Page 3 of Magically Generated
Unfortunately, this didn’t escape his notice.
“Do you celebrate Christmas?”he asked.
“Yes.”
“But you’re not a fan of it?”
“Not really.It’s just…a lot.”
A new Christmas song started playing from his stereo.He sang along softly, and she didn’t join in.She couldn’t believe she was being subjected to so much holiday spirit.Nora knew she wasn’t being fair, but everything was getting on her nerves right now.
“You don’t like bells or mistletoe?”he said.“Or tinsel?”
She shuddered.Tinsel was barely a step above glitter—and she was still finding glitter from the craft project she’d gotten from her niece back in April.
“What about the food?Candy canes?Cookies?Gingerbread houses?I have an extra advent calendar if you want one.”
“Of course you do,” she muttered.“Thank you, but no.I don’t need a holiday to eat sweets.”
“Snowmen?Snow angels?Sleigh rides?”
“Have you ever actually been on a sleigh ride?That’s not something most people do.”
“What about cuddling up by the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate?”
“We live in a high-rise,” she said.“I don’t have a fireplace.As for the rest of it…” God, now she was thinking of snuggling up withhim, and that wouldn’t do.She blamed it on the orgiastic reindeer ornament, even if those reindeer were doing a lot more than snuggling.
“Let me guess.You don’t need a holiday to make you cuddle.”
“Precisely.”
He didn’t call her out on her obvious lie.
“Have fun with your Christmas tree,” she said, trying not to sound snarky this time.And with that, she returned to her apartment and put the celebration of Christmas out of her mind.
But when she was wide awake at three in the morning—an increasingly common occurrence these days—“Jingle Bell Rock” was stuck in her head.
She sighed.Damn Everett.But at least that interaction had been real, unlike so many things in the world these days.
“Should I meet up with him?”Aimee asked before sipping her decaf peppermint latte.They were sitting by the window at a coffee shop.
“You’ve been talking to him for a few weeks now, so…I guess?”Nora always struggled with giving romance-related advice.It really wasn’t her area of expertise.“But don’t tell him where you live.Meet him in public.”
“Of course.”
“If you need an out, just text me, and I’ll call you with a convenient emergency.And if you go home with him, give me his address.”
Aimee went through phases where she dedicated herself to online dating…and then she’d deleted all the apps from her phone…and then restart the whole process a few months later.A bad experience or three didn’t seem to dim her hope that “the one” was out there somewhere.Not for long, anyway.
Nora, on the other hand, had given up.It was the logical thing to do after she’d fallen for a romance scam.She couldn’t help thinking of that now—she’d met him on an app, more than two years ago.
“And if he…” She couldn’t finish that sentence.She gripped her mug and tried not to imagine all the possibilities.There were physical dangers, as well as other kinds.
Knowing what was on her mind, Aimee reached out and squeezed her hand.Aimee was her best friend—her only real friend, in fact—and she was the sole person who knew what had happened to Nora.
Nora had been too ashamed to tell anyone else.
“Hey, did you see that snow sculpture?”Aimee picked up her phone and navigated to a picture on social media.“Isn’t it cool that someone made this out of snow?”
