Page 3 of Mistletoe Missus
Screw her and Beau Kingston!
My head grew hot beneath my strawberry-blonde hair, and resembled a fire, its flames licking at the chilled day. I fumed with anger and didn’t listen to my scattered brain. Instead, I paid attention to my heart, and I headed straight toward the annual Christmas party in the park that was only a few blocks away. It was the holiday event I attended every year, which I hadn’t planned to be at because of Beau’s special dinner date—a romantic disaster for two going down in my history book as the worst day of my life.
This event held a special place in my cheery soul, and I helped plan the occasion. From decorations to vendors, food, ice skating, reindeer rides, and even the presence of the jolly man himself. I was a well-established party planner, and Christmas was my favorite holiday of the year. There was no way I’d turn down an opportunity to plan the biggest annual event of the winter.
“Ho, ho, ho!” rang through the breezy air as wispy strands fell out of my pinned-up hair style and came loose.
I smiled at the sound of children’s laughter and the smell of ginger filling the air, mixed with the hint of pine, peppermint, and rosemary. I couldn’t wait to bite off the head of a gingerbread man and taste the sweetness of the icing.
Bright lights caught my attention from the biggest Christmas tree in the entire park, looming over all the shops set up with excited vendors ready to cash in. There were red, blue, yellow, and green blinking bulbs with fake presents wrapped neatly underneath. Rows of garland hung from above my head, Santa’s elves walked around, and happy customers’ faces were full of joy. Jolly Old St. Nick had a line of children waiting to sit on his knee and tell him the greatest secret they’d been keeping all year long—the one gift they’d want for Christmas to make their year complete. I found their innocent, impatient faces to be such a delight, but unfortunately, my heart felt like Beau had stomped on it a million times.
I was the grouchiest grump for Christmas, all because of one naughty man who deserved nothing but a lump of coal. Beau Kingston had earned a spot on the bad list. He had taken too much from me, and I couldn’t let him ruin my job, too. I had work to do.
I marched in my heels through the salted pathway and went directly for the gift-wrapping station. The lineup was big, and gifts needed wrapping after purchase from the vendors throughout the park. Free gift wrap after buying any item was a brilliant marketing strategy, and one I was proud of. The bonus brought people young and old to buy last-minute presents for Christmas, not having to deal with the dreadful task of bundling the purchased item with a pretty bow on top.
“What kind of—”
Without thinking, I interrupted and grabbed the gift.
“Would you like some custom wrapping paper or regular Christmas paper?”
“Custom please,” the older lady answered.
My hands went to work and cut a piece of custom premium paper with the annual Christmas party logo on it to fit the dimensions of the gift. I grabbed the tape from my surprised best friend’s hand and took the pretty pink bow she had chosen. The item had been purchased for a little girl, and she’d get a cute pink stuffed dog in a box.
Holly cleared her throat and whispered in my ear, “What are you doing here?”
“Doing the job I gave to you in my absence.”
Her face lit up, and she squealed, “Oh my God! You’re here to show off your engagement ring!”
“Holly, please...” I pled as she grabbed my hand.
“Okay, so the ring had to get resized, and he didn’t know the exact size of your ring finger. No big deal,” Holly breathed and waved her hand at me. “It’s bigger than you expected, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not. It’s actually much smaller than I expected.” I sighed and took my hand back. “Try non-existent.”
“What?” Holly questioned as she shook her head and tried to make sense of my words. “I don’t get it.”
Holly was the sweetest human being ever to exist in the entire universe, and I loved her immensely. But she was a total valley girl. She reminded me of an adolescent stuck in a full-grown woman’s body, ready to hit her midlife crisis.
Holly Berry lived a privileged life and grew up wealthy, but she always wanted to live her life away from family money. In doing so, she grew up like me, career driven and pushing romance to the sidelines. Both of us lost in the business world and working our butts off toward success. She assisted me in managing my event planning business and took on additional responsibilities where I needed support. We made a great team,and we were close in everything. Even in our failed relationships, which were stacking up by the dozen, and I had one more to add to the top of the pile.
“There’s no ring because he didn’t propose,” I breathed in defeat.
Holly touched my shoulder. “That’s okay. Maybe he’s waiting for the right moment and—”
“Holly! He broke up with me!” I shouted and ripped the wrapping paper in half.
I let the asshole get the better of me and anger seeped its way to the surface. No matter how hard I tried to stuff down the rejection, it pushed its way back to the top. My lid burst and I lost it.
“I’m so sorry, Tins,” Holly expressed and tried to remain positive. “Maybe he’s just confused and needs some space?”
“Space? Oh, he wanted space all right. He took me to that restaurant fully intending to call off our relationship...” I heated with madness and grabbed a fresh piece of wrapping paper. “Why? Because he’s banging his secretary.”
“Ainsley?” Holly asked, shocked, with her hand over her mouth.
“Yep,” I answered as I popped thePand gave an abrupt nod.
