Solo Smoothies

We now return to The Hallmehrk Channel original film: A Christmas Story With A Happy Blending!

Mark stood at the kitchen counter, loading frozen fruit into his Blendjet 2 Portable Blender, when Cassie burst in.

“There you are!” she said. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be showing your smoothie recipes to the CEO of MamboJuice, the smoothie stand in malls and airports the world over.”

“What am I doing here?” Mark said. “It’s funny. I could ask you the same question.”

“What are you talking about?” Cassie said.

“I saw you with that big local grocery store tycoon, Chris Tines, at the hot cocoa parade last night,” Mark said. “And it’s fine. I’m happy for you two, okay? I’m better off on my own anyway.”

Cassie let out an exasperated sigh. “How many times do I have to tell you? Chris and I know each other professionally. My father is friends with his father, and I met up with him while I’m back in town for the holidays to give him some legal advice since I’m a high-powered lawyer in the city, remember?”

Mark squinted at her. “Wait, I thought you were a secret princess, from a small European country where everyone speaks with British accents for some reason?”

“That’s a different one,” Cassie said.

“Look, it doesn’t matter,” Mark said, angrily setting down the bag of frozen strawberries. “The point is, your dreams aren’t mine, Cassie? I’m just a small town guy, using my portable Blendjet’s powerful performance to make smoothies wherever I am, whether it’s working at my family’s Christmas tree farm or plowing the streets, like I did the other night, when I helped you out of the ditch and we shared a bit of meaningful eye contact that took us right back to when we were high school sweethearts.”

“You’re an artist, Mark,” Cassie said, putting her hand on his. “An artist of fruit, and everyone needs to know. You can’t keep shutting the world out, just like you shut the lid on your twenty-ounce blender jar that doubles as a to-go cup.”

Mark pulled his hand away. “Maybe twenty ounces is all I need. Ever think of that? Now, why don’t you run home to your big city newspaper, write a story about our local gingerbread festival, and leave me alone forever?”

“Okay, it was a hot cocoa parade,” Cassie said, “and I’m a lawyer who’s from here. We just talked about both of these things.”

“Sorry,” Mark said. “It’s just hard to keep all this stuff straight.”