Under the Xmas Lights

santa's sleigh

December 24th (3:42pm)

 

“So ice skating, hot chocolate, and freezing my butt off,” Noelle ticks off her fingers. “What’s next?”

“Wait for it…” Jesse tugs on her hand, leading her towards a swarm of people in front of a store.

She gasps. “Santa!”

“Yeah!”

“But there are so many people…”

“We’re not going to stay for the line,” Jesse tells me. “Don’t worry. We’d be here until tomorrow if we waited in line.”

“Then what are we doing here?”

He smiles crookedly down at her. “Seeing is believing. Watch those kids’ faces light up when they get their turn on the red-suited man’s lap. Their parents are exhausted, but it’s all worth it, because once they see their kids’ faces and their smiles, they’re happy. Because they believe, see?” He points in the window at the kid currently chattering away to the bearded man ho-ho-ho-ing. “Innocent and still able to trust in happiness. That’s magic.”

Noelle watches the children give their lists to Santa. She watches their eager faces as they listen to know if they’ve been good or bad, naughty or nice. And for once she doesn’t think about how she can’t remember a time when she sat on Santa’s knees. She’s seeing the kids with their hopes and joy, and almost unconsciously, her mouth lifts up into a smile of her own.

Magic, she repeats in her mind.

They stand there looking in the window for a while, sharing secret smiles. They don’t speak, but it’s a comfortable silence. Finally, Jesse nudges her. He has his brilliant grin on his face, gre eyes lit up even brighter than the lights framing the shop windows.

“Next part of the Santa myth. Come on.”

Shrugging, Noelle follows him past the crowd waiting their turn to see Old Saint Nick. They weave their way carefully through the slippery white streets, occasionally grabbing onto each other as they regain their balance. It’s like ice skating all over again, except this time, their laughter is more relaxed and constant. At some point in this crazy afternoon, she’s let her guard down, and she finds  that she’s comfortable around this boy, that she’s even having a good time, feeling something almost like… happiness?

“Here we are.” Jesse stops and turns to her, watching her reaction.

Noelle looks around them, realizing they’re back at the park where the whole adventure started. Except they’ve circled around, and instead of the enlarged Christmas tree, the centre of attention here is…

“Santa’s sleigh?”

“Yes!” His smile widens excitedly as he pulls her forward. “With fake reindeers, but still, isn’t it beautiful?” He gestures with his free hand at the elegant silver sleigh. People are circling it in admiration, staring at its sleek curves, the graceful frozen reindeers standing vigil in front, complete with tiny silver bells interwoven with the blinking faerie lights. It is beautiful, laying there unmoving and proud in the soft blanket of snow.

“But what are we doing here?” she asks, after ogling at the sleigh for a minute.

“What else? To get our picture taken with it. Since Santa’s too preoccupied with little ones.” A few Chinese tourists get off the sleigh, giggling loudly at each other, and Jesse pushes Noelle into the empty sleigh. “Here, hand me your phone. I’ll take your picture first.”

Bewildered, she gives up the device, trying not to care about the people milling about them. “Remind me again why the sleigh is important?”

Jesse rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “Imagine we’re at the North Pole, okay, and you snuck into the cookie-loving man’s garage. It’s the memory of a lifetime! Smile! The magic of the season is right underneath you, literally! If you really think about it, you could be taking off into the air any moment on magic dust with Dancer, Prancer, Dasher, and whatever the rest at your command!”

“But won’t Santa get mad?” she can’t help but interject.

“Just smile, Noelle. You’re beautiful.”

Thankful that the cold masks her blushing, she shoots him her best smile, knowing it’ll never be as radiant as his own. He fiddles with her phone, and then looks up at her. “You’ll look back at this with fondness,” he tells her confidently. She shrugs slightly, but doesn’t say anything.

“Hey, do you guys want me to take a picture of you two together?”

They both look up to find a college-aged guy and his girlfriend standing there. One of them steps forward, holding out a hand toward Jesse. “Here, go on, go sit with your girlfriend. I’ve got this.”

Noelle stares at them, realizing they’ve mistaken Jesse and her as girlfriend/boyfriend again. But if Jesse cares, he doesn’t show it. He passes the phone over, and hops right in the sleigh next to her. She stares at him, a bit dazed, but he just grins at her.

“Now this’ll definitely be a good memory,” he says, winking at her.

“Okay, one, two-----”

Jesse throws his arm around Noelle at the last second, startling another blush out of her. She’s sure even the chilly air can’t hide the Jesse-induced heat on her face.

“Thanks man,” Jesse says to the guy, stepping off the sleigh and reclaiming the phone.

“No prob, dude. Me and my girl do the same thing every year. It’s an awesome place to create the mood, eh?” The guy pulls his girlfriend to him, grinning down at her.

“Right,” nods Jesse, glancing at Noelle with a crooked smile. She can’t tell what he’s thinking.

“You guys look good together,” the girlfriend pipes up, smiling at Noelle. “Keep him, girl, anyone that knows to come to this sleigh is a keeper!”

Noelle smiles shyly, but has no idea how to respond. She glances at Jesse, and thankfully he gets the hint. He waves cheerfully at the pair. “Thanks again. Merry Christmas!”

“You too!”

Jesse turns back to Noelle. “That was fun.” He bends down to look at her face. “Hey, are you blushing?”

“No,” she says immediately, turning away from his smirking face.

He laughs, an open, contagious sound. “You’re cute when you blush.”

“It’s all your fault!” she blurts before she can stop herself. She claps a hand over her mouth.

He blinks at her. Then a slow smile starts on his face, his grey eyes warm and never leaving her face. He doesn’t say anything though. Looking away, he offers back her phone. “I changed your screen saver,” he informs her before turning and announcing, “Picture with Santa’s sleigh, check!” He leads them away from the sleigh.

She turns on her phone’s screensaver to see the picture of the two of them on the sleigh. Jesse’s grin is lighting up the screen, one arm holding Noelle close. She’s surprised to see that she’s grinning at the camera as well, looking pretty content there. That girl was right; they do look good together.

“Noelle!”

“Coming!”

She tucks her phone away, shaking her head. What is she thinking? They’ve only known each other for a day, not even. On top of that, he’d only just broken up with someone. She can’t have romantic thoughts about him.

Yet.

aww... ;D
song: Sleigh Ride cover by Fun. because they're amazing and this song was stuck in my head all day and i didn't even know what it was called... JUST HEAR THE SLEIGH BELLS TING-A-LING -----