Christmas Spirit

Anja stood immobile for a minute as she watched him get in his car and drive away. But realising that she had her shop door open she stepped back inside and locked the door again before anyone else could take advantage of her good nature.

Back inside her shop Anja was finally free to go home and enjoy the festive season. It had got off to a good start too with her receipt of her first Christmas present, an unexpected gift from a gorgeous looking man. If she never saw him again she would always have the frame to remember him by. It seemed the saying that no good deed goes unrewarded might have some truth in it. With a smile on her face Anja picked up her hand bag and the frame, she turned off the lights, set the alarm and locked up before letting herself out the back door. Her car sat in her designated spot in the back lane next to the door so in seconds she was heading home.

With no family in town and knowing that she would be tired after a busy week Anja had planned to spend Christmas Eve at home by herself. She had been invited to a friend’s place for Christmas lunch the next day and by then she would be ready for company. But for that evening she would put on something comfortable, turn on Carols by Candlelight and pour herself a glass of wine. Just being able to sit down for a while and relax would be celebrating enough her Anja.

Even though she lived by herself and for most of the time leading up to Christmas she was too busy to enjoy it, Anja had invested in a small real Christmas tree and had decorated it with a sting of lights and some cheap glittery balls. She loved the smell of pine every time she entered the apartment and she knew that now, when she was able to sit down she would be glad that she had made the effort and she was. The smell reminded her of home and her family miles away.

Too tired to bother cooking, Anja had eaten a couple of pieces of toast before pouring her wine and now that most of her needs were satisfied she sat and sipped her drink as she considered the silver frame that she had stood on the coffee table. It was a beautiful frame and when she had ordered it she had been hoping that it would go unsold so that she would have an excuse to keep it herself. The fact that Sacha, an attractive single man had bought it for her was even better and a turn of events that she could not have foreseen. As her eyes rested on the frame she pictured his face contained within the shiny border. She could not help but wish that she not only had a photo of him to put in it, but also that she had the sort of relationship with him that gave her the right to do so.