Tuesday, December 22nd. 3 days 'till Christmas...
Jasmine went to the shelter again to see Aladdin and Rajah. The same woman- Cinderella- was sitting at the front desk.
"Merry Christmas, Cinderella," Jasmine greeted.
"Merry Christmas, Jasmine."
"I'm here to see Rajah and Aladdin."
"I'm sorry; Rajah's been adopted."
Jasmine's heart sank. "Oh. Well... That's good, I guess."
"It is. He'll have a home for Christmas."
Jasmine nodded. Of course that was good for Rajah. But, she already missed him. "Is Aladdin here?"
"No, he works today."
"Do you know where he works?"
"He's a mechanic at the garage across the street."
"Thank you."
Jasmine went back outside. She left her car at the shelter and crossed the street to the garage. She ducked into the office. There was an older man sitting behind the counter, typing furiously on the computer.
"How can I help you?" he asked, briefly looking away from the computer.
"Is Aladdin here?"
The man nodded. "I'll get him for you."
"Thank you."
The man finished his typing, then went out to the garage area. He and Aladdin returned a couple minutes later.
"Jasmine? What are you doing here?" Aladdin asked.
"I just need to talk to you real quick. I promise it'll only take a second."
Aladdin looked back at the older man. He nodded at Aladdin. Aladdin walked around to the front of the counter and he Jasmine went outside.
"I'm sorry to bother you at work," Jasmine told him. "I went to the shelter and Cinderella said you were here."
Aladdin shifted uncomfortably. "It's fine. What do you need?"
Jasmine frowned at his snippy tone. "Um... Rajah's been adopted."
"I know. You could have texted me about that."
"Right. I'm sorry I bothered you. I shouldn't have come here."
Jasmine turned away, but Aladdin grabbed her hand. "No, wait. I'm sorry. You're not bothering me."
"Sounds like I am."
Aladdin shook his head. "I just didn't want you to know where I work."
"Why not?"
"I didn't want you to see me like this." He motioned at his grease- covered skin and dirty clothes. "And I didn't want you to know that I don't have money like you."
"And you think I care about that?"
"How could you not?"
Jasmine glared at him. "Right. Because I'm shallow and materialistic."
"What? No. That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I..." Aladdin exhaled in frustration, but didn't continue.
Jasmine crossed her arms over her chest. "What is it you're trying to say?"
Aladdin sighed. "I guess I was just projecting my own insecurities on you. I'm really sorry, Jasmine."
"I don't care about money, Aladdin."
"I know you don't. I'm just... being a jerk, I guess. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, a little bit," Jasmine agreed. "But, I know you're not actually a jerk. You told me animals can tell whether or not someone is a good person. If Rajah let you pet him, he must think you're good, and that's good enough for me." She offered him an encouraging smile.
Aladdin smiled back. "Can we please pretend this whole conversation didn't happen?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
"Anyways... the real reason I wanted to talk to you is that I want to invite you to my party Christmas night."
"I don't know if I can on Christmas."
Jasmine nodded. "It's last minute; I understand. Just let me know whenever, okay?"
"I will."
OOOOO
Meg was more than a little surprised to find Flynn in the lobby of her work building when she got off work Tuesday night. She walked over to him.
"Hey," she greeted him. "You know your dad's still on his business trip, right?"
Flynn nodded. "I'm here to see you. I thought I'd walk you home."
Meg eyed him. "Flynn Rider, are you trying to get me to kiss you?"
Flynn laughed. "No. But, I won't stop you, if you want to."
Meg shook her head. "Not yet."
"Fair enough."
Flynn opened the door and they were met with a cold blast of air. Meg pulled her hat on. Flynn wrapped his arm around her as they started down the sidewalk. Meg snuggled close to him. His leather coat felt cold against her, but she didn't mind.
"There's something I want to talk to you about," Flynn told her.
"All right, shoot."
"I don't think you should skip all Christmas activities with Proteus. I know you hated missing the Christmas concert and I know if you don't do anything with him at all, you'll regret it."
"I'm actually meeting up with him at the Christmas lights maze a little later tonight."
"Good. And I also had something else in mind, too."
"And what would that be?"
Flynn stopped and turned so he was facing her. "Will you go to the Christmas Eve Ball with me?"
Meg raised her eyebrows. "Flynn, you do not have tickets to the ball."
The Christmas Eve Ball was for charity and all the money made off of the tickets went directly to the charity. However, the ball was geared more for the wealthier people; the tickets were a thousand dollars each. Meg has always wanted to go, but could never afford it. Yesterday Proteus told her he was going to the ball with Odette. She had mentioned Proteus was going to Flynn when they talked last night. It was just a passing comment; there was a lull in the conversation and she didn't know what else to talk about, so she brought it up.
"Marie had two tickets and she gave them to me," Flynn told her.
"The Christmas Eve Ball is the biggest Maldonian event of the year and she just gave you her tickets?"
"I had to promise to shovel her driveway every winter for the rest of my life."
"Ah. That makes more sense."
"You haven't given me your answer."
"Are you sure you wanna go with me?"
"I got the tickets for you; so you can do something Christmassy with your brother."
Meg smiled at him. "You're amazing. Of course I'll go with you."
Flynn took her hand and pulled her closer. "Now, about that kiss..."
Meg hugged him. "Not yet."