"CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND"
chapter 1


It was raining, a cloudy afternoon in December. An older man in his fifties is driving a small green car, one hand on the steering wheel and the other with its fingers drumming along to the radio's music. He glanced over at the young woman next to him, giving her a small proud smile. She looked over at him at that moment, smiling back. He'd always been proud of his daughter, his only daughter of all three children, everything she'd done in her life giving him more than good enough reasons.

"Ya'll set? Got everythin' you'll need?" he asked, doing the fatherly thing and making one last inventory check.

"Yes. Everything's accounted for," she answered, her proper British accent contrasting greatly to her father's strong American (specifically Texan) one.

"Would ya like me to wait outside for ya? I could if ya wanted, just say the word," he offered.

"That's quite all right. Karen said she was going to come pick me up and take me out for lunch," she said.

"That's nice of her. That and getting ya this interview, she's a real peach!" he chuckled, making a left turn onto another street.

She nodded, resting her elbow on the door's armrest as she stared out the window.

"That new Billy Mack song sure is something, ain't it?" he said, waggling his left index finger about as if her were conducting the music.

"Yeah," she muttered, zoning out as she stared at the various scenes that were passed.

He pulled up to the gate of the mansion, leaning the window to announce them to the speaker box.

They were buzzed in, pulling up to the front door.

"Ya'll right?" he looked over at his daughter.

"Of course, no worries," she smiled back, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "I'll see you later, Dad."

She got out of the car, waving goodbye, then quickly taking cover under the awning over the front door. As the car pulled away and through the gates, the front door opened and an elderly woman stood in the doorway.

"May I help you?" she asked, looking over the young woman before her.

"My name's Clementine Warwick. I'm here for the interview," she explained.

"Ah yes, right this way. We've been expecting you."