Christmas In A Box Volume II.

~17~

Hot tears streamed down my face as I witnessed the scene before me. My boyfriend was sleeping with his girlfriend from high school. Reality dawned on me. My boyfriend was cheating on me.

They were obviously distracted so they were oblivious to the fact that somebody had entered the house. I walked out from the house a shaky mess. I cussed out as I almost tripped on a Christmas ball buried in snow on the way out of the driveway.

The chilly breeze of the night wafted across my skin making me adjust the thick scarf wrapped around my neck. I have never hated my life more than I do now. I exhaled as I walked in the dark of the night with the street lights and Christmas lights being the source of illumination.

I just kept on walking, quickening my pace until I arrived at the community park. There is no way I'm going back home today after all there is nobody at home. My legs ached from the distance I walked.

The artificial light in the park was so bright, it made me squint my eyes. I turned my face to the opposite direction and caught sight of my reflection in a mirror placed in the park. Tears streamed down my cheeks, my makeup was a mess, I looked like a mess and I felt useless. What a sad way to spend Christmas Eve.

I walked to a secluded corner in the park and sat on a bench, hearing the chatter of adults and the laughter of children as they made snowmen and threw snowballs at each other. I stretched forth my wrist to catch a few snowflakes, watching as they melted in the material of my dark-colored mittens.

I sank into deep thoughts as I remembered the conversation I had earlier with Nick, my boyfriend.

He had promised we'd go shopping earlier today, he'd promised he'll make this a Christmas to remember. Well, he kind of did that.

"Baby I've been waiting, when will you arrive?"

"Babe, I promise you I'll come, I'll be there soon. Something urgent came up."

That was what he said when I called around 4pm today. The initial plan was that he'll be coming around 10pm so we could spend the whole day together. He stood me up for six hours and I called almost a million times. Only to find out he probably spent the whole day with his ex-girlfriend.

I wiped away my tears as I brought out my phone. Shielding it from the snow with one palm, I checked for a last-minute flight from New York to Lapland, Finland. I found one and quickly booked for it. It was a seven-hour flight.

I needed a break from this town. I felt a bit relieved knowing I won't spend Christmas in this town. I stood up and briskly walked out of the park, called a taxi and after ten minutes I arrived at my home.

I brought out my keys and unlocked the door, knocking down a few Christmas balls and the door made contact with the Christmas tree that was placed behind it. I shut the door, ran up to my bedroom and packed a suitcase that would last for a week. I had a flight to catch in an hour.

I rolled my black suitcase down the stairs and into the foyer. I went back upstairs to grab my phone and I ordered an Uber. Turning off all the appliances, I shut the door and waited for fifteen minutes before the Uber finally arrived.

"Merry Christmas, ma'am," The driver said as I opened the door of the shiny black car to drop my luggage.

"Same to you," I replied solemnly, as I sat on the leather seat of the car and closed the door.

The ride was a pretty quiet one except for the Christmas carol playing on the radio. I stared outside through the car window gazing at the different families on the street, the joy of Christmas evidently showing on their faces.

I leaned on the car door, and closed my eyes for a brief moment. I jerked awake, startled when I felt a tap on my arm. "We've arrived ma'am," the driver said with a funny accent.