“Merry Christmas Eve!” A man with rosy apple cheeks stood on her doorstep, brushing snowflakes from his graying beard and coat. His green eyes twinkled, reflecting his jolly nature. “Would you be Miss Athelia?”
“Why yes.” She stood humped over in the doorway, propped up with a cane.
“Miss Athelia, I’m Nicholi, and I’ve come to take you for a sleigh ride.”
Her weak mouth tried to lift its corners into a smile. “Oh my. A sleigh ride. Why I haven’t been on a sleigh ride since…” Try as she might, she couldn’t quite grasp that memory thread from her feeble mind.
“May I step inside and help you with your coat and hat? It’s spitting snow at the moment.”
She wobbled to the side, excitement bubbling up inside because she no longer received visitors. Nicholi had not expected her condition to be so fragile, and he gingerly maneuvered around her frail form and retrieved a lovely dark green coat trimmed in black fur and a matching fur hat from the rack. “Let’s get you bundled up,” he said, then helped steer her arms into her coat. When he tugged her hat down over her ears, winter-white wispies poked out from around the edges of her hat. He looked into her blue eyes that would still make the sky turn green with envy and witnessed glimpses of her younger self.
Miss Athelia reached up and cupped his face with crooked fingers, then traced her fingers around his nose, eyes, and lips like a blind person trying to see. “Do I know you?”
Nicholi covered her trembling hands with his, answering, “In a way.”
He guided her with an arm around her shoulders outside into the snowy night. A hot chocolate brown Clydesdale with white feathery-like legs stood ready to pull the elegant red sleigh with glittering gold trim.
“Is this for me?” Her hollowed cheeks plumped and pinkened as she gazed at the magnificent horse-drawn sleigh.
“Yes, Miss Athelia, it’s just for you.”
Her knees creaked when he helped her into the seat, but she managed a smile when Nicholi covered her legs with a warm fleece blanket. After seeing to her comfort, he climbed up beside her and grabbed the reins.
Miss Athelia turned to him. “Well, giddy-up, young man.”
Nicholi chuckled. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had referred to him as a “young man.” After taking another peek to his side to ensure she was safely seated, he flicked his wrist, and with a snap of the reins, they were off.
It wasn’t long before sounds of merriment muffled the clip-clop of the horse's hooves on the snow-packed cobblestone. Bells jingled from every corner. Children’s laughter echoed all around them. Last-minute shoppers darted in and out of stores. Joyful chaos best described them. Dazzling lighted window displays provided a wondrous accompaniment to the flickering gas lanterns. Miss Athelia rotated her head like an owl, not missing a thing.
Nicholi slowed the sleigh alongside “Scooter’s Coffee & Muffins” and turned to Miss Athelia.
Recognition slowly spread across her face, and she excitedly patted his arm. “I used to come here with Finn!” She closed her eyes and sniffed the chilly air. “Peppermint mocha. It’s my favourite.”
The pleasing aroma grew stronger, recreating a memory, and she intently stared through the window.
Finn smiled, drawing a heart in her coffee with the creamer before handing her the cup.
She touched the rim to her bottom lip and gently blew, her eyes never leaving his. Their game of footsie underneath the table had begun — the game they played every Wednesday. Finn was quite a few years older than Athelia, but unlike his hair, he had never lost his youthful spirit.
His tremoring hand lifted a piece of a chocolate chip muffin to Athelia’s lips. She took a bite and then sucked on his fingers, knowing his cock was growing uncomfortable in his trousers. A blue pill always accompanied his coffee on their dates, and they giggled like naughty children when their public displays of affection drew stares and gasps from the younger generations.
With perfect timing, a sudden gust of wind scattered her reflective thoughts before she’d replay his passing. She shivered and drew the fur collar of her coat tighter around her exposed neck.
Miss Athelia looped her arm through Nicholi’s arm and looked up at him with thicker lashes that had darkened from unnoticeable gray to black. “Finn was my last lover,” she said. Then, her lips upturned, and her tone brightened. “I have had many, you know — lovers. The men have always found me quite fetching.”
Nicholi patted her tiny hand resting on his sleeve. “I have no doubt, dear lady, no doubt.”
He snapped the reins again, and they were off. Age hadn’t dimmed her vivacious spirit; despite her frailty, he recognized it as soon as she opened the door.
The horse pulled the sleigh down Main Street adorned with more twinkling lights. The town Christmas tree was decorated with oversized ornaments in red and gold, serving as the centerpiece of the holiday celebration. They reached a brick-and-mortar on the corner, and she jabbed the air with her finger.
“There… I worked there.” She straightened in her seat, pulling her slumped shoulders back. “I was a secretary and a good one. Everybody said so.”
“I bet you were.” Nicholi squeezed her hand, enjoying her show of pride in her work.
“Dated lots of men during that time, too.” Her smile conveyed happiness with a hint of mischief. “I remember one particularly grand time at one of our office Christmas parties. What was his name?” She rapped her forehead with her knuckles, trying to wake up a sleeping memory. Finally, it came to her. “Adam! His name was Adam.”
Athelia twirled around the room in her shimmering green dress, accentuating her hourglass figure, wishing everyone “Merry Christmas.” Drinks had been flowing, and people were dancing, so it was the perfect time to slip away unnoticed. Adam and Athelia worked in the same department, and office romances were against the rules. Maybe that’s what made it so hot.
Adam couldn’t tear his eyes from her well-rounded bum as she bent over, fumbling to unlock her boss’s office.
“We can’t do this!”
She responded with an evil grin and tousled his red hair with her fingers. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“You’re such a naughty minx,” Adam scolded, then pulled her playfully against him. Her intoxicating scent of fruity, fresh flowers flared his nostrils.
“You smell good. So good, baby.” His hands grabbed her bum, and he ground his hardness against her mound.
She threw her head back and moaned. “Fuck me. Fuck me on his desk.”
Adam bunched her dress over her hips and then set her naked arse on the rich mahogany hardtop.
Staring at her uncovered privates, he smiled. “No knickers? Pretty presumptuous of you.”
“Shut up and fuck me.”
She leaned back with her arousal on full display. Adam lined his cock up with her opening, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, digging the heels from her stilettos into his arse. Both were far too aroused for foreplay. One thrust, and he was buried deep.
The desk scratched the floor as he thrust inside her over and over. Papers scattered to the floor. Athelia was a screamer and bit his neck to keep quiet. Her hips bucked to meet his thrusts, and they fucked hard, stretching her tight pussy.
“Harder, baby. Harder,” she pleaded.
He slid his hands underneath her arse and held her in place, forcing her pussy to fully absorb each thrust of this cock. Her orgasm brewed from the pit of her stomach.
“Oh God…”
Miss Athelia slumped back against the seat, gathering her breath. Nicholi noticed the lines around her eyes had softened.
“Adam was my favourite lover. Did you know that my boss fancied me too?”
“Is that right? And did he become a lover?”
“Oh heavens no, Nicholi.” She lightly swatted his arm. “He was married, and I never took what was already taken. I’m a proper lady, after all.”
She rested her head on his shoulder, and he urged the horse onward.
They soon reached a group of carolers on the sidewalk, and Nicholi stopped the sleigh. They were dressed in bright red and green scarves, hats, and mittens and swayed back and forth while singing “Deck the Halls.” Miss Athelia immediately perked up, and before long, Nicholi heard her humming, “Fa la la la la,” her voice off-key but stronger than before.
When the song ended, one of the carolers, a handsome man in a distinguished long coat and top hat, handed her a candy cane. She leaned forward to accept the candy and fluttered her long lashes at him, offering, “Thank you, kind Sir.”
She leaned back in her seat, and Nicholi pulled the blanket back over her legs. “How are you feeling, Miss Athelia?”
She simply replied, “Alive,” and slid the candy cane between her plump lips.
Nicholi ushered the horse along, and she happily kicked her feet while enjoying her candy. She abruptly leaned forward when they neared an old house on the outskirts of town. From the road, it looked abandoned, with its missing shingles and broken window.
“I know that house!” Miss Athelia motioned to the side. “Closer, please!”
Nicholi steered the sleigh toward the road leading toward the home, and Miss Athelia saw a tall silhouette standing by a snowbank, shaking his head from side to side. Spirited voices reached her ears. She turned to Nicholi and bounced up and down in her seat. “It’s Edward!” She giggled, the hoarseness gone from her voice. “Listen.”
Edward never quite knew what the arch of her eyebrow meant, but more often than not, it meant trouble.
“Well, if you are too scared, I’ll do it alone.”
“I’m not scared!”
Athelia danced around him, poking him. “Scaredy Cat! Scaredy Cat!” she continued to tease.
“That’s it!” Edward unzipped his coat, and she unzipped hers, and in a few moments, they both stood naked, shivering and hopping up and down. Her breasts bounced with nipples hard as tiny ice pebbles. The chilly wind sent Edward’s cock into hiding, and it shriveled to half its normal size. A quite sad display.