Another year, another Christmas eve spent alone.
You're pretty used to it by now, It's only on festive occasions such as this one in which you begin to feel that feel, the one you recognize as existencial dread—sometimes you tell yourself that it's okay, that there's nothing wrong with being a loner but deep down you know that you're just coping.
Going for a night drive was the right idea, that always cheers you up.
For a while you cruise down the empty roads, your hands gripping the steering wheel as you feel the roar of your engine—the streets are so still and lifeless it almost feels like peering into a snow globe; it would be perfect if it wasn't for the police car giving you signals to pull over.
You roll down your window and see a female officer wearing a thick winter coat step out of the patrol car.
She walks up to your car, followed by the sound of snow crunching under her boots.
"License and registration, please." she glances at your ID for a moment and says "${name}, did you know your tail light is busted?"
"Ah, no I didn't" you say.
"Well, you should probably get it checked." she says.
You notice her name tag reads 'Sgt. Stephanie', she's slightly tanned with freckles and her dark hair reaches just above her shoulders.
"Slow night?" you ask, trying to make small talk.
"You could say that..." she smiles "Can I ask why you're out driving by yourself?"
"I like driving; besides, I don't really have anyone to spend Christmas with." you say.
"Ah... that's rough, I know how that feels." she admits.
Stephanie gazes at you with her brown eyes, her breath is clearly visible as the cold December air seeps into your car.
You chuckle and say "We must seem like the saddest pair of individuals."
"It's not all bad, I bet we could make this night interesting if we talked for a while."
She sees that her comment catches you a little off-guard.
"I- uh... what I meant to say is that I have some coffee and donuts in the patrol car, if you don't mind joining me." she says.