The Uber lurched to a stop in front of Macy's department store, tires half-buried in curbside slush.

"Careful out there," said the driver. "It ain't like those Hallmark Christmas movies. These people will tear you up and spit you out."

"I don't love the way that sounds." Maddy wrapped her scarf around her neck.

Car horns blared from behind.

"Happy holidays," she said, climbing out of her warm Uber into the frigid city air.

"Watch your back, girl," he shouted before merging into traffic, flipping the bird at an aggressive driver.

Maddy worked her way through the pedestrian traffic toward the revolving doors and was immediately shoved aside by a woman twice her size. She managed to squeeze into the lobby, recognizing that the only path to the escalators was through the perfume gauntlet where multiple painted and packaged women sprayed random fragrances at disoriented shoppers.

Holding her breath, she checked the store directory, then rode the escalator up to the toy department.

On the fifth floor, Maddy was greeted by a sign which read: SANTA'S MAGIC CHRISTMAS VILLAGE with a  bold red arrow pointing to the left. With no desire to watch children mobbing some dumpy guy in a red suit wearing a fake beard, she turned right. She paced down the aisles, checking out displays of toys - big trucks, monsters, and superheroes.

A familiar voice from the next aisle attracted her attention. "Need help, ma'am?"

She peeked around the corner. "O-M-G!" Maddy gulped. "It's Nathan."

Dressed in a blazer and pants that he'd apparently borrowed from a much smaller man, he stood at the end of the aisle, hands on his hips, attending to a frazzled female customer. Her rambunctious 6-year-old son hung from the edge of a shelf, kicking his feet, determined to make her crazy.

"I need to return this." She pulled a boxed toy from a shopping bag.

Nathan leaned forward, addressing the boy. "What's your name, buddy?"

"David," he answered shyly.

"Stop that, David!" His mom grumbled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him down from the shelf. "I'm not crazy about children." She heaved a sigh. "He uses that against me. Constantly."

"Well, okay. Hmmmm." Nathan squatted, getting down to the boy's level. "You don't love this toy?"

David shook his head "no."

Nathan scrunched up his face, examining the toy. "I gotta be honest with you. I don't really like it, either. Here. Let me show you something."

Maddy's first impulse was to sneak away, but she was captivated by Nathan's consummate salesmanship.

He led the boy to a corner display, his mother following. Nathan took a dinosaur from the shelf, then set it on the floor. "Anybody can play catch with their dog, right? Watch me play catch with this dinosaur!"

Nathan bounced a small rubber ball on the floor. The dinosaur opened its mouth, scooted forward, and caught the ball.

"Drop it," Nathan commanded.

The dinosaur dropped the ball.

The kid was entranced. Nathan handed the ball to David. "You try it."

David bounced the ball with far too much force. The ball flew over Nathan's head into the next aisle.

"David!" his mom hollered.

Nathan scooted into the next aisle, then returned on his hands and knees with the ball. "He's just a little dinosaur," Nathan said. "You need to bounce it gently." David tried again. The dinosaur caught the ball.

"Nailed it." Nathan grinned. He lowered his voice to David's mom. "It's about thirty dollars cheaper than the toy you're returning."

Before Maddy could slink away, Nathan turned. Recognizing her, he broke out with an enormous smile.

"The Exchange Desk is right over there," he said to his customer, his eyes on his old college girlfriend.

David bolted down the aisle toward the escalator to the consternation of his mother. She chased after him, shouting, "Good luck with your next mother, you little monster!"

"Madison Taylor! Is that really you?" Nathan grinned, getting to his feet. "I hardly recognized you without the sweatpants and T-shirt."

"What a nice-ish thing to say."

"I mean you always looked great, but look at you now. I mean... WOW!"

"All grown up and everything."

"It's a Christmas miracle! Who would have thought I'd run into you in Macy's toy department after all these years? I mean that you'd run into me?"

"I know, right?" After an uncomfortable pause, she said, "Soooooo, I need to get something for my boss's nephew. That dinosaur looks pretty awesome."

"Oh, it totally is. He catches a ball and does some other sorta cool stuff."

"Yeah, I saw your demo. So, you work... here?"

"Part-time. I'm also working with some friends. We move furniture."

"I could've used you when I moved into my place. Eighth floor."

"A walk up?" He winced.

"Yep. So I own a lot of light stuff. You know, furniture made out of pillows."

"I wish I had a dollar for every flight of stairs I climbed with a couch on my back. So, what are you doing these days?"

"Plumbing. Welding. Pretty much anything pipe-related."

Nathan grinned. "Gator wrestling wasn't paying the bills? Heard that."

"Actually, I'm working for an agency. Branding and marketing."

"That's awesome! Right in Manhattan?"

Maddy nodded. He locked eyes with her. "Wow. Well, you look amazing."

"Thanks."

Suddenly self-conscious, he said, "Coat's too short." He tugged at his sleeves.

She looked down at his feet. "Pants, too."

"A little Frankenstein-ish, right?"

"A little. Welp, I better get going. Do you know where I can get this wrapped? I don't care what it cost."

"Lucky for you, I know the wrapping guy personally."

"You do the gift wrapping?"

"Not usually. But I'm making an exception for my favorite customer."

"This present needs to look like Martha Stewart hand-wrapped it."

"In case you forgot, I majored in gift wrapping. Oh, that's right. You dropped out before senior year."

She rolled her eyes.

 He puffed out his chest. "FYI, I made the Dean's List."

"Make me believe it."

"Look at this face." He batted his eyelashes.

She knew there was no possible defense. She had to just go with it. "Uh, okay." She offered her business card. "If you could send it to this address that would be soooo great!"

"Signed, sealed, delivered, it's yours. So good to see you, Maddy."

She waved good-bye, heading for the escalator.

........

After work, Madison and Haley sat at their usual corner table in a neighborhood bar two blocks from the agency. Maddy sighed. "This wine's giving me a headache."

"You sure it's the wine?" Haley stirred her cocktail.

Maddy sipped. "It's the wine."

"So, you looked up and there he was. It's like fate, don't you think?

"That's what he said."

"You haven't seen him since college, right? Is he still cute?"

"He's insanely cute."

"So what's the issue? Bad in bed?"

"No, that was good."

"But you mean college sex, right?"

"What's the difference?"

"It's sad that you even have to ask."

"The point is he's just like a big kid, you know? He's charming and funny, but he's got a terminal case of arrested development."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't even know how many times he switched majors. I'm not sure if he even graduated."

"Ech."

"He's like the same guy from back in my college days." Maddy finished her wine.

"But he's cute, right?"