Page 6 of Say Merry Christmas, Boss

She held her hands out, “then I’ll drive.”

“Uh, no. I don’t think so, Little Elf.”

“Okay then, think you can follow my directions, Boss?”

It wasn’t a far drive. The diner she brought us to was lit up in all kinds of Christmas lights, from multi-colored to white bulbs, all the way to candy canes lining the walkway.

“Festive,” I mocked.

She ran her hands over the candy canes as we walked into the diner. The inside was worse, I counted three Christmas trees total, ornaments hung from every possible nook and cranny, it was like the North Pole threw up in here.

Children ran around the tables, some clothed in nice polos, others in Christmas themed PJ sets. Some even had hand-me-down clothes on.

“What?” I had to turn sideways to avoid being run over by three children chasing each other.

“Ashtrid!” A slender woman in a Santa hat hollered.

“Lindsay!” She yelled back and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the back of the diner, where a row of silver catering looking dishes waited. Half of them were almost gone, and people rotated through the kitchen doors with new ones.

“You brought extra hands?” Lindsay asked, nodding in my direction.

“I did!”

“Uh, wha-” I began, but Ash pulled me into the kitchen and placed a red striped apron over my neck.

“All you have to do is scoop food onto plates,” she secured the ties around my waist and placed her hands on her ample hips, “think you can handle that?”

“What?” I couldn’t form a complete sentence before she pushed me out the door and placed me behind the stuffing.

“Scoop, and smile, Boss,” She said, standing beside me at the gravy tray.

I leaned over to her, “I have no idea what just happened in the last ten minutes, care to fill me in?”

She laughed and said, “I thought you could use a little holiday cheer.”

“This is holiday cheer?”

She nodded, “just wait.”

Families came through the line with timid smiles and grateful ‘thank yous’, and I started to piece together what Ash meant. This was a meal drive, of sorts. But some of these people didn’t look homeless, and I didn’t see anyone accepting any money. So it had to be some sort of charity work for low income families or those struggling financially to afford food for the holidays.

After replenishing my tray twice, the line seemed to die down a bit. My feet hurt, but the smile on my face was real. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d smiled and meant it. These people were so excited to have a warm meal, and for their children to have full bellies.

“I volunteer here with Lindsay twice a month, sometimes more if we can get the food,” Ash told me as we cleaned up the serving line.

“It’s that busy?”

She turned her head to look at me, it felt like the first time, and I felt my chest cave in a little at her beauty.

“It was Becks idea,” Ash started, and I should have known, “she loves feeding people, and I love seeing families not have to struggle to put food in their children's bellies.”

“You can't be real.” I blurted, God, what was it about her that made my brain forget its filter?

She laughed, “I am, but I could argue the same thing.”

My eyes snapped to hers, “What do you mean?”

“Come on, Boss,” she scoffed, “look at you.”

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