Chapter 4: Coffee

December 26th 11:51 A.M. Chicago Apartment

The first thing that hit her was the headache. Dear God! It was like someone just decided to take an axe to her skull a couple dozen times. She slowly sat up in her bed and realized the second thing. She was fully dressed- high heels and everything. Third was a horrible taste that was in her mouth. She managed to catch her reflection in the mirror across the room and saw her eyes were red and her hair looked tangled and stuck out at odd angles. Her clothes were wrinkled and… she couldn't remember anything. Where last night should be in her memory there was just a huge blank space. And it hurt her head to even think about it.

CLANG! She was on her feet in an instant, teetering a moment on her heels. She could clearly hear footsteps coming from the kitchen. Someone was definitely in her apartment. According to her non-recollection no one should be. She quickly grabbed an empty flowerpot off her dresser (she never had time or effort to actually put flowers in). CLANG! Whoever they were, they were very poor thieves. Molly cracked the door open a bit and looked to see a figure going through pans in the kitchen. She crept across the floor on her tip-toes until she was right behind him.

BAM! The vase shattered as she brought it down on his head with all her might. The man fell to the floor sending flour all over her kitchen floor. She saw a phone in a box on the counter by her hat and coat and quickly snatched it. "Hello, I'm in my apartment and-"She smelled something burning. There were eggs on her stove. He has been… cooking? He broke into her apartment to cook?

The man groaned and turned so that she could get a better look at him. "You!" It was the person from the lights… Arnold?

"That really hurt. I'm sorry if I scared you, but you were sick last night. I was just making you breakfast. It looks like you're feeling better though." He looked completely sincere. He was completely sincere. She just knew he wasn't the type to lie- something about him just seemed… sincere and genuine. She hung up the phone and placed it on the counter. It wasn't her phone- it looked brand new and much fancier than her old model. "Do you like your present?" Oh that's right. It was the day after Christmas. Well, that explained the hangover.

"I need caffeine," she muttered. She felt his eyes on her as she walked back towards the bedroom. "Give me twenty minutes."

"You want me to come with?"

"Why not? I'll even treat." She'd never know why she gave that answer to the complete stranger in her kitchen, but she was glad she did. "You don't seem like a serial killer."

12:43 P.M. Brookside Coffee Shop

Arthur sat enjoying his hot chocolate (with peppermint!) while Molly sat across from him drinking her fourth cup, head in her hands. He could understand since he had a bit of a headache too at the moment. It was his fault for scaring her though so he'd made sure he cleaned up the vase while she was getting ready. It only seemed polite after all.

"So… who the hell are you?" she asked after what had been a long silence. "So far I've met you in some lights, in front of my apartment, and in my kitchen. It's almost a little creepy when I reflect on it." Oh, this wasn't good. He remembered Steve's one warning and though he hated it Arthur knew he would have to lie.

"I asked around where you live. I felt real bad about the phone and knew I had to replace it." It was mostly true. He could tell she wasn't buying it though.

"So you had nothing better to do on Christmas, a holiday you seem to really like-"

"It's my absolute favorite! There's no better time of the year where I come from!"

"Right. So you had nothing better to do than buy a phone by finding a shop that was open and then track down and deliver it to a complete stranger. Yeah, I'm buying what you're selling."

"I'm not selling-"

"It was a metaphor!" she snapped. She seemed to be in a very angry mood today- maybe she was still a little sick. "You weren't with your family?"

"Oh, I was most of the day. We celebrate really early and then… enjoy the rest of our day. My family is very… big on celebrating Christmas. One could say it's the busiest day of our year."

"Where are you from?"

"A little north of here," he said quickly, proud at how well he was doing. "It wasn't that long of a ride at all. It was no trouble. And then I saw you were sick, so-"

"I got it. I got it. You must be a regular goody-two-shoes. You have a drunken girl on your hands who lets you into her apartment and you just tuck her in and hang out on the couch? No one I know from here would do that."

"What was I supposed to do? No one should be alone on Christmas."

"I swear if you mention that holiday one more time I might just stab you with a bendy straw from over there. It's over. It's past. Take down the decorations and move on. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I just… I feel bad for you. You don't see the magic."

"I don't see why it's so magical. What makes it that way?" she rose. "I stopped believing a long time ago." She threw her cup out and started out the door- Arthur rushing to follow her. "Now if you excuse me I have a case to work on."

"You're a lawyer right?"

"Indeed I am- well on my way to becoming partner next month."

"Congratulations!"

"What do you do?" He ground to a halt and she looked back. Oh no. What should he say? What should he say? What would Steve say?

"I… work in the family business. It's a factory and delivery service… we're pretty popular."

"What's it called?"

"Well… it's… you see… I-I look at the time," he stumbled gesturing to a clock above them. "I actually have to get back. Let's get you home and then I can go." She was staring at him. This wasn't good. Had she figured it out?

"I can walk home on my own," she mustered after a long pause, holding her head. She probably wasn't thinking about it too much since her head hurt.

"I left my vehicle that way though." They walked for a bit in uncomfortable silence. "So who was that friend of yours you were with last night?" he asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Considering my state last night he was probably just some guy who did know what to do with a girl whose apartment he did manage to get into. You must have scared him off."

"No, you seemed to do that yourself." She shot him a glare and he couldn't help but laugh. "You really do pull off a Scrooge look sometimes."

"Well, it's probably for the best he left. I'm sure I didn't know him though." They reached her apartment and she ascended the steps. "I don't have any friends." What?

"You don't have any friends?" Arthur asked in disbelief. She was even lonelier than he could have imagined. This just wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all. She merely shrugged and started in the door. "I'm your friend!" he shouted after her. She stopped and he smiled.

"You don't want to be my friend." Arthur knew that couldn't possibly be true. He'd have to prove her wrong and try to bring some magic back into her life. It was his job to make everyone happy after all. He shook his head.

"I'll come back and visit sometime," he promised. It'd be hard to sneak away again, but the entire North Pole took January off so there had to be a few opportunities he could visit.

"We'll see about that Arthur." With that she was gone. He made sure she was out of sight before going around to the alley where Bryony was asleep in the sleigh. He climbed in and took off carefully a huge smile plastered on his face. For some reason, when she said his name it made him feel like… like something he couldn't describe. He only hoped he could be a good friend to her and help her believe again- just like her letter said.