All I Want for Christmas

Chapter One

"This is bullshit," I muttered under my breath for the tenth time as I shoved the last of my belongings into the box the administrators gave me for my things. "Utter bullshit."

I heaved a dramatic sigh—as if anyone was watching my departure. They'd all known why I was called into the office. Like a kid being called to the principal's office, you just know. And they knew. I was the lowest on the totem pole—even though I'd been moving up. I was supposed to go places with CommTel, the international communications conglomerate. Literally. They were supposed to send me to Seoul for two weeks next month to help open a new office. I was one of the few employees who spoke any Korean. I'd been studying hard for more than a month, since they told me about the opportunity. Now, it was all for nothing.

I couldn't even brush tears out of my eyes as I stomped from my desk to the bank of elevators. Nobody even said goodbye to me. It was like my presence hadn't mattered to them. I was just another warm body to fill a position. They would find another.

"Naneun nohi modureul sirohanda!" I yelled as I stepped onto the elevator. Because I did; I hated all of them. I grimaced as I juggled the box in my hands and jabbed the button for the ground floor. At least all my Korean lessons came in handy for something.

I sighed and shook my head. My long, straight black hair fluttered down my back. What was I going to do now? CommTel had been my dream job. I'd been promised advancement when I applied right out of college five years ago. I worked my ass off for them. And now this. I blinked as more tears threatened to fall.

I needed to call Bethany. She was my best friend. She would know what to do.

Except Bethany was on her honeymoon in Madrid with her smoking hot new husband, Miguel. She would not want to be interrupted, even if my life was falling apart.

My phone chimed with a new notification. Thinking it might be Bethany, I smiled despite my dismal situation. Once I got to my car three blocks away, I would check the message.

The message was not from Bethany. I sat behind the wheel of my old, beat up BMW and stared at the picture on my screen. Matt, my boyfriend, had his arms around a beautiful, obviously younger woman who held up her left hand. The huge diamond on her ring finger sparkled in the picture. The caption: she said yes!

He broke up with me by engagement. This was an engagement picture. We'd been dating for almost two years. And now, apparently, he was marrying someone else. He hadn't even told me he was seeing anyone.

Two years of my life wasted.

What the hell was wrong with me? Why was all of this shit happening?

Bad things come in threes.

My mother's warning rang through my head. I gritted my teeth, started the car, and pulled out into downtown Chicago traffic. Thankfully, rush hour wasn't for another hour. I might make it home by then.

Home. What a joke. I paid way too much for a one-bedroom flat in the suburbs of Chicago.

To clear my head during the long drive ahead of me, I hooked up my phone to the Bluetooth and brought up my favorite playlist. Monsta X's latest hit, Home at Christmas, blasted through my speakers. They were my favorite band. Their latest album, Christmas All Year, released two weeks ago. It was the third all-English album from the globally famous K-Pop band, this one full of Christmas songs.

I sang and danced in my seat. The time flew. Traffic thinned as I neared my exit. Thank God. There was only so much I could take today.

I pulled through the gate of my apartment complex twenty minutes later. After parking in my assigned spot, I sighed, got out, heaved my box into my arms, and headed for the door. Maybe Mrs. Lee would see me and come open the front door. Otherwise, I would be juggling the box while I punched in the code.

Thankfully, the door opened before I reached it. But it wasn't Mrs. Lee being kind. Her grandson, Nolan, walked out. I grimaced. I absolutely loathed Nolan. Mrs. Lee thought it would be sweet if we went on a date two years ago, shortly before I met Matt. It was the first and last date we ever went on. After five minutes in his presence, I knew I couldn't stand him. When he started bashing my favorite band, saying they were a sellout for releasing so much English music, I'd punched him in the face and left him at the fancy restaurant he'd insisted we go to.

"Christina, what a lovely surprise," he greeted me, his black eyes narrowed as he fake smiled at me. The door shut behind him. "Oops, sorry," he added.

"Go to hell, Nolan," I grumbled and shifted the box in my arms so I could punch in the code. I hadn't expected help from him. In fact, I really just wanted him to go away.

"Oh, did someone have a bad day at work?"

His voice took on that annoying baby tone. I hated it. I clenched my jaw to keep from snapping at him. As soon as I got this code in, I could get away from him. My fingers fumbled on the keypad and I had to start over. Why was he still here? He needed to go away.

"I'd say it was a very bad day. Looks like someone got fired."

He didn't even conceal the joy in his voice at my demise. My anger spiked. I abandoned the keypad and spun to face him.

"If you don't go away, I will drop this box and punch you again," I threatened. He held his arms up, palms out, and took a step back, though he looked anything but fearful. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Ooh, I'm so scared."

The door opened behind me. "Nolan, go home now. Stop harassing this poor girl. Can't you see she's been through enough today without your smart mouth?"

Saved by grandma. My shoulders slumped as I turned to face her. Nolan called a farewell and sauntered away. Mrs. Lee gave me a kind smile as she moved aside so I could enter. She glanced up at the sky and shook her head.

"Good thing you got home when you did. Those clouds are going to dump on us tonight," she commented. I shuddered, thinking about being snowed in tomorrow morning, then realized it didn't matter. I was fired. I didn't have anywhere I had to be in the morning now.

The elderly woman patted my arm and gave me a sympathetic smile, making me feel worse than I already did.

"I'm sorry about my asshole grandson," she added. I chuckled, used to hearing her swear. She had a mouth worse than a sailor some days.

"It's not your fault he's an asshole," I told her. She nodded and went into her apartment, turning back just inside her door.

"Come down for dinner at six if you feel up to it. I'm making dumplings."

My stomach growled at the thought of my favorite food. I nodded and genuinely smiled.

"I'll see you then," I agreed and started up the stairs to my third-floor apartment. This building was so old and cheap, there wasn't an elevator. Moving in had been a pain in the ass but it was all I could afford on my initial salary and I hadn't taken time to find anything better since I'd started at CommTel. Now, that didn't matter.

With a sigh, I shook my head and continued my trek.