Before Christmas Comes Knocking

Chapter 2 Trapped During a Snowstorm

~AUDREY~

I stopped before entering the elevator, my throat tightening as I turned around and saw Nicholas walking toward me. His steps were deliberate, and his eyes fixed on mine like he was afraid I’d vanish if he looked away even for a second.

When he reached me, he let out a little breath. “Can we…talk? For a moment.”

A moment.

A moment was what it took him to leave me shattered on Christmas Eve six years ago.

There was uncertainty and hopefulness in his eyes when he stared at me. And that caught me.

“Okay.”

He gave a relieved smile. “There’s a coffee shop across the street. We can go there, yeah?”

I hesitated but gave a nod faster than I had planned.

“Let's go.”

He pressed the button and we both entered the elevator.

We walked outside in the cold wind, the snow still falling from the gray sky but heavily this time around. Nicholas walked by my side, staying close. Not too close but close enough for both of us to keep the cold between us a bit warm, and close enough for me to perceive his soft and matured cologne.

The coffee shop, MapleSteam, was dimly lit, and its window fogged by the heater inside. A Christmas wreath was hung on the door and from the inside, soft carols hummed.

He held the door open for me, just like he used to do, and that tightened my chest.

After we stepped in, he stood behind me as we waited by the counter to be served. “Order what you want. It's on me,” he whispered, and I didn't argue.

We ordered hot cocoa and found a corner table by the window to sit. For close to a minute, we said nothing and held our cups as steam curled from them. The air was thick with something neither of us were ready to touch yet.

He broke the silence first. “How've you been?”

I lifted a shoulder. “Well. Better than I expected.”

He smiled a little. “Glad you are.”

“And you?” I asked. “Back in Winterbrook Heights for good?”

“Not really,” he replied, tracing a finger along his cup. “Here for a redevelopment project.”

I lifted my brows. “You're a developer? Or a contractor?”

“A developer,” he said, still tracing his finger along his cup. “I have an urban design and development firm.”

I nodded slowly. “You've always been into buildings. You've finally achieved your dreams.”

His eyes met mine. “Yeah. Guess I have.”

The air turned warm, filled with memories that refused to die.

He leaned back slightly, studying me the way he used to whenever he wanted to guess something I did. “I believe you're now a photographer, yeah?”

“I'm not,” I whispered, my chest heavy as if something was placed on it.

He shifted forward. “Why? Photography was your dream. You've always wanted to capture people's laughter and smiles.”

“Some dreams aren't meant to come true... I guess.” I forced a smile.

How could I have been a photographer when the only thing that came to my mind was him whenever I picked up the camera? Nicholas was my favorite subject, and my heart stung that he didn't know he was.

I looked down at my cup, suddenly needing to breathe.

He said nothing more, and I didn't either. We just drank our cocoa while looking out the window till the sky began darkening. But our eyes met for a few times, and anytime they did, the door to our past opened just a little.

The quiet hum of the speakers changed and the lights flickered. I turned my gaze when people started murmuring and turned their eyes toward the windows.

Nicholas followed my gaze

The snowfall outside had thickened and was now swirling. The wind whipped against the glass and it rattled the window.

“Looks like a storm,” he said.

The manager of the coffee shop came and announced a moment later. “The roads are blocked until visibility improves. Please stay in until the snow dies down.”

Great. Trapped with Nicholas in this warm space. During a snowstorm.

What was happening? Fate trying to mock me or push me?

Nicholas let out a soft laugh. “Well…looks like we'll be here for a while.”

“Mm hmm,” I said, trying to ignore the way butterflies stirred inside me. “Seems that way.”

Outside, the storm grew stronger, and the snow slammed against the windows like the world was about to end, while inside, the coffee shop felt warmer, quieter and even smaller, as if we were the only ones left in the world.

Nicholas shifted a bit, his knees brushed mine under the table and I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat.

I didn't move. He didn't either.

We just stared at each other, something thickening more in the air.

“I never expected to see you today,” he confessed, his voice dropping a little.

“Neither did I,” I admitted, biting my lower lip.

“But I'm glad I did though.”

The sparkle in his eyes stole my breath. It was the same look he gave me whenever he wanted to kiss me in the past. The same stare that once made me proud as his.

When he reached for his cup, I also reached mine at the same time. Our fingers brushed, slowly but lingering. Warm skin and familiar heat.

My stomach flipped, and I pulled in a sharp breath, leaving the cup and placed my hands on the table.

“I…” I paused, pressing my lips together.

“Audrey?” He held my hand and blinked once, slowly.

My throat tightened, words failing to come out. I had wanted to ask him why he held me. I had wanted to pull my hand away from his hold.

But I didn't. I couldn't.

He leaned forward, so close that I could feel his warmth and the softness in his expression and air around him. And that pulled me in like the sweet aromas that filled the coffee shop.

My heart jumped into my throat when he reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of my right eye. His knuckles rubbed my cheek, slowly, gently, and my breath caught.

He leaned in with such carefulness, his forehead resting on mine as if it was its home.

I closed my eyes, feeling the world melt away for a second. The hurt, the years, the silence, all melt along. The only thing remaining was the young man who used to hold me on cold nights and make me feel that my world could be warm with him in it.

His breath warmed my lips just like it used to.

But then, my chest tightened as a memory hit hard.

His voice saying we should end what we had, his tone which was annoyingly calm that day, his back the last thing I saw.

They all came back at once.