The Big Book of One-Shots

Holiday Cheer

          Emily Chance knew she was going to be spending the holidays by herself, neither she nor her parents could currently afford to by a plane ticket. Oh the joys of being a college student. It was Christmas Eve and nothing about the day was going right for Emily, in the morning she spilled coffee on a band new white shirt, around noon she got pulled over because one of her lights were out. Lastly she had to work at her friend Lilah's cafe.  Emily was a complete push over, it was one of the reasons that she agreed to play the piano at the cafe's Christmas party, the other one was that Lilah promised her that she'd get to eat and drink free for the entire night as well as get paid for it. For once her career choice was actually paying her. All she had to do was play Christmas music for a few hours, eat a little, then play a little more. Then come home, take a nice warm bath, and sleep. Sleeping sounded nice. Emily stole a glance at the clock and almost had a heart attack, it was five fifteen and she had to be there in fifteen minutes! 

          As soon she walked into the cafe, Lilah was standing there looking really pissed, and in all honesty Emily couldn't blame her. After all, she did show up twenty minutes late. She flashed her friend a small smile.

         "You're late," Lilah said, "You were supposed to be here a half an hour ago!" 

        "Actually, twenty minutes ago," Emily said arrogantly.

        "I don't care what time it was! There's so much to do and not enough time to do it! The paty starts in twenty five minutes,"  She shoved red, gold, and green streamers into her hands, "Go hang these up and make sure it looks elegant."  

       "Alright your majesty, it'll get done," Emily said sarcastically.

       "Just get it done!"

        Emily laughed, then began to put up the streamers all around the outside of the room, and in the corners she made them look like stars. When she was done she took a few steps back and took in her work, and it actually looked decent.  She was a music and art student but she didn't really expect it to look as good as it did. She looked over to her best friend as if asking, 'Is this good enough for you?' Lilah nodded at her in approval. 

          "Alright boss what's next?" 

          "I dont actually think there's anything left to do, Logan is already decorating the tree and Mara is almost done cooking the food.  I guess you could start practicing, or really do what ever you want," LIliah said but then her face lit up as she got an idea, "You could decorate the cookies! Your an art student and I could really use some help! And you showed up late, so you owe me." 

        Emily groaned, "Fine." 

          Within the fifteen minutes that they had left, Lilah and Emily had gotten the majority of the cookies decorated and on plates ready to serve. Now, it was time for Emily to do the thing that she had been hired to do, play the piano and become part of the background. As much as she loved playing the piano, she'd rather be out in the crowd hanging out with new people. Emily didn't talk to very many people and many didn't even want to approach her. Often times she came across as cold and unforgiving but really she just had a resting bitch face and was tired a lot of the time, it came with being twenty three and staying up late watching you-tube because she was an idiot. The only person who saw her for who was behind that mask was Lilah, and she was grateful that she had a friend she could call an older sister. (Lilah is twenty seven) So Emily sat there and played that piano for her friends sake. After about an hour and a half, Emily decided to let her fingers have a temporary rest and get something to eat and drink. 

        "I'll have a peppermint tea please." Emily told the man at the counter.  

        "Of course, Emily right?"

       She blinked in surprise, "Yes, I'm sorry I don't think I know your name?" 

       The man chuckled, "The name's Logan, here's your tea. Lilah said it's free of charge." 

        "Thanks," She said and sat down at one of the bar stools, "So, are you a friend of lilahs or just an employee?"

        "Actually, Lilah is a cousin of mine, she told me I had to work here or else I couldn't live in her house while I was in college. What about you?" 

        Emily giggled, "That sounds like something Lilah would do. I'm actually a friend of hers, she told me she'd pay me and feed me just to play the piano for four hours. It sounded like a good deal to me." 

        "Really? Lilah actually has a friend!" Logan said laughing. 

        "Yep, it's little ol' me." 

        "So, what got you into playing the piano?" He turned his head over his shoulder, "Lilah! I'm taking a break send someone else out." 

        "Actually, my parents forced me into it and eventually it grew on me. Now, I love it. What about you, do you play any instruments?"  

        Logan came around the bar and sat next to her, "No actually, I never go around to it." 

        "You should give it a try, it's really fun. What're you studying?"

        "I'm currently in law school." 

        "Oh, so your gonna be a lawyer. How interesting." 

        And that's how the night went on, the two of them having a conversation like there was nobody else in the entire room. 

'Maybe this Christmas wasn't as bad as I had thought' rang threw both Logan and Emily's heads that nigh as the went to sleep.

A/N: Happy Holidays everybody! What ever it is you celebrate I hope you have some sort of holiday cheer in your day! Have a great Christmas and a Happy New year. Also, thoughts on Emily and Logan returning for New years?