The Accidental Star

SLIP

JI CHANG WOOK

" Merry Christmas! " Rachel shouted the second the clock struck midnight.

It was chaos after that. Everyone was either hugging or kissing each other to express their greeting.

It was Christmas eve and we were all gathered at Jake's house for a small celebration.

Daniel and Christine were there as well as Riwa and her husband. Jang and his wife were also part of the group.

The evening started with a sumptuous dinner that Jake had arranged  to be catered. His twenty seater dining table was beautifully decorated with giant candelabras and tall brass vases that held assortments of flowers in hues of red, white and green.

I knew Anne helped in setting the table up and I was quite impressed on how the silverware and food were immaculately displayed on the table.

After dinner, we moved to the massive den where we indulged in cocktails and conversations as we waited for Christmas day.

" Merry Christmas, Anne, " I smiled at my girlfriend as I snaked my arms around her waist.

She circled her arms around my neck and grinned. " Merry Christmas, Chang."

I bent my head and gave her a kiss on her lips. When we finally parted, she was looking at me with shimmering eyes.

" Thank you for coming tonight, " she said in a grateful voice.

I was in Jeju island this morning shooting a commercial. While majority of the Korean  population celebrated Christmas, my family didn't. For me, Christmas was just another day in the calendar.

Anne was aware of that.  So when Jake rolled out invites for tonight's intimate celebration, she didn't pressure me to come. In fact, she made it sound like tonight was no big deal. If I didn't  know better, I would have believed her.

But I remembered her childhood stories. The absence of her parents around this time of the year and how she spent almost all of her holidays with Jake. I may not celebrate Christmas but I do know how disheartening that can be.

The deities must be on my side today. We finished the shoot earlier than expected so Daniel and I got to drive to the airport a few hours before our schedule flight. Because it was  going to be Christmas tomorrow, there were a lot of delayed flights, including ours. Daniel and I tried to use whatever influence we've got to get into other flights but it was of no use. When I've finally given up hope of getting home before Christmas, we've learned that Jang was in Jeju on a business trip, aboard The Firebird, about to fly home.

When I think about how lucky we were, I thought the heavens must be really pleased with my decision to celebrate Christmas with Anne tonight. Everything seemed to be aligning according to tonight's plans.

" There's nowhere else that I'd rather be right now, baby, " I told her as I tightened my hold on her.

She smiled at me and I couldn't help but dip my head for another kiss.

" Enough of that, lovebirds! " Rachel cried out before I could kiss Anne again.

We both turned and looked at her in surprise and found everyone staring at us. Embarrassed, we quickly parted.

" Merry Christmas Anne, " Rachel grinned as she engulfed her best friend in a tight embrace.

When she finally let Anne go, she moved to me and gave me a quick hug. " Merry Christmas Chang Wook! "