Under The Mistletoe

1: Meeting Justin

I was never the type of girl to spend my twenty-four hours looking at boys or falling in love. In my eighteen years of life, I've had about three boyfriends, all of which broke up with me because I was either "too busy" or “not a good girlfriend." I always shrugged it off, usually happy that the relationship was over, giving me less things to worry about. 

School seemed to always be the number one thing in my life. It still is, except that now I'm in college and I have a job to worry about as well. Christmas is just around the corner and here I am, in New York, worrying about my job and college work instead of going back to Texas to spend the holiday's with my family.

  "Payton!" My boss, Tori, calls me from across the shop, her face hidden in the endless racks of clothing.

My head snaps up from the counter and I yawn, stretching my arms high and blinking a few times to clear my vision.

"Crap." I mutter to myself. It was the fourth time I'd fallen asleep on cashier duty this week. Tori isn't going to be too pleased.

She scurries over to me, dumping a pile of clothes on the counter. Her dirty blonde hair falls dead straight around her face and a frown is permanently etched onto her lips.

"What is with you, Payton?" Tori snaps. "You convince me to give you the job but all you do is sleep on it?"

"I'm sorry!" I apologize, gathering the clothes she had placed on the counter and scrambling to place them on the correct racks. "I haven't had much sleep lately. I know that's no excuse, but I really am really sorry, Tori."

Tori purses her lips and begins to tie her hair back into a ponytail. "Well, since you've slept through the week, I guess you deserve to close tonight." She grabs her leather bag from under the counter and swings it onto her arm. "Don't expect a raise."

She walks over and places a hand on my shoulder. "But I do expect more work. Christmas is less than a week away and the sales are already going nuts." Tori plants a kiss on my cheek, patting the top of my head. "I'll see you in the morning, dear. Make sure to have a good night's sleep."

I nod. "Goodnight, Tori."

"Goodnight, Payton." She flashes me a smile and exits her shop, leaving me alone in her Boutique.

Believe it or not, working in a boutique in the middle of the mall during Christmas week is hard work. Tori wasn't joking when she said the sales are nuts. They are. The only reason there's no one here at the moment is because the mall closes in less than an hour.

I finish placing the clothes on the racks and head back behind the counter. Since I had nothing more to do, I pull out my college textbooks (which I brought to work in case I ran out of things to do, like now) and begin studying. In the silence, I hear the far away sound of Christmas music. I sing along, finding it easier to focus on my work.

"Sleigh bells ring. Are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in the winter wonderland. Gone away is the blue bird. In its place is a new bird. He sings a love song, as we go along. Walking in the winter wonderland..."