All I Want For Christmas is You( Man Who Knows What He Wants, 218)

by Ferrari, Flora

  “Uh. Avery Patterson? She’s umm, she’s cleaning out her desk, Sir. I thought you’d let her go.”

  It’s a terrible sound that comes from me. Whatever I’ve done, or whatever she even thinks I’ve done, I vow to never let this happen again.

  Not with Avery, she’s too… She’s everything to me.

  I know that now.

  “I’m coming down there, Jason. Make sure Avery doesn’t leave. Have her wait in an office or someplace quiet, will you?” I finally manage. “I’ll need to go over a couple of things with you as well, but for now let’s just-”

  He interrupts me. “She’s leaving. I just saw her walk by.”

  “Then stop her dammit,” I yell, and slamming the phone down, I bound out of the office to the elevators, stabbing at buttons until one can take me down.

  It’s the longest elevator ride of my life, and I struggle to keep my composer.

  I know the whole office is going to be watching my every move. But right now, none of that hardly seems to matter.

  I just want Avery back. I can’t let her leave. Not without seeing her first.

  To my amazement, once I step out into the foyer, glancing into the office. Everyone’s at work.

  The cubicles are all filled, with heads down and the quiet murmur of follow up phone calls, sales calls.

  Business as usual.

  I spot Jason, sweating by his office door and I motion him to come down to me.

  “I have Ms. Patterson in a meeting room, this way, Sir,” he chimes quietly, the perfect professional.

  No questions, only doing what he’s told. And I can see despite the announcements, it’s still business as usual.

  Pausing at the meeting room door, I grab his shoulder. “Good work, Jason…”

  I don’t know his last name either.

  “Riggs, Sir. Jason Riggs,” he informs me, and I smile when I take his hand in mine.

  “District manager?” I ask and he nods.

  “We’ll see about that,” I tell him. “Let’s just see what Santa brings, huh?”

  “Yes Sir,” he almost shouts with enthusiasm as I let myself into the small meeting room.

  It’s stuffy. Cramped and ‘modern.’ Nothing like the ambiance of the top floor.

  Avery’s hugging her elbows, eyes down and shivering.

  A box of what I assume is her work desk possessions in front of her.

  I decide to try a different tact. Instead of scaring her to death by proclaiming my feelings, I think we really do need to get to know one another better first.

  I’m not the easiest man to get along with. At least that’s what I overhear when people aren’t kissing my ass.

  “Avery?” I ask gently, waiting until her eyes are on mine. “Let’s start over, okay? I don’t think you really want to quit your job do you?” I ask her.

  I’m relieved when she shakes her head.

  “And I don’t think you want to walk out without talking things over with me either,” I venture, hoping it’s not too much.

  But she shakes her head again, gnaws on her lip, and starts to fidget with her hands, looking flushed and hot now instead of shivering cold.

  As if the ice being broken is enough to give us both some more of that heat I sure know I felt upstairs just now.

  “Whatever I did, Avery… however I upset you,” I start to say, but I know I’m wrong when her lip starts to quiver.

  When she buries her face in her hands.

  Hands I rush over to take into mine as I kneel down in front of her.

  “It’s not you, Jack. It’s me,” she sobs. “All my life I’ve only had people tell me how I should lose weight, how I’d be prettier if I just did this or did that… but it’s always about my size,” she huffs, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  Tears I want to catch with my lips, but I know she’s got so much to say.

  I have no idea what she’s talking about. She’s perfect as far as I can tell, but I do know from some light reading that even the most attractive people have problems with their own beauty.

  Her weight?

  She’s the perfect size for me. I’m over six four and have hands bigger than hams. Stick thin, skeletal women, like that boss of hers, Angela. I’ve never understood that whole look. They look unwell or something, so thin and fragile.

  “But, Avery,” I tell her gently, risking brushing back some of her hair. “You’re the most amazing girl I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t kidding when I said I want you. Want you to want me,” I tell her.

  “Look at me,” I challenge her. “I’m forty, going gray, and probably have more wrinkles than you’ll ever have,” I kind of lie.

  My own skincare regime is merciless.

  The grays I can tolerate, but I do spend a lot of time keeping my skin looking fresh. It gives me an unspoken edge in the board room.

  But Avery? She’s perfect, all over. I know that now. I can still taste her on my breath to thank god. Waiting for the moment she’ll let me do it all over again.

  “You’re not mad I didn’t go all the way?” she sniffs, half-laughing to herself once she can see how worried I am about her.

  “No,” I tell her honestly, kissing her hands. “We can go as fast or slow as you want, just for god’s sake, don’t run away like that again. You’ll give me a heart attack.”

  Chapter Nine

  Avery

  Jack’s so sweet about everything. It’s as though I didn’t act like a lunatic at all, and he’s just so worried that he did something wrong.

  That couldn’t be further from the truth.

  My center still aches for him, still quivered and twitched the whole way as I ran away back down to the office. Thinking that he wouldn’t like me if I didn’t put out a hundred percent.

  I just got overwhelmed, scared.

  Not scared of Jack though. Far from it.

  As soon as I see him come into the room, I know I’ve been an idiot, and that he forgives me because there’s nothing to forgive.

  If he’s forty and showing his age with some silver highlights, I guess I’m showing mine by jumping the gun emotionally.

  But who can blame me? The effect he has on me. What he’s made me feel in just a few minutes of knowing him really.

  Jack stands, reaching for a box of Kleenex which he slides over.

  There’s a loud knock at the door, and before he can even give an answer to match the sudden look of disgust on his face, a familiar face appears around the door frame.

  I watch Jack’s whole body tense up like he has to control his reflexes.

  God damned Angela Fitzner.

  I can almost hear Jack growling her name in anger himself.

  “Mr. Cole… I couldn’t help but overhear you talking with Jason just now. A position in management might be opening? Just letting you know, I’m available should you want to discuss the matter further.”

  Without a word and in one step, Jack removes her hand from the door frame before slamming it and locking it.

  He jerks a thumb towards the door. “Am I firing her?” he asks me, and I know he’ll do whatever I say when it comes to that woman.

  I think for a moment, wanting to feel the satisfaction of watching the blade drop on that witch.

  But I can’t.

  It’s Christmas.

  “Maybe not fire her,” I tell Jack, wincing a little, but transmitting the thought that he could do something else instead.

  “We’ll see then,” he says firmly. “But if she interrupts me, Us, one more time, she’s out. I should have said so, maybe you can send her a memo?” he asks me absently.

  “Me?” I ask, astonished.

  “Well, yeah. If you’re going to be my new personal assistant, I’ll need you to do somethings some of the time. But not that much,” he adds, a sly grin forming as his eyes scan my chest.

  “That is if you’ll have me?” he asks.

  “You want me to be your assistant?” I ask, sounding like a star-struck teenager more than a corpora
te professional.

  And I can tell Jack likes that.

  “To start with,” he says, cocking a brow. “I know what I want Avery, I already told you. And while you make up your mind just when you want to fill that role you can be my assistant, alright?”

  I nod my head furiously, getting up and wanting to go and hug him, but thinking maybe I shouldn’t.

  “Can assistants hug?” I ask him sheepishly, almost crying again once I feel his huge arms around me, holding me close to him while he rubs my back.

  “We can do whatever you want, whenever you want,” he says, and I feel his lips kiss the top of my head. The charge it sends down my spine makes me shiver all over again as I clutch him tighter. Vowing to myself to never run away from him again, to stay close, and to give myself to him heart, body, and soul when I know the moment’s right.

  “Okay,” Jack announces, keeping a firm grip on me as he explains a few things.

  “I guess hanging off each other in front of other staff isn’t a great idea just yet, might get ‘em jealous,” he whispers low into my ear.

  “And, we also have a lot to organize. I’d suggest we get started on this Secret Santa party,” he muses aloud.

  I know it’s not a good look for Jack if he’s suddenly got me on his arm after being here for just a few hours, but I do feel a little confused.

  “How will it work? I mean, us and me being your assistant?” I ask him, wondering aloud to myself more than anything.

  “It’ll work,” he assures me. “Let’s get the ball rolling on this staff party, and I’ll have a word with Jason about the bonuses which he can request from HQ. Then there’s the matter of moving the whole operation over here,” he adds, pressing a finger to his lips as he starts to pace.

  His huge frame covering the small room in a couple of steps.

  “Moving?” I gasp, confused.

  “Sure,” he says firmly. “As soon as I saw that top floor, I knew that’s what I want. And I want you in it, with me,” he adds, smiling.

  “I’m a bit old fashioned, I guess. I like older things, solid things. Things that work. The top floor is a great change from that stupid glass box I have to sit in, all those plastic chairs. I don’t like it.”

  I couldn’t agree more, but looking up at the clock on the wall, I notice it’s getting late in the day, and Jack’s talking about stuff that would normally take weeks. Not an afternoon, even with overtime for the staff.

  “What’s the matter?” he asks, then following my eyes he notices the clock.

  “Oh, I see,” he notes and I nod apologetically.

  “That’s alright, I have an entire corporation at hand and plenty of overtime for anyone who wants it,” he says excitedly, reaching for the handset on the desk and after a few punches of some keys, gets my district manager again.

  “Jason? Come on in here, we have a lot to go over,” he says briskly before hanging up.

  Jack sits opposite me, clutching my hand in his, and tells me everything’s gonna be fine.

  “I need to talk things through with Jason, can you run your things upstairs?” he asks me, making me blink.

  “I thought I could stay here?” I ask him.

  “I want you all to myself, I guess,” he admits. “After all the interruptions so far, do you mind?” he asks again, a genuine look in his eyes.

  “But… how long will you be?” I ask, suddenly feeling I don’t want to be separated from Jack a minute longer.

  “I’ll be along soon,” he says, nodding his head as his eyes run over me again.

  “You know more than I do about that top floor, go make it cozy enough for two,” he says firmly, and I feel myself shiver again.

  “Take a laptop up there, I’ll have Jason authorize an expense account for you to start straightening things out up there.”

  I feel a tidal wave of apprehension. “But it’s Christmas,” I nearly gasp. “How will I-” I try to ask, but Jack’s waving it away with his hand.

  “Just plug in and play, Avery. Do what you think is right,” he says with absolute conviction.

  Leaning over the desk, he pecks me on the lips. “Trust me, okay? Like I trust you,” he says and I feel like I’ve suddenly slipped into another world.

  One I only ever dreamed of.

  “You can do, have, and be anything you want, Avery. As long as I get you all to myself, that’s the only catch,” Jack says, looking to me for approval, to which I nod fiercely.

  “Anything?” I ask.

  “Anything,” he says firmly. “Now go wait for me upstairs before I make a fool of myself down here.”

  “You’ll really be mine, won’t you?” he asks before I reach the door.

  “I already am, Jack. Almost,” I blush and watch him do the same as we hold each other’s gaze for a moment.

  I pass my district manager, my old ‘big boss’ at the door, who seems just as excited as I am at the changes suddenly happening around here.

  Maybe my life is gonna turn out just fine after all.

  For all of us.

  Maybe it’s some sort of Christmas miracle.

  Chapter Ten

  Jack

  I watch her go with a heavy heart, but I know if things are going to be just right, I can’t have her in on every step and every secret surprise.

  She does know that top floor better than most, and I know she’ll do what’s needed to get it ship shape in no time.

  “I only had Avery pack her desk because she’ll be working under me now,” I tell Jason once he settles into a seat opposite me.

  “I also want to get going with my Secret Santa idea, a party for all the staff in the building, as well as have you put in a few requests to my head office. We’ll be moving things over here. The whole show,” I tell him, hearing him gulp.

  “And I want you to head that up. Starting today you’re in charge of those logistics. Our new chief of operations. Avery is my second in charge, got it?” I ask him.

  He nods, but I can see he’s not so sure about just one thing.

  “She’s my personal assistant, you get to run this place, I promise,” I tell him, giving him a look that reminds him he answers to me still.

  “We have a few hard-asses on the parent board, but they’re my problem. You do what you’re told, Jason and we’ll get along fine.”

  “And Avery?” he asks, a wistful look clouding his eye, already stepping over the mark I’ve just set.

  “I mean, I’ll take direction from her, as well as yourself, Sir?”

  “Precisely,” I inform him.

  “Anything she wants, anything she asks for, do it.”

  “And does my position entail the same… privilege?” he asks, making me frown.

  I didn’t think he was that ambitious.

  “We’ll draft all that when legal gets on board, for now, we’re just operating as conscientious employees, alright, Jason?” I assert. He readily agrees.

  “Now, I have an idea for a Secret Santa themed Christmas party, how soon can we make this happen?” I ask. “Can we arrange it all for say, tomorrow?” I ask him, noticing his determined look as he checks his watch, trusting he’s the right man for the job.

  “Absolutely, Mr. Cole. We kind of already had our own thing planned, before the staff break for Christmas. Just tell me what you need,” he says, parroting my own thoughts, almost making me wish I didn’t have to pretend it’s not only all for Avery.

  “Well, there’s the bonuses for casual staff… the same for salaried plus I think, an extra week’s leave, rotated for those who want to have time over the holidays versus the time we need here in the office,” I hear myself saying out loud, all the while only thinking about Avery, upstairs.

  Almost worrying about her up there all alone.

  “There is a time constraint, Mr. Cole. It’s almost the end of the day,” Jason asks nervously, and I have to agree.

  “Then we’d better get moving, bring in anyone you need to make it happen, I’ll put a call into my head
office, I think. Best, given the situation.”

  “And the… rest of the team?” he asks, making me frown.

  “I mean, should they keep working?” he asks.

  “Oh, yes. Keep things as normal as possible. I want tomorrow to be as big a surprise as any,” I tell him, reminding myself just how surprising my own day’s panned out so far.

  “It is Christmas after all, isn’t it?” I ask him, thinking again of just one thing.

  Avery.

  Is it possible to be missing her already? I think I do.

  “Is there anything else, Sir?” he asks, making me smile at the most recent memory of her.

  “No. I trust you, Jason, make these things happen and greater things will happen for you,” I remind him.

  “Now, patch me through to HQ though, will ya? Right here,” I demand, tapping the hard plastic of the phone in front of us.

  Once I get through to accounts and finance, I give the heads up and personal approval for any and all additional payments from the new company.

  Jason shifts uneasily in his seat as I list off what I need to happen, including unlimited expense accounts for Avery and him.

  “The first one, link that to my own personal expenses,” he hears me say, and his brow rises as I sign off.

  “Everything clear?” I ask, noting his expression and not having to struggle to read his mind.

  “Avery’s my new assistant,” I remind him. “My right hand now.”

  It gives me a thrill to say it out loud, to have her with me at work is a start.

  Now, I just need to have her properly. And twenty-four seven.

  Jason makes some notes to himself on a pad, and I think again about what he said about the regular office party.

  “A tradition here?” I ask. “I mean, like the tree in the window, you always have a secret Santa, or is it just a regular office party?”

  He gives me the look I get when I realize how maybe I need to get out of my own office a little more often.

  “It’s pretty standard to have both a secret Santa and a Christmas party,” he says, politely trying not to offend me.

  I open my mouth to tell him how much I hate Christmas but think better of it. Because I might just like it now.