Charlotte lost contact with Tiana when they alighted from the plane. She had thought she would meet her at the waiting hall, hoping to exchange contacts so as to keep in touch. She was hesitant about it back on the plane.
After she had cleared her luggage, she quickly found herself in a cab in front of the airport. She was glad she didn’t have to spend hours here waiting for a ride because she knew absolutely no one here that could pick her up.
The pilot was either a very fast one or her calculations about the flight time were wrong; they had arrived at Rovaniemi airport sixteen hours after they departed, it was a few hours past noon by the time she arrived there.
Charlotte was amazed by the sight, she couldn’t believe she was really here; the official airport of Santa Claus, this was the busiest airport she had ever seen, or maybe it was because of the festive season. People were right to suggest Rovaniemi as the home of Santa Claus, everything here smelled like Christmas; the winter was way more active here than Australia where she had just come from.
This city really had the spirit of Christmas. Charlotte wished her best friend was here to witness these with her. She was no stranger to heavy snow, but what she saw here was special, it was different and she could feel the excitement bubbling within her. She was right to come here, this place was too magical to be real.
She took pictures from the cab as it headed for a hotel she had booked online before her arrival. It was difficult getting a good space by that time of the year because the hotels were already packed with guests and tourists. Yes, Rovaniemi was indeed a tourist attraction. What better place to spend Christmas than the village of Santa Claus himself.
Charlotte’s face brightened with a smile and her lovely cat eyes glowed when she saw a reindeer on the way. That was the first time she had seen one life, and it had just showed up randomly on the way like it was nothing special. Maybe that was just the way it was here, the road had just been plowed as she noticed, possibly the third or fourth time today, guessing from the rate of the snow fall.
Seeing that beautiful reindeer reminded Charlotte of the last Christmas she had spent with Josh, they had watched Christmas movies together and that was the first time she paid attention to the creature when it came up on the screen. She had discussed it with Josh and he had promised her that he would bring her to see a live one this year, but now she was here all alone, she had seen the reindeer but without Josh.
Charlotte’s mood was once again ruined when she thought about it, when she remembered all the fake promises he made to her during sex. She hated him for doing this to her, he betrayed her, he used her and he broke her trust.
“Asshole!!” she cursed out loud, as she had heard Tiana say all that time back in the flight. Seems like half a day was all the elegant lady needed to influence her, she was already repeating her swear words.
“Sorry ma’am, is everything alright back there?” the concerned cab driver asked from the front.
“Oh… yeah, yeah I am fine,” she replied and forced a convincing smile.
She switched between staring at the map on her phone and looking out of the window every few seconds. Well, just as much as she wanted to enjoy the view and get as many pictures as possible, she also didn’t want to get lost on her first day here in Finland. She had chosen a hotel here in Rovaniemi itself because she could easily take a cab to the airport if there was a need for it, but the hotel seemed to be a bit closer to the village than she thought.
It seemed so close to the airport on the map, but they had been driving for almost twenty minutes now. Of course, how could she trust the distance and time put down on the google map, it wasn’t completely accurate.
“Are we getting any closer?” she asked the cab driver curiously.
“Don’t worry ma’am, it is not too far away, and I would like to add that you chose a very good hotel. It is close to the big town and also the smaller city in the kingdom.” The chubby and happy looking driver replied.
it was either everyone in this city knew how to smile wide and be happy or the fat man was just having a really good day, either way he seemed really happy.
“Kingdom, you just said kingdom… So Finland practices a monarchy system of government?” she asked curiously, she was hearing that for the first time.
“Not entirely, but yes… some parts of the country still practice Monarchy, we have our royal families and they are just as recognized as the president and prime ministers,” he replied.
“Wow, cool…” Charlotte muttered and then she looked out of the window again.
The cab soon arrived at the hotel she had booked, she settled him and by the time her luggage was out of the car, there was someone there to welcome her already. A nicely dressed man who didn’t seem to be affected by the winter cold, he just wore this bright smile on his face that looked good on him, even better than the amazing tux he had on him.
“Welcome to the Supreme Presidential hotel, Rovaniemi. Do you already have a booking or would you like to make a fresh entry ma’am?” the man asked as he dragged her suitcase into the big building. The place was giving rural society vibes even with all the sophistication.
“Oh, I already booked a room online, I just haven’t printed the receipt yet.” Charlotte replied.
“That is not a problem ma’am, just give the receptionist your details and she will find your room information on the hotel website. Meanwhile, would you like any special services while you are here ma’am? We could get you almost anything you need; a private tour guide, a private cab, even a personal Santa Claus,” he added and Charlotte giggled.
** * * * *
Charlotte was now inside her hotel room, she loved the view from the large glass. She was on the first floor and the whole place was just wide and spectacular. She expected this place to be low-key, but not this calm and reserved.
Well, she thought it was too calm until she heard the voices of excited kids tobogganing outside the hotel on the sideway. A smile crawled up her face as she watched those adorable kids scream in excitement. Once again she thought of the one source of happiness she used to have, Josh!
It was at that point that she realized how dependent she really was on him. Yes, she never asked him for money because she could earn her own money, but most of her happy memories were tied to him, she had completely relied on him to be happy and now she was paying a heavy price for that. She had very few joyful memories that had nothing to do with him, so how can she move on? How can she forget about him when he was the reason for her smile?
Once again, she cursed the day she met him as sadness filled her being. She decided to take Tiana’s advice, she will go out there tonight and get drunk!! She would find a way to be happy without Josh because she didn’t damn need him in her life, she was a strong independent beautiful woman, she wouldn’t forget that!!
