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He looked with shock at her face, their eyes fixed on one another. Looking at him coolly, she had but a few words. “Go clean out your desk. I don’t know, just leave.” Shelby turned to her computer, certain he’d take the less than subtle hint she was finished. He did and quietly closing the door, a click she heard distinctly.

She slammed her fist onto the desk, a residual expression of anger bubbling to the surface. Whether it was from what she’d just done or the papers lying on her desk stating the divorce was final, shadows darkened her mood. No matter. She turned her attention beck to the work she wanted to complete before they took a break over the Christmas holidays. Her head turned to the door when she heard a familiar knock.

“Yes Peter,” she said. He opened the door, just standing there staring at her. She matched his glare.

“What is it?”

“You know you can’t do what you just did.”
“Why not? I just did do it,” she said, a hint of defiance in her tone.

“Do you really think, of all people, Ben’s first stop won’t be his lawyer?” he said, sitting down.

“So what? I had my reasons for getting rid of him and that’s that.”

“Yes, he tends to overstep the mark at times. But who among us doesn’t do that? In a more favourable light, it’d be called, taking the initiative. If he makes a formal complaint, I mean this could go all the way to the top. Is that what you want?” Peter said with a touch of sympathy smoothing his words. “Come on. You do realise it’s a few days from Christmas and well, it’s a bit Scrooge-like to be firing someone now, don’t ya think?” Shelby looked up at him, her face hardening to any words urging supplication.

“Well, he’s free to make his stance with Elliot. I can fully justify the reasoning behind my actions.”

“Yes, you’re friends with Elliot. But he’s still the CEO and will have to abide by decisions for the sake of his company. And we all know, however much his ways can sometimes be an irritant, Ben is an unquestionable asset to the company. Don’t you think Elliot is going to bear that in mind?” Shelby sat listening, nervously clenching and unclenching her hands.

She looked up at him, her face taut. Lifting her hands to her head and smoothing back her hair, Shelby pushed back her chair and rose. “Okay. I’ve gotta get out of here.” Closing her laptop, she put on her jacket. “If there are any problems, I’m sure you can take care of them. Anything of earth-shattering importance, you can phone me. I’ll be around, she said, holding her door open for Peter to leave before she locked it.

Walking out, she kept her head down, sure eyes would be on her as she left. At the moment, Shelby couldn’t care less whether they were all wounded by the apparent injustice bestowed on the heavenly Ben. “Give me a break,” she thought, pressing the button to call the elevator.

Getting into her car, Shelby wondered whether she should stop at the service centre and get them to check her tires. Closing her eyes, all she could think about was getting out of the city. Right now, all she wanted was for the world to leave her alone. Turning on the heat, she drove off.

Thinking of her now ex-husband, she couldn’t resist hoping the worst for him and his new young bit of fluff that had turned his head. Shelby was certain they’d soon hear wedding bells. Then in a few years, when Miss Bit of Fluff started sagging and showing the inevitable signs of age, off she’d go. But Shelby thought, there was little doubt little Miss Bit of Fluff would exert every means by which to hold back time—dye job, gym membership, some strategic cosmetic surgery.

Here it was almost Christmas and she had nothing to show for it. Since Mum and Dad were both gone, she couldn’t go there for the holidays. Her younger brother always went to his wife’s family. She rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she thought, turning the radio volume up. In the end, she just went home and thought she’d drive through the night and into the morning. She should be able to get to her older brother’s place in Twillingate by nine or so in the morning.

Shelby wasn’t entirely sure what she’d do about her tire. Although, she figured she’d be able to stop in at the next service centre, do something there. She just wanted to leave. Her mind kept returning to her ex-husband’s transgressions. But what did he care. There was nothing to roughen his path. Besides, he’d just been promoted. Didn’t matter. So what if everything was wonderful for him.

She quietly prepared for her journey. Preferring to travel in the wee hours, she was sure to have the road to herself. After pouring some tea into her travel mug, she turned up the radio and set off. There were hardly any cars on the road allowing her to drive in peace.

She was listening to an audiobook when she heard a thump, thump, thump and Shelby slowed down, moving off to the side of the road. Coming to a stop, she rested her head back, shutting her eyes tightly. “Damn it! Just what I need,” she said to herself. There was a bit of snow on the ground here, but not much. Getting out of the car, she looked at her tires and then found the culprit.

She got back into the car, pausing for a moment. “Okay, no problem. It’ll just take about twenty minutes to change and then I can get to the service place by my brother,” she said to herself. Putting on her jacket and grabbing her flashlight, Shelby got out. She unlocked the back of the car, taking out everything she needed to put on the spare tire.

Jacking up the car, her mind wandered to what she’d done in the morning. But she sternly resisted thinking she’d overreacted. Another one of the workers had complained about him and so, that’s never good. She began to unscrew the lugnuts, standing up to use her full weight.

Looking up, she saw a truck pull in behind. Just great, a good Samaritan I’ll have to inform ‘I do know how to change a tire, thank you very much.’ She smiled at him.

“Hey, why don’t you let me help you with that?” He was tall and stout, dressed in jeans and a lumber jacket, a toque pulled over his head. “Oh, I can see ya know what you’re doing. I don’t mean anything against your ability to change your tire,” he said. She hadn’t realised her face must’ve made it clear she didn’t want help.

“Yes, I can easily change the tire myself, so you needn’t bother,” she said, hoping that’d be enough to get him to leave her alone.

“Listen, why don’t you let me do the honours for ya? Consider it a Christmas gift. From me to you for doing your tire and from you to me, for letting me do your tire.” At any other time, she’d refuse to give in to his emotional blackmail. But what harm would it do if she let him do it. She reckoned as he said, it was Christmas, after all.

“Okay,” she said, sighing. He smiled, taking the lugwrench and immediately bending down to loosen the lugnuts. She leaned against the car, her mind awhirl with everything that seemed to have gone wrong in her life. Shelby closed her eyes, attempting to clear her mind, distancing herself from those thoughts.

“So, where are you headed, if you don’t mind me asking?” he said as he worked.

“Going to visit someone.”

“Ah, well it’s a good time to drive,” he said. He continued to unscrew the lugnuts. Shelby was lost in her thoughts, her face, taut and stern. He looked at her. “Bad day at the office?” She turned her head towards him, startled by the comment.

“Huh?” She had only grasped what he’d said after a moment. “Ah, well. It wasn’t great.” He’d begun to attach the spare tire. “I’ve had better, I guess.” She gave a wry laugh. When he’d finished, he got up and leaned against the car alongside her.

“Yeah, we all have our crosses to bear, my mum always used to say.” Another pause as they watched the sun slowly rise. She glanced towards him as he gazed into the sky, his face at peace, yet with troubled eyes. Shelby looked down.

There’s that moment when a person, although absorbed by their own difficulties and trials, they still take the time to lay their own troubles aside. “How about you? Where are you headed?” she said.

“Me? Ah, I’m headed to Deer Lake for my little brother’s funeral,” he said.

“O, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“No worries. He had cancer. So, it’s more a relief he’s gone and no longer in pain.” She nodded her head, not sure what else to do. “It’s gonna be sunrise soon.” She just smiled, not feeling particularly talkative. “Hey, would ya look at that?” Shelby looked to where he was pointing. “That’s stunning.” The sky had lightened enough, showing a layer of pearlescent crimson gold below a deep velvety purple.

As she regarded the sky, its beauty seemed to sweep over her, loosening and disentangling the knots in her body. She could feel the tension in her shoulder muscles releasing.

“My daughter told me it was winter solstice today,” he said to Shelby. “I didn’t think anything of it. But this is amazing.” They stood in silence as the colours in the sky slowly transformed. “It’s tremendous, isn’t it?” he said, elated at what they were witnessing. “It’s just almost overwhelming. So vast.”

Shelby remembered her mum telling her all those years back how important it was to somehow feel connected to something greater than oneself. And looking at the sky, she felt lovingly engulfed by its magnificence. “Yes. It is indeed out of this world,” she said, barely a whisper. They stood for a while longer.

“Well, I better get going,” he said. He rolled the flat tire to the back of her car and then put it away. He told her he put everything into her car.

“Thanks.” She looked at him, a hint of a smile painting her face. “I mean it.” He smiled and winked as he got into his truck, waving as he drove off. Resting in her car, Shelby closed her eyes feeling how comforting it had been to share those moments of grace as they watched the sky illuminate.

Pulling out her phone, she sent a text to Peter to get in touch with Ben. She wrote, “Tell him I regret what I did and to please accept my sincere apologies. And if he‘s willing, he’d be more than welcome to return when we come back on the 30^th. Wish him a pleasant winter solstice and a Merry Christmas, too, for me.”