knj imagines

ski lodge || a. webb

"Do you ever feel like you're in a Hallmark Christmas movie?" My mom laughed as she loaded a family's luggage onto one of the carts and nodded.

My family owned a ski lodge in a pretty popular tourist town and during the holidays I always felt like I was living inside a Christmas movie where I would end up meeting the love of my life and we would live happily ever after. Wasn't exactly the case but a girl can dream.

I was broken from my thoughts by my dad tapping my shoulder and pointing to a family with a crying little boy. "Looks like that's a (Y/N) problem," he said. I picked up some crayons and coloring books and walked over to them.

I was always in charge of planning the children's activities and keeping them occupied while their parents were busy. That included hysterical crying and trying my best to make it stop. I introduced myself to the parents and knelt down in front of the boy, who was now reduced to sniffling.

"Hey buddy, looks like you're having a rough time. I'm sure you're pretty tired from your trip, huh?" He nodded slowly, his eyes trailing down to the crayons and it seemed to calm him down more. "I'm (Y/N) and I was going to go sit on the couches and color. Would you like to join me?"

That was all it took to get a smile from him and he happily skipped beside me over to the couches. On our way over, I caught sight of a group of guys around my age standing in the entrance of the lodge. The one with curly hair waved at me and walked over.

"Do you work here?" I nodded and looked at the paper he held out to me. "I have a reservation for my friends and I but something doesn't look right on this paper."

I gestured over to the front desk. "My parents can straighten that out for you. I'm on coloring duty so my hands are kind of tied," I said, holding up the coloring books.

"So you babysit?" The British accent threw me off and I could only shrug. "That's brilliant! Anderson, this is who can watch you while the adults are busy!"

Anderson punched the boy, making him wince and glared. "I'm 19, I'm not a child Harrison," he said, probably more for my sake than anyone else's. "I do like coloring though."

I laughed and motioned for him to come over. Harrison left with the other boy to sort out their reservation and Anderson and the last boy in their group followed me. I distributed the crayons and books out to everyone and we sat in content silence.

"I'm Kian, by the way," the boy said, holding out his hand. I shook it and introduced myself, and the little boy beside me offered his name as well. "And Anderson here is single, just so you know."

Anderson glared but I could see his neck turning red from embarrassment. "Good to know, I guess?" I had to admit, he was really handsome with floppy brown hair and that accent was just too cute.

The other two came back and they began to get all of their luggage together. "Jc and I got it all sorted so we can go upstairs now. Thanks for your help," Harrison added, smiling at me.

The romantic in me was telling me to come up with something fast so Anderson wouldn't just be another passing guest so I put my hand on his arm to stop him from walking away. "Hey, there's a hot chocolate social thing tonight in the ballroom. We're just showing a movie and it's probably more for little kids but I would love to have someone my own age to talk to. If you guys want to come?" I figured opening the invitation to everyone would be less awkward.

Kian and Jc shrugged and said that they didn't have anything else to do and agreed to come. Harrison nodded and Anderson looked back to me with a smile that made my stomach flip. "We'll be there."

After I had finished coloring with the little boy and he was happy as a clam, I helped set up for the social. This had been my idea and my parents had pretty much put me in charge of the whole thing. I had picked Rudolph as the movie and came up with a whole topping bar for the hot chocolate.

I was standing back and admiring my work when a familiar British accent filled my ears. "What's all that?"

Anderson was gesturing to the table full of things like candy canes, sprinkles, whipped cream, and chocolate chips. I gave him a blank stare and wondered how it wasn't obvious. "They're toppings for the hot chocolate."

"Toppings?" He had his nose wrinkled at the thought and I frowned. "Can't you just drink it like regular hot chocolate?"

I shook my head quickly and filled up a cup for him, then began making it the way I always liked mine complete with a candy cane to stir. I presented it to him with a flourish and smiled. "This is the way I always make mine. I don't want to brag or anything, but it's the best way."

He looked doubtful but as soon as he took a sip he looked like he had just discovered the secret of the universe. The other boys, who had walked in later, all asked for me to make them one exactly like it and they took their seats on the floor right beside me.

"So you won't get lonely," Jc said, taking another happy sip. I smiled and spent the next twenty minutes helping the kids make their hot chocolate and find a seat.

Once the movie started, I sat beside Anderson and I was glad the boys chose to sit in the back because their singing was enough to drive anyone crazy. Kian was elbowing me to sing along with them and I did if only to make him happy.

I walked them back to their rooms and the three boys hastily made their way in, leaving Anderson and I in the hallway. He awkwardly kicked at the carpet before he looked up at me. "Do you work every night?"

"Not tomorrow," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

He cleared his throat. "You can say no if you want but would you want to maybe go do something with me? Obviously you would have to suggest something because I have no idea where we are," he added. I laughed and nodded, and a huge smile broke across his face.

"It's a date," I said, leaning over and pecking his cheek. He gaped at me and I patted his shoulder, walking back to the elevator. Maybe I would get my happily ever after after all.