The scent of roast turkey and mashed potatoes rushed into her nostrils as Juliette elbowed her way through the kitchen doors. Festive music and merry laughter still rang in her ears, but she was not in the mood, especially when there were four waiters lining up at the counter for the lasagne.

It was certainly a bustling day at Jaeger's Diner.

"Julie, hurry up," Daniel, the earliest waiter in line, urged. His fingers were tapping away mindlessly on the serving panel.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Juliette yelped. As she frantically glanced over the working bench, she silently thanked her assistants for unloading the pasta from the oven. Now, she only needed to season them, which shouldn't take long – provided that there weren't any more distractions.

Unfortunately, they just kept coming.

"Complaints are flowing in again," Edna, one of the other waiters, joined the line and called.

Juliette groaned internally before responding, "What did they say?"

"The soup's too cold, the steak's too raw... Oh, and they need the yule log as soon as possible."

"Coming right up!" Juliette called back, "Please try to entertain them as much as you can. I don't have the time to go out there and deal with them again."

"Will do."

"Thanks, Edna!"

Once she was gone, Juliette quickly finished off her seasoning by lining the lasagne with basil leaves.

"Julie, I'm getting murder stares from that table..."

"Yeah, yeah, Dan," Juliette rolled her eyes and handed the waiters their dishes. "Now shoo!"

Phew! Now, we can deal with the yule log.

Just when she could let out a sigh of relief, Juliette noticed the memo. Two turkeys had been added to the checklist in scrawled handwriting.

"Don't worry, Julie." Rhea, her assistant came to her rescue. "Norman and I are working on the turkeys already."

"Can you two handle them?"

"They're our specialty," Norman chipped in, "It's your last day here, remember? We'll do anything to make this day easier for our head chef."

Juliette could feel her heart melted a little, but she cleared her throat, "Ah, I guess you two weren't just trouble after all."

"We try our best not to disappoint." Rhea beamed.

Juliette cracked a small laugh and retrieved a yule log cake from the refrigerator. The chocolate icing on the roll-up cake was still smooth. It would take forever to transform it into a life-like tree trunk. If not for the help of Rhea and Norman, the turkeys would never be delivered on time.

"Do you need a carving template, Julie?" Norman turned his head and asked.

"No, I'm fine."

Juliette was far beyond fine. Nobody had spent as much time in front of yule logs as she had. When her mother, who was then working as a cleaning lady, brought her to the restaurant, Juliette was still a child. The first place she was introduced to was the table across the fireplace. That was where she met Walter Jaeger.

Due to their peculiarly common interest in observing the natural patterns of tree barks, they quickly became friends.

The inseparable pair was constantly around the burning logs, especially during the holidays when the restaurant was the busiest, but not even strangers minded them. Instead of driving them away, customers would give them candy canes. Peppermint was never Walter's favourite flavour for a candy, but he would always chase after Juliette to snatch her sweets.

Only a few things could calm them down. Gingerbread cookies were one of those. At times, they would stand on the seats and build gingerbread houses. They would ask Walter's father to compare their handiwork, but before he could pronounce his judgment, the houses would collapse (which they would all end up eating.) Whenever Juliette and Walter grew tired, they would sit quietly and watch snow globes together until they fall asleep.

The table across the yule logs was where all of those took place, where Juliette and Walter spent their best winters together. Alas, good things never last long.

When Walter's father bid farewell to this world, his diner was claimed and stripped away from his family. Walter, consequently, was stripped away from Juliette. On Christmas day when they parted, they held hands and desperately wished that Santa Claus would allow them to meet each other again.

Juliette did all she could to stay on the nice list. As soon as she was eligible, she applied for a job at Jaeger's Diner, all but in the hopes of seeing Walter again. At first, she was a mere dishwasher. Today, she was the head chef.

But Juliette never got her wish. Walter never came back.

Twelve years after their last encounter, Juliette came to realize that she couldn't idle her time anymore. She needed to quit waiting and move on. The yule log cake would be a perfect way to end this – to collect her memories and send them all away.

When Juliette shipped out the yule log, she peered over the counter. The seat across the fireplace was now occupied by someone else. No candy canes. No gingerbread cookies. No snow globes. No Walter.

"Julie? A customer would like to see you." It was Edna, bearer of the usual bad news.

"What is it this time?" Juliette crossed her arms, "Too much seasoning?"

"It is the person sitting near the chimney," Edna pursed her lips and said, "He mentioned something about the dessert..."

Edna didn't get to finish her sentence. Juliette was so fuelled by annoyance that she was out of the kitchen already, in pursuit of the customer across the fireplace.

"Good evening, sir. I'm –"

"Juliette Weiss, the head chef. I know. I've heard that all evening." The man's voice was calm and collected, compared to her clipped tone. "You were over there at that table."

And then, he pointed casually at the family Juliette had dealt with earlier, who were still dining.

Juliette was growing impatient. "Then may I ask –"

"It's about the yule log."

"What about it?" She tilted her head.

"The ganache," He paused, "It's made almost entirely with dark chocolate."

"Is it too bitter for your taste?"

"I'd say it's a nice compromise between the black chocolate and the coffee buttercream." He crossed his fingers thoughtfully before continuing, "This is a bittersweet combination I haven't encountered in a long time. It reminds me of a distant memory of my favourite pastime."

Juliette smiled wistfully at his comment. After all those years, her hard work had served its purpose.

"But something's missing."

"Please do tell us, sir. Your opinion is very much valued."

"Well, several things are missing."

"Namely?" Juliette asked as she brought up her notepad to make notes.

"Candy canes."

Juliette frowned. Who in the world would want peppermint candies in their chocolate cake? However, she didn't press for an answer, so she allowed him to continue.

"And?" she inquired.

"Gingerbread cookies."

"Ahem... Anything else?"

"Snow globes."

Candy canes, gingerbread cookies and snow globes.

Juliette shot up her head. Her bewildered eyes met with those of the stranger. She watched as his lips stretched into a familiar grin.

The stranger was not so unfamiliar after all.

"Merry Christmas, Juliette." He beamed. The boy who used to sport a bowl cut had swept his brown locks to the back. His cheeks were no longer rosy and had become more defined. Despite the striking changes, Juliette could still recognize the boy in him.

"Welcome home...Walter," she muttered and smiled back.

They didn't need to say much, for not a million words could articulate their emotions.

"Sir!" Edna chose this moment to appear. "The gingerbread cookies and icing you've requested are here."

Walter thanked her and turned to Juliette. "Want to see who's better at building gingerbread houses?"

"I don't build houses anymore, Walter," Juliette rolled up her sleeves and said, "I build castles."

"Oh, you're on."

When Juliette Weiss and Walter Jaeger parted on Christmas day twelve years ago, they wished Santa Claus would bring them together again.

While they failed to forget about each other, they thought Santa had forgotten about them.

But Santa hadn't. He holds dear to every child on the nice list.

And he always delivers the best presents – when the time is just right.