Lost Kiss

It was New Year's Eve, and parties were happening everywhere. Everyone was waiting for the New Year to come. And at Holiday Magic Head Quarters, things were no different. Christmas had come and gone and the next big holiday may be Valentine's Day. New Year had its own special kind of magic. The Kiss to Ring the New Year.

This year Nadine was one of the chosen ones to help those kisses find their mark. The New Year Kiss wasn’t as powerful as a true love’s kiss, but it still could change the course of someone's night.

Nadine sat at her station, ready to do her part. The night was going well so far. Every kiss she gave out had found its intended target. Then the alert went off, she quickly silenced it. A kiss had missed its target. This wouldn’t do. She had to fix it! It was part of her job!

She told her adviser she was taking her “coffee break” and dove through the portal to the earth. Her tracking device told her the kiss had gotten lost at a small house party. How could a kiss get lost in a place so small? She needed more info.

She found the couple that was supposed to share this kiss, and the lady was not happy. What had happened? Nadine got closer.

“He just…Argh!” The lady set her glass down with force. “He knew tonight was important to me! He knew I wanted everything to be perfect. And he ordered the wrong food! I even wrote it down for him!” She pulled the note out of her pocket. “See! It would have had something for everyone!” She let out another angry sigh.

Her friend put a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, hey, it’s not the end of the world, they both brought their own snacks just in case, no one is going hungry.” She looked around, “And I doubt he did it on purpose.”

Oh… Angry couple… or at least angry wife… Is the husband mad too? Nadine looked around until she found a man sitting very defeated in an office chair in the next room.

“I don’t understand, I ordered what was on the list she gave me…” He showed a list from his pocket to the man in his office. “See? How could she say I got it wrong?”

Oh no! They’d somehow mixed up lists… Nadine looked at her bag; she didn’t have much in her emergency kit… Maybe an idea spray would help… But who to spray it on? She looked at the man and woman; the wife was still angry, so she’d better not risk the spray giving her bad ideas.

Nadine sprayed the idea spray into the man’s office.

“You don’t think there was a second list, was there?” the man’s friend suggested.

“What do you mean?” the husband asked.

“Like, do you think this is a first draft of the list, and she had a second one that you somehow didn’t get?” he explained further.

“How? This one was next to the rest of the party lists.” The husband paused. “Then again… She might have said something about a note on the fridge…but she’s had so many lists for this thing that I can’t keep it all straight.” He put his head in his hands.

“That might be all it was.” The other man shrugged. “The best you can do is go out there and explain what happened. Especially if you want to ring in your New Year with a kiss,” he teased.

The husband rolled his eyes. “I mean, that's not why I want to fix it, but it would be nice to not break tradition.” He walked to the next room.

Nadine raced back to the kitchen where the wife was still mad. Maybe she could use some of the nerve-calming candles? It was designed to give nervous targets the confidence they needed, but it was the best shot she had. She lit the candle and waited to see what would happen.

“Girl, come on - you said it yourself,” the lady’s friend coaxed. “He knew how important tonight was. Is there any chance there is a logical reason things got mixed up?”

The wife took a breath. “I mean, maybe. I’ve been going crazy planning everything, but I just don’t know how! I put it on the fridge for him. I told him where it was.”

“But how many versions of the food list exist? Is there a chance he grabbed one of those by mistake?” Her friend gave her a look. “We both know how you get when you’re planning. And are you really going to let this be the reason you don’t kiss him in a few minutes?”

Her friend pointed to the door, where the man stood, holding his list in his hand. The wife looked down at the list in hers. He walked in, and her friend placed a hand on his shoulder as she passed by.

“Can we both admit that somehow there was a mix-up? And that you know I didn’t mess this up on purpose and that I should have double-checked that I had the right list?” He gave her a lopsided smile.

She nodded her head. “Yeah, I’d like that… I’m sorry I overreacted, I know you didn’t mess it up on purpose.”

He took her hand and pulled her in close, and the countdown began in the other room. Nadine watched as the lost kiss landed on its target, and then she slipped back through the portal. Another kiss saved.