A not so fake Christmas

Chapter 5

There are thousands of fairy lights strung up upon the ceiling and every available surface of the mall. Every store decorated their window regardless of what they sell. Even a hair salon has put up an inflatable Santa.
It's crazy how the world transforms during the holiday season and I love it. It's my favorite transformation, right before sunsets.

Each store that I pass blasts a different Christmas song and while a lot of people might find that annoying, I enjoy it.
I'm currently humming Driving home for Christmas while walking to the spot that Alex and I agreed to meet in.
I'm slightly nervous because we have three days left before the family dinner on Sunday and so far we're not really convincing as a couple. Well, enough for Jace but if the rest of Alex's family has a bit more sense for dynamics, they will instantly figure out we're only faking it. Since that's the last thing we want, we're meeting today to get to know each other better.

That's probably the first thing that might kill us otherwise. If we show up and don't know anything about each other, there will be suspicions that I totally understand. First we need to talk about the basics like jobs, friends, hobbies etc., then we can move on to more personal stuff. Doing that while just sitting around felt weird and we also need to buy more Christmas decorations, so this works out perfectly.

Alex tried to convince me that we don't need to get more but I told her that we have to because it won't be believable otherwise.
To be honest, I use this as my excuse to buy more decorations because Jill doesn't allow me to bring anything else home anymore. Well, at least nothing that's bigger than the palm of my hand. But with Alex, I am free to buy whatever seems worthy without having to worry about storage room.

I smile when I pass a line of children who wait to sit on Santa's lap and tell him their wishes. It reminds me of my childhood when my parents used to take me to see Santa. My wishes didn't always come true but I still wanted to tell him because it felt so special and I knew he would keep the information.
Behind the line of children and near a little indoor fountain, Alex is sitting on a bench, scrolling and tying away on her phone. I glance at the clock to notice that I am right on time.
Instead of approaching, I allow myself to stop for a moment though and take her in. This is the first time I see her without her seeing me too. She's unaware of my closeness and somehow, I like that. It gives me a look of her natural behavior. People always act different when they know they are being watched or even just think they are being watched. Alex doesn't really care about the people around her because she doesn't know them but she knows me. Accordingly, she adjusts her behavior, even if just slightly.

Since it's warm in the mall, she isn't wearing a coat and I can't spot one near her, so she must have come without one. She's wearing a leather jacket with a black shirt underneath and paired it with dark grey jeans that hug her legs closely. Even her boots are black but look quite elegant on her If she was starring in a black-and-white-movie, it wouldn't look any different because those are the shades she's wearing now. Not that I mind, she's free to wear whatever she wants. It's just funny how opposite we seem to be.

"Hey." I greet her when I finally step closer. She looks up from her phone and for a second, her eyes widen.

"I didn't know I was meeting with a Christmas tree." She comments and eyes my sweatshirt. I just roll my eyes and chuckle.
Today's sweater is actually quite plain, apart from the green tips at the edge of my sleeves and the hood of my sweater. Some are decorated with small red balls and the top of my hood is proudly wearing a yellow star. I really like this hoodie because it's comfy and doesn't scream Christmas into your face, others of my sweaters do. But I opted for this one today.

"We gotta get into the mood somehow." I reply and pull my hood on to show her the full thing. She eyes me with an amused smile.

"Isn't green the color of the Grinch?" She asks as we start strolling through the mall. I look at her, almost offended.