Thursday, December 17th. 8 days 'till Christmas...

Jasmine spent the last three days thinking about Aladdin- and Rajah. She and Aladdin didn't exchange numbers, so she hasn't talked to him since Monday. The only way she knew how to get ahold of him was to go back to the shelter. Which was perfect because then she'd be able to see Rajah again, too.

The same woman was working at the front desk when Jasmine got there.

"Hello again," Jasmine greeted her.

"Hello. Jasmine, right?"

Jasmine nodded. "Is Aladdin here?"

"He is, but he's pretty busy right now."

"Oh, that's all right. Is it okay if I go in the cat room?"

"Of course."

"Thank you. And if Aladdin becomes available, could you tell him I'm here?"

"Sure thing."

Jasmine thanked her again and went into the cat room. Marie came over to investigate her again, but then went to play with Figaro. Jasmine found Rajah in the same corner. He stared at her as she sat down in front of him. She reached into her purse and pulled out a plastic food container with tuna in it. She then pulled out a plastic fork. When she opened the container, Rajah's nose twitched. She also had the attention of some of the other cats, but they were all too afraid of Rajah to approach her. She put a little bit of tuna on the fork and held it out to Rajah. The movement must have spooked him because he hissed and swatted at the fork, sending it flying out of her hand and skitting across the floor. One of the other cats walked over to the fork and started licking the tuna off of it.

"Now, see what you did?" Jasmine asked Rajah. "I'm trying to get you on the nice list, here, but you have to work with me a little."

Jasmine scooped a little tuna on the tip of her finger and slowly reached out to Rajah. This time he didn't try attacking her. He cautiously stepped towards her and sniffed her. He then quickly licked the tuna off of her finger, while watching her other hand the whole time. When he finished, he retreated back to the corner.

"Now we're getting somewhere."

Jasmine put more tuna on her finger and held it out to him again. He did the same thing as before: licked it up as quickly as possible, while keeping his eye on her other hand, then hurrying back to his corner.

"How many times do you think we'll have to do this until you trust me?"

Rajah let out a small meow.

"All right. Well, I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Jasmine scooted back a little and slid the container in front of Rajah.

Rajah sniffed the container, then started eating the tuna.

Jasmine smiled at him. "That's a good boy."

"Making new friends?" Aladdin asked, sitting down next to her.

"Trying to," she replied. "I think we're making progress. He licked tuna off of my finger. Twice."

"I find that hard to believe."

"It's totally true."

"Do you have any witnesses?"

Jasmine looked around at the other cats. "No, I guess not."

"How convenient."

Jasmine laughed. "I don't need you to believe me. I know he and I are forming a bond."

"He's forming a bond with that tuna."

Jasmine stuck her tongue out at him.

When Rajah finished the tuna, Jasmine went to pick up the container. When she reached out, Rajah sniffed her finger. She held her hand out to him, but didn't move it. He continued to sniff the finger she had put the tuna on, then started licking it.

Jasmine gave Aladdin a smug look, but his eyes were glued to Rajah.

When Rajah stopped licking her, Jasmine took the opportunity to pet him, and he let her. Jasmine beamed. She felt so blessed.

"Rajah, I want you to know that I love you. I wish I could take you home with me, but dad would never allow it."

"I can't believe what I'm seeing right now," Aladdin said. "I've never seen him accept affection. At least, not since he was a kitten."

"It's just the tuna."

Aladdin shook his head. "You don't think we've tried getting him to warm up to us using tuna? We have. It's never worked."

"Ah. Well, then it must be because he knows I have a direct line to Santa and I can get him on the nice list."

"Or maybe he recognizes how amazing you are."

Jasmine looked over at him. "You don't even know me."

"I don't know have to; I always trust the judgement of animals. Animals can sense if a person is good or not. Rajah doesn't trust anyone, so if he trusts you, you have to be pretty amazing."

Rajah slowly walked closer to Jasmine. She stopped petting him and kept her hands where he could see them. He stopped in front of her. He looked up at her, then looked at her hands. Then he cautiously crawled over her legs and curled up on her lap.

"Oh my God," Jasmine whispered. She start to pet him and once again he let her.

Aladdin smiled at her. "See?"

"This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me."

Aladdin reached over and scratched Rajah's head. Rajah started purring.

"He lets you pet him, too?" Jasmine asked.

"Sometimes. I think he knows I'm the only one here who hasn't given up on him. Even Archimedes and Jane think he'll always be aggressive and mean and will end spending the rest of his life in this shelter. I know it's selfish, but part of me hopes he does. I want to adopt him, but I can't have animals where I live; so, if he stays at the shelter, at least I can still see him every day."

Jane Porter came into the room then. "Aladdin, there are you."

"Sorry, Jane. Cinderella told me Jasmine was here, so I thought I'd say hi real quick."

"Ah. The famous Jasmine. It's nice to formally meet you."

"You, too," Jasmine told her.

"But, Aladdin, I really need you to help get the dogs ready for Saturday."

"I'll be there in a minute."

Jane nodded and left.

"What's happening Saturday?" Jasmine asked him.

"Al's Christmas drive party. Have you ever gone?"

Jasmine shook her head. "I've wanted to, but my dad's work Christmas dinner is always the same night as the party and I'm obligated to attend. I was thinking about going this year, though, since the dinner was moved to Sunday night."

"You should. Every year, we bring some of the dogs to the party so the kids can play with them. And every year, all of the dogs we bring get adopted by some of the party attendees. Because every dog we bring gets adopted, we always bring the oldest dogs and the ones who have been here the longest."

"That's really sweet."

Aladdin nodded. "So, do you want to go to the party with me?"

"Like, as a date?"

Aladdin smiled at her. "Yeah."

Jasmine smiled back at him. "I'd love to."

"Great. I have to get there early to help get the dogs ready, so how about you meet me there once the party starts?"

"That works."

"Good. I'm looking forward to it."

"Me, too."

OOOOO

After work on Thursday, Odette dropped off all the items she and her family bought for the drive at Al's Toy Barn, then went to Mortimer's department store to pick up the gifts her dad ordered for his employees. All of the female employees were getting a bottle of expensive perfume in a red crystal bottle, that Odette had to admit smelled amazing. The male employees were getting gold cufflinks with tiny rubies and emeralds embedded in them. Her dad thought the cufflinks were festive. While the red, green, and gold certainly looked Christmassy, Odette thought they were gaudy and were more suited for an ugly Christmas sweater party. But, what did she really know about cufflinks, anyway?

After getting everything she needed to from Mortimer's, Odette headed out into the mall and went to the food court. She didn't have any plans for tonight and was going to be eating dinner alone either way, so she figured she may as well hit the food court since she was already at the mall.

It seemed she wasn't the only one who had the same idea. The food court was packed with holiday shoppers. Every place had a long line and from where she stood, she couldn't see an empty table anywhere. Still, she really didn't want to make another stop on her way home, so she decided to stick it out. Maybe a table would open up by the time she got her food.

Odette stood in line at Sbarro for fifteen minutes before she finally got her pasta and garlic bread. She moved away from the counter with her tray and scanned the food court. She didn't see any empty tables, but she did spot Proteus sitting alone at a table near the smoothie place. She hoped he wouldn't mind sharing a table with her. She made her way through the people and walked over to his table.

"Can I sit with you?" Odette asked him.

Proteus looked up from his Chinese food. When he saw it was her, he smiled. "Sure."

He moved his one shopping bag over to make room for her and she sat down across from him. She set her own bags on the chair next her. Her dad had a lot of employees and all of the gifts ended up filling a handful of bags.

"I didn't take you for a mall person," Odette said.

"I'm not. I'm just getting gift cards for my sisters."

Odette made a face at him. "Gift cards are terrible Christmas presents."

Proteus shook his head and went back to eating his dinner. "The only people who actually think that are the ones who have never received a gift card. Everybody gets excited when they get a gift card to their favorite store. Especially my sisters."

"It just doesn't seem thoughtful."

Proteus shrugged. "Vanessa and Meg would disagree. Exchanging gift cards has been our tradition since we all moved out on our own. Unless you're insanely wealthy, everyone has times where they can barely afford rent, bills, and groceries, let alone be able to splurge on themselves. Gift cards are basically like giving the other person a shopping spree and allowing them to treat themselves."

"I get that, I guess."

"Plus, it takes the stress out of Christmas shopping."

"Christmas shopping doesn't stress me out; I love it."

"I can see that." Proteus nodded at her bags.

"Oh, none of that's mine. Those are my dad's gifts for his employees. He's hosting the work Christmas party tomorrow night and asked me to pick them up for him. I've already finished my shopping."

"He hosts it? Does that mean he has it at his house?"

Odette nodded. "Yeah, it's actually a pretty big deal. He goes all- out with the decorations and food. I mean, I find it to be kind of boring because I'm the only one there my age, besides Derek. But, everybody else seems to have a good time."

"If you're always bored, why do you go?"

"Because I'm one of his employees, so it's my work Christmas party, too."

"What do you do?" Proteus asked. "For work, I mean."

"I work the front desk at my dad's hotel."

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, I really do."

"That's important."

Odette nodded in agreement.

They fell into a comfortable silence while they ate their dinners.

After a few minutes, Proteus said, "I've never been to a Christmas party."

Odette looked up at him. "You haven't?"

Proteus shook his head.

Odette tilted her head to the side. "Do you want to go to the party tomorrow night? If you've never been to a Christmas party, the Swan Rose company party is a great one to be your first."

"You just said it was boring."

"For me, because there's no one else my age there. But, if you were there, it'd be fun."

"I appreciate it, but I don't want to crash your dad's work party."

"You wouldn't be crashing it; you'd actually be doing me a huge favor, 'cause otherwise I'd be stuck hanging out with Derek all night."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure I'd be stuck with Derek all night."

Proteus laughed. "No, I mean: are you sure you actually want me there?"

"Definitely," Odette replied. "That is, if you don't already have plans. It is Friday night..."

"I had plans with Meg, but she canceled, so I'm actually free."

Odette smiled. "Perfect."