He hates working on Christmas Eve and Christmas. It would certainly be nice if he could have these two days off at least once. But he always agrees to work it. Why? He doesn't have a family…by that he means a wife and kids. It's not like he doesn't want to be married with kids. He just won't marry someone he doesn't love. Unfortunately, the women he's seen lately are ridiculous. They want to be married by the time they're 30 and that's right around the corner. Randy definitely can't do that. He needs to know the relationship will last.

Randy walks into his favorite diner to grab a bite to eat. He smiles at the dark haired woman behind the counter as he takes a seat. In the five years he's been coming here, he always manages to be here with her. She smiles at him as she steps over.

"Hi there," she says. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't be showing up tonight."

"And miss my Christmas Eve dinner? I don't think so." He winks at her. It would be so much better if he knew her name. He'd think he would have heard it at some point in the five years he's been coming here. He probably had and just hadn't realized it was being said about her.

"So, Officer Orton, are you on break or done with your shift?"

Randy grins. "Break. I'm working the late shift. As I do every Christmas Eve. I'm still surprised you stay open for Christmas Eve."

"It's different this year though. I'm closing at eight."

Randy laughs softly. "Must be for a special someone."

She smiles at him. "Spending it with my sister. And then tomorrow we're heading to our parent's place."

"Okay, since we've gotten on that personal level, can I finally know your name?"

"Oh God, I've never introduced myself. I'm sorry. I'm Trish. Trish Stratus."

Randy smiles and shakes her hand. "It's nice to meet you Trish Stratus. I'm Randy Orton."

"Randy." Trish's smile widens. "It's nice to meet you. All right, now what can I get for you?"

"Surprise me. I don't know what I want." Randy shrugs. "What would you suggest?"

"For you? I'd say our famous bacon cheeseburger. I don't ever remember seeing you eat that."

Randy grins. "That sounds good." He watches Trish walk away and can't help but smile a little. At least he'll have an hour that'll be good tonight.

Trish walks over and sets a cup of sweet tea in front of him. "I just guessed. But that's the only thing I've ever seen you drink."

"That's because it's the best sweet tea in the history of sweet tea."

Trish grins. "Such a charmer."

Randy snorts. "I wouldn't go that far." He winks at her. "So did you make the tea?"

Trish nods. "It's my Gran's specialty."

"Well, it's great."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Randy watches Trish walk away. He can't help but smile.

After he eats and pays his bill, Randy stands up. He pulls his coat on before dropping a tip onto the counter. He smiles as Trish walks over.

"Be careful out there," Trish says.

Randy nods. "I will." He smiles at her. "Merry Christmas Trish."

"Merry Christmas." Trish waves as Randy heads to the door.

Once he gets outside into the cold evening, Randy lets out a heavy breath. Well, at least he had a little time of having a nice conversation. He climbs into his squad car before driving off. He hopes there won't be too many crazy people out there tonight. But he knows that's too much to ask for. After all, it is Christmas Eve. There is always someone who has to act up.

Work goes by quickly, which is surprising to Randy. As he drives past the diner toward his house, he sees Trish standing at the door. He stops and turns around quickly to head back. What is she doing out here this late? Climbing out of his car, Randy walks up to the door.

"Trish?"

Trish turns and smiles at Randy. "Hi Randy. What are you doing here?"

"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing." Randy shoves his hands into his coat pockets as the cold air blows.

"I live here." She gestures toward the window above the diner. "My apartment."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Randy sighs, feeling like a fool for stopping.

"No need to apologize. Nice to know that there are cops actually watching out for us little people." Trish opens the door. "So, do you have plans now or would you like to come in?"

Randy grins. "I'd like to come in."

Trish nods. "You should probably turn your car off then. I'll wait."

Randy follows Trish upstairs, unable to stop himself from letting his gaze fall down her body. She's certainly a beautiful woman. He watches as she opens the door to the apartment and steps in behind her.

"Let me take your coat," Trish says.

Randy slips out of it and hands it to her. "Thank you," he replies. "Nice place."

"Thank you."

"So you must be close with the owner if you live here. Right?"

Trish looks at Randy and smiles. "I am the owner."

Randy chuckles. "That explains it."

"Have a seat."

"Thank you." Randy takes a seat on the couch and smiles as Trish sits down beside him.

"So now that we've actually introduced ourselves, we can move forward, right?"

Randy looks at her and raises an eyebrow. But instead of saying anything, he closes the distance and kisses her. He really hopes this is what she had in mind. When her arms slide around his neck, he knows he got it right. He smiles against her lips before deepening the kiss.

"I've been watching you for five years," Randy says after they pull apart.

Trish smiles at him. "If I wasn't doing the same thing, I'd probably find that a little creepy."

Randy laughs softly. "Then it's a good thing you were watching me too."

"Listen, I can't promise anything more this tonight. I'm not the kind of girl who just throws themselves at someone."

"That's okay. I wasn't expecting anything. Okay, not completely true. But I'm not that kind of guy."

"That's good to know. But I would like to hang out. Unless you have to go home. I don't know what you do for Christmas."

"I can stay for a little bit. I work tomorrow night again. So I'll have to get to bed eventually. But until then, I'm going to enjoy this Christmas Eve and maybe Christmas night tomorrow with you."

Trish smiles and nods at him. "I think that can be arranged."

THE END