A Candy Candy Miracle on 34th Street
by
Mallory Quinn
Chapter 1
“A drastic
change”
It was the month of November and it was cold in New York.
The boat had just arrived at the harbour. The passengers were getting off and
but it was taking a very long time. Some residents were going back home but the
majority of passengers were new immigrants coming to the United States to start
fresh and become rich… A young elegant woman was with a beautiful little girl by
her sis who was her splitting image. The mother had Venetian blond hair held in
a very tight bun. The little girl had her hair down held in half a pony tail.
They both had red coats with matching hats. A man was waiting for them and he
took care of all the formalities. The two ladies were patiently waiting for him
on a bench. After all the formalities, the man took care of their luggage and
they went outside where a car was waiting for them. They got in and the driver
too them to their apartment. She didn’t want something too flashy…How did she
get there? She was living at peace on a pacific island, enjoying the sun for
years with her little girl. She recalled the visit of the adoptive father, one
afternoon.
- Candy…
- No Albert, I’m fine over here, I don’t have
any problems
- You mean you’re avoiding your problems…
- Albert,
please…
- That’s not the solution and you know it, it took me years to
find you
- And I wished you had just left me alone and not look for
me, I just wanted to disappeared …
- You did a major disappearing
act!
- I wanted to be alone…
- That’s not healthy; you were the
cheerful one, the one who would bring sunshine in our lives…
-
Albert…
- You’ve become so… so…
- Cold and brittle? Funny, since
I’m in a place where the sun always shines…
- Yet, you’ve never been so
cold inside… Candy please, I want to help you…
- Albert, I’m very happy
to see you, but I didn’t ask for any help…I wonder how on earth did you find me
here!!!???
- Believe me, I’ve practically hired all the best private
investigators in the world
- I bet you spent a lot of money too… what a
waste! I’m not coming back Albert…
- I don’t understand… why? You
disappeared on me without a word! How could you do this to me? To
us???
Candy remained silent. She had just took off one day without a word
to anybody.
- For the longest time I thought you were dead! He said
upset
- I’m so sorry Albert; I never wanted to hurt you…
- I was
your friend, I wanted to marry you, you could’ve told me anything… you just
disappeared without a trace
- That was wrong of me, please forgive
me…
- You have to come back with me, to reassure everybody back
home…
- You don’t need me to live, do you?
- Well, we all loved
you and you let us down…
- I needed my space…
- You kind of put
several continents between us…
- Albert…
Candy stood up and she
said.
- All right, I’ll think about it, give me your hotel number and
I’ll come and see you…
Albert looked at her surprised…
- What’s
with the 180?He said
- Nothing, you convinced me…
- Just like
that?
- Yes, you’re pretty convincing, you know that… aren’t you a very
good business man…
- Candy, what are you hiding
-
Nothing…
She barely finished pronouncing her words when the door opened
and a very beautiful little girl made her entrance. She had long and wavy blond
hair like her mother without the freckles. She was wearing a dress with flowers
and bright colours. She had a school bag…
- Hi mommy! How was your day,
oh… we have a visitor…
Albert was flabbergasted! What???
- Hello,
said the little girl smiling, my name is Cia…
- Hello, said Albert
smiling, my name is Albert…
- Albert? Mommy’s friend Albert? Said the
little girl
- Yes, mommy’s friend Albert, said Albert laughing
-
Oh, then I’m very pleased to finally meet you! She said hugging
him…
Albert hugged her back, in fact he carried her in his arms and he
had tears in his eyes, he was so moved. That was Candy’s secret… a very
beautiful little girl! He put the little girl down who went to hug her mommy,
who hugged smiling…
- Cia, go to your room and do your homework, I’ll
call you when dinner is ready…, said Candy
- Ok, mommy, she said, have my
books arrived?
- Not yet baby, hopefully tomorrow
- Ok…see you
later…
The little girl left of her bedroom… Albert was looking at Candy
who was avoiding his eyes.
- Candy? You have something to tell
me?
- Well, I kind of got married…
- You what?
- I got
married and it didn’t work out, so we separated amicably…
- You got
married?
- That’s what I just said…
Albert looked at her like she
had just fallen from the sky.
- One morning you decided to just pick up
and leave and get married to someone else???!!!!
- Albert, she said
sadly, it didn’t happen overnight…
- Is that supposed to make me feel
better?
- No, I know you’re hurt, believe me it wasn’t my intention to
hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you… I told you I wasn’t ready…
- I
would’ve given you all the time in the world, if only you had asked me…
-
It wasn’t fair to you Albert, to make you wait like that…
- But you
married someone else…
- It was a spur of a moment kind of thing and it
didn’t last, he would always be away and it didn’t work for me, so we drifted
apart…
- Candy…
There was a silence, a heavy one filled with
emotions. Albert had tracked her down after years to find her divorced with a
child! A child!!!!! Candy … he had given up on her a while ago, but as her
adoptive father, he wanted to make sure she was fine and the newly found
granddaughter was a sight for sore eyes… she looked like Candy so much, he
remembered her on the Pony Hill… but that was so long ago… So many things had
happened since then, too many things.
- I still want you to come back
with me to America…
- Why?
- Because you’re family…, you’re my
daughter and I want to get to know my granddaughter…
- But…
-
Candy, you owe me this, for running out on my without a word…
- Your
granddaughter who would’ve been your daughter if …
- That really sounds
too weird…
Candy smiled.
- Candy, listen, can you come just for a
few months, for the fall and winter season, at least until after the
holidays…?
- After the holidays?
- Yes, I just made a major
acquisition…
- An acquisition? I just purchase the Macy’s chain
story…
- Macy’s?
- Yes, they were having problems, despite their
popularity, due to bad management from the new owners and partners… to make a
long story short, I’m the new owner…
- Oh… congratulations…
-
Thank you… so we’re going to spend the holidays in New York…
- The whole
family?
- Well you and I…we have several villas…
- Albert, I
don’t want to live with every body yet…
- All right, I can give you the
apartment not too far from the store then…
- Why close to the
store?
- Because I would like you to help me with something for the
holidays…
- Don’t you have enough employees world wide?
- I would
like to work with my daughter for the holidays…
Candy looked at
him.
- If I do this, you promise to leave me alone?
- I want to
see my granddaughter…
- How’s a few days during the summer?
- Why
does it sound like we’re discussing custody arrangements?
Candy smiled at
Albert; she had missed him so much! She was happy to see him, but yet, she
wished she had stayed in her hiding place longer without being
discovered
- All right Albert, I’ll do it. I’ll come for a few months and
then I’ll come back here after the holidays
- Or during Spring
time…
- Springtime?
- How about the Summer…
-
Albert!
- Next Winter then…
- Stop it! Said Candy smiling
-
Keep an open mind Candy, you might like it with your loved ones again once
you’re back…
- I’m sure I'm going to love it… but…
Albert knew
what was bothering her, but he didn’t want to talk about it.
- Let’s not
think about that and concentrate on your trip… I’m going to have to go in a few
days, but I’ll make all the necessary arrangements for your return to
America
- All right…, said Candy. Now that’s settle, come and help me
with the dinner…
- Those fruits look so delicious…
- They are,
help yourself, said Candy smiling
She had to talk to her daughter about
their trip. She did after they had had dinner altogether. They were in Cia’s
bedroom, whose walls were covered of pictures of handsome stars…
- Cia,
honey…
- Yes, mommy?
- Albert wants us to go to America with
him…
- Oh… we are Americans aren’t we?
- Yes…
- Until
when?
- Just for a few months, until after Christmas or the new
year…
- So I’m going to have to leave my friends? She asked
sadly
- We’re going to come back Cia…
- Promise?
- Yes, I
promise, we’ll come back here to our little paradise…
- All right, mommy,
it would be nice to see America…
- You’re not afraid of the
cold?
- No, it’s going to be fun to play with the snow…
- All
right honey..., said Candy hugging her
Albert left a few days later and
Candy followed a couple of weeks later. That’s how she found herself in a car in
New York City going to live in a apartment she had never seen before with her
little girl, no one in her family had seen or heard of.
The apartment was
big and spacious, very beautiful. Candy and Cia were still tanned and they
looked very exotic and very pretty. She rested with her little girl and then in
the evening they both went to the mansion to se everybody who had come from
Chicago to see her. Albert hadn’t told them about the baby…It was a
shock!
- Candy? Said Annie looking at them… oh my God!
She hugged
her sister and Cia too.
- Hey you! What’s your name?
-
Cia?
- That’s a very nice name…, said Annie smiling, this is my little
girl, her name is Candyce…
- Oh Annie! Said Candy hugging her
- I
missed you so much Candy, said Annie with tears in her eyes
- I missed
you too! I’m sorry for everything
- We’re not here to judge you Candy,
said Archie hugging her hard, we’re just happy to see you!
The Great Aunt
was the only one indifferent, but she was a little happy to see the girl she
used to call a bad luck charm…
Around Thanksgiving time, Albert went to
see Candy and asker her for her help.
- How can I help you?
- You
remember how you liked working with children at one point
- Yes? Said
Candy
- Well since it’s the holiday season, can you come up with
something fun?
- Something fun? For marketing? I have no experience
what-so-ever
- You don’t need experiment, you need something fun …What
would you want to see as a child
- Well toys and cartoon
characters…
- Yes… how?
- What about a parade? With the characters
and…
- A parade! Said Albert, that’s a great idea!
- You really
think so?
- Yes, that’s marvellous, can you take care of it? Make a list
of the characters you would like to see, I can have them made in no
time…
Candy started working with Albert and he was happy to have her so
close to him.
Cia was enrolled to a public school, because Candy didn’t
want her to feel the pressure of those rich preppy kids. She was happy to be in
America, even though sometimes, she didn’t really get their way of
thinking.
Not too far from there, in the apartment right across from
theirs, as a matter of fact, lived a young actor with his lady friend who was in
a wheel chair, due to an accident which resulted in the amputation of her leg.
She was all excited about cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for her
beloved.
- Terry, she said, are you sure you don’t want to invite anyone
for Thanksgiving?
- I don’t want you to be tired, Susanna, said Terry
coldly, besides, most families are celebrating with their loved ones…
-
Then, it’s going to be you me and mama only, then… that’s fine, you two are my
loved ones…, she said smiling
- Whatever, said Terry with a weary
tone
He went to his study to read some documents.
Candy was
outside trying to organise the parade, it was a lot of work and she had help and
she loved it because it kept her mind at ease.
- Miss Andrew, Miss
Andrew! Said her assistant
- What is it Mona? Said Candy
- Our
Santa Claus…
- What about Santa Claus?
- He’s drunk!
-
What? At this time of the morning? Oh my God! How bad is it…?
- You can
come and look for yourself, said Mona
Candy followed Mona and she saw the
drunken Santa falling in disgrace showing his butt to the poor children standing
there and they all screamed with horror.
- Oh my God! Said Candy running
to the disgraceful Santa Claus
- Uh? Said the Santa
- You’re
drunk! Said Candy
- You think? Said the Santa breathing in her
face
That scene brought back a bitter sweet memory for Candy… that was so
long ago…
- Cut that out!
- That’s one drunken Santa you got
there, said a old man with white hair and a white beard, what a disgrace! Those
poor children… So people have no shame at all! Getting drunk act stupid in front
of children who are waiting for their idol… if only… oh well, I’ll have to go
anyway. Good Day Miss, good luck with your Santa Claus.
The old man
started walking away. Candy was stunned. She talked to the Santa
Clause!
- How could you be drunk so early in the morning? The parade is
tomorrow! Said Candy
- Uh…I…got the jitters…
And he started
puking. Candy was disgusted and angry.
- You’re fired! She said
-
But Candy, said Mona, we need a Santa Claus, he’s the star of the show
-
He’s drunk Mona, drunk!!! And it’s 10 am in the morning!!!! I can’t work with
someone like that, especially since he showed his butt to the kids! In some
country that’s considered to be a curse! He cursed those poor children!
-
But Candy, we don’t have the time to put an add and look for another
Santa
Candy was thinking
- We might not need to put an add or to
audition…
- What? How? Said Mona
- There was an old man here
passing by…
- On old man? You want to hire an old man who was just
passing by?
- We’re desperate here Mona…, said Candy looking around
everywhere…
She finally spotted the old man from a far, walking calmly.
She ran to him as fast as she could.
- Excuse-me, sir! Sir! Said Candy
panting
- Yes? Said the old man turning around
He smiled when he
recognised Candy.
- Miss Andrew? What can I do for you?
- Thank
you for stopping, said Candy, I would like to ask you if you could be our Santa
Claus…
The old man looked at her smiling.
- You want to hire
me?
- Yes, please, say yes. I’m desperate…
- Well that’s
flattering
- That’s not what I meant, I’m sorry…
- I was kidding,
he said smiling
- Oh… sorry. You have experience in playing
Santa
- I’ve done a few performances, said the old man
- That’s
perfect then, you’re hired! Said Candy smiling and hugging him, you just saved
my life!
- I did? He said, that’s good to know
The old man was
smiling and Candy felt good with him right away. She had her perfect
Santa.
- Thank you, show up here at 9 am and we’re going to give you your
costume and accessories…well you don’t need them, said Candy smiling
- I
don’t need a suit either…
- Why? Said Candy worried
- Because I
have my own! He said laughing
- Oh, of course! Said Candy
laughing
For a second there, she thought she had fallen on a pervert old
man with dirty mind. She had a sigh of relief.
- Now we need you for the
parade…, said Candy
- Of course, I'm at your service now! He said
smiling
Candy smile at that nice and warm old man, he made her feel good.
She kept working until it was time for her to go home to her beautiful little
Cia.