No Dating In December

Ivy has one simple rule. No dates until after Christmas. She had long since decided that being single at Christmas was a fate worse than being single on Valentine's Day. Every Christmas function she went to, somebody had a nephew, a cousin or a brother she just had to meet as if she had time for first dates in December. Who has time to date in December? She has nieces and nephews to spoil, not to mention gifts for the rest of her family. She also has at least one event a week leading up to Christmas. How could anyone think a new relationship in December was a good idea?

So why had she been so foolish as to give her plus one invite to work’s Ugly Christmas Sweater Party to her closest friend at the office? Maybe she blindly thought her friend who had only been married for two years had remembered the struggle of being single at Christmas time. Leaning against the wall nursing a cup of warm punch, proves Ivy had never been more wrong.

“There you are, Ivy!” Becca rushes over to her, dragging who Ivy assumes is her brother over. “This is my brother Chris! He's in town doing temp work until February and I think the two of you will totally hit it off! So Chris you're going to take care of my best friend tonight because all these games are partnered up and you're technically speaking, her date!” Before Ivy can agree or argue, Becca walks back to Harvey who shrugs and mouths an apology. 

Ivy stands there dumbfounded, she’s been tricked and she knows it. “Hi, I'm Ivy.” She smiles. “Please tell me that Becky didn't lead you to believe that I was in on this whole thing. And that I think this is a first date.” 

Chris laughs. “Ah, so you weren't here last year?” 

“No, I started in March. This is my first Christmas party.” Ivy sips her punch.

“Ah, yeah see, Beck does this every year, she gets a single girl to agree to let me be their date and attempts to get me to fall in love and stay in the city. Instead of doing temp work and leaving at the end of February.” He shrugs, taking a sip of his punch.

“She does this every year and you keep coming? Ivy raises her eyebrow. 

“Food’s fantastic, music's good. And hey, I usually get to meet a pretty girl in the process.” He winks, and Ivy will not blush for a man she met less than ten minutes ago! “But seriously, who has time to date in December?”

“Thank you!” Ivy huffs. “They just don't get it. They want us to be happy and in love.”

Chris laughs, “Yeah, but hey, we can at least humour them, right?” Ivy gives him a look, “Come on, you gotta admit, it would be fun to make her think she is so smart and was right about us.” 

“I mean, maybe a little bit.” She fidgets with her cup.

“Alright! To having the time of our lives!” Chris offers her cheers. “And at the night's end, I will walk you to your car. And if I've impressed you with my competitive edge and Christmas knowledge, we'll do some Christmas shopping later in the week, and if we can get through our shopping lists in a reasonable time frame, we’ll get hot cocoa!” He leads her over to where the party games are happening. 

“Oh, already coming up with a first date idea?” Ivy smirks. 

Chris holds his hands up in surrender, “No, no. It's practical Christmas shopping with the girl my sister is going to try and set me up with so I might as well get ahead of it.” He winks. “After all, you can't tell me you're already done.”

Ivy had to admit, this guy is smooth and definitely Becca's brother. The two of them were cut from the same cloth. “Well, no.” 

“So we might as well do it together? It gets everyone off our backs and you have a free date to use for all of December's events.” he gives a mock bow.

Ivy giggles, “Do you do this every year? You seem be having a lot of fun.” 

“Not every year, but with Becs having my niece, she is determined to get me to stay after my temp contract is done, so if I keep hanging out with you.” He says in a teasing tone. 

“You won’t have to go on any other dates?” Ivy offers. 

“Yep, it’s purely selfish.” he jokes, as they find a spot in the growing circle.

“Alright, if we do well at these games, I’ll take part in your plan.” Ivy challenges. 

To Ivy’s surprise, she and Chris thought a lot alike, they kill it at Christmas Heads Up. Thanks to Chris's impressive Christmas Carol knowledge, they win Christmas Carol Trivia. Due to Ivy's years as a mall gift wrapper, Ivy’s impressive speed wrapping skills, so they claim the prizes for the fastest and best-looking gift. They walk out of that party with the most prizes Ivy has ever won at an event. 

“May I walk you to your car? I would hate for my lovely lady companion to slip and hurt herself on the ice and those shoes do not look ice safe.” He offers her his arm.

“You may, but only because I'm parked right next to your sister who I assume you drove with.” She takes his arm and almost slips, he smiles but says nothing of it. 

“Correct, so did I win the shopping excursion?” He guides her around ice patches. 

“Smart move, not calling it a date.” She counters.

“Come on, there must be a day when you get off early this week, and you were planning on going shopping. It's the second week of December. There's no way you're leaving it till the last minute.” He grins. 

She caves, “Wednesday, Central Mall, Three pm. Meet at the door or I’ll start without you and good luck finding me in the mall.” 

“Perfect. I’ll be there with my shopping list in tow. And if we conquer our shopping lists in under two hours or less, I will treat you to hot chocolate. And maybe if you're having such a great time, I can convince you to go to dinner with me.” He stops next to her car.

“You think you’re smooth. I'll give you that Mr. Chris Kringle.” She smirks as she unlocks her car, and he opens the door before she can. She gets in without arguing.

“Ooh, nicknames, I like it. I’ll come up with one for you by Wednesday. I’ll see you again, Ivy.” He closed her door and waved for his brother-in-law to unlock their car.

Ivy isn't sure if it’s the cold or if she is actually blushing. She can’t be, there is no way. This man she'd met a mere two hours ago made her blush. This is not a Christmas movie, this is not how the real world works.

But Wednesday came and at three o'clock, she pulls into the mall parking lot and he was standing by the main entrance, “Ready to shop till we drop Lady Noel?”

“You know just because I called you Chris Kringle does not mean you need to find me a nickname.” She rolls her eyes, as they walk in.

“I like to keep people on their toes.” He shrugs and pulls out his list. To Chris's credit Ivy finds his shopping strategy impressive. He shops with a plan, he has a list, a strategy and it works pretty well with the way that she shops.

They make it through the lists in record time. He even had tips for the gifts she wasn’t sure about, “Does he use this brand already?” He holds up the tool she was thinking about getting for her brother-in-law.

“I honestly don't know. I just know that he needed this particular tool and nobody was gonna buy it for him.” She shrugs, staring at the shelf of tools.

“Well, this brand is more reliable and it's actually cheaper. So I would buy it. And if he prefers the other model, then cool, get a gift receipt and you can pay him the difference between the two tools.” 

“I can see the logic.” She takes the cheaper tool hoping for the best. 

Next, when at the bookstore, she grabs the newest book by her little sister's favourite author, “Um, is she a big reader?” Chris stops her.

 “Oh yeah, the biggest!” She laughs thinking of her sister disappearing into a book on Christmas Day. 

“I’d get her the hardcover. Any reader unless they explicitly say they prefer paperbacks, would always prefer the hardcover. And besides you saved money and your brother-in-law's gift you can splurge for your sister.”

“Alright, fair enough. Other than picking up my parents' spa day gift card, I’m done, you?” Ivy starts to walk towards the till.

“Uh, other than I don't have a gift for Bec. Everything on her list connected to the baby, but I mean, she deserves to have a gift, just for her, don't you think?” He shrugs.

“Absolutely. Here.” Ivy hands him a book from her small pile. “She kept talking about this journal, we’ll stop by the stationary store before we get that hot chocolate you promised. And I’ll get her a spa afternoon, and Auntie Ivy will babysit.”

“Oh, smart. She gets a break and you get an afternoon with an adorable baby! Thank you for the idea.” They pay and walk out of the store, “And you're saying I earned a cup of hot chocolate with you.” He teases.

She rolls her eyes, “Don’t push your luck, Chris Kringle.” She leads the way to the coffee shop. Ivy kinda hated to admit it, but Chris is fun. She’s enjoying spending time with him, maybe she could see him again - for a strictly practical reason. “Hey, you said  that if you kept seeing me it would keep Becca off your back?” He smirks and nods, “I, um - I need a date for a church Christmas event. Otherwise, I will be set up by at least four different ladies in my church.” 

“You got it, name the time and place I’ll be there with bells on.” She starts. 

She cuts him off, “Please no bells.” They both laugh, “Thank you! I'll tell the ladies at Bible study I'm bringing a date this year, saving me from grandsons and nephews and brothers visiting town.” 

He picks up the mugs, signalling the end of their time together, “Hey, I temporarily move here - I'm not just visiting. I'll be here, well after December.”  

She watches him take the mugs to the bin, “You're right. You will.” Ivy smiles, and this time the hint of blush is real, and could not be blamed on any cold.