Chapter 2
Maya
“I love Christmas!” I sing while happily decorating the best place in the world, Mynt Peak Resort.
My best friend and coworker, Holly, shakes her head at me.
“I love Christmas too, but I’d rather be enjoying the perks of the resort rather than waiting on patrons,” she says as she struggles to untangle a ball of Christmas lights.
“Don’t you think a ritzy place like this would hire professionals to decorate? ”
“Mr. Mynt was going to, but I volunteered.” I straighten a bow on the large wreath above the lobby fireplace.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Holly shakes her head, still shifting around the tangled Christmas lights.
“It’s a great opportunity to add to my resume.
” I have one semester left of college, so that’s always at the forefront of my mind.
“Besides, being paid to decorate a beautiful place like this…it’s like hitting the lottery!
Everyone’s faces will light up as they walk into the lobby, in awe of the festive ambiance.
Kids will squeal and point, especially at our giant tree. ”
“Wait, what giant tree? Don’t we usually have one a little bit on the larger size—but nothing crazy—in the lobby?”
I can’t contain the wide grin on my face. “Not this year! We are getting a twenty-five foot tree!”
Holly drops the ball of lights. “I love you, but I am not helping you decorate a twenty-five- foot tree. You’re clinically insane…”
“Or am I Christmasy insane?” I wink at the imaginative pun I made.
Holly shakes her head, but I see a grin appear. “I’m picturing you up at all hours of the night in an elf costume, on a ladder, trying to hang ornaments at the top of a giant tree—like the one that’s in The Grinch movie.” She chuckles.
My eyes go wide at her idea. “That’s genius!”
“Maya, I was joking…Please for the love of safety, and your dignity, do not act on any part of that sarcastic plan I just mentioned.”
I zip my lips together, then squeak out, “I would never…”
Holly chuckles. “We both know that’s not true.”
My mind buzzes with ideas to make the Mynt Resort holidazzle. I also make a mental note to find an elf costume online.
I know it might sound like overkill, but I was raised by a single mom.
We didn’t have a lot of money, but my mom would do what she could to make Christmas special.
She worked as a housekeeper at a chain hotel, nothing fancy like Mynt Peak.
However, thanks to her employee discount, the week before Christmas, we’d stay one night.
Although we couldn’t afford fancy decorations, the hotels were always decked out. The lights and wreaths and Christmas trees made it feel magical.
It was one of the only times when my mom and I could be carefree, and our focus wasn’t on paying next month’s rent. We were just enjoying the moment. I want to make that possible for guests at Mynt Peak too.
I stroll to the entryway and imagine how the largest Christmas tree the resort has ever had will look. I feel Holly bump me with her hip as she stands beside me. I let out a sigh. “The holidays are amazing at Mynt, and this Christmas is going to be the best one yet.”
Holly squeals. “I one hundred percent agree now that it will be filled with smoking hot athletes.”
I frown, not because that doesn’t sound nice…I’m just confused. Mynt is usually packed to the brim with families, not “smoking hot athletes.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“There’s no way you didn’t hear…”
My puzzled look confirms that, in fact, I did not hear. “I was in the storage building all morning digging through the decoration bins. What did I miss?”
Holly runs in place with a shriek. “I’m so happy I get to be the one to tell you this. You’re not going to believe it, but it’s true.”
“What’s true?” I basically shout.
“Mr. Mynt has invited all the athletes that Mynt Apparel sponsors to the resort for the Mynt to Make a Difference charity event!”
“All the athletes? Like who?” I’m not really up on athletics. All my time and energy is spent either working at the resort or studying.
Holly continues, “Mynt Apparel sponsors some of the top athletes in the country…no, the world! The women are bosses and the men are dreamy. I’m about to meet my future husband, I just feel it!”
“Whoa, okay, let’s slow down for a minute.” I hold up one hand. “Who exactly is coming?”
Holly pulls out her phone. “Let me check the email with the list of Mynt athletes…Okay, we’ve got pro hockey player Holden Prescott, soccer player Juliet Morgan, figure skater Chloe Reynolds,” Holly sucks in a breath before continuing, “snowboarder Aspen Neve Sterling, football player Ledger Bishop, and a lot more. Honestly, the list is so long. There’s also a golfer, volleyball player, skier and even a professional fisherman. ”
I let out a whistle. “Wow, Mr. Mynt is not messing around. He really is determined to bring Mynt Apparel to the entire planet.”
“I know, right?” Holly squeals. “It’s going to be an athlete buffet! You can have any of them except the hockey player. He’s mine.”
I roll my eyes at her antics. “You know that we can’t fraternize with the guests. Management would have a fit, and worse than death itself, they would fire us.”
“What management doesn’t know won’t hurt them.” Holly wiggles her eyebrows.
“There’s no way I’m risking my future for some ridiculous scheme. Besides, we both know from experience that most rich people don’t care about the help. We smile and try to be invisible, other than when they need something.”
Holly wraps her arm around my shoulders. “Would you just let me dream a little? For once, could you let me have a few minutes where I believe that my life could actually be a fairy tale?”
I pat her hand that’s draped on my shoulder. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer. I just appreciate normal people, the ones who aren’t trying so hard to be noticed. The ones who enjoy beauty in everyday quiet moments. The ones with a heart.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Holly squeezes me. “But wouldn’t it be exciting to stroll downtown with a world-class athlete? Twinkling lights and falling snow guiding your path to romance. And then, to cheer them on at a big game. Probably get caught by the camera, kissing on the sideline?”
I sigh, getting involuntarily pulled into Holly’s enchanting, albeit completely implausible, scenario.
The buzzing of my phone wakes me out of my stupor. I look down to see “Mynt Management” pop onto my screen. My stomach clenches at the sight. “Why in the world would the management office be calling me? It’s gotta be bad…”
Holly’s tone is forced. “It could be good…” I can tell she’s trying to calm my nerves.
Last time management called my cell, they told me that someone had lodged a complaint against me.
The wife of a guy who kept coming to ask me questions when I was working at the front desk alerted management that I was acting inappropriately.
Turns out, the husband told her I was following him around and being flirtatious, when it was actually the other way around.
Thanks to security cameras, management could see I was just doing my job, but they had to “have a conversation” with me anyway to appease the guest. I’m still furious thinking about it, but now I know to be extremely guarded.
“Are you going to answer it?” Holly asks, staring at my phone.
“I better,” I say, and walk away to find a quiet corner for a conversation.
A sinking feeling washes over me. This might not be a merry Christmas after all.