The worst thing about Dylan Kim’s new job was...well...most aspects of Dylan Kim’s new job. He’d gotten a job at a diner near the crummy little basement apartment he was renting in downtown Chicago. There was very little to like about his new job and even less to like about his new apartment. But, as was his tendency, he did his best to think of the experience in exclusively optimistic terms. Every bad experience he had was fodder for his comedy; every terrible moment was still a moment he was pursuing his dreams. Or, at least, pursuing the ability to pursue his dreams.

The diner was...sticky. It was the sort of place that you could spend all evening mopping and the floors would still never properly get cleaned. The lights were a harsh yellow that reflected off of all of the once-white and overly glossy tables and floor. The whole place smelled like grease. The diner stayed open late, but not all night which seemed absurd to Dylan. The diner was closed between 1:00am and 5:00am which seemed to have no effect other than occasionally pissing off a few drunks and disappointing some post-partying teenagers.

Dylan was still too new at work to really have any friends there. In fact, he was too new in Chicago to have any friends there. So work, and Chicago, were both kind of terrible and not even made better by the presence of friends. Some days at work weren’t too bad, though, because he had a couple of coworkers that he liked, even if they weren’t yet his friends. For instance, on the evening of the 19th, he was closing with Katelyn and Jessica, a pair of girls around his age who were, at the very least, entertaining to listen to.

After the dinner rush gave way to the post-dinner trickle, and after the rest of the staff left at 8:00, Katelyn and Jessica spent most of their time leaning on the counter and talking to one another. That’s what they were doing when the last table of customers slipped out of their booth. Dylan busied himself cleaning off the table while Jessica burst into a fit of laughter. She caught her breath, said something, and started laughing again. Katelyn, on the other hand, was stoic. Or maybe not stoic. Maybe tense.

They were a visually interesting pair: Katelyn short and curved, Jessica tall and lean; Katelyn with a head of reddish brown curls, Jessica with straight black hair; Katelyn with pale and speckled skin; Jessica with a warm, tanned complexion. They were both pretty, but Dylan tried not to think of either girl in romantic terms. Katelyn had a boyfriend and Jessica talked exclusively about other girls. Jessica was holding a cloth, but she wasn’t even pretending to wipe anything down with it. Katelyn said something, her cheeks flushed pink, and turned away from Jessica. She had several salt shakers open on the counter in front of her and she was slowly and fastidiously filling them as Jessica let out several delighted giggles.

“Oy!” Jessica called, leaning over the counter in Dylan’s direction. “New guy! Come here for a sec.”

Dylan nodded and approached the counter with a tower of dirty dishes in his hands. Once he was there, he was not sure what to do with them, so he just set them down on the counter that separated him and the girls. In the process, he knocked over one of Katelyn’s salt shakers and spilled salt across the table. He blustered an apology and tried to help Katelyn clean it up.

Jessica stood watching them, her arms crossed over her chest and a grin spread across her face. “This is going to be so great. So. New guy. Katelyn has something to ask you.”

“Oh, yeah?” Dylan asked, straightening up and looking at Katelyn. She stared at her hands and her blush deepened. When she looked up, and she had to look up quite a ways because Dylan was a stretch of a person, he smiled at her encouragingly.

She stared at him for a moment and then stuttered out, “Wh-wh-who is your dentist?”

“My dad! Thanks!” Dylan said, his voice easy and chipper. Then, suddenly, he realized that who is your dentist isn’t even an implied compliment, really, it’s just a question. He frowned to himself and then tried to correct his mistake. “Oh, wait, you didn’t...I mean...why? I mean. Cool. Yeah. My dad. James. Kim. Dr. James Kim, I mean. Kim is our last name. Maybe you knew that? Did you know that? Anyway, yeah. My dentist is my dad. Why though? You have nice teeth.”

At that, he clenched his mouth shut to prevent himself from blathering on any more. Katelyn fidgeted, probably made nervous by Dylan’s embarrassing display. Her skin had gone almost completely red, bright strawberry blotches spread up from her collarbone and covered her neck. Jessica, though, laughed with delight. She even clapped with glee.

Grinning widely and tilting her head so her ponytail swished from one shoulder blade to the other, Jessica practically squealed, “Oh. My. Word. I am such a fan of this.” She laughed, shook her head, and then said, “Okay. So. No. New guy? Katelyn’s real question for you is this: do you have any plans for Christmas?”

Dylan scrubbed a palm over the nape of his neck. He worried that the answer was a bit pathetic so he wasn’t sure that he wanted to give it. “Um. I’m, uh, actually working. Not on Christmas day, I guess, because we aren’t open. But every day leading up to Christmas, and then right after. Perks of being the new guy, I guess. It’s fine, though. It’d just be my dad and me, and since he’s in Oregon...I mean, he’d’ve probably bought me a ticket, but I always feel a bit bad when he pays for stuff for me anyway and...oh shoot. That’s right. My dad’s in Oregon. Which, of course he is, I’m, like, from Oregon. But that means I’ll probably need to get a new dentist. And, like, sorry. I mean, I can’t believe I was just like ‘Oh, yeah, here’s a great dental recommendation! He’s just five million miles away,’ I mean--”

Jessica snorted a laugh and whipped her dishtowel at Katelyn’s stomach, “You wanna jump in here at some point? Poor boy’s drowning.”

Katelyn did not look like she wanted to jump in. Katelyn looked like she wanted to be somewhere else doing something else entirely. She bit her lip and looked at her feet. Dylan wondered if Jessica had just pulled him over in order to embarrass her friend, but he wasn’t sure why Katelyn would be embarrassed by his presence. Jessica sighed. Katelyn kept not looking at either of them. Jessica rolled her eyes and Katelyn winced as though she’d somehow seen it.

“O-kay,” Jessica said. “I guess not. So. New guy. Here’s th--”

“It’s Dylan,” Katelyn mumbled.

Jessica laughed, “Oh, so you do speak?”

Katelyn cut a glare at her friend and then directed her gaze back towards her feet. Jessica continued, “So Dylan, here’s the thing: Katelyn kind of needs someone to escort her to her family’s house and pretend to be her boyfriend for a few days. We were thinking that that person could be you. What do you say?”

“Oh, um,” Dylan hummed. He ran his left hand over his right arm. He wasn’t sure how to answer this question. He’d already explained that he had to work. Of course, he could quit, go with Katelyn, and let his dad cover his next month’s rent...again. Maybe he could just get a gig as a temp upon his return.

“I’ll cover your shifts,” Jessica offered. She shrugged a shoulder like the offer was inconsequential.

“That’s--” Dylan laughed, though it was more exhale than real laugh.

“I’ll cover your shifts and split my tips with you,” Jessica offered. Now Katelyn looked at her, her lips pulled into a small frown and her eyebrows drawn together.

“No, it’s just…” Dylan looked at Katelyn. “Your boyfriend? The guy who picked you up the other day? Kind of short? White guy? Built like…” He brought his hands up towards his shoulders, pantomiming broader shoulders than his own.

Katelyn stared, very intently, at the bracelets that were looped around her wrists. They were the sort that girls gave their friends in high school, made with colorful threads and beads. She twisted them, chewing on her bottom lip. Then she let out a breath, looked up at him, met his eyes, and nodded.

“Ex!” Jessica interjected. “Linebacker dude is totally her ex.”

Dylan laughed in surprise, and then swallowed the laughter in shame. “Sorry. Um. The thing is I don’t think anyone would believe that I am him.”

“Oh,” Katelyn mumbled. “Well, no one’s, like, met him or anything. Except my brother and he probably won’t be there. He lives in New York and works, like, constantly, so…”

“So, whaddya say?” Jessica asked, grinning, “You wanna pretend to be Mason for a couple of days?”

“Jason,” Katelyn said, eyes rolling.

“Whatever,” Jessica shrugged. She arched her brows in Dylan’s direction.

“Um, okay,” he agreed. “I mean, why not? I’m assuming there will be food and lodging, right? And your parents’ place probably has working heat. Which would be a vast improvement from my apartment which, for whatever reason, can’t get much warmer than 60. And whatever your parents are serving has to be better than what I’ve got which, I’m pretty sure, is just one can of green beans at this point. So, yeah, sure. I’m in. You don’t even have to split your tips with me. If you want to cover my shifts and I get the chance to sleep someplace warm, I’m in.”