Page 9 of Meet Me on Christmas Eve

My mouth let out some kind of “Ah” sound, and I nearly dropped my basket. My lips started to move, unsure which words to form, as his eyes widened at first and then started to look me over slowly.

What am I doing? I have to get out of here.

With that thought, I spun on my heel and nearly collided with another person, this time a child. I apologized profusely and hoped my face wasn’t too red as I finally approached the checkout counter. Fortunately, no other customers were in line, so I dropped my items on the counter quickly.

“Hi,” I said to the clerk, a young-ish blonde wearing a Mrs. Claus costume.

“Hi, I hope you found everything you were looking for,” she said. Her nametag said Cynthia. I made a mental note, since I’d want to get to know the people here, since they might one day be working for me.

I nodded. “This place is amazing. Oh, I am also interested in that beautiful little tree in the corner by the Christmas socks display. I assumed you’d have a box in the back or something?”

She looked at the computer for a moment and then back at me. “I’ll have to go back and check. Or wait, let me ask Terry—hang on.”

“Oh—kay,” I nearly choked on the words. What? She knew Terry? How well known was he around here? They must be friends or something. Or maybe more? She seemed a little young for him, but maybe he was attracted to young women. Well, good. That meant there would be no chance …

Not that there would be anyway.

Not that I’d care anyway.

Ugh, stop thinking about him.

Or just stop thinking, period.

I put my hand on the counter, willing myself to be calm, serene, the Mariana I’d become.

Finally, she came back, with Terry carrying a large box. My tree. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure I wanted it anymore. Was it worth this?

I swallowed. Calm, serene, unemotional. I could do this.

“Found it!” Cynthia said with a smile as she resumed ringing up all my items.

I smiled politely at her, ignoring him. I could feel his eyes on me though as he stood just a few feet away. Why was he still standing there?

“Such a nice day, right? I mean, for November,” the cashier asked, looking up briefly before taking more items to scan.

“It is unseasonably warm, yes,” I agreed. “A perfect day for apple picking.” Not that I would know. I didn’t have time for such things. But I overheard another customer saying it earlier.

I watched in horror as the girl’s eyes filled with tears. What the hell did I say?

“I … I’m sorry if I said something wrong. Truly, I didn’t mean to offend.”

She sniffled, grabbing a tissue from under the counter. “No, it’s … not …” She paused to wipe her eyes. “It’s just, Ben and I were going to go. He—he—” Then a fresh round of tears started.

I snuck a look at Terry, who was looking at Cynthia in sympathy and moving closer to us.

I didn’t speak. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. I was incredibly uncomfortable with emotional displays, and I had no idea what to do usually. This one was particularly odd, since she was a complete stranger. Who the heck was Ben?

“You know Ben, right?” she said to me between sniffles. “Everyone knows Ben.” She looked at Terry, who nodded.

Not everyone, I nearly snapped. I didn’t know either of them.

Shit, I didn’t know this town very well. And I wasn’t doing a very good job of getting to know them. I needed to make a better impression.

“I actually don’t, but you can tell me about him if you’d like,” I said in a kind voice, or so I hoped.

She looked shocked for a moment but then shook her head quickly. “No, you’re lucky if you don’t. Screw him. He dumped me last night during dinner with my parents. Who does that?”

“Oh, Cyn, that’s the worst,” Terry said. “I’m sorry. I gotta say, I’ve never liked him much.”

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