Rose hadn't liked Christmas for several years now. She supposed the feeling had started when her parents divorced and her mother started to drive back home on Christmas Eve drunk. It didn't occur to her that there might be ice under all the snow, and she skidded into a tree, totaling the car and herself.
Rose had been fourteen.
She was now twenty-eight, single, and very depressed. So, at around 11:30 PM on Christmas Eve, she bundled herself up in her cherry red mottled wool coat, wrapped a striped scarf around her neck, and blocked out the bad memories. Then she flung open her apartment door and stepped out into the frozen wonderland.
The snowflakes tickled her cheeks in a solemn hello, as if they were asking why she wasn't out with family and celebrating. Rose battled them off with mittened hands, scrunching up her dainty face in a scowl as she knocked the snow out of the sky. She made her way down and around the block, trudging along in her trendy brown boots which were very fashionable but not very warm. Secretly, she made a Christmas wish: to love the snow again, to love it the way she had when she was a child. Finally she arrived at her destination: Mr. Thompson's 24-hour coffee shop.
Rose strolled up to the counter and ordered a plain latte, paying in cash. She gave Mr. Thompson a curt thank you and slid into a comfy chair by the fake fireplace to await her drink. She gazed deeply into the fire, purposely avoiding watching the snow. Since Rose was currently Mr. Thompson's only customer, he decided to bring her coffee directly to her. When he arrived in front of her, her eyes shot back up and refocused on him, as if she had lost herself entirely to the flickering flames. Through her shock, she managed to give and receive the first gifts of her Christmas season. She gave Mr. Thompson a thank you and received her latte graciously.
The door of the coffee shop swung open and the little bell let out a reluctant ring. Mr. Thompson scurried back to the counter as the second customer of the night stepped into the coffee shop.
YOU ARE READING
Coffee Shop Christmas
Teen FictionRosemary is twenty eight and depressed. Nathan is a hopeless romantic, but he's all alone. What will happen when they meet one Christmas Eve in Mr. Thompson's 24-hour coffee shop?
