Christmas in the Mountains {Christmas Novelette} ✓

Chapter Two

After a long hot bath and a relaxing night's sleep, Noelle woke up right at 6 AM the next morning, ready to go about her workday.

This was her last day of work before Christmas vacation. She wanted to soak up every bit of the day she could and yelling, "Tennessee, here I come!"

This morning, Noelle woke up to the tune of Frosty the Snowman playing which had waken her up from her deep sleep. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes before going into the bathroom. She reached for her toothbrush as she lined a ribbon of toothpaste along the bristles.

She looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. Her hair was sticking up in a disheveled mess, and yesterday's eyeliner was smudged beneath her lids. She looked a mess. But beneath this, her eyes were bright and her cheeks rosy with excitement. The smile on her face said: "I can't wait to get this workday finished so I can come home and pack for Christmas vacation."

After brushing out her flowing blonde locks, she walked into her closet and looked around to see what she had to wear. 

She decided on an overlapping bowknot dress with a red and green plaid design. She slipped into her black knee-high boots before gazing into her floor-length mirror and heading out of the door towards the office.

When she arrived she was met once again by Holly.

"Good morning, Noelle. Here is your small list of clients for today. There aren't as many today as there were yesterday." She smiled.

Holly was dressed in a long, vintage Santa long-sleeved dress with black boots. As always, Holly never disappointed with her wardrobe. She probably had the most Christmas spirit out of anyone Noelle knew. 

After going to her office, Noelle sat down and gazed at her schedule. She only had three meetings for the day, and they wouldn't begin for a couple of hours, so she had plenty of time to sit at her desk and work out the designs for some of her other clients' spaces.

The meetings with her clients drew near. She glanced at her watch, waiting for her first appointment to arrive. 

Finally, the knock came from the door. But it wasn't who Noelle had expected. In fact, it was Holly.

"Your nine o'clock just canceled. She said she had to go to a meeting at her kids' school this morning."

"Thank you, Holly," Noelle said with a smile. Holly returned the gesture and disappeared through the door. 

Even though Noelle wanted to be upset, she took a deep breath. She understood that, sometimes, there were circumstanced beyond our control. It was how she dealt with it that determined the outcome.

An hour later Noelle once again watched the clock as she waited for her next set of clients to come in.

Five minutes before the next client was due in her office, Holly once again knocked on the door.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Noelle, but I was just informed that the client for the eleven o'clock meeting is sick and had to cancel. She has the flu."

Noelle nodded her head before Holly slipped out of the door. Noelle tried to stay calm but was very disappointed. She was paid per consultation and these were appointments that she could have reserved for another client if she'd had more notice. But she tried not to focus on this and instead, tried to see this as a positive-now she would have more time to finish her floor plans for her ongoing clients before she left for the holidays. 

Finally, it came time for lunch. Noelle pulled out her lunch from her little mini refrigerator that she had bought just for her office. She microwaved up her meal before indulging in it.

She ate slowly and even extended her lunch period as she patiently worked on the rest of the clients' spaces that she had before the last meeting of the day.

She put her food tray into a bag to take home to wash as she stared at the clock. She waited for Holly to come banging on the door. However, she did not.

The two o'clock client was right on time. She knocked on the door and came inside before whispering, "I'm so sorry, Noelle. I would have called, but I thought it was best you hear it in person. My family called last minute and wants us there tonight for Christmas before they go out of town for the holiday. So we will be going to Arizona tonight. Can we reschedule the appointment?"

Noelle had to stop herself from rolling her eyes to maintain professionalism. She rescheduled the client's appointment before the client silently slipped away.

Noelle was disappointed. She understood things happened, but it was hard to believe that every single appointment had cancelled. What were the odds? If she'd known her clients weren't going to show u p, she could have started her holiday vacation a day sooner. 

As the workday came to a close, she shut her computer down and turned off all of the lights before locking her office door.

She bid Holly a goodbye until after New Year's when she would finally see her again.

Noelle put on her scarf and coat, and slipped into the afternoon sun of San Francisco.

She walked out to her car as a cool breeze whipped through her hair. She got inside and finally made her way back home.

She walked inside and straight up to her bedroom. She poured herself a glass of wine to sulk in all of the disappointment from the day. She pulled out a suitcase and began to fill it with toiletries and personal care items, clothing, and undergarments. She zipped them up and setting them by the living room door to grab on the way out.

As Noelle stared at the suitcase, she smiled for the first time in several hours. Despite the difficult work day, this time tomorrow, she would be on her way home for the holidays. The idea made all of her worries slip away. Nothing could dampen her Christmas spirit now.