You had always dreamed of having that fairytale Christmas experience. You know, the ones that you religiously watched every year on Netflix, cringing at how cliché and yet wonderful they were. The kind where the hard-working main protagonist literally meets a prince and they fall in love. Or the ones where making one mistake would lead to a series of events that would pay off in the end. The movies where you knew everything was far too good to be true, and yet the magic of them you in every time.

It was foolish to dream of meeting someone who would change your world on Christmas Day. That was something that only happened in stories and not in real life. At least, nothing like that ever happened in your life. Everything you had, you had to work extremely hard to get. Not that this was anything bad of course, there was immense satisfaction when your hard efforts paid off.

But you still liked to dream of meeting some handsome prince in some clumsy setting, which was full of far too many smiles and the itching for love confessions. You fantasised over what he would say to you, how he would fall in love with you entirely. It was funny, you didn’t believe in love at first sight, yet you would always dream of it, enveloped in this wintry fairytale that Santa himself had plucked the right guy from the stars and gifted him to you for Christmas.

It was all so unfathomable, and yet, it actually happened to you.

“Excuse me!” you cried, waving your hand up and down as the taxi you had hailed was snapped up by some rude person right in front of you. Despite the merriness in the air, you cursed a few words as the car took off before you could do anything about it, splashing dirty slush at your new boots in the process. It was looking to be a very disgruntled Christmas this year.

You had just arrived at the airport ready to fly home for Christmas, only to find out that your seat had somehow been double booked and they couldn’t help you until tomorrow. With Christmas being today, tomorrow just wasn’t going to cut it. Your plans had been thousands of miles away from here, and as you waited for another taxi to arrive you scrambled to think of what you could do instead. You loved Christmas, it was so full of joy and laughter, but everyone you knew already had their own plans with their own families. You didn’t think you could just turn up anywhere, and although it was early morning still, there wouldn’t be anyone in your life here that you could go and open presents with.

As you slid into the back seat of the taxi, you sighed heavily. This would be your first Christmas alone.

“Can I share this?” a voice asked and you glanced up into the face of a man who stood by the door you were about to close. You blinked a couple of times at his earnest expression, and you were pretty sure your jaw had fallen slightly ajar.

He was gorgeous.

Blinking out of your stupor, you nodded softly. “Of course, I’m heading to the west side of the city, will that suit you?”

“I’m heading that way too, thank you.”

He got into the car and for a moment you were quietly surveying him out of the corner of your eye. He was tall, and his side profile was stunning. You bit at your lip lightly as you realised that he was the type of man you would see starring in the movies that you had been watching last night. His handsome features would make for a perfect prince, and as he felt your gaze on him, he shot you a warm smile.

It made you blush and divert your eyes quickly before your mind rushed away with you any further.

“Thank you,” he mentioned softly and you nodded again, accepting his gratitude. “My flight was double booked so I have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Mine too,” you mentioned as you quickly looked back at him and his eyes widened. “Somehow there was a glitch in the system.”

“It affected you as well?” he asked with a sad sigh, shaking his head. “Not a very good start to Christmas, is it?”

“No, my family aren’t from here.”

“Neither.”

“Friends?” you enquired and he shrugged. It was surprising with how natural the conversation was flowing between you and this handsome stranger. Even though you had something in common to discuss, it still baffled you that you were so at ease. You weren’t outgoing by nature, and whilst you could easily hold a conversation, you weren’t normally so forthcoming.

It had to be the festive spirit in the air. Or the fact that he was ridiculously handsome. Maybe it was both.

“Most are with their families today.”

“Same here.”

He glanced at you then, his eyebrows knitting together. “You’re going to be alone this Christmas too?”

“Seems like it.”

“What a shame, I hope we can both find some way to turn our day around.”

The rest of the ride was comfortably silent, though you were doing more than just staring out the window like he was. You were taking as many opportunities as you could to gaze at him, to decipher why he had captured you so easily. He wasn’t your usual type, not that you were sure you knew what your type was. But you knew if you had seen him in any other way in life, you wouldn’t be this affected. He was far out of your league and if you had passed him on the street, you would have simply thanked the Gods above for a good view and carried on in life. It didn’t help that he seemed to have a pleasant personality as well. He seemed too good to be real.

You had even secretly pinched at your skin to see if you were dreaming. The barely audible squeak that left you confirmed that you weren’t delusional. All the same, you told yourself firmly you were simply being a kind citizen in sharing a taxi with someone. Once you got out of this car, you wouldn’t see him again.

This thought made you so