by Alex Bailey
“What? No.” Instant irritation rose up inside her, but Sophie figured Darren was just sore over missing Christmas with his family, so she let it slide. He’s actually a blogger we met at the hotel. And he’s been very helpful with Ariel. He likes this place, so Ariel isn’t stuck with just a stick-in-the-mud aunt. He’s keeping her occupied now so I can call you.”
“I don’t like the way you just said you.”
Sophie rolled her eyes so far into the back of her head, only the whites showed. She was glad Darren wasn’t there to see it, because eye-rolling was to Darren, what phone call hang-ups were to Sophie. “I don’t know what—”
“Let’s just change the subject. How’s it going so far?”
“It’s okay. So far. I almost had a meltdown in line for the safari ride.”
“I can understand that,” Darren said. “Who would ever want to stand in line to see an elephant?”
“There’s more than just elephants. There are lots of animals. But that’s not why I—
“Look, I don’t have much time. Just wanted to tell you I have an assignment. A real one. It’s in Seattle. Leaving soon, so you may not hear from me until I see you on the twenty-fourth.”
“Oh Darren, that’s great news! Have a good time.”
“Good time? You act like I’m going on vacation. Like some amusement park!”
Errr. How can he throw this in my face? He knows how I feel about this ‘amusement park.’ “Well, good luck then.”
“I don’t need luck, Sophie. I’m good at my job. I’ll get this done and show Peter that I’m every bit as good as your brother-in-law...Okay, they’re calling my flight. See you in a few days.” He hung up again without saying goodbye.
Sophie sighed. She found it irritating when Darren was short with her. Especially when there was no good reason. He acted like she was on the vacation of her dreams instead of doing something kind for her niece.
When Sophie returned to her seat, she smiled at the scene in front of her—Ray was showing Ariel pictures on his camera. They were both laughing. It warmed her heart to see her niece so happy and it took her mind off the annoying phone call from Darren.
Chapter 8
After an animal-filled afternoon of rides and shows, Sophie and Ariel left the park with Ray to find a bus to the Magic Kingdom. Ariel held both adult’s hands and swung them to and fro. The Christmas party would start soon and they wanted to arrive before the festivities began.
Ray said, “Ariel, know what my favorite part of the Christmas party is?”
“The parade?” she asked, and glanced up with hoisted eyebrows.
“Nope.”
“The fireworks?” she guessed again. “Oh, oh, I know, the castle lit up!”
“Nope and nope.”
“Then what is it?” Ariel asked.
He smiled as he looked down at her and said, “It’s seeing the kids’ faces when they see all those things for the first time.” He then directed a question to Sophie, “Would you like me to get some shots of Ariel during the party?”
Concern spread across her face. Sophie worried her niece’s photos could end up online, the last thing she would want.
As if he read her mind, he explained, “That’s okay. I’ll just stick with my scheduled list of items that I need to shoot. But just so you know, I never put close-ups of children on my blog, for safety’s sake.”
Sophie felt a tingle of guilt for even considering he would do something malicious. He was nothing but kind, a real Prince Charming. She rolled her eyes at her own cheesiness. Was this place having an effect on her already?
The bus arrived and after filing through the long line to board, they were the last to get on. Standing room only. “Hold on tight,” Sophie said to Ariel, moving her body to make sure she protected her niece from falling.
“I am.”
“I guess this party is pretty popular,” Sophie said.
“You’ve never been to one?” Ray asked.
“No. My last trip here was ten years ago, but it was in the summer. I haven’t been here at Christmastime in a long time.”
“Not the biggest fan, you are?” Ray said in a mocked Yoda voice.
Sophie laughed and shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s just that we spent every single vacation here when I was a kid and my friends were going to cool places, like Europe or New York or Costa Rica.”
“Costa Rica?” Ray looked skeptical.
“Yeah. I had a friend who went zip-lining there,” Sophie tried to see around passengers’ heads to get a glimpse of outside. “That was certainly cooler than coming here. I was very jealous.”
Suddenly, the bus turned a corner a little too quickly and Sophie fell forward into Ray’s chest. His arm wrapped around her back, holding her in place. A wonderful aroma hit her, a mixture of orange trees, fresh-cut grass, and sunshine. She didn’t want to move back into position; she wanted to linger and take in his fresh scent, and was glad when Ray didn’t motion to upright her. She remained longer than was polite, and then half-smiled and said, “Oh,” before standing straight again.
Ray dropped his arm from her back and said, “Are you okay?”
For some reason, Sophie wasn’t embarrassed by her fall. It was odd, because falling into someone’s chest was definitely not something she did on a regular basis and absolutely something that should have made her blush with embarrassment. She nodded, her half-smile turning whole, as Ray’s essence lingered on her mind.
“Aunt Sophie needs to remember how cool Disney is,” Ariel said. “She needs our help.”
“Not sure we have that type of magical power”—he glanced down at Ariel—“but we’ll try our best. How about that?”
Sophie rolled her eyes, knowing it would not work, but also thought how sweet it was that Ariel wanted her to be as happy as they were. Breathe. Just breathe. You’ll get through it.
STEPPING ONTO MAIN Street, a train whistle blew behind them and Ariel stopped dead, which forced Sophie and Ray to also stop, since they all held hands. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “Look at that!” A sixty-five-foot tree stared at them, daring to take their breath away. It was decorated with extra-large bells, rocking horses, stockings, and silver garland enveloped it. “Can we get pictures there?” Ariel pointed to the large colorfully-wrapped packages surrounding the bottom of the trees.
“Sure can,” Sophie said. She took out her phone and told Ariel to stand in a vacant spot as soon as someone left. She snapped a few with her niece posing like a game show model, pointing at door number three, revealing an enormous Christmas tree.
Walking around the tree revealed a Christmas-wreath lined Main Street. When they made their way up the street, Ray motioned them over to the sidewalk and stopped in front of the Emporium souvenir shop. “Hold on a minute. I’ve got something for you.” He bent over, dug into his backpack, and pulled out his camera, along with a red Mickey-head light-up necklace. He placed it around Sophie’s neck. “This will match nicely with your hair.”
She frowned but didn’t protest. At least it doesn’t clash with my green dress. Red and green are Christmas colors!
He then pulled out light-up Mickey ears and stuck them on Ariel’s head. “Now, we’re ready to party.”
“Wow! Thanks, Mr. Bueno!”
Still squatting, eye-to-eye with Ariel, he said, “Look, we have to get one thing straight. I’ve told you about that Mr. Bueno thing. Mr. Bueno is my dad. I’m Ray. Just Ray. Or Professor Disney, if you really must. But no more Mr. Bueno. Got that?” He pursed his lips together and squinted, so that when he looked into her face, he looked as if he would burst out laughing.
Ariel turned around to her aunt, and Sophie nodded, granting her permission.
“How about Mr. Ray?” Ariel teased, alluding to the character in Finding Nemo.
He shook his head.
“Okay. And you can call me Ariel, or my nickname, Arie, which is short for Ariel. Got it Ray or Professor Disney?”
Ray laughed. “Got it,
Ariel or Arie.”
A passerby, overhearing Ariel’s remark, stopped and yelled, “Guys! It’s Professor Disney! Look!” A group, consisting of what looked like several moms, dads, children, and grandparents stopped in front of Ray. Everyone in the group wore matching green T-shirts with a large Mickey head logo sporting a Santa hat, except one older gentleman with gray hair. His green T-shirt had the words, I don’t do matching shirts!
“Can we get a picture with you?” one of the mom-looking women asked.
“We follow you, and we’re in your Facebook group,” another woman said.
Ray grinned. He looked up at Sophie and Ariel. “Do you mind?”
They both shook their heads. Sophie had been with her brother-in-law and Darren often enough when they’d been recognized to know the drill. Give the fans what they wanted. It was a simple gesture of good will and only took a second to make their day.
When Ray stood, the group gathered around him. Ray wrapped his arms around two of the women, who stood on either side of him.
Sophie said, “Would you like me to take the picture?”
One of the moms handed over her phone and the crowd cheesy-grinned, while Sophie snapped a few photos.
“Thanks,” they offered all around when the picture-taking was done.
“Ready to party?” Ray asked.
“Not quite.” Sophie wore a mischievous grin. “Follow me.” She led them into the Emporium. In spite of not wanting to wear a flashing light-up necklace, Sophie realized that Ray had brought it and the light-up ears for himself to wear. She couldn’t let this Disney-fanatic go un-attired, and led them to the light-up ears and pulled one off the wall.
“This one’s for you, Ray,” she said. “We’re not letting you get away with looking like a perfectly normal person while we look like...” she glanced down at her blinking necklace.
“Like you’re ready for a Disney Christmas party?” he offered.
“Like we’re ready for a 1970s disco club.”
Ray frowned and shook his head. “Well, if you insist, then I will happily join you in that club. Though, I much prefer to call it the Mickey Mouse Club.”
“Of course you would.” Sophie trotted off to find the nearest register.
After she paid, Ray put on his ears and asked again, “Okay, now are we ready?”
“Yup, now we’re ready to party,” Ariel grabbed his hand, then grabbed Sophie’s with her other hand, and the three of them marched down the Christmas-adorned Main Street displaying their Christmas Disney regalia.
WHEN THEY REACHED THE dance party at the stage near the rocket ride, upbeat music blasted throughout the area and a DJ was on stage dancing, fist-bumping the air, and hyping up the crowd in front of him. Ray dragged Ariel into the middle of the crowd, and Sophie dropped Ariel’s hand. Sophie had full view of her niece on the sidelines but had no intention of dancing with the group, which included Disney characters. She took out her phone and snapped some pictures of Ray waving his arms in the air and swirling them around. Ariel followed suit. Then Ray took one of Ariel’s hands and spun her. Laughing hysterically, their faces were beacons of pure joy.
And watching Ray’s moves brought an unanticipated smile to Sophie’s face as she found herself staring at his large biceps while swinging them in the air. She could also make out the outline of his chest muscles, since his Groot T-shirt was somewhat snug. He must work out all the time. No one gets muscles like that just by walking around Disney parks. When she realized what she was doing, she forced herself to look away.
After Sophie was sure she had gotten some great shots, she stashed her phone back in her bag and clapped along to the beat of the music. Ray took Ariel’s hand, moved the two of them closer to Goofy and Donald, and danced with the characters. Sophie couldn’t figure out who danced goofier—Goofy or Ray.
Glancing at Sophie, Ray waved her over to join them, but she shook her head. No way am I going into that crowd. He bent over and made some motion to Ariel that Sophie couldn’t see, and then both of them ran toward her. Ariel took Sophie’s hand and said, “Come on Aunt Sophie. It’s fun!”
Reluctantly, Sophie gave in to the pressure and joined them. She threw her hands in the air the way Ray had taught Ariel and twirled them. The three of them danced in a small circle in the midst of the chaos, twirling their hands in unison. Sophie loved music and loved dancing, so it wasn’t difficult for her to have fun. It was something she missed very much, since Darren hated to dance. They had never even been on the dance floor together.
When the song ended, they caught their breaths and Ray asked, “Anyone ready for some cookies and hot chocolate, or are you still full from the barbecue we had for lunch?”
Ariel jumped up and down, “Yes! Cookies and hot chocolate!”
Sophie nodded. She had consumed an incredible amount of food for lunch at the Animal Kingdom, but cookies and hot chocolate sounded perfect, and since they were served all over the park, they didn’t have to walk far to get it. There was a stand right next to the dance party.
“Aunt Sophie, admit it, you had fun dancing, didn’t you?” Ariel asked after taking a tiny sip of her too-hot hot chocolate.
“Okay, I admit it. I had a blast. You know I love to dance.”
“Yup. We dance around your apartment all the time.”
“We do indeed. And you, Ray, you were just a big kid out on that dance floor. Pretty nice moves too.” Sophie took the top off her drink and dunked her cookie into it and took a bite.
Ray pointed to Sophie’s drink and said, “Arie, look at what your aunt just did. Now who’s the big kid?”
“I’m gonna do that too.” Ariel took the lid off her drink and dunked her cookie.
Ray followed suit. “If only my brother, Frank could hear that you liked my dancing! When we were kids, we’d have dance contests to see who would win the worst dancer in the world.”
“I’d say, Frank lost. Because that back there”—Sophie pointed in the direction of the dance party—“that was a winner.” Sophie glanced over at him as they headed to the Jungle Cruise ride.
“Aw, shucks,” he said in terrible Goofy accent, hunching his shoulders downward in front of him. “Thanks. Thanks a terrible lot.”
When they were next to the castle, Ariel gasped. It was lit up in what looked like millions of tiny clear ice crystals with blue accent lighting.
“Wow!” Sophie said. “Elsa’s got nothing on this castle!”
Ray turned away as he said, “Hmmph.”
“What? You don’t think this castle beats Elsa’s?”
“Oh it’s not that. The fact that you made a Disney reference when commenting on the castle’s beauty.”
Sophie had to laugh, because Ray was right. She hadn’t even noticed. “The funniest part of that statement though, is that I’ve never even seen the movie.”
“But I have a Frozen coloring book,” Ariel said, moving closer to the castle and stopping when she reached a railing barrier, “with a picture of Elsa’s castle in it. And Aunt Sophie colored it the wrong color! Pink! Who ever heard of a pink ice castle?”
Sophie shrugged when Ray said, “I guess you have to see the movie. You know. Just so you can get the coloring pages correct.”
“Can we get a picture of the castle?” Ariel asked.
“Sure,” Sophie said. “How about you two stand in front of it, and I’ll get a picture of both of you doing something goofy, since Ray here, seems to know how to do that very well.”
He snickered and laid his backpack beside Sophie, then took his place next to Ariel. Ray bent over with a mischievous grin and whispered in Ariel’s ear, then stood and cheered, “Ready? Go!” They threw their arms in the air like they had just done at the dance party, twirling them, and then stopped when they were at random angles for Sophie to get the shot.
Sophie snapped a few photos while they posed, making sure to capture the joy on Ariel’s face. She couldn’t help but smile watching the two of them pose in silly stances. Ariel looke
d like she was having the time of her life. In fact, so did Ray. Though, for all she knew, he always looked like that.
When they’d had quite a few different poses, Ray said to Sophie, “Your turn. I’ll take some now.”
Sophie handed him her phone and then whispered to Ariel, “What do you want to do in this pose?”
“How about if I stand behind you and reach my arms around your waist, with your hands behind your back. Like my arms are yours?” Ariel wriggled her outstretched hands to give a sneak preview of her pose.
“That’s great!” Sophie said. She and Ariel got into the position and Ray snapped away. He then kneeled down and dug into his backpack and withdrew his own camera.
Sophie’s heart raced. “Um...” She didn’t want pictures of her niece on Ray’s website and she’d made that perfectly clear.
Without looking at Sophie’s distressed expression, he said, “I won’t use any of these online. I promise.”
“Um...” she said again.
Ariel whispered, “I believe him, don’t you?”
Sophie turned around and faced Ariel’s innocent questioning look. Ariel would have trusted anyone. It’s just how she was. But Sophie didn’t know what to say. Do I believe Ray? We only met him yesterday, but already I have a very comfortable feeling about him. I think I do believe him. Not sure where this is coming from and it’s totally against everything I’ve ever known, but, “Okay, Ray, sure. Since you promised.”
They posed in several positions by pointing at each other with shocked looks, clasping their cheeks with the palms of their hands while puckering their lips, and then forming a heart with their arms by facing each other and lifting an arm over their heads.
“Great shots! You’ll love these,” Ray said with a huge grin, while packing his camera back in his backpack.
They continued on their way to the Jungle Cruise. But before they made it, Ariel asked if she could put her feet in the water at the Tiki poles spouting water near Aladdin’s flying carpet ride.