by Zante, Lily
“No,” replied Savannah. “And nobody apart from you and your mom, and my parents know that I’m living here.”
“Maybe it’s a secret admirer.”
“I don’t have a secret admirer.”
“It sounds as if you do,” Kay insisted, emphasizing her words with a sexy voice.
Savannah ignored her. “I was worried that Colt might have found us.”
Kay hooted with cruel laughter. “As if that loser would ever spend a dime on you and Jacob. A sorry but true fact.”
“I know,” said Savannah, quietly.
“I’m excited for you, Sav!” Kay giggled as the noise in the background turned louder. “Promise you’ll call and tell me as soon as you find out.”
“I will.”
“Merry Christmas and give my love to Jacob.”
“Thanks, I will. Merry Christmas.”
“It sure is looking that way,” laughed Kay. As soon as she hung up Jacob raced into the kitchen. “I know who sent this!” he cried.
“Who?”
Happiness streamed from his face. “Mr. Stone!”
She sprang back in surprise.
Tobias Stone?
“How do you know?”
“That day when we went to the toy shop, he told me to pick something.”
“Did you?”
Jacob shook his head. “He asked me what I wanted and I told him coloring books but I was playing with this.” He stared down at the box in his hands.
Tobias Stone had sent this?
But why would he? What possible reason could there have been?
Anything to help. Those had been his very words to her a few days ago. He’d obviously taken more pity on her. She stared at the Christmas gift basket which contained enough food to feed an army.
“Aw, Mommy. He’s so nice, and he gave you a present too.”
“Tobias Stone,” she murmured. Of all the people she thought might have sent this, it made perfect sense that Stone would be the main contender. Well, she couldn’t accept this. Definitely not. And then she remembered that she’d already opened the gift basket and had given Arnold a few items from it.
“Jacob, honey,” she hesitated, knowing that he hadn’t rushed to open his gift, that on some level her son could sense her own hesitation.
“Can I open it?” His green eyes sparkled with hope and she gulped, torn between letting him have it, and giving in to Tobias Stone, or holding onto her dignity and making her son suffer. “I’m not sure we should accept this, honey.”
“Why not?”
“Because Santa already bought you lots of gifts and I think he sent this to the wrong address.”
“But it isn’t from Santa. It’s from Mr. Stone and it has my name on it!” She’d forgotten what a bright spark he was and it killed her to refuse him when he was so obviously desperate to play with it. “Honey, we can’t keep it because…” She was flailing helplessly in deep water. Because the man who gave this only did so because he feels sorry for us.
“You know, honey. We weren’t supposed to be there that night—the night we went to the toy store.”
His face crumpled. “Do you think this is for someone else?”
“No, I—”
“Because it’s got my name on it and the basket has your name on it.” She sighed and clenched her stomach, thinking about her wages which had been paid into her account before Christmas. She hadn’t thought too much about it before, but now that she was forced to consider it, even that could not have been Briony’s doing. Briony couldn’t change how or when she got paid. Only Tobias Stone had that power and she had the worrisome feeling that it had been his idea.
Did she really look that desperate? Were her clothes and shoes such a dead giveaway? Because it seemed that he’d seen right through her.
“We didn’t give him anything,” she replied in a dull voice. Stop asking so many questions, Jacob. “I think it’s only right that we give this back.”
She couldn’t accept it and now, knowing what she did, she didn’t want to accept any of it. But the damage had been done. She’d already opened the gift basket. At least they would eat well, not only today but for the coming days too, and she would have plenty of things to give to Rosalee.
“But won’t that make Mr. Stone sad if we tell him we don’t want his presents?” Jacob’s face fell and she hurried to soothe him, hating herself at the same time but knowing she would hate herself more if she accepted both gifts.
She opened her mouth but no words came out.
“It’s okay, Mommy. You can give this back. I’ve got enough toys, anyway.” She nodded, because she couldn’t find her voice.
“But can we keep that?” He pointed to the gift basket, his eyes, she felt sure, had already glimpsed the boxes of biscuits and chocolates. “It’s your present.”
“It’s not my present. This was intended for both of us.”
“Is that a turkey? Wouldn’t it be nice to have turkey?” Jacob said, looking closely at the gift basket. She hadn’t bought turkey because it would have been too big for the two of them. Now she stifled the sadness she felt rising in her throat on hearing Jacob’s simple request.
Accepting the gift basket meant they could have a truly extravagant Christmas feast. It would would make a change from the small roast chicken dinner she’d planned and she could freeze the chicken she’d already bought. She pulled the decorative festive gold and green ribbon and peeled away the cellophane completely away. “Look, honey. There’s ham as well. You like ham don’t you?” So much wonderful food. His eyes sparkled with happiness again and the gift was forgotten. “Thanks, Mommy. I can’t wait!” He kissed her on the cheek.
No, she thought, her eyes misting over as he scrambled away with his Marvel figurines. Thank you, Jacob.
She took the contents of it out one by one. There was a spiral sliced turkey joint glazed with honey, and a ham joint, and smoked salmon, roasted vegetables and scalloped potatoes, all cooked; they only needed to be heated. And there was sourdough bread, and relish, lots of types of cheeses, chocolate truffles, mixed nuts and cherry and walnut slab cake and so many other little jars and boxes. She could almost see the extra inches adding to her waist and hips during the coming days. And there were bottles of red and white wine, and Champagne.
Warmth radiated all over her body at the thought that someone had gone to the trouble of putting this together. That Tobias Stone had done this. Of course, he didn’t put this together and had probably just called the store, or asked Candace to. But still, the thought had been there. A caring intention, even if she still couldn’t reconcile the action with the personality of the man as she had come to know him.
Yet it was because of his actions that she and Jacob really would have the best Christmas ever.
Two years ago she would never have dreamed that she would be spending Christmas in New York, yet here she was and now not only did she have a beautiful apartment, not hers, but still…, and a job, one that was temporary, but still…and a magnificent Christmas feast, not bought by her, but still… things were so different.
The decision was made. She would keep the gift basket and return the toy. There was only so much charity she would accept, even from Tobias Stone.
Chapter 3
Their sumptuous two day feast kept their overstretched stomachs deliciously full all of Christmas Day and the day after.
Yet Savannah wasn’t sure how she felt about the matter. At first she was annoyed, then she was grateful, and then she alternated between the two emotions as she tried to analyze the reasons behind Tobias Stone’s act of goodwill.
Charity. That’s all it was, she kept reminding herself.
Jacob’s contented sighs, as he had double helpings of turkey and ham, convinced her that she had done the right thing in keeping the gift basket at least.
She would deal with Tobias Stone when she next saw him but she wasn’t sure when that would be. If he didn’t come in next week then she would never see him again
and she wouldn’t get the chance to thank him for his gifts. According to Briony, he wasn’t jetting off on vacation this Christmas, but she could hardly imagine that a man like Stone would come into the office during this time of year.
He probably had better things to do and was most likely having the kind of Christmas she could only dream about.
~~
Her return to work a few days later was made all the more painful because she had loved spending time with Jacob playing games and reading, watching endless amounts of TV and eating.
Frightened by the thought of being without a job in the New Year, she had emailed her resume to a few agencies even though she didn’t expect to hear from them over the holiday season. Secretly she’d hoped that Briony might have mentioned something about having more work for her but she hadn’t and Savannah wasn’t going to see her again either. Worries about her financial situation had made her look elsewhere as a backup.
With slight trepidation she walked into the Stone building and made her way to the 21st floor. She carried the toy gift and went straight to Tobias Stone’s door. After knocking and not getting an answer, she placed it on the floor outside his door.
Feeling as though a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders, she walked back to Briony’s office, hoping that these next few days would be quiet and easy. She wasn’t sure if she was expected to work a full day on New Year’s Eve but hoped so. The extra hours would help.
But when she opened the door she jumped back in fright. The sight of Briony’s spiky, auburn hair confronted her. Her mouth fell open. “Briony?”
Her friend turned around. “Hey,” she nodded cheerfully. “How are you?”
“I thought you were on vacation?”
“I am supposed to be but I remembered a few things I was supposed to do.”
“So you’ve come in on your day off?” Savannah set down her handbag on the desk and stared at her.
“I had some things I had to sort out.”
“And they couldn’t wait?” asked Savannah.
“Not if Tobias Stone has asked for them.” Briony ran her slender fingers through her short hair and got up from her chair.
“Like what?”
“The files to be scanned and filed, I remembered that there were some more boxes in the basement.”
“Is it urgent?”
“Urgent as in I should have authorized maintenance to get them from the basement before I went away. It’s a pain in the ass to find anyone to do anything during the holiday period. The place is like a morgue. Do you think you can continue with what you did last time, scanning and saving the files?”
“Sure,” replied Savannah, feeling happier that she would have some proper work to do instead of waiting for the phone to ring, or checking email.
“You’ll be doing exactly the same thing. You remember don’t you, or shall I show you again?”
“I remember,” replied Savannah. It was so simple, that it was difficult to forget. She started to remove her scarf and hat. “He called you in to do that?”
“Who? Tobias?” Briony collected her sheets of paper and lined up her pens neatly. “He didn’t have to call me in. I should have gotten this done a few weeks ago. When Tobias tells you to do something, you’d better do it.”
Savannah blushed, then held on to her scarf and hat. “Shall I go back to my old room?”
“Your old room,” Briony grinned. “Yes, please. You’re in there for the rest of this week. I’m guessing it will take you up until New Year’s Eve to work through the extra boxes, even with you working at your crazy speed.”
Savannah grabbed her handbag. “By the way, thanks for extending my contract.”
“See, that’s another thing I should have spoken to you about before I left but what with the Christmas party and Max having last minute problems at work and everything else…I don’t know where my head was last week but I forgot so many things.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Savannah reassured her. “Tobias told me.” She was reminded to ask Briony about her wages being paid into her account early.
“At least with you being here, I can enjoy my few days off without having to worry too much about what goes on here,” said Briony, tidying away her things.
“Are you leaving already?” asked Savannah, disappointed. She’d been looking forward to having more conversation and finding out how the Christmas party had gone.
“Max is waiting for me downstairs.”
“Hey, you did well to come in. What are you up to,” asked Savannah, “anything nice?”
“We’re going skiing in Lake Tahoe.”
“That sounds exciting.” Savannah had never skied before. It seemed like one of those experiences that she would never have, like eating oysters, or deep-sea diving, or lying in one of those so-called cabanas on the beach, getting a massage. She’d seen it in holiday magazines.
“Getting away from work is always exciting,” said Briony. “I can’t wait to get out on the slopes.” She paused, “Did you have a good Christmas?”
“It was wonderful,” said Savannah, sighing at the memory of the lazy few days she had had. “How about you?”
Briony crinkled her nose. “My parents for Christmas Day, then Max’s parents the day after, and now we’re all parented-out and we just want to go away and be by ourselves.” Her face radiated excitement. It made Savannah think for one miniscule second what that might feel like; to go away somewhere exciting with someone worth going away with.
“Have a great time,” she said, sensing that Briony was anxious to leave. “And thanks for arranging to have my wages paid in advance before Christmas.”
“He managed to sort that out, did he?” asked Briony, zipping up her handbag. Savannah stared at her in silence.
“He?”
“Tobias mentioned it at the party.”
“He mentioned it to you?” asked Savannah breathlessly.
Briony nodded, hovering at the door. “I’m glad he sorted it out.”
“Was that your idea?”
“No, we don’t usually get involved. The agency handles all of that. It would have come in handy, I hope.”
So it had been his doing.
“It did,” Savannah murmured.
“That man must finally be growing a conscience,” Briony remarked as she walked out of the door.
“Imagine that,” replied Savannah, slowly.
“I’ve rerouted all the calls from this office to 218 but I don’t expect you to be too busy on that front,” said Briony. Savannah followed her, but was lost in deep thought. “He’s grown a conscience,” she repeated, hoping to prompt Briony.
“He doesn’t care what happens at the lower level,” said Briony as they stood in the corridor. “Tobias doesn’t concern himself with these things.”
“He also apologized,” said Savannah, hoping to elicit more information that might help her to put together the complex jigsaw puzzle that was Tobias Stone.
“He apologized?” Briony stared at her. “To you?”
Savannah nodded. “Is that unheard of?”
“Tobias Stone wouldn’t apologize to his mother. What for?”
“The Dalton file saga.”
Briony blew out a whistle. “There’s hope for that man yet.”
Briony’s obvious shock at the news convinced Savannah to keep the information about her Christmas day deliveries all to herself, for now.
“I’m outta here!” Briony seemed suddenly energized. “Don’t work too long on New Year’s Eve. Most people leave early and you should too. There aren’t many people in between now and New Year’s Eve and I don’t expect that you’ll see the likes of Tobias, Candace or Matthias around.”
“Nobody from management will be in?” Savannah felt a little disappointed.
“Tobias for sure won’t be coming in,” announced Briony. “Even though he’s here this year. I don’t know why he’s not going away because he usually does. I bet she’s pissed.”
“Who
?”
“Naomi,” replied Briony, matter-of-factly as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.
“Have you met her?”
“A couple of times.”
“Take it easy and try to chill. I’m sorry to give you the extra work otherwise you could have had a lazy week.”
“Was that your idea or Tobias’s?” she asked quickly, hoping she wouldn’t blush because she felt her cheeks heating up.
“I must go. Max is waiting,” said Briony, frowning at her cell phone which had just beeped. “It was my idea. I know how much you like keeping busy but don’t rush to get it all done, okay?”
“Okay,” said Savannah, feeling somewhat relieved.
“Be good!”
No chance of me being anything but, thought Savannah, feeling sorry for herself.
Chapter 4
She worked uninterrupted the entire day and the phone had only rung once. No emails had come in and she was doubly grateful that Briony had given her proper work to do otherwise she would have sat around twiddling her thumbs all day long with time passing by at a slug’s pace.
The next day when she came in, Savannah peeked by Tobias’s door and sure enough Jacob’s gift still lay on the floor outside. If he didn’t come in during the next few days then she would have to take it home with her before she left. She didn’t want the likes of Candace to see it and ask too many questions. Savannah had a feeling that Tobias wouldn’t want that either.
She and Jacob were still working their way through the gift basket, even though she had shared it with Rosalee and given her some of the savory biscuits, cheese and chutneys to take home with her. There was still plenty left over for them.
With New Year’s Day approaching and the promise of another public holiday she wondered if she could afford the small luxury of taking Jacob ice-skating. It was all very well going out to work and earning money, and she was thankful that Rosalee was able to look after Jacob, but he would be back at school next week, and she now felt the double-pronged sword of guilt, wondering and worrying that she hadn’t spent enough time with him.