All I Want For Christmas
Mary Camden sighed as she stood in line at the local mall to sit on Santa's lap. Yes, you heard me right, Mary Camden, a 26 year old flight attendant, was standing in line, amongst a group of hyperactive children, to sit on Santa's lap.
Not that she was doing this willingly of course, her friend and colleague, Katie Wells, had dared her to do this, and in return, had agreed to do so as well. But unbeknownst to Mary, Katie had a much bigger reason for her actions, Katie's sister Allison, who worked part time at the mall and was spending the Christmas season as an elf, had filled her in on exactly who was playing Santa Claus.
Mary gulped as Katie pushed her forward with specific instructions as to what to say.
"Alright Mary, make sure you tell him what you really want for Christmas, none of this doll, pony, castle crap. I know what you want-or who rather. There's no lying to Santa Claus."
Mary glared at her friend and headed up to Santa.
"Well well well," he said thoughtfully as Mary sat down on his lap. "Aren't we a big girl? Now what do you want for Christmas?"
Mary smirked at Katie and began to speak. "Well Mr. Claus, I want a doll, and a pony, and a castle, and well, what I really want for Christmas is to go home to my family, but I'm scared they won't love me anymore, and I want my son Charlie back from his bastard of a father, even if I was the one who signed away custody, and well, I really would like my ex-boyfriend back too. I've been through so much, but I've ruined it for the both of us so many times that I'm scared he won't love me any more than my family will."
Mary had tears in her eyes now as Santa lifted her chin so that they were looking into his.
"What was his name?" he asked softly.
Mary gulped and spoke up. "Wilson." she said. "Wilson West."
A smile crossed Santa's face as he lowered his beard and removed his glasses.
"I do love you Mary. I never stopped and I never will." and he leaned in and kissed her.
When they pulled away Mary smiled. Yes, she genuinely smiled for the first time in over three years.
"Meet me back here at six, okay?" Wilson asked her.
Mary nodded as she hopped up and hugged her friend.
"Thank you SO much!" she squealed, and she grabbed Katie and Allison's hands and dragged them off towards what was known by the teenagers as the "hott" side of the mall. Yes, that's right, hott, with two T's.
The "hott" side of the mall contained stores such as Macy's, Victoria's Secret, Pac Sun, Gucci, Bloomingdale's, Old Navy, The Gap, Kohl's, Belk, Hecht's, and J.C. Penny's.
To Allison's surprise, but not so much Katie's, Mary pulled the two directly into, yup, you guessed it, Victoria's Secret with no hesitation whatsoever.
Katie laughed as Mary headed straight for the skimpy, yet sexy, black lingerie and pulled a lacey bra and thong from the rack.
Allison, however, being three years older than the two, stared reproachfully as Mary paid the girl at the desk and ran for Bloomingdale's.
"Mary, are you sure about this?" Allison asked, Katie still dying of laughter.
"Hell yeah!" Mary exclaimed. "Santa's getting a naughty girl tonight!"
"Yeah, well Little Miss Naughty Girl better pay for that skirt if she plans on getting back to the North Pole in the next twenty minutes." Katie said, her laughter, which had just started to die down, working its way back up.
"It's not just any skirt!" Mary exclaimed. "It's the skirt that's gonna make him want me bad! Now help me find a really low-cut top."
Mary was holding up a VERY short denim skirt as well as a matching cropped jacket as she worked her way through the aisles of shirts.
"FOUND ONE!" Allison called out, shocking both Katie and Mary as she pulled a low-cut crimson red top from the aisle they were currently roaming.
"OH MY GOSH!" Mary cried. "IT'S GORGEOUS!"
"Excuse me!" a woman called from the next aisle. "But there are some of us with small children who happen to be sleeping."
Mary's jaw dropped. She recognized that voice. "Luce?"
"Mary?"
"Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you in years! How's Kevin? Ruthie? Matt? Simon? Oh, please tell me Simon's okay? And what about Robbie? And that one kid, um...Martin? Cecelia? Mom? Dad?"
Lucy laughed as she pulled Mary into a hug.
"I'll tell you everything later, say, after dinner maybe? I had plans with Kevin, but I'm sure those can wait until tomorrow. I'll just call him now and tell him, I'm sure Mom won't mind if we dump Savannah on her tomorrow night instead of tonight."
Katie just laughed. "I don't think that'll work." she said. "Your sister has a date with Santa Claus tonight."
Lucy's eyes widened in shock as she turned to Mary, only to find she was now coddling Savannah.
"Hi Savannah, I'm your Aunt Mary. I'm your mommy's sister." she cooed, causing Savannah to giggle and grab Mary's index finger in her left hand.
"MARY!" Lucy called a fourth time.
"Huh?" Mary asked her sister, finally looking up.
"What's this I hear about you having a date with Santa Claus?"
Mary laughed and pointed at Katie. "Well," she began. "Let's start with introductions. This is my friend and co-worker Katie Wells, and her sister Allison. Alie, Katie-this is my sister Lucy."
"Hi" was exchanged around the group and Katie and Lucy assumed the never-ending conversation of dealing with older sisters until Lucy remembered what they should really be talking about.
"So, Mary-about this date with Santa Claus-who is he really? Do I know him?" Lucy asked with interest.
"Hell yeah!" Katie exclaimed. "His name's Wilson-Wilson West. She's had an on/off relationship with him for almost-"
"12 years." Lucy finished. "Yeah, I know all about Wilson, and Billy, and Lindsay, and-"
"Luce?"
"Yeah Mary?"
"Shut up. I've gotta pay for this outfit, change, and get back to the North Pole-all in ten minutes."
Lucy laughed and pulled Savannah's stroller a bit closer to her.
"Yeah, well, Kevin and I'll be in town for a whole week, maybe if tonight goes well you and Wilson could meet us for a double date some time." she replied.
"Maybe." Mary said with a smile. "That'd be nice. I'll call you later tonight when I get home. What's the number?"
Lucy wrote down her cell phone number and gave it to Mary as they bid each other farewell and headed their separate ways-Lucy to the children's section and Mary to the check-out counter.