Ten Months Later

Normal life came rushing back without hesitation. It was as if it had been lying in wait for the Harkin family to return to the city. The rush of normalcy was a shock at first but mostly a comfort.

School was the same as if always was, if only now a bit more enjoyable. Marley looked forward to her classes with a zeal she hadn't felt before.

Work was engaging, exciting. The customers fascinating, her co-workers hilarious. Marley hadn't laughed so hard with them since joining the crew three years before. Was it just relief that the holiday rush was over?

Her family was a warm embrace she got to sink into every night when she came home. She relished being about to drop her bag by the front door and kick off her snow boots, adding them to the pile that already existed by the front door.

Everything was sweeter. The Christmas season quickly faded into a distant memory.

Or so Marley had hoped.

It was the walks from school to work, the commute from work to home. Those were the hardest. The moments she was alone in the city she loved, when she found her eyes searching the crowds around her for those bright gray eyes.

She admonished herself the first few times she caught herself doing it. But gave up quickly as it became a comfort to think of Felix, hope, pray that he was doing alright, that he was somewhere figuring out his life. That was the most she could do, pray.

It was the worse in the winter when the snow would fall from high above the skyscrapers. The season's change helped. She hadn't known Felix in the spring or the summer. And by the time fall came around he had faded to a warm memory of Christmas's past.

That was, until he showed up at her hostess booth.

Marley had just taken the final sip of her late afternoon coffee, thus ending her coffee break when her manager appeared in the back and told her that she had a customer waiting.

Marley stowed her school books away, only half regretting all the studying she didn't get done for her upcoming midterms. The soft ambient chatter that greeted Marley as she pushed past the swinging kitchen doors and re-entered the dining room was like music to her ears.

Her face was frozen in a warm smile when she came to find exactly who was waiting for her at her hostess stand.
He was a stark contrast to the boy who had entered her restaurant in search of a table for his family almost a year ago. Gone were the expensive Italian leather shoes, the dark wool pea coat, the neat hairdo.

In their stead, Felix was wearing jeans. His sneakers were too white Marley could tell they were new but there were attempts at scuff marks made along the edges. His hair was longer and curly. Apparently, his hair gel had been to keep the curls at bay.
Now, they had officially conquered his forehead.

"Hi."

Marley's greeting came out as four long syllables instead of what should have been one. Those bright gray eyes fixed on her and lit up his face, his crooked smile even making an appearance. Marley never thought that she would see that crooked smile ever again.

"Hi. How's it going?"

He seemed calm, too self-possessed, it was making Marley uneasy. Why was she the nervous one in this situation? She cleared her throat and grabbed a stack of menus to keep her hands from visibly shaking.

"How can I help you?"

Her experience from years in the restaurant business was the only thing from keeping her voice from quivering.

"I'd like a table if there's room."

"Of course. Would you prefer a booth or a table?"

"Booth would be great. I need a place to lay out my books."

Marley only noticed the book bag when Felix nodded to it. Her eyes went wider.

"You're in school," was all she could manage.

"Yeah. I've got midterms coming up and wanted to study somewhere other than the library."

"Columbia doesn't have midterms until December."

Why Marley was stuck on this one fact, she didn't know. All she could think about was that Gabbie had been gloating all week over the fact that she didn't have to take midterms for another four weeks.

"I'm aware. Winter won't stop gloating about it."

"But you're going to-"

"I'm going to NYU, actually."

If Marley wasn't already standing against the hostess stand, she would have fallen to the floor, his announcement sending shock waves through her brain. She couldn't fully process exactly what that meant except that it meant a lot coming from Felix and the situation with his family.

She was frustrated with being in shock, stumbling through her words. Routine, habit kicked in to save the day and Marley nodded for him to follow her. The lunch rush had dissipated an hour ago and they had another hour before the dinner rush took its place. The restaurant was comparatively empty for a Thursday afternoon.

"Here you go..." Marley had to keep herself from finishing that sentence with 'Sir'.

Felix took the menu and slid into the booth.

"Thanks."

"Your server will be right with you."

Marley blushed, feeling herself half bow. She turned away but not fast enough before catching sight of Felix's amused expression.

One of her co-workers, the one in charge of the section Marley had just placed Felix, appeared at the stand just as Marley was returning.

"Is that one mine?" She asked, nodding to Felix.

"Yes. I mean, no!"

Her co-worker stared at Marley's forceful reply. Marley cleared her throat and pulled her own notepad from her apron.

"I'll take this one if you don't mind."

Her co-worker shrugged and went to look after her other customers. Marley had no choice in the matter now. With one deep breath, and then another, Marley approached his table.

"What can I get for you?"

Marley put on her best waiter-ready smile but it faltered when Felix looked up to meet her gaze.

"Well, I was, I mean..."

He cleared his throat and the sight of seeing Felix flustered helped Marley relax. She even started to smile. The blush that had crept up his face was one she had worn many a time in his presence and it felt good to see the king of cool fumble over his words.

He cleared his throat, sat up straight, and went to straighten his suit jacket. Except he wasn't wearing a suit jacket or even just a regular jacket. The armor was gone and all he was wearing was a cable-knit sweater. He was just a normal boy sitting in front of a normal girl. Marley's smile was at it's widest yet.

Giving up on the phantom jacket, Felix squared his shoulders to meet Marley's eye.

"I was wondering if you were free to go on a date with me tomorrow evening."

Marley let him stew while she thought of the right answer.

"I can't," She decided was the right answer.

The look of disappointment that flooded Felix's face made her expand upon her answer in a heartbeat.

"I'm working tomorrow. How about Saturday?"

The smile was back and it rivaled Marley's own.

"Saturday works."

"Took you long enough," Marley replied, a smirk playing across her lips.

Felix laughed, his shoulders relaxing as he settled into his seat.

"You have no idea."

A/N:

So. Cute.

I love this ending. I love this book! And I've loved posting it for all of you to read!

Thank you so much for reading. Keep scrolling. I have a little surprise for you in the next chapter.

Also! If you're craving MORE holiday/Christmas romance, I have another book just like this one!

It's on my profile, it's called Holiday Inn and it is COMPLETE so you can go read to your hearts content.

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!