If you were to imagine the last place you'd be on Christmas Eve, it'd probably be an airport bar.
But, that's where Edith Gru was right now. She was sitting at an airport bar, waiting as long as she could before she had to go home.
She didn't want to go home because she promised her adoptive parents that she'd bring her boyfriend home for Christmas. The only problem was that she was actually single.
The lie had come during Agnes' wedding to her long time beau, Alex Watson. By then, Margo had already been married to Antonio.
Lucy had started asking if Edith had anybody in her life and Margo started teasing that Edith would be the last one in the family to get married.
So, Edith told everyone that she was dating a healthcare assistant from California.
She had no idea why she would say something like that. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
After a lot of pressure from Gru and Lucy, she eventually gave in and agreed to bring home her boyfriend, Barry, for Christmas.
Edith had tried asking some of her friends her parents didn't know to pretend to be her boyfriend for the holidays, but they all had other plans.
This meant that Edith was screwed. And now she would have no choice but to go on blind dates arranged by her sisters.
So, that's why Edith was drinking alone at an airport bar on Christmas Eve.
But, little did Edith know that a random stranger would be her salvation.
More specifically, the random stranger who just sat at the stool next to her.
"Excuse me," the stranger asked, "Are you alright?"
"Oh," Edith gasped, "Yeah, sure, I'm fine."
"Are you sure," the stranger asked, "Because, if something is wrong, I'd like to help."
"It's nothing anyone can help me with," Edith complained.
"Do you want to talk about it," the stranger asked, "Maybe it will help."
"I don't even know who you are," Edith growled.
"You're right," the stranger realized, "I'm sorry. I just can't stand seeing anyone sad. I want to help as many people as I can."
The two of them started drinking again, until Edith opened up.
"If you must know what's wrong," Edith gave in, "My family is going to kill me because I don't have a boyfriend."
"That seems a bit harsh," the stranger mused.
"Well," Edith confessed, "I actually told them I have a boyfriend."
"Now why would you do that," the stranger asked.
"Because my sisters are both married and have their lives all figured out," Edith blurted out, "And every relationship I've ever been in has fallen apart for one reason or another. And why am I telling all of this to a stranger?"
"Because you need to clean your conscience," the stranger acknowledged.
"What," Edith questioned.
"Your feeling guilty inside of your body," the stranger explained, "So, you have to spill your guts to anybody who will listen."
"I can't believe I'm getting karma lessons from a guy at a bar," Edith complained.
"My name is Jason," the stranger stated.
"Edith," Edith groaned, shaking Jason's hand.
"If it makes you feel any better," Jason stated, "My holiday's pretty sucky too."
"You," Edith asked, "Mr karma man? Why?"
"Let's just say I'm not spending Christmas Eve at a bar because I want too," Jason moaned, "At least you have a family to go home too."
"Disowned or dead," Edith asked.
"Dead," Jason explained, "It was just me and my parents, until they died in a mysterious accident."
"And you didn't have anyone else," Edith asked.
"Well," Jason thought, "There was my brother, but he went to jail for mysterious reasons that were never explained to me."
"Oh," Edith sympathized, "Well, I'm sorry, I guess."
"Gee, thanks," Jason deadpanned, "If only there was some sort of magical solution to both our problems."
Suddenly, Edith's eyes went wide with an idea.
"Will you be my pretend boyfriend," Edith asked.
"What," Jason questioned.
"You need somewhere to spend the holidays," Edith explained, "I need someone to spend the holidays with me, claiming they're my boyfriend. It's the perfect compromise."
"I don't know," Jason considered, "Pretending to be some stranger's boyfriend seems like bad karma and a generic sitcom plot."
"Would you rather spend Christmas here by yourself," Edith asked.
"Fair enough," Jason commented, "Do I have a backstory?"
"You're a healthcare assistant from California," Edith answered, "The rest, you can make your own."
"Can I be Jewish," Jason asked.
"What," Edith questioned.
"Can I be somebody who celebrates Hanukkah, but is compromising and celebrating Christmas for you," Jason asked.
"Sure," Edith stated, "That's fine."
"You bet it is," Jason cheered, "Finally, I can make all the jokes about Judaism I want."
Edith sighed. This was going to be a long Christmas dinner.
