Secret Santa

Visions of Christmas Eve were of family spending time together, hot chocolate by the burning fire, and sneaking peeks for Santa to come down the chimney. The most annoyance that came from those visions were perhaps family members fighting over politics that neither of them really understood all that much. But for Allie, this Christmas Eve was spent making all sorts of hot beverages for angry shoppers. Being the best coffee shop on Main Street meant that those crazy last-minute shoppers were at her throat all night long. And it was not pretty.

“Coffee. Two cream. Two sugar. Pronto. I have to navigate through this hectic sea of monsters and get that Tickle-Me Elmo before they're all gone. My son will blow a gasket if he doesn't get that thing. It's crazy out there!” one lady huffed out, then proceeded to yell at her when she was handed a “coffee instead of a tea, can't you guys get anything right?!”

“You said coffee, ma'am. But I can make you a tea real fast! What kind?” Allie tried to keep her happy face on. She glanced up at the woman to hear her response when the puff from the top of the santa hat that was obligated to sit on her head during her shift fell right into her open eye. Dislodging the furry deathtrap from her eye, Allie attempted to throw the entire hat in the garbage. That was not the only time that stupid hat had done that to her all day. Her eye was starting to turn into a bird's nest. A bird that made nests out of fluff, that is.

“Don't you dare throw that out! You're getting double time for this!” Mark, her manager, growled out at her as she whipped the thing off her head, ready to stomp on it and throw it in the dirty, smelly bin that was filled with coffee cups. He was rushing past her with a hat of his own on his head, and four cups of coffee. He just didn't understand how many times that stupid fluff had fallen in her eyeball! His hat actually fit him.

Narrowing her eyes, Allie shoved the hat back on her head and turned to carefully pour the boiling water into the cup for the lady who didn't think she could do anything right.

“Here you go, ma'am!” she said with a smile, handing the cup to her. “Happy holidays! I hope you get that Elmo!”

“Merry Christmas! Can't anyone just accept that they're in North America and call it Christmas, for God's sake!?” the woman mumbled, walking away.

“Another satisfied customer, I see,” Stephanie, Allie's coworker, grinned beside her. “Been here long?”

“Since six, what are you doing here? It's almost closing—OUCH!” The hat. In her eyeball. “WHY AM I WEARING THIS?!”

“You can run it over on the way home. I literally came in here to help you guys close. Mark called me about twenty minutes ago. Said he'd give me double time for an hour. Figured it could go to paying off my Visa bill after all of that Christmas shopping. Hi, sir! What can I get you?” She turned to the next customer in line without skipping a beat.

The line was long, getting longer. And it was almost midnight. But they'd have to serve everyone before they could close. Allie was drained. She did not have the energy for this. The only reason she agreed to this was because she didn't want to put up with the incessant nagging of her grandmother all Christmas Eve. Did you wrap all of the presents? Are you even making those cookies right? You don't eat enough! Why don't you feed me? Not only was she loud and obnoxious, but Allie had a suspicion that she was also going senile, but maybe she had always been crazy.

'Can we hurry this up? The babysitter can't stay there forever!” someone called out.

“I have shopping to do!”

“Do you even have food here?”

“This place is a mess!”

“Can I help you, sir?” Allie asked the next customer and ignoring all of the other angry shouts meant for no one in particular. She was hurrying up so that she could get out of the place. Hopefully no one else would come in.

Hello midnight. Goodbye midnight. Hello one in the morning.

By the time it was quarter after one in the morning, Allie finally had all of the tables washed, all of the cups washed, and the lobby sparkling clean with the help of Stephanie. Mark was in the back, the hat still on his head, doing paperwork. Allie briefly wondered if he even had family go to back home to.

Sighing, she tried to put her irritation and rising apprehension away so that she could grab her things from her office and head home to her parents and grandmother.

“Hey, Karl. Steph and I are done, we're going to head home,” she told him.

“Where's your hat?” he asked, looking up from his computer to stare at her surprisingly bare head.

“Merry Christmas!” she said instead of giving him the benefit of her freaking out over the stupid hat. She softly grabbed the box of homemade cookies from her purse and placed it gently on his desk. When he didn't look up, he grabbed her purse, pulled on her coat and headed outside to her car. Stephanie was already gone, not even gracing Karl with a goodbye, but at least she made the extra hour of work bearable for Allie. And, she had stomped on that stupid santa hat at the end of the shift.

As Allie walked up to her car, she noticed something a bit different. Hanging off of her driver side mirror was that same santa hat she had loathed all day. Deciding to take it as a joke, she laughed, plunked it on her head and unlocked her car in the dark parking lot. Slipping inside her car, she took the time to close her eyes, take a deep breath and then watch the puffs of cloud come out of her mouth in the cold vehicle. It had been a long day.

Putting the key in the ignition, she twisted it to start. Chug, chug, chug.

“Not today, not today!” Allie insisted, turning it again. The same result. Turning it one more time and the engine finally came to life! She smiled at that small accomplishment, took another deep breath and started the twenty minute drive home. She could do this. She could get home and have those few hours of sleep before presents had to be open, family had to be greeted and dinner had to be made.

The roads were dark and there were no street lights on the darkened highway, so when Allie took a long yawn, opening her eyes, she saw something just in time. She slammed on her breaks, but the bright lights of a deers eyes were coming closer and closer as her tires skid against the ice of the road and then she felt the bump of her car hitting the poor creature before she came to an abrupt stop.

“OHMYGOD!” Putting her car in park, she leapt out of the driver's seat, almost forgetting her seatbelt and staring at the poor animal lying on the ground. “Ohmygod!” she whispered again. She knew better than to go near it. It would be frightened and might accidentally hurt her. But she had hurt it. She didn't know what to do. There were tears. So many tears and she was whispering sorry to it over and over again as it whimpered near her.

She whispered sorry one last time, then got into her car, ready to start it again. But nothing happened. Not even the chug, chug, chug it had given before. More tears, simply because she couldn't leave. She couldn't run away from the thought that she had hurt an animal.

She didn't even see the shine of lights, but suddenly a boy was beside her. He was about twenty-years-old, wore the biggest winter coat she had ever seen, and his hair was so blond it was almost white.

“Hey...” he trailed off when he saw the deer. “You hit the poor fella?” he asked.

“Uhh, yeah,” she almost sobbed out, pulling her hood open and hoping she could fool around with something inside and the car would start.

“I'm CJ, training to be a veterinarian. I'm gonna look at him and then check out your car, okay?” he asked.

“Okay,” she let out a sob. “Okay.”

Why was he being so nice? It might be the holidays, but Allie had been having such a bad day that she wasn't sure that it would mean anything at all. A lot of people were a lot worse during the holiday season.

She was sobbing into her hood when he came up behind her. His hand rested on her shoulder, lightly and he smiled at her. “He'll be just fine. Now, lets look at that car of yours.” His head shot under the hood and his hands, which Allie was sure were glimmering, started playing around with several different things. She didn't know what he was doing at all, but it seemed like he knew what was going on.

“Why don't you hop into the drivers seat and give the engine a pull?” he asked, turning to smile at her. His smile was dazzling and she gawked a bit before scurrying to do his bidding.

Putting her foot on the break, she took a deep breath before turning the key. There was a gentle, chug and then the car purred to life. Her head shot up excitedly to perhaps get a glimpse of CJ and celebrate with him, but he was gone. The hood was closed and the deer was nowhere to be found. She frowned, but smiled anyways. He had helped the deer and fixed her car and didn't even expect a thank you. He was an angel in disguise.

Her deep sigh was one of content as she put her car in drive. She turned to look out her passenger window and was surprised to find a candy cane and a note on the chair.

Car's all fixed! Prancer's got a bump on his knee, but he's still a go for flying. Get home to your parents and grandmother. They're excited to see you. Merry Christmas—Chris Junior (CJ) Claus.
PS- Nice hat!

Allie touched the santa hat on her head. What did that note even mean? Did that mean that Santa Claus had a son? Who fixed her car? Had she hit a reindeer?

Shaking her head, Allie frowned. She didn't believe in Santa. Besides, even if he did exist, he didn't have a son. Did he?

She let the smile grace her face briefly then drove off, much more carefully. Maybe she'd get home in time to actually open some presents with the rest of her family.