Living With The Prince Who Ran

Chapter 1

Ugh.

Passing by the streets weeks before Christmas while the hustle and bustle just begins is the most annoying thing for Noel.

It's tragic that someone with such a festive name turns out to be someone who despises festivities.

Festivities, namely Christmas.

Noel deftly avoids the men bearing Christmas trees and women carrying the decorations meant for those trees.

So much, that she found out easy to weave her way out of the crowds without even touching or bumping into any Christmas decorations or trees or anything brightly colored.

Her phone rings and she picks it up.

Turns out to be her boyfriend for a few months now.

"Hey Harvey" She shouts into the phone as she passes a noisy family bearing everything she's avoiding.

"Yes. I'm on my way home." She pauses for a second and stops short in the middle of the street.

"What? You're breaking up with me? For?" She visibly trembling

"Not liking Christmas? Do you think I don't have a reason for that?" She whispers into the phone with a solemn face"

"Bye then. Don't forget to pack your decorations along with you. I'll give you enough time before I'm back so you can leave comfortably. I think I gave more into this relationship than you did anyway." She shouts into the phone and clicks the call off.

She stands there in the same spot for a few minutes looking as though she'll burst into tears anytime soon.

But she adjusts her bag and walks into a coffee shop and takes a seat.

A waiter approaches her and takes her order.

Soon after, she has a steaming hot mug of tea in front of her.

She sips her tea silently and watches the individuals and families pass her by.

A couple holding hands catches her eyes and she watches till they round the corner.

She stands up and heads to the cashier. After payment, she steps out of the cafe right into the hands of a man loaded down with elf clothes and props.

She immediately brushes herself down and apologizes. She looks carefully at his face and see he is breathtaking.

Her face turns red and she blames it on the cold weather while she wraps the coat around her closer just a bit more and helps the man up and picks up his things scattered all over the floor for him.

She apologizes again and leaves him watching her as she leaves.

Leaving the unknown man behind and left him staring at her till she went out of sight.

He adjusted his loads and went on his way.

He kept glancing at the corner she went down the street till he can't see it again.

Few minutes of walking later, he arrives at the place where the props and elf costumes he is carrying are needed.

"Shawn. You're so late. They've been waiting for half an hour"

"I'm sorry Mr Woods. I had a little accident." Shawn apologizes not very sincerely

"Your acting got way better" Mr Woods says with a laugh and takes the costumes from him.

"It should." Shawn says and laughs too

"You should settle down. You do this every year without even taking payments."

"It happens to fall into my free time every year and I just help out. My Job doesn't do much around Christmas. Settling down is not as easy as you put it to be you know?" Shawn replies while gathering the fallen elf ears.

"But you have to start somewhere."

"Don't you get tired of it? You say this same thing every single year."

"Christmas is a time for family and loved ones. Christmas is no fun without someone to bake for, cook for, decorate trees with and get gifts from."

"I have my Mum for that" Shawn says and laughs

"You also say that every year. I hope this year will be different." He says with a wink and takes the costumes in for the elves to dress up in.

Shawn smiles and turns to leave. As he turns around, he sights a woman who is being pushed away by someone he couldn't see.

He walks over just like a few other people and he recognizes the woman to be the one who bumped into him earlier.

He can faintly hear the words being said. More like, the words the man was saying.

"Don't come back here. We break up and I take the apartment." He says and pushes her down the stairs. Along with her belongings.

"I own this apartment not you nor your new girlfriend. Get out instead, you filthy man." She gets up and makes to push him away

"I'm filthy? Says the woman who hates Christmas for a reason that is just an excuse to not be happy." He shouts back

Shawn walks forward and pulls the woman up from where she lay on the floor.

She looks up at him and leans on him with her face buried in his suit.

Shawn looks up and says to the man

"You're a disgrace to Men."

He helps her up and leaves with her.

Her Clothes are rumpled and dirty so he gives her his jacket to cover the patches of dirt.

They leave together and walk to a nearby cafe with Shawn's hands around her shoulder.

After they sit, He orders for a cup of tea while she just asks for water.

She takes off the jacket and gives it back to Shawn.

"I appreciate the help but I can't help you with anything Mr?"

"Oh, my bad. I'm Shawn. Shawn Wright."

"Oh. I'm Noel Sanders. Thanks for the other time and I'm sorry for the bumping earlier too." She apologizes

"Are you okay? Do you have where to go? I can call someone to pick up your things."

"No thank you. I'll be fine on my own. You've done more than enough. I can't be indebted to you anymore." She replies.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what are you going to do about your apartment? I heard you say you owned it." Shawn asks

She looks at the cup of water in front of her for a few seconds before replying

"I'm going to take legal action against him. I own the apartment and it's in my name. I won't leave it to a cheating jerk like that" She voices out.

Shawn looks at her, sighs and looks outside while trying to mask the look on his face.

He sees laughing families and bustling people with the Christmas spirit and smiles. He looks back inside and notices she has her eyes on him.

"What?"

"You seem to like the aura around." She states.

"Yes. Christmas is my favorite time of the year."

"Really?"

"Yes. Countless good things happen to me during Christmas."

He notices her face fall for a second and her defense are back.

She drinks out of her water and sets it back down.

She gets up and dusts her clothes.

"Thanks a lot for today. It was fun meeting you. Please don't mind me for not paying my bills but I think I lost my purse. Thanks again."

Shawn is taken aback by her abruptness. He wonders if it's something he said.

He lets her go anyway.

"My pleasure." Shawn replies and gets up too.

She doesn't wait for anything else and strolls out of the cafe into the street and down to a corner that leads God knows where.

Noel is left to her thoughts as soon as she leaves Shawn. She begins to wonder where she'll stay for the night.

Chapter 2

As she rounds the corner, she remembers that her things were thrown out along with her so she turns back around and take the other route back to where she came from.

As she gets there, there's a man standing by the door and pressing the doorbell.

Noel will recognize her Dad's back anyday. She rushes over and picks up her things, as she does, the door swings open and at the doorway stands Carla.

Her boyfriend Harvey, no. Ex boyfriend's new girlfriend stands at the door looking down at her Dad like he's a pest.

From inside, Harvey asks who's at the door and Carla answers with unmistakable disdain in her voice.

"It's an old man."

Harvey comes out and recognizes Noel's Dad and looks him down as well.

Her Dad doesn't take the hint and still talks quite politely.

"Harvey. It's been a long time since I heard from you. How've you been? How's Noel?" He asks with a smile on his face.

To avoid further disgrace, Noel climbs the short flight of stairs and musters the most scary she look she can give to Carla and steers her Dad away from the door.

As they both descend the stairs, her Dad turns and smiles to Harvey, while he goes back inside with his girlfriend and shuts the door.

"What are you doing here?" Noel asks her Dad

"I came to give you a visit this Christmas" Noel's Dad harmlessly replies with a smile that's very disarming for an old man.

"I told you to forget you have a daughter and not to visit me at all. Not at Christmas, not at anytime." Noel shout-whispers to her Dad while trying to hide the fact that his presence every year disarms her and weakens her resolve to never celebrate Christmas with any so called family anymore.

"You're still my daughter whatever you say."

"..." Noel sighs and goes about picking up her things scattered around

Her Dad looks on with an hint of sadness on his bright face.

Noel is done picking up her belongings from the sidewalk and drags her Dad along with her away from the house.

As Noel and her Dad leaves the house, through the window, Carla watches on with an undefinable expression on her petite face.

Few silent minutes between Noel and her Dad becomes awkward as her Dad keeps offering to help out with the things she's carrying while she keeps refusing.

They finally sit on a park bench and Noel sighs again.

"What happened? Why were your things in the open?" Her Dad finally asks the question that has been bothering him since they left the house.

The apartment he bought for her during her school years and one she reluctantly took from him.

Noel sighs again and drops everything she's holding and looks the other side, away from her Dad and to the direction they had just come from.

"We broke up. He cheated." Noel says and still doesn't look at her Dad, like she's trying to hide her tears at that moment.

There's silence for a few seconds until she wipes her face and turns to face her Dad.

"You need to leave now."

"I only just arrived."

"There's no place I can keep you with me at. You have to go back home." Noel insists

"Fine. Where will you stay?"

Noel stays silent for a few seconds and looks away again before she replies

"I'll be fine. You have to go." She packs her bags beneath the chair and pulls her Dad up.

She has refused to acknowledge the fact that the man in front of her is her Dad for years now.

Seeing him getting frailer and older is pulling those heart strings she vowed to keep buried till he dies or until she has no family left.

He looks up at her and tries again.

"Please come home with me. I'll leave you to your ways as soon as Christmas is over or until you get your place. Hm?" He pleads with his fatherly instincts tugging at his heart.

"No. And it's final. If there's any place I'll spend my Christmas, it's not at that place." She spat out, her resolution iron gripped now.

Noel looks away as her father left her alone and walked down the street towards the bus station.

She sits back down on the chair and let the world pass her by for a while before she stands up again.

She checks the things under the bench and vows to come back for them.

She goes the way her Dad went and walked behind him until he finds a bus and leaves.

As she turns to go back for her things, the clouds let go and an unexpected rainfall begins.

She stands rooted to a spot and sighs while thinking that nothing is going her way.

This once more reminds her of the reasons she hates Christmas to this day.

She turns and runs to the bench just in time to see all her clothes and few belongings in the water, soaked to the thinnest fibre.

Looking on in despair as the rain sweeps them away, she seats on the chair and let out the tears she has been with holding since her day started going wrong.

A few meters away, standing under an umbrella is Shawn who looks on her with a heavy heart.

Torn between to just turn around and leave or cover her with his umbrella while she lets it all out.

***

While Noel cries her heart out on the bench and Shawn stands above her with his red and white umbrella, Carla, Harvey's new girlfriend is unable to keep quiet anymore about something that has been bothering for a while now.

"Hey Harvey?"

"Yeah baby" Harvey answers with his back turned and typing away on his writer.

"You once said Noel hated Christmas."

"Yeah. She hates it totally."

"Did you ever ask her why?"

"No."

"Not even once while you were in a relationship with her?" Carla asks again looking stupified.

"No. Why do you ask?" Harvey turns to face her this time

Carla stands by the window looking into the street, precisely into the corner where Noel and her Dad went. She sighs and turns to see Harvey looking at her.

"What?"

"You've been asking about Noel. Why?"

"You said you didn't ask why she hated Christmas. Not even once."

"Yes. Why do you keep asking though?"

"Look what we did to her at Christmas."

Chapter 3

Carla turns to fully look at Harvey with a guilty look on her face and sadness etched in it.

"We should have probably waited till new year or before Christmas at least before we threw her out. At least she has a credible reason to hate this year's Christmas now." Carla whispers to Harvey like she doesn't want to be heard.

Maybe she didn't want to.

"I did it all for you Carla. You should not even think of my ex girlfriend right now. You have a deadline for the winter compilation do you know that?" Harvey says and turns back to his laptop.

Carla says nothing after that and turns back to the window, looks through the heavy rain and keeps looking outside the window at precisely that street corner and sighs from time to time.

***

Back to where Noel is letting go of her tears and Shawn standing over her with his festive coloured umbrella and in the rain.

Few hard minutes later, Noel finally wipes off the last few drops of her tears, with a red and very unclear eyes, she notes she's not getting drenched by the rain and looks up to see a red and white umbrella over her head.

She's surprised and turns around to see who's holding the umbrella over her head and she's more surprised when she sees Shawn in the rain.

Their eyes meet and she registers faintly that Shawn looks very handsome in that rain.

Not meaning to be selfish, she has to agree that the rain looks good on him with his earlier packed hair now scattered and let down and dripping with water.

He smiles at her and she registers that he has a dimple on both sides of his face.

She almost smiles back but for the cough that takes her at that moment. She coughs lightly twice and Shawn takes off his jacket one more time and covers her shoulders with it.

He looks around and makes to pick her clothes off the floor, now very wet and dirty.

He hesitates and looks at Noel. He leaves the clothes and holds Noel's hands and they leave together.

Along the way to where only Shawn knows, Noel doesn't struggle, just coughs from time to time and seems like someone who is going to drop from the cold anytime soon.

They take a cab and in the cab...

"Please go to East Gardens"

"Yes sir." The driver says and turns to drive.

"And please can you turn on the heater?"

"It will increase your fare."

"I'm aware. Please make it a little bit high. She needs as much warmth as possible." Shawn says and adjusts the jacket around Noel again.

By this time of the day, it's rush hour and everybody is heading back home. It's around 7pm already.

When the car stops, Shawn pays and helps Noel down. She said nothing throughout the ride and keeps shivering.

Shawn doesn't look much better, considering the fact that he also got caught in the rain, and his former dripping hair now looks clumped with one side of his hair raised like bear ears.

When Noel sees this and registers what it looks like, she laughs to herself.

Shawn doesn't see her smile while he fumbles with the door.

He finally opens it and says to Noel.

"Welcome to my humble abode" Shawn shouts to be heard above the rain and smiles a very charming smile at Noel.

His home? He brought me to his home?

Were the thoughts that went through Noel's head when she heard him call it his humble abode.

She hesitated for a second before looking up at him, not sure what to do or say.

"It's fine Noel. I'm a gentleman."

"So they all say." Noel replies and steps into the apartment.

The house looks very cool with it's wallpaper. It's a flowery pattern on a side with a mixture of purple and gold on the other.

Noel prefers the colors and looks on it for a little longer. The house smells manly.

It's obviously just him who lives in the apartment.

Noel hears Shawn clear his throat behind her.

"I live alone in case it makes you uncomfortable."

Noel turns to face him, her face white and tired.

"Don't you think I'll be much more uncomfortable seeing you live alone?" Noel teases

Shawn laughs out loud for a little bit and stops while looking at her.

He walks close to her and pulls her to the chair at the center of the room.

"You should rest. You look as pale as a ghost. I'll get you some tea. Which do you like?"

"I'll take what you have. Thanks a lot Shawn"

"It's fine. It's nothing anyway" Shawn says and turns to leave

"Not just the tea now. Everything. You just met me today and you're already helping me. You helped me out in two major moments today."

"Hating Christmas does not open anybody to that kind of mistreatment." Shawn says and leaves into a door on the left side which Noel guesses is the kitchen.

Noel looks around again and takes off her jacket as she does so. She spots a picture on the side table and walks towards it.

On the table lies a few picture frames and Noel picks one up and looks at it.

There are three people in the frame. An obviously younger Shawn and people who seem to be his parents.

"They are my parents. My foster parents." Shawn says while he drops the tea

"If you don't mind, what of your real parents?"

Shawn keeps quiet for a second and has a faraway look in his eyes.

"They died in an accident when I was 6."

"I'm so sorry. I lost my mum when I was 8."

"I'm sorry."

There's an awkward silence for a few seconds until Shawn breaks it.

"The tea might get cold. I made ginger tea. If you don't mind?"

"Beggars are not choosers. I'm practically a beggar. I appreciate it a lot." Noel walks over, sits down and sips the tea in silent slurps.

Shawn says nothing and looks on at her, lost in thought.

***

While Noel and Shawn were at Shawn's place, Noel's Dad gets down from the bus he took back home and walked the short distance to his house.

He sighs continually and when he gets to the front porch. He rings the doorbell and a woman came to open the door for him.

"Welcome back darling. How did your journey go? And why are you back so soon?" She asks all at once while taking his coat.

"Please get me a cup of tea first. I wonder how she's doing. Rain isn't supposed to fall around this time of the year. Winter is here already."

"Where did rain fall?"

"While I was pulling out of Noel's place, the rain started."

"I'll be back. Let me get you a cup of tea"

"Sure." He says and leans on the sofa.

He looks around and his eyes fall on a picture frame. He stands up and walks over to it, his thoughts far away in the past. He thought back to the day the picture was taken with his late wife and daughter, Noel.

**Flashback**