A Boyfriend for Christmas

Suzanne Lieurance

In the early morning the day before Christmas, Amy McKenzie stood in line at the airport in Venice, Italy, waiting to board the plane that would take her back home to the States for the holidays. It would be a long trip with a connecting flight at JFK Airport in New York City, so she had dressed comfortably in a soft oversized emerald green sweater and black yoga pants. Her shoulder-length, dark curly hair was pulled back into a twist with a clip, and oversized black-framed glasses hid her long dark lashes and big green-gray eyes. She had checked one large suitcase—mostly full of presents for her family—and as the line moved, she scooted her carry-on bag forward on the floor with her foot. Her gray coat was draped across her right arm and a huge, soft leather purse hung from her shoulder.

Amy loved living and working abroad as an English teacher in an exclusive private school in a small village outside Venice, where she’d been employed for the past four years but it was such fun going back to her childhood home in Kansas City each December to spend Christmas with her family. Still, every year she longed for someone special to bring home with her. Her younger sister, Julie, never came home from college alone. She had Adam. And even though Amy found Adam somewhat boring and ordinary, she envied Julie and even felt a bit embarrassed that her younger sister had found love while she was still looking. Julie never got those sad looks from their mother that said, “I’m sure you’ll have a boyfriend for Christmas one of these days, dear. Just be patient."

A boyfriend for Christmas…now, wouldn’t that be nice, Amy mused as the line inched forward. She looked to see how much closer they were getting to the gate and spotted a sandy-haired young man in uniform a few spaces ahead of her.

An American serviceman…a stranger in uniform.

A backpack was slung over his right shoulder and he clutched his boarding pass and passport as if he were afraid they might slip out of his hands. Amy checked to see if he had a traveling companion but, no, he was alone. As she studied his left hand and noticed he was not wearing a wedding ring, butterflies fluttered in her stomach and her heart leapt. She immediately imagined the two of them sitting together on the plane. He’d offer her the window seat, of course. Then he’d ease in next to her, taking the middle seat. They would chat during the entire flight across the Atlantic, so that by the time they arrived in the States they’d know quite a lot about each other and they wouldn’t ever want to be apart. This handsome soldier would fall head over heels for Amy once he got to know her. She was sure of it!

Amy suddenly wondered where the soldier was going once they got to New York. That could be his final destination, of course, but he could have a connecting flight to almost anywhere in the country. Amy didn’t want to consider that he might not be going to Kansas City, though, so she put that possibility out of her mind. Besides, she was a big believer in fate. That is, if the paper fortune in that odd little Christmas cookie she’d eaten at her school holiday party a few days ago was fate. The fortune that declared, “A stranger in uniform will lead you to romance.”

He has to be the stranger in uniform predicted in my fortune cookie. So he must be going to Kansas City. He just has to be! I’m sure he already has plans for Christmas Day, of course. But we can still get together during the holidays. And I can invite him over to meet Mom and Dad…and Julie. She smiled at the thought of Julie seeing her with such a handsome young man—in uniform, no less.

Won’t she be surprised! Surprised? Ha! She’ll be shocked!

Next to this serviceman, Adam, who usually wore a baggy sweatshirt and jeans, was a troll. “An absolute troll,” Amy mumbled. The woman in line behind her backed away with a puzzled look on her face. Amy smiled reassuringly at her, then immediately started making plans for New Year’s Eve.