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.

I rubbed my eyes and looked at the lighted up letters spelling "NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT''. The driver stepped aside as I came down from the vehicle. Pulling out 100 dollars from my purse I handed it over to him.

"Merry Christmas once again ma'am," he said as I walked towards the direction of the airport tugging my luggage along with me.

There was a line where security guards were scanning people who were coming into the airport. It finally got to my turn. "You are good to go, ma'am," the hefty guard said after the scan.

I walked through the glass doors and into the heavily decorated airport. The waiting area was really large; it could contain millions of people at the same time and the tiled floors sparkled as the bright lights shone on them.

Handing my luggage to a guard so it could be scanned. I walked towards the sitting corner and sat on the fancy iron chair in the waiting area.

After a while we were called to the boarding gate and we were scanned again before we boarded the plane

****

We finally arrived at Lapland by 7.00am on Christmas day. I had booked a hotel room earlier. I noticed the weather was even colder here. With the snow heavily falling now.

I sighed, feeling exhausted. Other people were having fun and enjoying the festive season with their friends and families while I was here alone and heartbroken because Nick was the last person I expected to do this to me.

I waved my hand to flag down a taxi. I entered the taxi after telling him the name of the hotel I was going to.

Nick and I have been together for three years. He worked as a nurse in the old people care center where my grandma stayed before she passed away last year.

My phone vibrated on my lap. It was a call from Nick. He probably wanted to apologize for keeping me waiting yesterday. But Nick was the last person I wanted to speak to, so I kept my phone on airplane mode.

It was 8pm now, the roads were beginning to get really busy. I could see some people in red and white customs having a rally and people singing Christmas carols.

The taxi jolted as it came to a stop in front of the hotel.

****

Once again dragging my luggage along with me I went to the reception to confirm my reservation and also to find out my room number.

"Hi, I booked a reservation earlier," I said when I walked up to the snobbish looking secretary at the reception.

"And you are?" She questioned glancing at me through her glasses.

"Mare... Mare Willow."

She typed on the computer for a while before looking up "Mare Willow. Confirmed," she said as she handed me the room key "Room 101. Enjoy your stay and merry Christmas," she grumbled.

****

Steam clouded the shower room as I soaked myself in the bathtub filled with hot water. I could feel my muscles relax.

I stayed in the bathtub for a very long time before I decided it was enough. I took out a towel from the rack and wrapped it around my body. Hotel towels were always so fluffy.

Walking to my opened suitcase on the bed. I rummaged to find what to wear. A bright coloured gown caught my attention. Nick got that for me last Christmas. I wiped a teardrop from my eyes. I decided I won't cry anymore.

Finally settling for a t-shirt and woolen pants. I walked back to the bed and wrapped my duvet around my body.

Few hours later...

I yawned as I woke up and stretched checking. I turned on my phone squinting my eyes as the bright light from the phone lit up in the semi dark room. 7:30pm. Christmas day is almost over. Not like I cared anyway.

My phone buzzed as thousands of notifications were sent. Missed calls and messages from Nick and some other people. I wasn't in the mood to answer any questions.

I stood up from the bed missing the warmth of my bed but I was feeling bored so I decided to explore the hotel a bit. My stomach rumbled so I picked a granola bar on my way out.

The hallway was empty. I'm sure most people will be in their rooms with their loved ones having a nice Christmas dinner or whatever. Adjusting my hoodie, I walked to the elevator and tapped on the button that'll lead to the rooftop.

The elevator dinged as the doors slid open to the spacious rooftop with artificial carpet grass and all the furniture was placed under a fancy canopy made of glass.

I guessed right. The rooftop was empty and quiet except for the soft carols playing from the Christmas light and the echoes of chatters from the ground floor.

Leaning against the snow-covered railing placed around the rooftop I gazed down. I could see so many places and people looked so tiny from up here.

I hoisted myself up a bit using the railing as a guide so I could see even more. Feeling excited I decided to spread my arms out enjoying the chilly breeze.

"That's not something I want to witness," a voice said in a rich British accent making me jump down and clutch my chest in fright as I caught sight of a tall, muscular guy with broad shoulders and chestnut brown hair.

"Hi, I'm Kane," he smiled cheekily, I noticed his dimples as his grin grew wider as he stretched out his hand for a handshake.

Gaining my composure and steadying myself. "I'm Mare... Mare Willow" I said as I accepted his handshake.

"Nice name." He smirked, moving to stay under the glass canopy and toying with the Roblox cube in his hands.

A minute passed.

"Mare, you'll catch a cold," he said when I didn't bother following him to stay under the canopy.

I jolted when he called out my name walking to the shade, I sat on the bean bag chairs placed on the grassed floor. Wrapping my arms around myself.

"Thank you," I said as he went back to the Roblox cube in his hands.

"So, what were you doing here all alone?" I questioned.

"I could ask you the same," he replied

I shrugged.

"Aren't you meant to be with your family or friends?" he asked again.

"I came here alone," I said.

"My boyfriend started acting weirdly of late and yesterday I caught my boyfriend cheating on me and I just decided to come here to take my mind off things for a while at least just for this festive period," I found myself telling him this.

He didn't say anything for a while.

"And moreover, Christmas isn't a holiday I look forward to," I finished.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled.

"Thank you. How about you? Why are you up here alone on Christmas day?" I questioned raising my brows.

"Lost my family on Christmas Eve four years ago. My parents and my younger brother died in a car accident," he said. I noticed his voice quivering as he told me this.

I felt teardrops roll down my face. "I'm so sorry," I said as I moved closer to him and held his hands in mine.

He nodded.

"I know how it feels to lose a loved one. My grandma died last year and I don't know where my parents are. They left me with my grandma," I said as I felt the hurt and pain of being unwanted.

I felt Kane rub my palm soothingly. "Since we've both had sad Christmas memories, I think we should replace those sad memories with happy ones," he said as he made eye contact with me. "We can start now. I know a place where we can get a clear view of the northern lights. What do you say?" he questioned with a slight smile.

"Yeah, we can try that," I replied, wanting nothing more but to have a memorable Christmas. We walked hand in hand, two broken people on their way to finding happiness.

~Anjola