"This Christmas will be a very special Christmas to me..."
Twenty-two year old, Ally Dawson, let out a a heavy sigh. It was the first of December and it seemed as if Christmas had just... thrown up all over the mall.
Ally understood why others could love the holiday season so much, well... sort of. What she didn't understand, though, was why it had to be shoved down her throat, when all she really wanted to do was go into work and go about her own business.
Despite what she wanted, though, she was faced with fake, fluffy snow piled on the windows of stores she passed by on the way to Sonic Boom. She was nearly blinded by the array of Christmas lights that bordered a few stores, as well.
Rolling her eyes at the stores that had employees dressed in red and green and donning Santa hats, Ally finally reached her destination. A safe haven, nonetheless. Sonic Boom.
She pushed open the red doors, breathing in the familiar scent of the musical store, closing her eyes.
When her brown eyes flung open, though, she could have sworn that she could have puked at the sight she saw in front of her.
A Christmas tree that towered over her petite frame. Fake presents wrapped pristinely underneath the green tree. Lights that framed nearly every inch of the store. Christmas themed rugs that sat in front of the store counters. Styrofoam snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.
So, maybe Sonic Boom wasn't going to be her safe haven this year after all.
"Ho, ho, ho!" a familiar voice echoed from the back room of the store. Quicker than Ally could roll her eyes, her father appeared through the door, garbed head to toe in Santa attire. "Merry Christmas, Ally!"
"Dad," Ally whined, stomping her boot clad foot on the tile floor beneath her. "You know how much I hate all of this stuff. Especially since it's only the first of the month."
"Yeah, I do, but I don't hate this stuff!" Lester exclaimed cheerily. Noticing the grimace that was etched onto his daughter's face, he began to defend his position. "Come on, sweetie. You used to love the holidays! It's been so long since we really got into the holiday spirit. I miss it."
Ally sighed, knowing how much her father did, in fact, adore Christmas, but also knowing how much she was irritated by it. "Sorry, Dad... I just don't like Christmas."
"Is it because you're always alone on Christmas?" the older man interrogated, without any hesistation.
Ally's eyes widened in shock of her father's wild accusation - and his blunt way of phrasing it. "I'm not alone on Christmas. I spend Christmas with you, Mom, Trish and Dez. Every year," the younger spoke in a "duh" tone.
"Allyson..." Lester spoke sternly, his stare becoming just the smallest bit hard when he spoke the woman's full name. "I mean, your mother and I have each other. Trish and Dez have each other. And, you know... you-"
Ally waved her hand around in protest. "Yeah, yeah, and I have no one. Everyone's got somebody but me. Yeah, I get it, Dad. I'm alone the other 11/12 of the year, so what does it matter being alone for the entirety of the year?" she perked an eyebrow.
"Ally, I'm just saying... you're twenty-two years old. Maybe it's time you finally found someone. Got yourself settled down, y'know?" the man offered his idea to his daughter, as he fiddled around with the random items laying on the counter in front of him.
"I'm only twenty-two, Dad. I don't need to settle down."
"Trish and Dez only hang around us for Christmas because you're there, honey. They're settled down and they're your age. I don't see anything wrong with settling down at 22," he shrugged, moving his Santa beard around to be more comfortable.
Ally rolled her big brown eyes at her father's insincerity towards her decision to be alone. "Trish and Dez have been practically in love with each other since we were kids. If I had met someone that young and been so... perfect with them, I would be settled down, as well. I'm not, though. And I'm okay with that. I don't see why you aren't." Ally made her way to her regular spot behind the counter, opening the cash register and making sure everything was the way it was meant to be.
The truth, though, was that Ally did feel awfully alone when she realized that everyone, including her best friends, had a "somebody", excluding herself.
And maybe the reason she hadn't felt particularly "jolly" for the past few years was because it seemed as if when she became perfectly content with being alone during the holdiay season, one of her single girl friends would come running to her with just the most sickingly cute story of how they met a boy because of a stupid mistletoe or at some stupid family/friend dinner and they shared the same disgust for something stupid. And she had never gotten the chance to share a stupid cute story about how she had found love underneath a stupid plant, or whatever.
But, really, though. Ally didn't particularly mind being alone. Being alone meant she got to choose what she ate for dinner, she got to pick the movies, and what she did for the day. And what else could be better than that... right?
"Who knows, Ally? Maybe you could find love this year," her father's voice broke Ally from her trance. "The holidays are all about having hope, you know."
Ally rolled her eyes. "I don't need to find love, Dad. I have the two best friends I could ask for. The best parents. And I'm going to a great university. I don't need... love," she spat the word out, as if it were toxic.
"Well, certainly, you don't need it, Ally. I just think it could help you get into the spirit a little more. Plus, it's nice to have someone to love," her father smiled a big, friendly smile at her. Before she could reply, though, he waved to her, shouting, "Well, I'm off to go be the mall Santa for the day!"
"It's the first of December and they already want a mall Santa?" she asked, knitting her brows together in confusion, but not recieving an answer as her father wobbled out of the store.
The brunette continued counting the bills in the cash register, sighing quietly to herself.
Maybe her father was right. Maybe this Christmas would be different.