Modern Day Santa Claus

MDSC [2]

Chapter 2

"Holy sh—"

"I don't think that language is gonna please the kids." He completely cut off Jae's sentence before she could finish it.

Jae's eyes were still as wide as saucers. Oh no. She can't even begin to wonder how the hell they ended up in this awkward situation right here. She was mentally cursing herself, again and again. Why are you making such a fool of yourself in front of such a beautiful man?

She couldn't help it. "Holy he—"

"Again. Language," the young man cut her off, again.

Jae didn't know what else to do so she scrambled away from the beautiful, gorgeous—Oh man, his face was a damn good weapon. She tried to get a hold of herself, to snap out of her thoughts. But this man wasn't making it easy.

The young man easily eased off the floor, making Jae remember just how clumsy and idiotic she was for tackling him to the ground. She hoped they'd met in a different situation. He was rubbing his wrists and Jae flushed in slight embarrassment, though she tried to quickly cover it up with an apathetic smile.

Was she really that heavy? Oh gods, this really isn't working well in her favor.

"Seeing as though you're still daydreaming, I'm gonna bid you goodbye." The young man dusted himself off and then went to grab the sack near the wall. "Tell Mrs. Smith her cookies were lovely for me." His lips twitched on one side and Jae was still trying to pull her head to the ground.

Without even thinking, Jae inelegantly pushed herself off the floor and ran towards between him and the sack. Her arms were raised, blocking his way. The man raised an eyebrow while Jae was ineffectively trying to mentally slap herself.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"You can't possibly trespass just to eat some cookies!" Finally, Jae managed to say the words aloud.

"Oh, right." The man snapped his fingers. He sidestepped Jae, who went still as a stone the moment he stepped forward, and grabbed his sack. Jae moved her legs and stepped away, silently watching the man. The man opened the sack and brought out five different gifts in different sizes but all packed in the same wrapper, and placed them under the Christmas tree. "Thanks for reminding me," he said to Jae, who stood there, gawking.

"You're kidding me, right?" Jae asked. "You can't possibly be Santa Claus. Santa Claus doesn't exist!"

A flicker of pain crossed the man's face and Jae instantly regretted saying those words. But his expression was flattened into apathy the next second. "I don't have to explain myself to you. I shouldn't even be in a house this long. You just ruined my schedule."

"What do you even use for transportation? There are millions of kids around the world!"

"Like I said, I don't have to explain myself to you. Goodbye." The man carried the sack in one hand and then picked up his hat that was still lying on the floor. The moment he put on his hat, he vanished.

Jae blinked. And blinked a few times more. "Oh gods," she muttered to herself. Was she dreaming? She wasn't, was she? There was no way the man had disappeared right in front of her, right? She must be dreaming! Jae shook her head. She glanced at the door. It was still closed. She checked the doorknob. It was locked.

"There's no way he's Santa Claus." Yeah, he was too hot to be Santa Claus. Jae shook her head once again. She must've been so tired to have hallucinated a hot Santa Claus. Her legs were stiff as she headed to the couch and dived right into it. Tiredness immediately took over as she slept soundly.

The next morning, she was awoken by loud chattering and excited giggles. She sat up and groaned. Her shoulders were in pain for sleeping in such a weird position last night. She blinked the tiredness out of her eyes as she glimpsed towards the Christmas tree, the events of last night came pouring down on her.

Huh. That was definitely a dream. And far too realistic. But she had realistic dreams before. The dream was not so different.

The kids were all awake. They were opening their presents, tearing the wrapper noisily and then bragging to their other siblings about how great their presents were. It was a lovely sight, the spirit of Christmas was in the air. Jae watched them in amusement.

Moments later, she heard the sound of a car engine right outside the door. The Smiths were back. She stood up and hurriedly ran to the bathroom to get her phone and sweaters that she left. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to fix it as cleanly as she can before trudging outside.

Mrs. Smith went through the door first. She warmly greeted her children as though they've been waiting for her all night. And then she walked towards Jae. "Good morning Jae."

"Good morning, Mrs. Smith," Jae greeted. Mr. Smith came in the door. "Good morning, Mr. Smith. How was the party?"

Mrs. Smith rolled her eyes. "It was not as fun as I thought it would be. Adults can be so boring sometimes." She yawned, tears pricking the side of her eyes. "It would be lovely to get some rest. Do you want to stay for breakfast?"

"Oh no. Mom's expecting me for breakfast today." Jae politely declined. Truth was she just wanted to go back to the comforts of her bed. Her mom doesn't really care whether she goes home or nah, considering the she were just right next door. Plus, she would really like a plate full of lasagna right now. And she was certain that the Smiths don't do lasagnas. Which was a disappointment.

"Ah, that's a shame." Mrs. Smith yawned once more. "I'm heading to bed. Honey, make the kids some breakfast before you go to bed, alright?" She gave Jae a farewell wave and then strutted up the stairs without another look.

Jae looked towards Mr. Smith who looked as tired as Mrs. Smith. "Ayesha, reheat some food for your siblings, ok?"

Ayesha's head whipped up from the box she was opening. "But I already washed the dishes last night!" she complained.

Eryl rolled her eyes. "Lazy a*s," she muttered before easing herself off the floor to reheat breakfast herself.

Mr. Smith nodded in appreciation before he went upstairs, trailing his wife who was already snoozing on their bed.

"I'm gonna go ahead, Ayesha," Jae told the 16-year-old. Ayesha only glanced at her and nodded once before turning her attention back to the presents under the tree.

"Ooh! Ooh! Jae!" Kurt exclaimed as he clumsily stood up from the floor and ran over to Jae. Sandra and Megan looked at them in confusion as their brother cut off the conversation they had just to run off to Jae. The two sisters followed behind to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Jae knelt down so Kurt wouldn't have a hard time talking to her. "What is it?"

Kurt's eyes shone. "You met Santa Claus last night, didn't you?"

It was a cold slap to the face. Jae paled as the events of last night's dream rushed in. "W-what do you mean?" Oh man. The kid was kidding right? Definitely kidding.

"He was here last night! He left me a present!" Megan said, holding up a pretty little rag-doll with her name on it. Jae tried to get ahold of the situation. Last night's dream... it was real? It happened? No way.

"Don't lie, Jae! I know you met him!" Kurt said with a mischievous smile.

"How'd you know?" Better to ask about how the kid knows what happened. Although, it was making Jae feel very unsettled.

"He told me, duh!" he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "He also told me that he loved mummy's cookies! He's eager for some more the next year!"

Confirmed. Last night was not a dream. Unless it was a prank. A really well-thought, not amusing prank.

"He also said that he wished that you are not in the house next time," Sandra popped in the conversation, a pout on her little lips.

Jae was faintly amused. "What'd you tell him?"

"That we'd rather have you than him!" Megan chirped.

Their answer immediately made her feel special as her lips twitched upward. She hoped she could've seen the look on his face when he heard the kid's answer. "That's really sweet of you guys. Thank you."

"But, honestly," Kurt managed to say, "we'd like you both. Santa did give us presents." That was expected. Of course, they'd prefer Santa more. But that didn't make her feel any less special.

"Hey! Santa was mean for saying that about Jae! I was starting to hate him!" Sandra said, stomping her foot and then crossing her arms.

"Same here! Jae was really nice! And she's been our friends for years! You've only seen Santa like, 1 time!" Megan added, teaming up against their little brother.

And before they could get on with their cute, little brawl, Jae stepped in. "Do you guys mind to tell me how you met Santa?"

"I saw him first! It was me!" Kurt eagerly said as he raised his hand up proudly. "It was the middle of the night and I wanted to go to the bathroom..." He trailed off, his ear tinged with pink. There must've been a bathroom incident if he stopped.

"He meant to say was," Megan took the liberty of continuing the story, "he accidently found Santa creeping around the Christmas tree, eating the cookies."

Wasn't that exactly how Jae found Santa Claus? Apparently, he gets easily distracted by delicious, freshly-baked cookies. "Really?" Jae asked, her eyes shone brightly with amusement.

"He was different then!" Kurt exclaimed. "He was really old with a beard. And he has a big stomach!"

"What did he say when you caught him?" Jae asked patiently, thoroughly hiding her surprise when she heard that the Santa Claus they met was old.

"He just laughed and then disappeared! Like magic!" he said in surprise.

"But he visited us last night. I think it's because we asked to see him as our Christmas wish," Megan said. And then he glanced at Kurt. "But he wasn't old and big! He was really handsome!" A pink blush crept onto Megan's cheeks.

Kurt puffed up his cheeks. "I didn't lie, though!"

Jae remembered what that Santa said last night. "First day on the job and I already got caught," he had muttered. It was his first day... his first time. And on the job? Being Santa Claus is an occupation? That's a surprise.

"What did he say to you last night?" Jae asked Megan.

But Sandra was the one who answered. "He said that we were good kids and that he left us a present under the Christmas tree!" she squealed.

"And then?"

"He left after that. He said he was already late enough with his schedule and said that we'd see him again next year if we'd ask," Megan added.

Jae was about to pour out a hundred more questions but Eryl's voice cut her off. "Breakfast is ready!" Her voice echoed from the kitchen.

The kids all ran off and left her sitting on the floor, without so much a goodbye. But Jae didn't take it personally. She sighed and stood up from where she'd been sitting, an action she hadn't noticed she'd done while having a conversation with the kids.

She was about to step foot out of the door when something caught the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw something shiny lying on the floor. She bent down to get it and was mesmerized by it.

It was a bracelet. A gold-chained, old-looking bracelet. It has one charm on it, which was a cute, little Christmas tree. She instantly assumed that it was his. It must have tumbled off his pocket or wherever he put it when she knocked him down.

Well, she couldn't leave it here. She pocketed the bracelet, giving it a tight squeeze before she left the neighbor's house.