cup of hot cocoa. Ashley was drawing on the floor next to them, a concentrated tongue caught in the corner of her mouth as she tried coloring within the lines.

Hazel chuckled and watched her sister blush, cupping her own face. "Come on, you know I'd trade in your family fun any day. I'd never be lonely for Christmas, that's for sure."

"You also wouldn't get any sleep," Camille tiredly added.

"I'll pretend that's my fault!" Came Jim's commentary from the kitchen again.

"Shut up!" Both Hazel and Camille shouted back. They then chuckled quietly and sipped their cocoa.

"So are you going to see him again?" Camille asked her, folding her legs up under herself.

"No, it was just a one-night-stand. A great one, but..."

"Then why not? What about the chemistry?"

"What chemistry?"

"Come on, you can't tell me there's wasn't any chemistry," Camille gave her a perturbed stare. "You slept with the guy; clearly he had to have some redeeming qualities."

"That's the beauty of a one-night-stand; he doesn't need to have chemistry or substance, he just needs to know what he's doing in bed," Hazel argued, leaning back into the couch, warming her hands on her mug.

"What does he do in bed?" Ashley chimed in, looking curiously up at her.

"He's very good at folding sheets, monkey."

She frowned a little, but then lost interest and dived into her coloring book again.

Camille sighed and gave her sister a glance. "So you're saying there's not even a tiny part of you that felt any... tingle?"

Hazel gave it a moment of thought. The truth was, she hadn't been thinking much that night. She wanted to get laid, she needed a distraction, and there he was; Tall, dark and handsome. She supposed he was a nice, good guy, but she didn't know much about him beyond the fact that he worked in manufacturing and he knew how to make her ōrgasm twice in a row. Maybe that made her shallow, but why else did they call it a smash-and-dash?

"Look, he's nice, but he's only in town for the season," She told, sipping her cocoa. "He lives up north or something, so even if I was interested, how would that work? It was just a one-time thing, Cam. I doubt I'll even run into him again unless I change my mind about going to see Santa again."

"WE'RE GOING TO SEE SANTA AGAIN?!" Ashley squealed and jumped up.

"No, sweetie, no, go back to drawing," Camille replied, pointing at her coloring book. "The adults are talking."

"But I wanna see Santa! I wanna tell him I want a pink collar for my puppy!"

Hazel grinned at her sister who cupped her head, defeatedly. "Pink collar, Cam. Pink."

"Shut your beanbag," She muttered and then got up, taking Hazel's cup of cocoa from her hands. "I'll give you a pink something..."

Laughing, she watched her sister go out into the kitchen, receiving a kiss from her husband who smiled at her while holding their son. She smiled back and exchanged a few words with him, talking about dinner.

"Auntie Hazi?" Ashley crawled up on the couch next to her, cuddling up to her.

"Yeah, baby?" She smiled, wrapping her arms around her.

"Can we go sit on Santa's lap again?"

Hazel cringed inwardly.

She was still sore from the last time.

• • •

*cough*