Page 4 of Kenzi's Little Christmas Wish

“Damn.” Kenzi glanced at herself. “I forgot I was wearing this stupid outfit. I need to change out of this. Where are we having lunch?”

“At the diner across the street, and just wear a jacket over that.”

A few minutes later, they pushed the door to the restaurant open, and that was when Kenzi discovered that apparently everyone at the store came to the same diner for lunch. Debbie led Kenzi to the back and they sat at an empty table, Debbie waving at some of her coworkers as they took their seats.

“You know, I really thought being in the land of the living would provide the spark you needed to get over that douche.”

Kenzi just made a noncommittal sigh and grabbed one of the laminated menus on the table.

“You gonna talk to me about him one day?” Debbie asked when she saw her friend, yet again, trying to dodge the issue.

“I would, if there was anything to talk about, Debbie.”

“There actually is, and we can start by talking about what kind of relationship you guys had.”

“I’ve told you a million times, we were friends.”

“With benefits?”

“Yeah, maybe, something like that. And one of the benefits was that I never needed to worry about this kind of question.” Kenzi turned in her seat and looked at Debbie. “You are a romantic, and I know you always wish I was with someone who fit your traditional concept of what a relationship should look like…”

“Well, is that so bad?”

“No, it’s not. But I want you to understand that Barry gave me something I needed, and in his own way, loved me for the fact that I gave him something he wanted. I won’t lie and say that getting dumped by him didn’t suck, but I’m getting over it. In the meantime, you trying to understand what we had would only leave you more confused than you are now. Trust me on this, okay?”

Debbie thought for a moment. “Okay. I guess I really didn’t understand what you two had. Which is why when you guys broke up and you got so sad, I got kinda confused. I’m still confused about it, but I’m not going to bring it up again, unless you tell me you want to talk about it.”

“Thanks,” Kenzi said, just as the waitress walked up to them and took their order.

“So, how did your first day as Santa’s helper go?” Debbie asked as soon as the waitress left.

“Horrible. The other elf was nice, but that Santa was mean, arrogant and overbearing.”

“Really?” A voice said behind them - a voice Kenzi recognized all too well. “Or is it just that he cared more about the kids than a grownup who decided to act like one.”

Kenzi swiveled around to find Jimmy - the elf - in regular clothes, and another man standing behind her. But all her attention was focused on the man standing beside Jimmy. He was tall, clearly over six feet. He wore a flannel shirt and not even the thick material could hide the impressive build he had under there. He had a silky fall of jet-black hair with just a little bit of silver threading through; too short to require a haircut, but long enough to make you wonder how he would look in a rock band. As lead singer, of course, since there was no way someone with such an arrogant smile would ever play second-fiddle to anyone. But his eyes were a study in contradiction. Blue, and soft; the kind you would love to stare down at you as you lay on a…

Kenzi blinked once, then twice and then yet again when she realized she was just about to fantasize about a man who had just accused her of being a big overgrown baby.

“Kenzi, meet Santa,” Debbie chirped, either too obtuse to notice the tension between the two of them or just plain ignoring it. Jimmy sat beside her while Santa sat next to Debbie.

“The name is Damon, by the way,” Santa added, and even though he was not wearing a mane of white hair on his chin, or the big pouch that apparently was hiding… well, whatever it was he was hiding under his shirt, Kenzi realized she was finding it hard to shake the Santa persona she had attributed to him.

“Damon owns the store, by the way,” Debbie added, before she turned to Jimmy and asked him how it felt to be an elf for the store Christmas play. As Jimmy talked about what a great time he was already having, Kenzi turned her attention to Damon... aka, big bad Santa, aka her new boss, apparently - only to find out he already had his eyes on her. The smile on his face had Kenzi baring her teeth at him without even realizing she was doing so. And when his smile got even wider, she found herself wishing she was not a gun control advocate. She had no idea what a sawed-off shotgun looked like, but Kenzi knew if she could get her hands on one, she would not need any lessons in using it on Damon.

The voice of the waitress asking to take down the guys orders was the only thing that stopped her from sticking her tongue out at him.

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