Hello friends! Happy December! I'm so excited! This is my first Christmas one shot this year! Don't worry, there will be more. Two more in this universe and I also have two requests :). Sorry again for the delay with my other stories, but I would like to write all of these before Christmas.
Anyways! Please please enjoy!
Of course this would happen. It only made sense that the calm snow fall would somehow become a full on blizzard during the... two and a half hours that she's been sitting by herself... in a bar... on Christmas Eve...
It wasn't so bad, she supposed. It was quiet, giving her time to think and debate on whether or not she should feel guilty. And get just a little tipsy, but that was neither here nor there. The bartender had given her an odd look when she'd come in, all by herself, shivering a little bit before sitting down and ordering a scotch. He hadn't spoken to her much. In the few moments that she hadn't been lost in thought, staring down at her glass, she'd caught him looking out the window, almost as if he was waiting for someone to walk through the door. He'd caught her staring a few times... she couldn't help it. As much as she wanted to deny it, the man was hot. A rugged, rough looking young kind of hot. A bad boy kind of hot.
Yeah. She was a little tipsy.
"Got somewhere ta be, darlin'?" he'd asked eventually, after two hours of peace, as he wiped down the counter just in front of her.
"What's it to you?" she muttered, not even looking up, slumping forward with her chin resting atop of one of her hands, an elbow on the bar, looking more and more lost by the second.
"Well, it don't look like either a' us 're goin' no where f'r now..." His accent was thick, no doubt this man was a born and bred New Yorker. "Snows really comin' down out there..."
The snow... in the time that she'd gotten in, lost it, til now, the light, Christmas snow that had been falling from the sky had turned into a full fledged storm.
The young woman watched the bartender shake his head a little before turning back towards her. "Well, Red," he smiled, giving a small shrug. "Welcome ta the island of misfit toys. Can I get ya somethin' ta eat?"
And that's how she ended up sitting in a booth by herself, slowly munching on a few fries whilst trying to distract herself with a pen and paper, desperate to make her head stop whirling around with guilt and anger.
It was her fault, she supposed. She had started it. But he's the one who hinted at it. This was not her fault. Was it?
"So what's your story, beautiful?"
Her head shot up. She hadn't realized the man had taken a seat in front of her at all. But when she looked up from writing in her oh so beloved journal, he seemed to have been there for a least a few minutes, his own pencil in his hand and some kind of notebook leaning up against the table, just out of her line of vision. "Who says I have one?" she retorted, staring blankly down at the words on her pages.
When she glanced back up, she caught the raised eyebrow he shot back her way, pausing in whatever it was that he was doing, and he scoffed at her. "A pretty thing like you, by yourself at a bar on Christmas Eve... there's definitely a story there," he stated before returning to his work.
"Well, random bartender I've never met before, how do you know I even celebrate Christmas?" she quizzed, leaning forward just a little, catching the way he moved his book a little closer to his chest. But he smirked at her, shaking his head just a bit.
"I think you'll find I pay lots of attention ta detail, Red," he answered easily, leaning a little closer to her too. His deep green eyes locked in on hers and he grinned when she furrowed her eyebrows. "You're necklace is a Christmas tree an' you's dressed far too nice ta come to a bar on 'just anotha' Monday night'."
She had to admit, she was a little surprised. But he had her. She did celebrate Christmas. And she wanted to love it, just like she had as a kid. But it wasn't the same anymore. It wasn't carefree and happy or hopeful anymore. It was another day that she was cornered by him and another day they screamed at each other. "You got me," she tried to laugh out, only biting her lip when she wanted to scream again. "I just came here because I couldn't fight with him anymore..." she muttered out, slumping down just a little more, not quite knowing why this man was speaking to her. She probably looked pathetic.
"Who's 'him'?" the guy questioned, probably before even thinking. She looked up at him, trying to figure out why he was asking so many questions.
She wanted to know what was behind that pad. It didn't look like a journal and it definitely didn't look like he was writing anything. "Do you talk to all of your customers like this?"
With a cocky grin and a glance over his page at her, a much too focused glance, he shook his head. "Just the pretty ones," he answered, biting his lip just a little in concentration. It was then Katherine realized what he was doing, pencil in his left hand, fingers so perfectly placed and eyes continuing to search for his reference.
He was drawing.
"Are you drawing me?" she asked, somewhat intrigued and somewhat confused. She looked awful. She knew she did.
"I's just drawin' a beautiful woman who I'd like ta get ta know a little." And damn it if he wasn't hot... "I'm Jack," he extended his hand to her, the one that she could now catch the smudges of ink and paint on. "Jack Kelly."
Shaking his hand, she nodded. "Very nice to meet you, Mr. Kelly. But I don't remember giving you permission to use my portrait."
At this, Jack laughed. "Most people don't, Miss. But that's okay. Normally I's let 'me keep these anyhow..." he said, placing his pencil down on the table before carefully tearing the page away from his book. "Although, it'd be nice ta have a name ta call this one 'fore I's give it away..."
With a playful roll of her eyes, she shook her head. This man really was too good to be true. Maybe she was dreaming. Maybe she was drunk and he was some hideous creep that she'd regret even speaking to in the morning. It couldn't be real how charming this guy was.
Then again, she was a little bit drunk.
"Katherine..." she answered finally. "Pul- uh... Plumber..."
"Okay Katherine Pul-uh-Plumber," he laughed, giving his art one last glance over before turning it towards her and gently setting it down next to her plate. "Really, I w's drawin' a very pretty girl that I'd like ta get ta know a little, but if you want it, it's all yours."
Katherine froze when she saw it, dropping a fry that she'd intended on eating back onto the plate beside her. She was scared to touch it. It wasn't real. This man hadn't even been sitting there for that long. But... it was her, so realistic it could've been a photograph. But it looked like her when she was happy... her lips were lined in a small smile and her eyes were somehow full of life and hope. Speechless, she let her mouth hang open in pure awe.
"It's j'st a sketch, but I'm glad you like it..."
Before Katherine could even comprehend any words to say, she was already grasping at her own journal, flipping through pages until she found what she was looking for. "Can you draw characters?" she rushed out, sliding the book over to the mysterious man across from her. "This is a book I've been working on for years! It's a children's novel and I need an illustrator who can do what you just did! And-"
"Whoa, hold your roll there, sweetheart, I ain't no professional..." Jack laughed, though she could hear the disappointment in his voice as he scratched that back of his neck. "This is somethin' I do f'r fun... I w's just tryin' ta-"
"Flirt. I know," Katherine replied easily. "And if I hadn't had a few drinks already, I'd try to tell you that it wasn't working." What the hell had gotten into her? "I'm just trying to offer you a chance to make money off of doing something that you clearly enjoy, while also trying to win an argument with the world's worst father." It was out of her mouth before she could stop it. She expected him to up and leave right there, believing her to be completely crazy. Oddly enough, he just chuckled a little, though it sounded just a little bitter.
"Believe me, Plumber... ya ain't got no clue what that means..." he responded sadly, taking her notebook into his hands and reading over the paper.
"Your dad was unsupportive too?"
Without looking up from the page, Jack shook his head. "It's Christmas Eve, Red. Ya don't need ta hear it..."
"My father hates that I want to write. Says I should just be some kind of trophy wife for a rich man because I'm 'already set for life'." Damn. She had no filter. Why couldn't she stop talking? And why couldn't she stop staring at him? He wasn't that attractive. Okay... maybe that was a lie. But seriously, she never told anyone about the fights. They were supposed to be one big happy family. But Jack stayed silent, still glancing over the paper he'd been handed, hesitating to respond. "C'mon..." she prompted. "I'm willing to swap backstories. We're both here, alone, on Christmas Eve. You said you wanted to get to know me and I'm drunk enough to try and indulge..."
"Trust me, your high 'll prob'ly be gone by the time I's finished."
"C'mon, I'm sure it wasn't all bad..." it couldn't be.
With a laugh Jack kind of shrugged and took out his sketchbook again. "My fatha's dead..." that was all it took. Katherine's smile fell. The way he said it, it was like he felt nothing, like he was simply stating a fact that he had no connection to. "Suicide. I was two."
He was right. The buzz was gone. "Jack... I'm so sorry... you don't have to-"
"Ma was a deadbeat," he continued, like he hadn't even heard her. He was drawing, so focused on the papers in front of him that Katherine could tell he was disconnected from the topic. It was probably the only reason he could get through it. "She ran away when I was seven. Think she changed 'er name n' left the country. Afta' that... it was the system for me... n' with the system came shitty foster parents and one really fucked up home that I w's stuck in f'r a couple years. Almost got adopted by that maniac..." he mused, letting his pencil dance around the page as he read his reference and spilled out his story to a total stranger. "Trust me, darlin'... ya don't wanna know what the world's worst fatha' looks like..."
Katherine sat back in the booth, stunned and a little shaken by the man's story. "Jack... I'm so sorry..."
Glancing back up at her, the man only shrugged. "Eh, don't be. Without all a' that, I woulda neva' met my kid brotha's. I love those kids more n' anything..."
Somehow, this man got even hotter. With a small, sad smile, Katherine asked, "How old are they?"
"One of 'em j'st turned eighteen an' the other is only fifteen..." She could tell he was leaving out details. The way he said it made it sound like he hoped she would ask anymore questions. So she didn't. "They ain't had it too good at home neither. Ya wanna talk 'bout world's worst fatha', my kid Racer wins, I swear. I came in a close second with my foster dad. But he ain't technically my pa, so..."
Katherine felt bad for even asking to begin with. She had no room to complain about her father at this point, despite how crazy he made her. He'd never raise and hand to her. She knew that. But that didn't make her any less frustrated. "Jack... I don't know what ta say..."
"Ya don't gotta say nothin' if ya don't wanna," Jack laughed, letting his pencil dance around the paper even more as he began to shade and darken some of the lines. "But I wasn't kiddin' when I's said there was a beautiful lady sittin' here that I'd like ta get ta know a little. Ya heard my tragic backstory, only seems fair I should hear yours," he explained with a sort of smirk.
The girl couldn't help but let a small smile graze her lips as she watched the bartender draw, so careful and concentrated. "Well, I don't have much to say... I just had a fight with my dad, obviously..." she sighed, shrugging and shifting so she could sit crisscross on the bench across from the man in front of her as he worked. "He's mad at me because I'm not married to a rich man he tried to set me up with and he's mad because I want to be a children's writer. We have this same argument every time we're together. He says I'm not gonna be making enough money and that I'm gonna be miserable for the rest of my life..." He was wrong. She loved it. She loved writing. She loved seeing kids' faces light up when they read something they enjoyed. She wanted to see it more.
"Aww that don't sound so bad..." Jack sighed, placing his pencil on the table for a second and squeezing his hand into a fist to loosen his muscles before continuing in his drawing, still using Katherine's notebook every now and again. "Sounds ta me like he's worried 'bout ya..."
Raising her eyebrows, the young woman nodded, urging him to continue. "How so?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Jack just continued in his sketch before responding. "People always say 'Ya don' know what i's like ta be a parent till ya have kids'... well, my brothas... I helped raise 'em... n' I know I don' wan' 'em outta work, strugglin' fer money. I's wish I could just always give 'em what they need. It's terrifyin' ta know that they's gonna be out on their own one day... I don't want that for 'em..." The way he said it made so much sense. She couldn't understand why. "Take it from an orphan who saved one kid from gettin' beat ta death by his old man, and caught anotha' tryin' ta string hisself up cause his ma kept tellin' him how worthless he is... your dad sounds like he just wants ta look out for ya..."
She truly hadn't thought about it like that. Being someone who was supposed to be able to see things from different perspectives, she'd completely missed that one. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be home? With your brothers?"
"Believe me, Plumber, if I's could be home, I would be there in a heartbeat. I thought about bravin' it, but I went out there f'r a couple minutes n' the snow was too thick ta walk two miles through... might try anyways lata'... I wanna be with my boys," he stated as he finished his drawing and placed his pencil aside to inspect his work.
"Yeah, it's bad out there. Almost up to your knees. You really should wait till morning..." Katherine replied lamely, not exactly knowing what else she could say.
"I don't think I's got much of a choice..." the man sighed, sliding his sketchbook over to the woman. It looked like he hadn't even put that much work into it by the expression on his face. But one look and Katherine didn't even question it. That was her.
That was Lucy.
She was beautiful. Tall, graceful, twirling around in a beautiful ballet skirt and slippers. Somehow she could see all the elegance and the drive within the girl while also seeing how innocent and cautious she was. She wasn't perfect and she didn't claim to be, but she worked hard for everything she had and she wasn't afraid to stand up for what she believed in.
"Oh my God... that's her... she's... she's perfect..."
"I wouldn't say perfect..." Jack chuckled, scratching the back of his neck and feeling heat rise to his cheeks at the awe Katherine was in. "But she's beautiful. The kid's'll love her..."
"I hope so..." Katherine smiled, still admiring the drawing. "Lucy was part of my childhood. I always imagined her growing up right along with me..."
"Did you dance?"
At the question, Katherine laughed. "I wanted to be a ballet dancer when I was little. I loved it more than anything..." She watched Jack chuckle right along with her.
"My brother Racer is a dancer... almost quit after..." with a shake of his head, Jack cut himself off. "He's amazing. Practices everyday f'r hours. Had ta turn my room inta a studio f'r him when we lived in a smaller apartment. Slept on the couch for a month or so. He told me not to, but I couldn't stand ta see him so miserable," he admitted, standing from the booth and walking over to the counter, grabbing a control from behind it and strolling back over to the girl who was smiling at him so sweetly. "Now, I may not be the best dancer, but we's stuck in a bar with no one but each otha' n' nothin' but some notebooks and some music... so would the most beautiful woman in the room like ta dance?" he asked, holding out his hand to her with a smirk and a wink.
"I thought you'd never ask," she sighed out dramatically, like they were in some kind of movie. With confidence and a new found kind of tipsy energy, she took his hand and let him pull her to his feet.
"Bells'll be ringin' the sad, sad news..." the stereo sang, a happy beat playing behind the desperate words. Jack grinned and held this beautiful stranger closer to him. She went along, letting him slip an arm around her waist and and hold her hand as they swayed happily to the music. "Oh what a Christmas to have the blues..."
"I love this song," Katherine smiled. It was so odd. Normally she wouldn't even give anyone the satisfaction of knowing she thought they were sweet, much less dance with them. But she couldn't help it.
"Please come home for Christmas! Please come home for Christmas, yeah..."
"Tell me more about you, Plumber... ya know I's got two brothers... what about you? Any siblings?" he asked, curiously, still swaying along to the jazzy kind of beat.
"No... I'm an only child," she admitted with a shrug. "I always wanted a sister, though. Thought we'd be best friends. My parents didn't like the idea too much..." she chuckled out.
They talked for the better part of an hour, swaying along to music that was quickly forgotten as they just took in each other's presence, both desperate to be with someone on Christmas Eve, not knowing what they'd do if they were alone on one of the most important nights of the year.
"Tell me more about these brothers of yours," she'd asked after a while of talking about her bland life. It was practically perfect compared to his. "You seem to care about them a lot."
With a hesitant bite of his lip, Jack shrugged. "They's the best. Ain't much else ta tell..." he replied as the music slowed a little bit and Katherine, feeling the exhaustion of being so wound up earlier catch up, leaned her head on this stranger's shoulder. Though, after the past couple hours... she could hardly call him that anymore. He was just Jack.
"One of them likes dancing... what about the other? What does he do?" Glancing up at him, she could see Jack's face almost completely light up. There was no way she was this lucky. This man was most definitely taken already.
"He's a photographer. Amazing too. He knows everythin' about cameras, I swear." He was so proud of them. She could tell just by the way he spoke. She wished someone talked about her that way.
"My name's not really Plumber... not technically..." she mumbled out, pulling away from her new friend and sitting down right there on the floor, her legs stretched out in front of her and her arms behind her to hold up her torso. Jack looked a little confused for a second before he simply joined her on the ground. Before she said another word, she reached up onto the table she'd sat at before, grabbing the drink that had been forgotten hours ago and downing it in one go. "It's Pulitzer. Katherine Pulitzer. My Dad is one of the best writers in the country and I can never live up to that..."
"Hey, don't say that... from what I read, you're amazing, Katherine! Seriously, the kids are gonna love Lucy!" Jack promised and bumped her shoulder just a little to try and get a smile out of her. He grinned when it worked.
"It's just... hearing you rave about your brother's like you do... no one ever does that for me..."
"I will," Jack replied, without even truly thinking about it. He blushed when she looked at him with the surprise that she did.
When their eyes met it was like time stopped. For a moment, the world was just frozen as they shared a moment that would change both of their lives for good. Katherine didn't think before she planted her lips on his, turning so she was on her knees, practically above him as their lips moved together so perfectly. But after a moment, she pulled back with wide eyes... what on earth had gotten into her?
Although there was no denying his absolutely perfect that had been. There was no denying that she wanted more. Lucky for her, she didn't have to wait. Jack was already sliding an arm around the waist and pulling her back to him, kissing her so tenderly and so perfectly that nothing else in the world could compare to it.
"Merry Christmas, Red..." Jack breathed as he pulled away. Katherine looked up at where he nodded to when he said that. It was midnight.
"Merry Christmas, Jack..." she replied softly, going back in for another kiss. But he stopped her.
"You're drunk!" he laughed, shaking his head. "I don't wanna take advantage of you... people are gonna talk already. A guy like me? Some folks'll think I drugged ya, er somethin'..." he almost chuckled. Katherine already knew him well enough to know he would never, not to anyone for anything.
"Later then?"
"If you still want to," the man shrugged, though the smirk was still on his face.
"It's going to be a long night, isn't it?"
"I's got some Christmas movies in the back... what do ya say, Plumber?"
And that would be the first of many Christmases that Jack Kelly and Katherine Pulitzer would spend, curled up on the floor, watching old Christmas movies together. That night would just be the most memorable.
And there it was. I hope you guys all enjoyed!
As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya, babes!