Page 10 of A Man for the Holidays

“Leave it alone, Quinn. And besides, you can’t go around telling complete strangers how hideous they look in an outfit. It’s just not the way we do things in the real world.”

“Really? I hear Olivia tell people that the outfit they’re trying on isn’t for them and that they should try on something new. Something different and better.”

“That’s because Olivia is a manager of a clothing store, and it’s her job to advise customers on their clothing choices to get sales and make money. It’s how she supports herself.”

“Oh. Well, I guess I have a lot to learn then.”

“You don’t know a whole lot about the real world, do you?”

“No. Not really. Only what I see out the window or when I hear Olivia talk to the customers. It’s funny, some of the conversations I hear.”

We continue walking, gradually increasing the pace as we approach the familiar street that I recognize from all the times I’ve spent in the back of Olivia’s car or a truck whenever they’ve had to take me places to get parts of me fixed. I’ve had many broken pieces, my arm, several fingers and toes, I’ve even had one of my eyes poked out by a child. Then of course there’s the numerous times my scalp has been damaged and repainted from the constant wig changes I’ve had over the years. Just last week I had to have a new set of lips and my nose reconstructed because one of the elves dropped me from a high podium while they used me as a temporary Santa Claus statue. That’s why Olivia is constantly telling her staff that I’m fragile. We make our way toward the intersection, then cross the street, until we’re outside the shopping mall, then Spencer keeps walking until we’re both standing outside the window display.

“The window looks different. I don’t know why but they look so… lonely.” Spencer says.

“Don’t worry, they’re used to it. They move around regularly when the window displays get changed, but Olivia keeps me here all the time, she keeps saying I’m a hit with the shoppers who come in off the street to try on outfits that I’m wearing.”

We make our way back and enter through the main doors of the mall, and I walk through the crowd of people as Spencer makes his way to the toy store. I wish I had the opportunity to travel within the mall, changing different posts, but Olivia keeps me in the main window.

It doesn’t take very long for us to reach the toy sore, and after saying goodbye to Spencer, I turn around and start to leave when I hear him call out my name.

“Do you want to meet me for lunch?” he asks.

“Yes. I’d like that, very much. Will you meet me outside?”

“Yes. I can be there at about twelve. You do know how to read the time, right?”

“Of course,” I say, with a smile.

He gives me a wave and then heads to the store, and I watch as he unlocks the door and steps inside. After he turns on the lights, I turn back around and sift through the enormous amount of people as I make my way outside the mall. I walk through the main doors until I’m back outside on the sidewalk and find a sign that reads ‘snow shoveling this way’ and start walking in the direction of where the arrow is pointing. I notice several people ahead of me, each of them carrying a shovel and a bucket. They brush past me in haste, and when I get to the front of the line, a woman hands me my own shovel and bucket, then tells me to start shoveling here, where I’m standing.

“But I thought I would be shoveling the sidewalk outside the mall,” I say.

“I already have four men doing that. This alley needs a good shoveling. Now if you want a paycheck, you’ll do as you’re told.”

She turns around and disappears somewhere behind a truck filled with crates and timber. With no time to waste, I reach into my pockets, and pull out my gloves and a beanie. I put the beanie over my head, then slide my palms into the gloves and pick up the shovel, then start shoveling the heavy snow that’s fallen onto the road in the alley.

After several hours, despite it being blisteringly cold, I’m actually rather warmed up. I throw the last bit of snow into the bucket and check my watch. It’s almost twelve, so I place the bucket and shovel against the brick wall in the alley, then slowly make my way toward the mall, and as I approach the window display, I see two men staring inside the window, like they’re both searching for something. I can’t make out what they’re saying or doing from this distance, so I take a few steps closer toward them, pretending to look at the other window displays as I listen to their conversation.

“Who in the hell would want to steal a dummy?” the taller, older gentleman asks the shorter man standing beside him.

“I don’t know. It’s Christmas, all the wackos come out to play at Christmas.”

“Yeah, but seriously, a dummy? A piece of plastic?”

“It’s not a dummy, it’s a mannequin, and according to Olivia, a rather expensive mannequin. But it’s not just the mannequin that’s missing here. There’s also expensive shoes, boots, clothes, underwear and a Louis Vuitton suitcase, almost worth more than the mannequin itself.”

“Crazy! What the hell would someone want with a dummy?”

“Mannequin,” the shorter man says

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s go get some lunch and try and find the punks who did this.”

The two men walk past me and after making sure they’re both completely gone, I walk over to the window display and stare at Clarence and Jerome. The more I stare at them, the more I realize that Spencer is right, they do look lonely.

“Guy’s, I know it’s lonely in there without me, but Olivia and the guys will take good care of you. And I promise, I won’t be gone long. We’ll be back to drinking margaritas in no time.”

“Um,whoare you talking to?” I hear Spencer’s voice beside me.

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