It's eerily quiet in Manhattan tonight as the first blizzard makes it's way over the bright city just in time for Christmas Eve tomorrow. The snowflakes are becoming heavier and falling faster, making it easy for the streets of New York to be covered in a thin fresh sheet of snow within a short amount of time. With temperatures nearing twenty degrees and the snow picking up it's no wonder there are not as many people strolling the neighborhood on this freezing Friday night. Those who are brave enough to brace the storm are bundled tight with winter coats, scarves, beanies and gloves to try to keep warm.
Brittany enjoys the sound of her snow boots crunching down on the fresh snow as she shoves her now bright red freezing hands into her pockets. She's no stranger to the cold, but she's typically more prepared and can't shake the thought of how disappointed her mom would be for leaving her mittens at home. She thinks back to around this time last year when she was back home in Minnesota, where it reaches temperatures far much lower than around here (New Yorkers make everything so dramatic). Brittany recalls her house being decorated to the nines to prepare for hosting the family for the holidays, the smell of fresh sugar cookies and her very own Christmas playlist blasting through her Alexa in the kitchen. Brittany sighs and can't shake the feeling of loneliness that creeps inside of her as she thinks about this time last year, from being surrounded by her family to now being completely alone. Sure, she had made friends since she moved here but she definitely was not close enough to spend Christmas with them. Sometimes she is unsure of her decision to move to the big city by herself, especially since she is not the successful Broadway dancer she thought she would be by now. However Brittany's mother really didn't give her much of a choice when she handed her an early Christmas present last year.
One year ago, St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Susan enters her home with grocery bags hanging off each arm as she hears the sound of music coming from the kitchen. She smiles to herself as she knows exactly who could be playing the music this loud, her oldest daughter Brittany. Sure enough when she makes her way to the kitchen she sees Brittany, still in her snowflake onesie, dancing gracefully to The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Despite the weight of the grocery bags hanging on her arms, Susan can't help but take a moment to stand and watch her talented daughter in awe. To this day she cannot believe how talented her daughter is, and it's moments like this where she remembers that the hardest decision of her life really isn't that hard after all.
Brittany still hasn't noticed her mother standing there as she dances with her eyes closed, so Susan places all the bags down on the island and takes a seat on one of the barstools patiently waiting for her daughter to notice her. After a moment Brittany opens her eyes and is shocked to see her mother sitting there with a dopey grin on her face. She jumps back and places her hand on her heart trying to calm down the rate at which it's beating thanks to her mother's ghost like presence. Susan gets the reaction she had hoped from her as Brittany jumps back, nearly knocking over the perfectly crafted gingerbread house made by her and her younger sister Lily a few hours ago.
"Holy cow mom! You almost gave me a heart attack. And more importantly, you almost made me knock over this masterpiece." Brittany points over to the gingerbread house before telling Alexa to pause her Christmas playlist. Susan lets out a giggle before taking a breath and realizing it's now or never. She knew there would never be a good time for this moment and after the dance routine she had just witnessed she is sure she is making the right decision by what she's about to give her daughter.
"Honey, take a seat" she pats the stool next to her own as she takes an envelope out of her purse. "I have something I need to give you." Her tone is serious but Brittany doesn't pick up on it as she sits down next to her mother and eagerly looks down at the envelope that reads "Merry Christmas Brittany" and immediately looks back at her mother.
"Mom, are you feeling okay? Christmas Eve isn't until tomorrow silly!" Brittany knew her mother well enough to know there is no way she would give up a present before Christmas. That was a big no-no in the Pierce household around the holidays.
"I know, but I need to give you this now before Aunt Maddie, Uncle Joe and the kids get here. You know we won't have peace and quiet in this house for a few days with them around." Brittany smiles and nods her head in understanding. Her Aunt Maddie is her mother's sister who married a big Italian guy and now suddenly she thinks she's Mrs. Soprano. They have three children together all under the age of ten so it's no secret that things get loud when they're around. Brittany takes another look at the white envelope and suddenly it hits her.
Her face falls as she realizes what it is. "Mom..."
"Honey B, please. Open it."
Brittany carefully opens the envelope, her hands feeling shaky all of a sudden, and pulls out exactly what she had expected. Her hands are shaking even more now as she pulls out a one way ticket to the city of her dreams, Manhattan, scheduled to take off on December 26th at 9:30 am.
"No mom. Thank you, but no." Brittany's tone is firm as she shakes her head vigorously and shoves the ticket back in the envelope to hand back to her mom. Her bottom lip begins to quiver and she's fighting back tears knowing exactly what's happening here. Her plan was always to move out to New York after high school graduation, but that all changed when her father tragically passed away a year after graduation. It's been two long, hard years now but she still cannot imagine leaving her mother and younger sister all alone in this big house. She has always been there to take care of them and she wasn't ready for that to end.
"Brittany," her mother takes her daughters hand in her own and holds it tightly, "it's time. You have sacrificed enough over the past couple of years and I cannot live with myself knowing that your talent is being wasted." Soon after she finishes speaking the tears begin flowing between both women and Brittany can do nothing but fall into her mother's embrace as she strokes her hair and repeatedly tells her it's going to be okay.
Brittany shivers at the memory and before she knows it she's standing in front of her apartment building, the same one her Uncle Joey got set up from her despite having any sort of real estate experience. Brittany was never one to ask questions when it came to her Uncle Joey, who always seemed to make the impossible happen. Brittany's apartment was definitely one of those impossible things being that her Uncle had managed to get her a one bedroom apartment in Manhattan for $1500 a month. The few times she has had someone over to her place she can tell they wonder how on Earth she could afford a space like that on her own. Everyone she knows has at least one roommate, some even splitting a studio apartment just to get by. Brittany knows she's lucky and remembers to text her Uncle Joey every now and then thanking him yet again for hooking her up.
What seemed like the longest walk ever Brittany is relieved when she's finally opening the door to her apartment. She still isn't used to how quiet it is when she comes home to no one, and yet she can't help but take a double look at her couch thinking maybe just maybe her mother and Lily would be sitting there cuddled together waiting for her to return. The two of them had planned to come spend the holidays in New York with Brittany since it was their first year apart, but thanks to the blizzard every incoming flight into New York was canceled.
Normally a white Christmas is her favorite but she can't help but silently curse each snowflake coming down for taking her family away from her this year. Wanting to get a closer look than her bedroom window offered, Brittany threw her purse down on her bed and pulled open the window to climb out onto her fire escape. The cold air is brutal against her face but she doesn't care as she takes another look at the little devils coming down from the sky.
"You little snowflake bastards betrayed me! You just couldn't wait until tomorrow could you?" Brittany's hand is balled up into a fist aimed at the sky when she hears someone nearby clear their throat. Quickly she lowers her fist and is hesitates to look around to find out where that sound is coming from, or better yet who that sound is coming from. She wasn't that friendly with many of her neighbors and now after this encounter I'm sure they will think Brittany is just another weirdo to stay far away from.
Slowly she turns to her left and immediately spots a beautiful young woman resting her elbows along the metal railing of the fire escape a few feet away from her. Despite the snow flurries Brittany can make the girl's features out perfectly as she notices long brown hair with loose curls falling along her back. What strikes her the most is the fact that the girl is wearing nothing but a tight tank top and boxer shorts, she must be some type of vampire if she's out here in this weather dressed like that and doesn't even look bothered. The girl has a smug grin on her face right before she takes a long drag from her cigarette obviously enjoying watching Brittany curse at the participation. Brittany gulps as she watches every move the brunette makes, noticing that her brown eyes never seem to leave Brittany's blues once.
"Say something to her already! She probably thinks you're some sort of freak" Brittany thinks to herself, but before she can open her mouth she recognizes her always shirtless neighbor, Sam, climb out onto the fire escape to wrap his strong arms around the petite girl. Brittany has met Sam only a handful of times on the occasion they bump into each other when collecting their mail. He's about six feet tall so Brittany makes an assumption that this girl must only be about 5'5" seeing how small she looks compared to him. Still not able to look away, she notices Sam move away from the girl to start heading inside, and in that moment Brittany notices yet another long drag taken from the brunette who seems to be enjoying that cigarette a little too much. "You seem sad," Brittany whispers to herself as she watches the girl put her cigarette out on the the ground.
"Babe come on, it's fucking freezing out here and I have the shower running for us." The loud voice clearly belongs to Sam who is obviously waiting for what seems to be his girlfriend to come back inside. Why was she out here for so long anyway? Especially dressed like that, she can get a cold! At this point Brittany is wondering the same thing about herself, who is now covered in snow thanks to the enticing girl next door.
Brittany begins to make her way through the window to her bedroom but before she climbs through she takes one last look at her neighbor's fire escape and is met with the brunette's eyes one last time before she quickly disappears inside. Her head is spinning from the encounter and she has no idea what just happened, but one thing she does know is that she just embarrassed herself in front of what she now believes to be the most beautiful girl she has ever seen in her life.