" Santa, himself, was sitting behind his desk when I walked in.
"Hello," he greeted me. He looked exactly as one would expect. Long white beard and a thick head of white hair. His cheeks were rosy and he truly did look jolly when he smiled at me. "You're the new Karma."
"Yes," I smiled back all the while waiting for the scolding.
"Would you care for a cookie?" He motioned to the heaped plate on the corner of his desk.
"No thanks." I didn't want to get thrown out mid-bite. He was Santa. He knew everything. Any second, he'd tell me to get the hell out of his office, throwing coal at me as I ran. He stood up from his chair and walked around to the fireplace that blazed in the corner, lending the space a warm light.
"Would you like to sit?" He motioned to the two well-stuffed chairs in front of it.
"I don't want to take up too much of your time. I can see you're busy." I made a step backward toward the door.
"I got time for you." Guess I was going to have to see this thing out until the coal started flying. I watched as he sat. He was still smiling. I took the seat across from him. Maybe he didn't know.
"I know why you're nervous." Well, there went that. "Karma, sometimes there are gray areas in life. Things that don't fit neatly into wrong vs right. "

― Donna Augustine , Jinxed (Karma, #2)