And speaking of perfection, as I trudged across the hot parking lot, there she was, just ahead of me, locking her car and heading toward the mall. Fate was smiling on me.
“Faith!” I called out, jogging a little to catch up. “Hey.”
Her face brightened. “Harry! Are you working this afternoon?”
“Yeah. We’re short a manager, since the other one is on maternity leave, so I have to cover any gaps.” I lifted one shoulder. “I don’t mind too much. How about you? You have a shift today, too?”
She giggled. “Well, yeah, I asked to work this afternoon, since I haveplanstonight.” She nudged me with her elbow, like there was an inside joke only the two of us would get. And then she gazed up at me through her eyelashes, and ugh, she caught her lower lip between her teeth.
I wished I could tell her that when she did that, she didn’t look like the girl from that vampire movie; she looked more like one of the witch sisters fromHocus Pocus.
“Uh, great.” I looked away. “I planned to pick you up about six. Does that work?”
“Sure.” We’d reached the doors, and Faith craned her neck to look at the trucks. “What are they doing there? Fixing lights?”
“Actually, they’re putting up the Christmas decorations.” I held open the door, allowing her to go inside ahead of me. “You know, ‘tis the season.”
“Christmas decorations?” She wrinkled her nose. “Really?”
“Sure. It’s a mall, and this is our most lucrative time of the year.” I shrugged, and then I cocked my ear, pointing upwards. “Hear that? The Christmas songs have begun, too. They’ll be our soundtrack for the next two months. You’ll go home singingJingle BellsandI Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”
“No. Way.” Faith’s eyes were wide. “I thought things would be different down here. I thought since it was, like, a tropical climate, I’d be getting away from this crap.” She clapped her hands over her ears. “I can’t deal with this.”
“What’s wrong?” I stared at her. “You don’t like Christmas music?”
“I don’t likeChristmas.” She shuddered, and even in the middle of my dismay, I thought she was being more than a little melodramatic about the whole thing. “I hate it. Call me a Grinch, call me Scrooge, but I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. I’m not at all religious, and I can’t stand the way people get all gooey and sentimental about a stupid time of year. The music is schmaltzy, the decorations are cheap, and people get crazy.”
Standing there just inside the mall, outside the stuffed animal store, all of my carefully constructed plans began tumbling to the ground.
“I’ve never met anyone who hated Christmas.” I blurted out the words, mostly because it was all I could think to say. “You’re not just punking me, are you? Is this a joke?”
“It is not at all a joke. I am deadly serious.” She shook her head. “Please don’t tell me you’re into all of this nonsense.”
It was a moment of decision. I had the opportunity to play along, to pretend that the holiday season didn’t mean anything to me, or at least, that I wasn’t attached enough to it to prevent me from dating her. But I couldn’t bring myself to do that. It would be a lie, and eventually, as silly as it sounded, this would be a problem.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “Yeah, I’m totally into all of this, uh,nonsense. I love Christmas. I love all the holidays. I have Christmas socks. I play my Christmas music in August, sometimes. I watch the movies, and I’ll be putting up a tree in a few weeks. I think it really is the most wonderful time of the year.”
“Arrghhhh.” Faith dropped her head back, her eyes squeezed shut. “I can’t believe this. All of the time I put into you—and this is what I get.”
“Time? What’re you talking about?” I frowned. “We’ve known each other for a little over a week. And we haven’t had our first real date yet.”
She gazed at me pityingly. “You didn’t think all of this happened by accident, did you? I saw you in the bookstore my very first shift there. I found out who you were and where you worked. I went down that day just to meet you.” Shaking her head, she gave a short, humorless laugh. “These things don’t just magically occur, Harry. Any girl who says otherwise is lying to you. Trust me.”
But suddenly, trusting this girl was the last thing I wanted to do.
“I think you’re wrong.” I tried to keep my voice even, to hide how much her words affected me. “I think you’re wrong about everything. Christmas is a magical time. It does matter. And not all romance is—manufactured. Not all women are like you.” I glared down at her. “I don’t like being manipulated. I wouldn’t do it to you.”
“Sure, you wouldn’t.” Faith rolled her eyes. “You might call it something else, but you would. I’d be willing to bet youhavedone it in the past, with other girls. Just because I beat you to the punch this time is no reason to get all pissy.”
“Maybe not. But you know what?” I stepped backward. “Let’s save both of us some time and aggravation. I don’t want to take you out tonight. I’m sure you wouldn’t have a good time with what I’ve planned, and I’d disappoint you. Let’s just—” I threw up my hands. “Let’s just walk away and say no harm, no foul. This was a mistake.” I began to move away, suddenly anxious to be away from Faith.
“No harm for me, you can bet!” She yelled after me. “I can find a guy who’s twice as hot as you, asshole!”
Ignoring her, I kept walking until the swell of Christmas bells drowned out her words. It felt somehow fitting.
* * *
“Do you want a refill?” Sophia stood over me, regarding me with a mixture of humor and pity. “That coffee has got to be cold by now. You’ve been working here for over two hours.”
