Saint Nick

22. December

Hazel woke up to shoulder kisses. Nick had been with her for more than 24 hours and she could no longer lie to herself or avoid what she had been avoiding for days now.

She had fallen in love with Nick.

Last night they ate dinner together after a heated horizontal session, ordering Chinese takeout and drinking cold beers. Nick was such an easy spirit to be around. He was a gentleman, a kid, a man in so many ways, yet humble, modest, respectful and kind. They way he fit into her life so perfectly was scary – but all of it was just an illusion until it ended.

Hazel pressed her lips together to hold back the small whimper that got stuck in her throat. Nick was lazily caressing her stomach with his thumb, breathing tiredly behind her, but comfortably. He laid snuggled close up against her, holding on to her as if he was counting the days as well. Was it possible that... no, she didn't want to hope. And even if he did, it still didn't change a thing.

The Christmas fairytale had to end at some point.

"Who are you spending Christmas with?" Hazel whispered, knowing he was awake. Nick took a deep breath and let his exhale skate across her shoulder.

"I'll be working Christmas Eve," He replied.

"All night?" She asked in slight sympathy.

"Afraid so."

"Aren't you the CEO? Can't you just... take a break?"

"That's the thing. I'm the boss, so people are counting on me," He sighed heavily. "If I don't do the work, all of my employees hard work will go to waste. I have to oversee the shipments so our customers will get their products in time."

Hazel mirrored his sigh. It was hard to imagine this carefree man sitting behind a desk all year long, all business-y and serious, doing corporate things such as signing shipment orders and overseeing the productions. The Nick she knew was happy, smiling and even mischievous. She couldn't picture him at a desk job.

"Don't you have any family that'll miss you if you're working?" Hazel asked, hoping she wasn't prying. They had purposely not really ventured into the personal topics for a reason. That reason seemed blurred right now.

"My workplace is my family," He replied, kissing the ball of her shoulder. "I told you, family for me is complicated. It's just how it is."

Hazel frowned slightly at his words and felt the ache in her chest. She wanted so badly to hold him, like that was going to fix everything. She couldn't tell if he was unhappy with his lot in life... but she could definitely tell he was missing something in it. Love.

"What about you?" Nick asked, his thumb stopping on her stomach before drawing a circle around her belly button. "I presume you're spending Christmas with your sister and her family?"

Hazel grunted and instantly lost her mood. She sighed a little, then nodded. "Yeah. We'll see..."

His thumb paused again. "You'll see?"

Giving a final sigh, she turned around in his arms and met his eyes. He looked at her with a slight quizzical brow, waiting for her to continue.

"I have a complicated family, too," Hazel divulged. She wasn't sure how much she should tell. It seemed weird telling a person who was leaving in two days her dirty family secrets... but something inside her was dying to get it out. "My parents... I found out something private about them a few years back and it disrupted the whole family. My parents blame me because it wasn't my business and I went and confronted them about it. The whole family found out eventually and now..." She released a heavy breath she felt she had been carrying around for a whole year, "Now we can't even be in the same room together. They are joining us this year and I'm afraid it's going to ruin Christmas."