Enchanted

47

God I hated Christmas.

"What?! You take that back right now!" Tristan gasped loudly, clutching at his heart.

I ignored him and tried to read the names of the stores through the mass of people ahead of us.

"Who does their Christmas shopping on literal Christmas Eve?" Yoon commented, pure disgust etched into his features as he too, assessed the crowd.

"Me because I only just got paid and this is one of my two days off." I replied, steering us in the direction of what seemed like Holly's favourite clothing store.

Tristan and Yoon followed, elbowing through the crowd on either side of me. Seth had stayed home, refusing to get out of his pyjamas for a miserable day of fighting through crowds.

I couldn't help but agree with him. Unfortunately, here I was. Holly was at the boys' house, watching PG13 movies with Seth. She'd only met them yesterday but she seemed more than happy to stay home and drink all the hot cocoa she wanted. I trusted Seth but the unease in my stomach wouldn't let up until I was back with my little sister.

I had a feeling the main reason Holly even opted to stay was because being with an unfamiliar male was a better alternative to facing these crowds. She'd only recently got better but she was nowhere near the extroverted attention seeker she used to be. She'd barely spoken in front of the guys at all.

The guilt returned suddenly. Yoon had offered to host Christmas Eve and Holly had agreed rapidly but I still felt like introducing her to my new friends and just ditching her with one of them in the span of two days was too much for her. Maybe she should've been at home, as in my tiny motel room, with only me.

But I wanted her to be warm and comfortable and I needed to buy her something special. Something to take her mind off the horrible things she'd been through.

I'd obviously made my choice but it killed me inside. I shoved it down to the deepest, darker pits of my soul with all my lingering thoughts about Adonis and spent hours trying to find something she deserved.

At some point, Yoon and Tristan disappeared. And then, I found it.

There, in the window of a tiny jewellery store, sat a red velvet box. In it was a matching set of lockets. Two hearts of gold, each studded with sparkly jewels.

I went in and immediately headed for the man behind the counter. "Those lockets out front. Could I get a closer look, please?"

His wrinkled eyes were warm as he nodded, retrieving another box from under the counter.

"I made these myself. Here."

I lightly brushed each locket with my fingers, careful not to smudge the metal surface with my fingerprints.

"These are gorgeous. How much for one?" I asked, already dreading the amount.

The man gave me a quizzical look. "These come in pairs, ma'am. They're not mother and daughter pieces for no reason."

My eyes widened. "Oh, this is for my little sister."

He blinked, surprised. "Oh, well I guess that works too. But originally, I made the first set for my wife and daughter. Those two were as close as sisters. What one felt, the other did too. If you look closely..."

I watched as he brought the lockets together. The engraved lines on each surface came together to complete a picture. My heart skipped a beat as I made out a woman carrying a bundle in her arms. A baby.

I was immediately reminded of the day I met Holly. How my mother shoved her into my arms and left before I could even ask her if she remembered me. That split second of pain at the rejection, the abandonment until I looked down at Holly's little face. She'd looked angry then, like she knew she'd been abandoned and was furious instead of sad. I fell in love with her instantly, because I knew she was the only one who understood how I felt.