Fake Christmas
Chapter 1
“This is going to be epic!” Cameron Bentley exclaimed, his gray eyes lighting up.
Allyson Prescott turned her gaze to the snowy slope, her heart pounding. She couldn’t believe that Nadia Nakamura, world champion, and hometown heroine of Snow Canyon, Colorado, was actually going to snowboard down a slope that steep.
“She’s really going to do this, isn’t she?” Allyson sucked in a sharp breath.
The crowd that had gathered around the slope buzzed with excitement. All the other snowboarders had wiped out and come up short. But Nadia was the one everyone had shown up to see. If she crashed and burned, Snow Canyon residents were going to be massively disappointed.
Suddenly, Nadia leaned forward and plunged off the edge of the slope and slid down on her board. Spectators cheered wildly as Nadia sped down, a sheet of white snow flying behind her.
She was already halfway down the slope, a blur against the snow.
Allyson started cheering as Nadia picked up even more speed, expertly maneuvering her way towards the bottom of the steep slope with ease. The crowd went into a frenzy as Nadia came to a stop and started pumping her fists into the air.
“She did it!” Cameron was busy snapping photos with his phone.
Photographers and videographers from Prescott Global’s marketing department were scattered around, and had also gotten photos and footage of Nadia snowboarding down the treacherous slope.
Excitement pumped through Allyson. Today was going exactly the way she had planned. After weeks of planning the annual Snow Canyon Winter Sports Show, their big star had pulled off a death-defying stunt on one of Prescott Global’s new snowboards. Nadia’s appearance was going to shoot last-minute holiday purchases of Prescott Global’s women’s line of sports gear through the roof.
“That stunt’s going to make an amazing print ad.” She grinned at her assistant, her cheeks heating with excitement.
Cameron grinned back. “Definitely. I’m tempted to use my employee discount and get a board for myself.”
“You snowboard?” Allyson glanced at Cameron.
“Nope. But it would be awesome to learn to do that,” he said, gesturing down to Nadia.
A crowd of excited kids had gathered around Nadia, who was happily signing autographs and taking selfies. Allyson felt her heart swell. Just seeing the happy faces of all those kids—especially the little girls—gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Nadia was going to get more young girls excited about sports, and Allyson was so proud that Prescott was a part of it.
“Well, if you want to learn you’re in the right place,” she told him.
Snow Canyon was the kind of town that athletes flocked to, and Nadia just happened to be one of the area’s brightest stars. The town was full of visitors this time of year and the Prescott-sponsored Winter Sports Show was one of the highlights of the holiday season.
Allyson and Cameron trudged across the snowboarding park towards some local officials, including the mayor. Mayor Samuels beamed at them, obviously delighted with Nadia’s performance. The mayor started rattling off statistics about visitor turnout, which Cameron quickly recorded in his notebook.
“We’ve had a lot of students from nearby schools visit town this year,” the mayor said.
“That’s great to hear.”
“Nadia always draws a crowd,” he said.
She hoped all the visitors to their town would be good for Prescott and local businesses alike. Weeks of planning had gone into the Winter Sports Show, and the pressure was really on her this year. At least, that’s how she felt. She wanted the women’s line to be successful. She wanted to prove she was more than everyone thought, and she wanted to prove it to herself as well.
As the head of the company’s women’s division, she had a lot to prove. Not just because she was still learning on the job, but because she hadn’t exactly paid her dues to get such a senior position at the company. Being the wife of the CEO had its perks, but the residents of Snow Canyon certainly didn’t care about any of that. If Prescott was going to make an impact with women, and reach their target sales, Allyson knew that hard work was the only thing that was going to make a difference. That, and Nadia’s spectacular performance.