Her Secret Santa

by Kelli Callahan

  “We could finish Uncle Nick.” Elly looked towards me and shrugged. “Or try…”

  “That didn’t go so well last time.” I put my hand on hers and smiled.

  “Are you sure?” She narrowed her eyes. “I felt like it went really well.”

  “I meant the movie, not what we did instead of watch it.” I chuckled under my breath and reached for my sandwich.

  “I’m okay if we don’t finish it tonight either.” Elly grinned.

  “Me too.” I raised my eyebrows and nodded.

  I doubt we’re going to be paying much attention to it anyway.

  We continued eating our sandwiches, and the conversation shifted to decorating Elly’s apartment for Christmas. The first thing we had to get was a Christmas tree. Her apartment building had a no-real-tree policy, so we were going to have to find a nice fake one—I assumed there would be plenty of those available at one of the stores near her house. There was a better chance of that than finding a decent tree on a lot since it was so close to Christmas. We could pick up the rest of the decorations while we were there and then spend the rest of the day filling her apartment with Holiday cheer.

  I need to pick up her present too. It should be ready by the weekend. Maybe I’ll give it to her early after all…

  After we finished eating, we moved to the living room and started Uncle Nick. The movie barely got started before we were teasing each other, and it was clear that we had no intention of watching it. We made out on the couch for nearly twenty minutes before the teasing got to be too much, and I just stopped the movie. The heat that was radiating from Elly’s body and the hunger in her kiss told me that we were never going to actually pay attention to the television. We craved each other way too much.

  “How would you feel about going to bed early tonight.” I moved my lips to Elly’s neck and started kissing my way up to her earlobes.

  “That sounds like the best idea you’ve ever had…” She exhaled sharply into my ear.

  “I can spend all night teasing you if I want.” I moved my hand to her inner thigh and squeezed.

  “Not all night.” She squirmed against my touch. “I’m going to tease you just as much as you tease me—maybe more.”

  “I’ll be worth it.” I stood up from the couch and scooped Elly into my arms.

  We may not get a wink of sleep tonight.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Elly

  Ian and I teased each other for almost an hour before our clothes came off. His tongue took me to heaven multiple times before he let me do the same thing for him. I would have let him go further, but he didn’t push for it. After our desires had been satisfied, I fell asleep in his arms. Despite going to bed early, we didn’t get as much sleep as the hours could have given us. We both woke up the next morning with passion and desire on our breath, which led to a lot more teasing. By the time we finally made it out of bed, there was no time for breakfast or coffee. I had to quickly get dressed and say goodbye—which turned into a really long goodbye kiss at the bedroom door—then the front door of his house.

  “I really have to go…” I tried to pull away.

  “I know.” He smiled and kissed me again.

  Ian’s kiss certainly made me want to forget all about Thornton Advertising and everything I needed to get done at the office. If I could have scraped an extra second out of my morning, I would have, but I didn’t want to be late for work. I finally pulled away for the last time, and my head was spinning as I walked to my car. Ian’s lips always had a way of lighting a fire and making my knees weak—and I had a smile on my face the entire way back to my apartment.

  I barely had enough time to shower, and I had to skip coffee for the second time that morning—I was running so late that I had to put on my makeup while I drove. For the first time since I started working at Thornton Advertising, I wasn’t the second person in the office after Mr. Thornton. I actually walked in with a group of people and barely made it to my desk before it was time to officially start my day. I felt a little discombobulated since I had normally put in an hour or two of work before everyone else even got started.

  It feels weird to be normal…

  Despite it being a regular workday, it was Friday, and we had the Christmas party after work, so it didn’t seem like anyone was actually doing their job. I would have normally just ignored what they were doing and focused on my own work but I the excitement got the best of me—or maybe I just finally had enough holiday spirit to pay attention to something besides my computer. I wasn’t ready to burst into song like the Christmas Mafia planned to do at the party, but I found myself looking forward to their performance. Mary was certainly excited. She barely sat down at her desk the entire day. Shortly after lunch, I ran into her in the break room when I went to refill my coffee cup.

  “I know this isn’t actually Christmas, but it feels like it.” Mary looked up at me and smiled. “I don’t want to let Mr. Thornton down…”

  “I’m sure he’s going to be fine.” I raised an eyebrow and started pouring my coffee. “He probably cares more about the work we’re not doing today than the party.”

  “Maybe…” Mary sighed. “But he put me in charge of this, so I have to make sure it’s perfect.”

  “And here I thought you just liked baking cookies.” I hid my smile behind my coffee cup.

  “Oh, I like that too.” She nodded. “My kids are all grown up now, and they don’t come around often. The holidays aren’t what they used to be. I kind of feel like all of you are my family in a way—I certainly spend enough time at this place!”

  “We all do.” I walked over and picked up a cookie. “But at least there are a few benefits that aren’t in our contracts.”

  I might have misjudged Mary. I thought she was letting her excitement over the holidays interfere with her job, but from her perspective, it was her job. Mr. Thornton put her in charge of the annual Christmas party, and she took it seriously. I would have done the same, even if I was planning the party begrudgingly. I don’t know if I would have gone all Christmas Mafia with it, but I would have done my best to bring some holiday cheer to the office. She was a lot more equipped for the job than I was. If I tried to make cookies for everyone on a daily basis, they wouldn’t have been very good. I was okay making dinner for myself, but baking was a skill I never bothered with—it wasn’t like I would have eaten it anyway.

  I may be addicted to these cookies before the holiday season is over though…

  The rest of the day was spent at my desk, and while I wasn’t angry that everyone was excited about the party, I decided to wait until the day was over to join in the festivities. I still did have some work to catch up on, and for the first time in a while, I had no intention of coming in over the weekend. My weekend was going to be spent with Ian, and I wasn’t going to be thinking about work at all. We were going to decorate my apartment, and possibly even finish Uncle Nick. If we didn’t make it to the end, I was perfectly fine with that scenario too—I certainly wasn’t going to complain if we ended up in the bedroom.

  Who knows what will happen when we get there.

  The workday ended, and I didn’t sit around to wait for everyone to leave the office like I normally did. I needed to go home, change, and get ready for the party so that I wasn’t fashionably late. I doubted that anyone believed it was an accident considering how I had been acting towards the holidays. The drive home was a little more hectic than normal. I was caught in the rush hour traffic, and the snow that had been lightly falling for several days appeared to be coming down with more fury—the forecast didn’t call for anything serious, so there was no reason to be concerned. I made it to my apartment, and as soon as I stepped through the door, my phone lit up with a message from Ian.

  Ian: Are you getting ready for your party?

  Elly: Yes. I just made it home. How did your party go?

  Ian: It was great. Everyone liked their gifts. :)

  Elly: I can’t believe you give everyone gifts fr
om the company. Mr. Thornton would never do that.

  Ian: We did the Secret Santa thing a few times. We even did Dirty Santa once, but it didn’t go well. I don’t want them to feel like they have to spend their money on anyone unless they really want to.

  Elly: Make sense. I don’t even know Bob from accounting…

  Ian: You know he likes heavy metal music!

  Elly: I do now. I really do hope he likes his gift.

  Ian: I’m sure he will.

  Elly: I miss you.

  Ian: I miss you too. I wish we could spend the night together…

  Elly: We will tomorrow. :)

  Ian: And the night after that?

  Elly: You might be able to persuade me.

  Ian: I think we should try to get to the stores when they open, so we have plenty of time to decorate. Can you get out of bed at a reasonable hour?

  Elly: I always do!

  Ian: Good, then I’ll see you bright and early.

  Elly: I’m looking forward to it!

  Ian: Have fun tonight. Will you let me know when you’re home safe?

  Elly: If you’re still up.

  Ian: I’ve got a new book and a couple of True Crime podcasts to catch up on. I should be awake.

  Elly: Okay :)

  I made it to the Christmas party earlier than I expected and put my gift on the table with the others. I had no idea who drew my name, or what they could have possibly gotten me. Based on what I saw the previous year, the gifts would be either silly or thoughtful, depending on who drew your name. Some people treated it like a joke and got gag gifts while others took it pretty seriously. I felt like I had done a decent job considering that I drew the name of someone I had never even had a real conversation with.

  “Did you get some eggnog?” Mary walked up behind me while I was trying to decide where to sit.

  “No, not yet.” I turned to her and smiled. “I haven’t finished looking at all the awesome decorations you put up.”

  “I had a lot of help with them.” She looked around and laughed. “Maybe next year, you’ll join the team—if you’re not too busy trying to get a corner office.”

  “I’ll think about it.” I brushed a stray hair out of my face and nodded.

  “Enjoy the party, dear.” Mary turned towards one of the other guests. “And please get some eggnog.”

  “I will. Thank you, Mary.” I walked towards the table with a bowl of eggnog and several snacks.

  She really did put in a lot of work to make this party festive.

  I got some eggnog and a couple of cookies before I walked around the room to mingle. I really hadn’t made much of an effort to get to know my coworkers. They were just background noise and scenery that I had to look at every day when I came to the office. I had worked with a few of them on projects, but I didn’t go out of the way to meet anyone else. When I was an intern, I tried to spend all of my time being nice to the right people and ignoring the rest. Opening myself up to Ian and holiday season, in general, had made me realize that I wasn’t just Elly-nezer Scrooge at Christmas. It was my attitude towards life itself. That was something I needed to change.

  “Did you get some eggnog?” Maggie walked up to me after I spent an hour mingling and found somewhere to sit.

  “Yep, I just finished my second cup.” I smiled and nodded.

  “You don’t look like you just finished your second cup.” She narrowed her eyes. “Wait, did you get some before or after Joey spiked it?”

  “Uh…” I raised my eyebrows. “It definitely wasn’t spiked.”

  “Then you need a third cup.” She grinned and motioned to me. “Come on. Mr. Thornton will notice at some point, and they’ll have to dump the bowl.”

  “They’re serving beer, wine, and champagne. Why would spiked eggnog be a problem?” I stood up from my chair.

  “You weren’t here when Mr. Thornton instituted the no-liquor policy.” She looked down and laughed. “Trust me; these parties used to be a lot wilder back in those days.”

  “I bet…” I followed her to the table and got my third cup of eggnog. “Wow, yeah—that’s strong!”

  “Don’t tell anyone.” She nudged me and walked away—to immediately tell someone else about the spiked eggnog.

  I’m not sure why I can’t tell anyone if she’s telling the whole room…

  I really wasn’t planning to drink at the party, but the eggnog was pretty good, even if I could feel the alcohol burning my throat the first few sips. I finished one cup and got a second before I returned to my seat. I barely got sat down before Mary announced that it was time to open presents. We all gathered around the table, and Mary called our name so we could walk up and pick up our present. Once the present was opened, the Secret Santa had an option to reveal themselves. Most did, so I prepared to step forward when Bob’s name was called.

  “Alright, Bob.” Mary smiled. “Come get your present.”

  “I hope I get a fancy calculator—just like last year!” Bob appeared to have indulged in more than two cups of the spiked eggnog.

  “Your present is right over here.” Mary guided him towards the one I wrapped.

  “Okay, let’s see what we have here…” Bob pretended to shake the present and made a spectacle of it before he finally tore the wrapping paper off. “Holy shit—I mean, sorry. Holy crap! Who did this? Seriously?”

  “I did.” I lifted my hand and took a step forward.

  “Wow, this is—freaking amazing.” He held up the vinyl records. “Thank you so much! How in the world did you know that I wanted these two records?”

  “Santa knows everything.” I smiled and shrugged.

  Bob seemed thrilled by his gift, so I felt like it was a complete success. My name was called a few minutes later, and I walked to the table. My present was in what appeared to be a wrapped shoebox. I tore the wrapping paper off, opened the box, and found two things inside—a big bag of Godiva Chocolate Coffee and a gift card for Dillinger’s Department Store. I had never tried the coffee, but it definitely sounded delicious, and the gift card was going to be put to good use when I went shopping trip with Ian. Dillinger’s had a huge Christmas section, and I might even be able to get my tree from there. I proudly held both of them up with a smile on my face.

  “Okay, who got me my two favorite things?” I looked around the room.

  “It was me.” Maggie stepped forward and raised her hand.

  “Thank you, Maggie. This is awesome!” I closed the box and walked over to give her a hug.

  “I wasn’t sure what you liked…” She smiled after our hug. “I know you really like coffee, and I assume everyone can find something at Dillinger’s.”

  “Trust me; it’s perfect.” I nodded quickly.

  I would have been happy regardless of what was in my box because I cared more about Bob’s gift than my own. He really did seem to be genuinely excited about the vinyl records. He retreated to the corner of the room after the gift exchange was done, and I overheard him excitedly telling his wife what he got. He even came over to give me a hug after the conversation was over. I was a little awkward since I hadn’t said more than two words to him before the Christmas party, but everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood afterword of the spiked eggnog made its way around the room.

  “Uh oh…” Maggie walked up beside me. “Mr. Thornton is about to try the eggnog.”

  “At least the party is almost over.” I looked at her and smiled.

  Mr. Thornton took a big gulp off the eggnog, and the look on his face told the story immediately. He grabbed the closest employee and ordered them to get rid of it. He didn’t seem to be upset—it was more like an expression of mild amusement like a father who had just discovered that his kids were misbehaving and wanted to put a stop to it without ruining their day in the process. The party really was starting to dwindle, and I felt like I had enough holiday cheer for one evening. I had a lot of it coming my way over the weekend with Ian.

  I don’t feel drunk, but I should probably t
ake an Uber home to be safe…

  “Mary, thank you so much for putting together such a lovely party.” I walked up to her as I made my way to the door.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” She turned to me and smiled. “If you want to share a little bit of that coffee with the office on Monday, I don’t think anyone would be offended.”

  “I was thinking the same thing.” I nodded. “I don’t think I could possibly drink all of it by myself.

  “We’ll probably get an email about the eggnog.” Mary shrugged. “Hopefully, Mr. Thornton won’t be too upset.”

  “He seems to be smiling and laughing now.” I looked toward my boss. “Maybe he’ll forget about it by Monday.”

  The party seemed to be a success. Most people seemed fairly pleased with their gifts. Bob was happy, and that was the most important thing to me. My gift might not have been very personal, but that was my own fault. I talked to Maggie more than I talked to most of the other people in the office except for Mr. Thornton, and I hadn’t really shared anything with her. As far as she knew, all I did was come to work early, drink coffee, and then go home so I could prepare to start the process all over again the following day. The Dillinger’s gift card was likely the result of the one conversation I had with her when I was discussing the account—or it was just a safe option since everyone shopped there at some point in their lives.

  I’ve got to make more of an effort to get to know the people I work with. I spend more time with them than anyone else—although that may change now that I’m dating Ian.

  The snow was heavier when I left the office, but the salt trucks had done a good job of keeping the roads clear. It was an easier drive since it was late and there weren’t that many cars on the road. The snow did limit travel, even if the roads were relatively safe. I got back to my apartment, changed into my pajamas, and reached for my cell phone. I promised Ian that I would message him as soon as I was home.

  Elly: I’m home now.

  Ian: Good. How were the roads?

  Elly: They weren’t too bad.