Santa is Real

Chapter 1

I let out a frustrated sigh as I checked the time on my phone: 7:20. The party was going to start in 10 minutes, and where was I? Caught in some serious traffic in the middle of Brooklyn, thirty minutes away from the office.

As if this day hadn't been rough already, good-lady-Fate decided to throw me in a taxi with a driver who looked for too rich and conceited to be in the cab driving business.

"What's got your panties in a knot?" Even his voice was irritating. A slow slur of "I'm better than you."

"That's none of your business," I responded coldly. My mind flashed to not long before, when I was standing in my mother's living room in the midst of a screaming match.

"You need to do the right this and get him back, Noelle!" My mother yelled, red in the face.

"He cheated on me! With Holly, my best friend, of all people! I could never go back to him!"

"Charles has been in all of our lives for six years. I know his character, and he would never do such a thing. I don't understand why you crave the attention so much that you would accuse him of something so evil!"

Of course, she wasn't the one that walked in on them. She wasn't the one that saw her best friend in some flouncy, Christmas themed lingerie, pinned under Charles, the man she'd been dating for five years.

"Look, I'm kind of in a rush. Can you find a way to get me there faster?" I asked, trying not to sound irritated.

"No." So short and cold. I couldn't believe it. I looked at the license that was taped to the dashboard so I could report this driver, and I let out a sarcastic laugh when I read his name. Ken Kringle. That's ridiculous.

I looked out the window angrily, hoping that if I could stare at the traffic long and hard enough, it would disperse, and I could rush to the party. I'd been doing well all year, and my boss had been dangling a promotion in front of me for weeks now. She'd made it seem that I would find a surprise at the Christmas party, but what kind of impression would I make if I showed up late?

"We're going to be here in a while. Might as well talk a bit," Kringle said, fixing his aviator sunglasses in the mirror, even though it was completely dark outside.

"I'd rather not talk to a conceited asshole, thank you very much," I said, crossing my arms.

"Try me." I stared at him for a minute, ready to bust into laughter, but then I realized he was serious, so I did as he said.

"Well, I walked in on my boyfriend of five years and my best friend of even longer doing the deed in my bed last week. I ended it on the spot, and honestly, I didn't feel that hurt by it. I'd been having doubts about our relationship for a while. But my mom refuses to believe me and won't stop picking fights with me until I get back with him. The only good thing that could happen to me, is that I'm supposed to be getting a promotion at my office's Christmas party tonight, but now I'm going to be late, so I don't even know if I'm going to get it. This holiday has been the worst, and I just want it to be over." I sunk down into the seat and hid my face, not wanting to see any pity from anybody.

"Well you sure do sound like an everyday Grinch. What's your name?"

"Noelle." I responded. He snorted.

"That's ironic. Well, Noelle, you gotta have a little Christmas spirit, or this is all going to be hell for you."

"It already is."

"Well, we're here, so I hope you get that promotion." My eyes widened. The time only read 7:28, so how was that possible?

"I didn't even see you cross the bridge."

"Then you must be blind." He quipped. I laughed lightly.

"I have no idea how you did that, but thank you so, so much, Mr. Kringle."

"Ugh, don't call me that. Mr. Kringle is my dad, just call me Ken. Would you maybe want to go to dinner sometime?"

"I don't know, are you going to pick me up in this cab?"

"Nah, I'll have a better ride lined up. How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve," I pointed out.

"Exactly." I narrowed my eyes, but for some reason, I felt inclined to say yes, and so I did. We traded numbers, and I bid him adieu, walking towards the office. I turned my head back, to look at him again, but he was gone, and there was no sign of him ever being here.

"Huh," I muttered. I walked into the party with a smile on my face, and that smile grew even wider when I got the promotion I'd been waiting for. I was starting to feel a bit of that Christmas spirit.

~~~

"It's too cold for this," I said to Ken as I locked my front door. It was in the negatives all day today, and I was less than ready to step out of my apartment building. I reached for the down button on the elevator, but Ken grabbed my hand and led me to the stairs, where he began to climb up, tugging me along.

"Why are we going up?" I asked.

"You'll see."

He opened the door to the roof and covered my eyes with his hand, pulling me up.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Sure." I responded. He uncovered my eyes and I was in shock.

Santa is real.