The Flynn Effect

51 | naughty list

Jo

"SAY CHEESE!" ELOISE beams holding a phone to my face. I glare daggers at her and she takes a picture regardless, with the flash of her camera almost rendering me blind.

"Aw, you look so cute." She smiles unaffected by my apathy. "Otis, come take a look."

"No. I look like a clown in a Santa costume." I groan as I scratch my chin under the white beard. "And why does this beard itch so much?"

"I don't think Eloise dry cleaned it." Otis says as he wraps fairy lights around the Christmas tree next to the door.

The door jingles and a woman walks in with her overly excited kid. I sigh heavily before adjusting myself on the seat and patting my faux protruded stomach. They walk towards me and I plaster on a fake smile when the kid's mother smiles at me.

"Hey baby, I'm just going to get a few books while you wait here with Santa. I'll be right back, okay?" She smiles at her daughter and walks away with Eloise.

The girl stares at me with every ounce of excitement gone. Her hair's in blonde ringlets and her eyes are narrowed as she stares at me. There's no reaction on her face and it looks like she's trying to detect if I'm real or fake.

"Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas." I say with the deepest Santa voice I can muster and she doesn't respond. For a moment, I think she's deaf until she screws her lips into an annoyed frown.

"You sound like a girl. Santa's not a girl." She looks cheated.

"Santa can be a girl too." I try convincing her but she doesn't like it.

"He's a boy."

I roll my eyes. "Look, I'm just trying to do the best I can, kid."

My words apparently hit a nerve because she suddenly lets out the loudest wail I've ever heard in my life. I cringe immediately and she wails even louder. I dig my hands into the makeshift gift bag Eloise and I made and take out a copy of Harry Potter and Sorcerer's stone before thrusting it towards her.

"Hey, hey, stop crying. Would you like this book? It's free."

She cries louder and her mum shuffles towards us in hurried strides. She shoots me an unimpressed look as she lifts the kid up and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"It's okay, Trula. We're leaving now." Who the hell names their kid Trula?

'Trula' sniffs into her mother's shoulder and shoots me a glare before leaning towards me and snatching the novel from my hands. While her mother walks towards the counter, 'Trula' glances behind her mother and sticks out her tongue at me before placing her fingers in her ears and imitating a monkey.

I sneer at her and she starts wailing again before they exit the store.

"You're not that great with kids." A familiar voice says behind me and my mood gets significantly better when I'm able to recognize who they are by their cologne.

"They're overbearing sometimes." I complain when he kisses my neck. "Little devils."

"Do I get my gift now? Or did I get into your naughty list?" He comes to stand in front of me and that's when I take a look at him fully. Fortunately for him, my butterflies fill my belly when I take in his appearance but that's what happens every time I see him. He looks adorable in a grey shirt layered with a thick, black parka. There's a scarf around his neck and a head warmer on his head and the tip of his nose is slightly pink from the cold. Lakeville doesn't exactly take it easy on us during winter so it's no surprise he looks like this. I'd cover up too but this fluffy Santa Claus outfit keeps me warmer than I expected. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems.