Chapter 28: A Charming Carriage Ride, Part 2

Serendipity listened carefully to his explanation, and at its conclusion, she nodded her head and said, "This dome seems very important."
"It is," Corey assured her. "It is one of the most important aspects of the North Pole. Without it, we simply could not do what we do."
"Interesting," Serendipity replied, continuing to ponder his statements. She felt herself shivering a bit, despite the warm coat Maevis had provided for her, and she pulled it more tightly around her thin shoulders. Corey must have noticed as he produced a blanket, from where, Serendipity was not quite sure, and he used one hand to help her spread it over her legs as he steered the sleigh with the other.?"Thank you," she said quietly. She couldn't help but notice he was staring at her, which made her feel very uncomfortable.?"Is everything quite all right?" she asked, wondering if one of her hairpins had come undone or if she had somehow managed to get more paint on her face despite Maevis's careful attempt to prevent such an atrocity from happening.
Corey looked away quickly. "Everything is fine," he assured her. Glancing back at her, he caught her smoothing back her hair, and letting out a sigh, he said, "It's just you look so much different than you did the first time I came to visit you, that's all."
"Oh, that," Serendipity muttered, pulling the blanket back around her arm as she tucked it inside. "Well, Maevis insisted that I have a bath and wash my hair before I step foot outside of my cottage. I suppose she was afraid I might frighten someone, what with my paint-stained hands and messy hair."
Corey laughed along with her, remembering clearly what a frazzled state she had been in only a few days ago when he had first met her. "Yes, you definitely look cleaner," he admitted, choosing not to add that she also smelled much better, but then he added, "but you also look happier."
Serendipity was surprised; she wasn't sure what he meant. "Happier?" she repeated. "How do you mean?"
Clearing his throat, Corey continued, unsure of whether or not the path he had chosen to take was the right one. "Well, I just mean that seeing you with the deer earlier, seeing you in the sunshine. You seemed happy--content. Before, you just seemed angry."
Pondering his words, Serendipity was silent for several moments. Finally, she said, "Perhaps you just caught be at a bad time. I think I'm usually rather content at home, while I'm making my dolls."
Shrugging, Corey said, "Possibly. I don't have much experience to draw from, that's for certain.?It's just that do you ever feel that sometimes you enjoy doing your job--but it doesn't make you happy? I mean really, truly happy?"
The question was an interesting one, and Serendipity couldn't help but reflect upon it.?"I suppose," she finally admitted. "I mean, making dolls is my passion; it's what I've dedicated my life to, and I will never be anything other than a doll maker.?I'm not sure if it will always make me truly happy, but it's what I shall always do."
"Couldn't there be more?" Corey asked--the words slipping out before he could stop them.
"More? Whatever do you mean?" she asked, staring at him in fascination.
"I mean, why can't you be a doll maker and."
"A doll maker and what?"
"Well, that's the beauty of it," he replied, relaxing a bit, realizing he did know where he was going with this after all.?"A doll maker and--anything. A doll maker and a friend. A doll maker and a neighbor. A doll maker and a reindeer expert." She chuckled, which pushed him to continue. "A doll maker and an explorer. Whatever adventure you'd like to take on--couldn't you do that and be a doll maker?"
Serendipity had never, not once in the last fifteen years since her father had passed, ever considered herself anything other than a doll maker--except for perhaps a doll-maker-in-the-making when she was very young. As she watched stars whiz by around her, Corey's words began to open a small window in her mind, the window of possibility. But she was frightened by what lie on the other side, frightened by the implications; in order to get there, she'd have to forgive herself for what she had done--and she could not even consider that possibility, not at this juncture anyway. Still, as she determined to avoid an answer and turn the focus back on him instead, the window was open, just a crack, but enough to let a small ray of light began to pour in. "And what of you, Mr. Cornelius Cane? What is your and?"
Corey smiled slyly, the right side of his face turning up more so than the left, and Serendipity realized he was quite charming. "I have several ands," he assured her. "I am a recruiter, that is true. I am also a collector, as I go back and collect those I recruit." She chuckled, wondering if he had already classified herself as a successful recruit. "I am a friend, a son, a brother." That last one came out a bit sharper than Serendipity anticipated, and she wondered to herself if there was some sort of a dispute between Corey and his sibling--or siblings as the case may be. "I am a lot of things. Perhaps too many things," he finally admitted with a shrug.
"And are you happy?" she asked, her hand returning to his coat sleeve for just a moment, just long enough for him to glance down at her pale thin fingers, before she pulled it away.
He hesitated. It was a difficult question. "I am happy," he said, but it sounded forced. Her eyebrow went up, and he continued. "I think one can be very successful at his or her place of employment and truly enjoy what he or she does, which leads to happiness. But I also think it's possible to be so lost in one's job that one loses perspective and begins to confuse happiness with accomplishment."