Minatozaki Sana looked at the clock above the door, lazily wiping the glass counter in front of her. Now there was less than half an hour before the store was officially closed for the holidays, and Sana wanted her to simply close early.

Christmas was a good season for the small store where she worked, which specialized in luxury and hand-made chocolates made from the finest chocolate and marzipan. Not as good as Valentine or Easter, but still one of the most profitable, helping a small store to stay in business.

Sana again looked at the remaining seasonal special packages. It was a crazy day, even more than the four leading to it, and up to an hour ago, she and her two colleagues, who also turned out to be the children of the store’s owners, worked madly to keep up with all the buyers in their “last Christmas purchase” - panic.

It was an hour ago, then the flow of customers decreased, and Sana was left alone with the store until closing. On a normal day, Sana might close early, but since it was Christmas Eve, she could expect at least one tramp to break through the door before she could return home to her own Christmas preparations.

And ... it is once again the village motrel on Christmas bags .. . with a bag or two Christmas sweets for yourself. Yes, she thought that this time she deserved a little ruin, after all, it was a couple of really hectic days. And all the chocolate in the store at the time the store closes will still fall into their New Year's sale, as the store will be closed before the New Year.

Sana again wiped the counter, mentally looking at the packaging and folding what she would have to do before heading home, sparing the grateful thoughts of her employees who had prepared things before they left so that she would not have to spend money. she would have had an extra hour. Another look at the watch said that she had fifteen minutes before she could lock the door and get to work. It would be so nice to go home, put her sore feet and just relax with a cup of good tea ... maybe even watch TV for a while.

She was almost amazed when a tiny bell rang on the door, accompanied by the sound of a door opening and closing. Stomping her feet lightly to throw off the excess snow from her shoes before entering - a polite gesture that Sana appreciated as she would have to wipe the floor before leaving - and audible breath from someone who really felt Christmas panic at the last minute.

She turned with a smile on her lips to the client, already uttering shabby lines that so easily reached her lips that she sometimes was not sure that she actually said them out loud. What met her gaze forced Sana to brake for a short moment at a glance.

At first she was not completely sure what she saw. The figure that shook the snow off her shoe was a long black jacket of an indefinite look, and underneath was a suit. It was a bit surprising for the girl, but Sana saw all kinds during her years and thought nothing of it when the girl in front of her shook the snowflakes off her long black hair ... no, that was what she carried in her hands. This is what made Sana bend her eyebrow.

In one hand, the girl was holding a small bag, in which brightly wrapped Christmas presents were clearly visible. The bag itself was not a large or household tasteless bag; Sana was used to such bags when shoppers came to her store.

Small, not shiny, but pretty cute.

A long white-wrapped item neatly wrapped in the bend of the other hand that wore the golden logo of a popular flower shop on the street was an unusual sight. Unusually, it was clearly not a bouquet, and Sana’s trained eye looks very much like a single rose or maybe a small composition consisting of no more than three roses.

As Sana thoughtfully thought, - Classic.

The client then ka turned eh , and her brown eyes with a look of panic on her. Sana hardly restrained herself from laughing. It was one nervous buyer, and honestly she was very intrigued.

With a warm smile and gentle voice, Sana asked:

-How can I help you?

And she found that to her surprise this time it was not just automation on her part, she really wanted to help. But the girl in front of her looked so lost that she could not do anything about it.

The nervous girl had to clear several times before asking, a little shaky:

- Um, tell me, did you have any chocolate boxes in the shape of a heart?

And so it began.

Sana brought a set of heart-shaped boxes that were popular during Valentine's Day, suspecting that this particular customer was not really looking for heart-shaped boxes with laughing Santa Claus on them. She only had large flat boxes and small two-layer ones. From colored to brushed gold and dark blue to bright metallic gold. The dark-haired girl stirred nervously and looked imploringly at Sana with eyes slightly glazed with despair.

Smiling internally, Sana made some soft suggestions regarding the boxes:

- Those who come to us prefer to take a small box than one of the larger boxes of a cheaper brand. In a small box there can be many exclusive chocolates, those that you prefer. We can arrange everything. Maybe for the one you take, you will like the little box more?

Relieved, the dark-haired stranger chose a dark red box of smaller size with a gold ribbon, which was made to be filled with one layer of the big chocolate that the store could offer.

Then the brown eyes saw all the chocolate on display, and frowned.

Now, Sana was well acquainted with this part and carefully pointed to the section of the best chocolates, explaining in detail what each of them tasted, explaining that from time to time she had to try everything in order to be able to help her customers.

When the dark-haired customer chose the three most exclusive varieties that the seller showed her, where each chocolate confectionery was in itself a small work of art, Sana noticed a clock on the wall showing that she had really worked overtime with this customer. The store was supposed to be closed twenty minutes ago, but Sana did not mind. It was nice to help, and for some reason, she simply felt sorry for the exhausted girl.

- Sorry, can you leave a free space in the center of the box? I would like to put something there - the girl shyly asked.

Sana watched with interest as she climbed into her coat and somewhat awkwardly pulled out a small sandwich box. From this box, she pulled out a perfectly round object from the gold foil, covered with tiny red sticker in the shape of a heart.

It could almost pass for a piece of chocolate, because Sana carefully placed it in the center of the box, she could not restrain her curiosity. She should have known what was inside.

The stranger did not answer with words, she was too busy, blushing and writhing, not to mention the wide and somewhat stupid smile that had gripped previously tense features, but she did not need it. Sana looked at her strange customer, then dropped the box in her hands. Then one hand still cautiously pressed to the flowers, and again to the box. She blinked.

Looking at the other girl , Sana slowly said:

- Is that ... a wedding ring?

-Only the she whether it would say "yes" - the girl on the - still blushing, looking at Sana, then suddenly ceased to be nervous, and said in all seriousness.

Slightly stunned, Sana helped her client wrap the box to protect it from falling snow, accepted the payment and led the buyer to the door, wishing her a merry Christmas and was somewhat late, as the other woman was already walking along the snowy street with good luck with her evening plans. The dark-haired girl turned and smiled broadly at Sana, waving her hand slightly, despite the fact that she was holding her precious load, and then out of sight.

Sana locked herself and walked around the store, doing everything that she had to do at least half an hour ago, but she was so deep in thought that she barely noticed anything. Until the store was dark, and Sana did not get out of it.

With a slowly blossoming little smile, Sana returned to the pantry and took out a bag of Christmas sweets, which she had been looking at all evening. As a belated thought, she added one of the same luxurious chocolate confectionery that her last customer bought for the holidays, then neatly put it all in her bag, locked the back door behind her and went to the bus stop.

All the way home, Sana was thinking about a dark-haired stranger, wishing her good luck in her romantic endeavors. Sana also thoughtfully thought of myself, wondering if there will ever come a time that anyone has experienced thisproblem for her.

a bag of goodies, Sana got off the bus and dragged herself along the last part of the path to the door of her apartment, wishing she had the forethought to ask her client to return someday, just so that Sana could find out how it went.

Smiling suddenly, opening the front door, Sana decided that for some time she would follow the engagement advertisement in the local newspaper. Satisfied with her decision, Sana closed the door from the cold, put down her bags and called her puppy.

- Gucci , I'm at home.