Nick let out a laugh as the child told him what he wanted for Christmas.  Looking at the dad, Nick watched red spread across the man’s face.

“A mom, huh?” Nick asked.

“Not just any mom,” the man mumbled.  “She wants me to marry her teacher.”

Nick raised a bushy eyebrow.  “Well?”

“Well, we’ve been dating for a few years, but it never came up.”

“Try talking about it,” Nick offered.  “If you don’t want to do that, maybe you should ask Santa to get her a nice diamond ring for Christmas.”

“Maybe,” the man said, while grabbing his daughter from Nick’s lap.  “I’ll have a talk with her, see what she thinks.”

“Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” he called out in his Santa voice as the two walked away from him.  The little girl smiled at him, hope shining from her eyes, and his heart went out to her.

Letting out a sigh, he leaned back in his chair.  It was his lunch break, and he had to meet with the woman from earlier.  She was a pretty woman, that was no doubt, but he could see the emptiness surrounding her.  He saw how her eyes flashed with disdain at the suit he wore.  When Rachel had sneezed on her face, he thought the woman was going to attack.   Okay, so he would have been grossed out too, but he would have handled it differently.

“Nick,” someone said.  He looked up at Rachel, who smiled down at him.  “You can’t do anything about it.”

He knew she meant the little girl who had just left.  This was the problem with him being Santa every year.  Once those children sat on his lap and told them what they wanted Santa to bring, he had this strange compulsion to see to it.  Some years, he did fund raisers for families who he knew would not be able to afford the special gifts, while others he simply bought them himself.  Coming from a large family, he was used to spending money on others.

“I know,” he told her while rising from his chair, “but that won’t stop me from trying.”

“Nick,” she chastised with narrow eyes.

He took a step away from her and smiled.  “Who got you to finally tell your husband how you felt?”

“You, but Nick-”

“It’ll be fine,” he interrupted.   “I have to go meet that woman, for some reason or another.  Help me out of this thing?”

“Um, about that,” Rachel said hesitantly.  He stared at her while she fidgeted in place.  Knowing it would only take her a couple seconds to blurt what she was thinking, he stood there and waited for her to continue.  “She’s the new owner of the mall,” she blurted.

“Ah,” Nick said with understanding.  “She wants to talk about what exactly?”

She narrowed her eyes at him before rolling them in agitation.  “I forgot you don’t listen to gossip.  The woman hates Christmas, Nick.  They say she plans to take down all the decorations and start wage cuts.”

“She wouldn’t do that so close to Christmas.”

“Yes,” she insisted with a nod, “she would.  I’ve heard stories about her.”

“You cannot believe stories,” he mumbled while tugging at the boots he wore.

Rachel let out a sigh.  “Fine, I’ll help you.  Are you wearing clothes under there?”

“It’s twenty degrees in this mall.  Of course, I’m wearing clothes.  What did you think I would do, strip in front of everyone?”

“No,” she mumbled, tugging the beard off his face.

It took a couple minutes of maneuvering, but finally he was free of the suit.  Rachel pointed to his head, but he just shrugged.  “I’ll keep the hat.”

“But Nick-”

He shook his head at her, effectively cutting her sentence off.  “The woman needs a little Christmas cheer.”

Walking off, he left Rachel standing there in her elf suit.  He knew she would find a nice place to eat, call her new husband, and have a great break.  Therefore, he didn’t worry about her as he made his way towards the little café.  Spotting the woman sitting by herself at a two-person table, he smiled and sent her a little wave.

She gave him a hesitant wave as he sat down across from her.  “Hi,” he said with a large smile on his face.

“Hello,” she began before pausing to scan his face.  A slow smile curved on her lips, and Nick leaned forward to see more.  “You, uh, you have very white hair.”

Letting out a laugh, he swiped the cap from his head.  “That was what she was trying to tell me.  Shows me for trying to show a little Christmas cheer.”

“And your eyebrows,” she replied with a larger smile.  “I do not think they are normally that bushy.”

He narrowed his eyes at her in fake anger.  “You had to point that out, didn’t you?  I was planning to keep them there.  That way, when I don’t have to pull the things off twice today.  I barely have any eyebrows left as it is.”

A small laugh escaped her lips, making him smile.  “You should do that more often.”

“Do what?” she asked.

“Smile.”

Her grin slipped off her face, and her eyes narrowed on him.  “This is not the time for games,” she started.  “I have something I need to speak to you about.”

He flopped back into his chair with a foreboding feeling.  She was going to say something he didn’t like.  He didn’t want to believe what the others had said about this woman, but he guessed they were right.  Sitting in front of him was a modern day Scrooge.