‘I can do that.’
They worked side by side for a while, unloading the van until there was only one tree left. Alex hopped up into the van to get it and Quinn joined her. He handed her a key.
‘The upstairs is locked.’
The upstairs of Quinn’s or rather Santa’s house was like a self-contained flat – bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, lounge – so Quinn could continue to live there separate to the Christmassy goings-on downstairs. The upstairs door was always locked during the day so no wayward child would find their way into Quinn’s part of the house. Tonight there were a lot of elves going in and out of the house, helping themselves to refreshments that had been laid out in the house, using the toilet and adding last-minute decorations to the downstairs. While they knew all the elves and no one was likely to traipse around the private part of his house uninvited, Alex knew Quinn had locked it just in case.
‘When you’re finished and people are starting to head home, just go upstairs, let yourself in and make yourself at home. I’ll be up as soon as I can to join you.’
Alex felt a little shiver of excitement at the thought of what the night held. While she understood why Quinn didn’t like the sneaking around, it did add an extra thrill to their relationship.
She nodded and pocketed the key.
‘Oh, I have this for you,’ Quinn said, pulling out an elf hat. She laughed as he positioned it on her head.
‘Where did this come from?’
‘I don’t know, one of the elves was handing them out.’
‘Which one?’ she said, probably a bit too urgently.
He looked surprised by her tone. ‘I… don’t know. Actually there were several people giving them out, I think, someone just gave me one and told me I had to wear it. Why?’
‘St Nick sent me a message to say he would be wearing an elf hat tonight.’
Quinn laughed. ‘A good mystery just wouldn’t be the same without a few red herrings.’
‘Ordinarily I’d agree, but I only have four more days left to figure it out. On Christmas Eve, if I haven’t found St Nick, he will disappear forever.’
‘You’ll solve the mystery, I have no doubt, you’re brilliant at stuff like that.’
‘When I first saw you wearing the hat, I did wonder whether it was you. Some of the clues even point to you too.’
‘Is that right?’ He didn’t seem remotely fazed by her potentially discovering his secret.
‘I can neither confirm nor deny those rumours.’
‘That’s not a no.’
‘It’s not a yes either,’ he grinned and she knew he was teasing her.
One of the elves came to the back of the van. ‘Quinn, we’re ready for you now.’
‘OK, I’ll be there in a second.’
He quickly unloaded the last tree for her, gave her a wave and headed back towards the house.
She spent a few hours moving around trees and animal lanterns, with the help of some other elves, to create the perfect forest scene. With the fake and real snow and all the other lights and decorations it looked beautiful.
People were starting to call goodbye and head home, although some were still finishing off. Alex headed towards the house, catching Quinn’s eye as he finished off the last bit of the roof. He nodded, subtly, then flashed his hands to show he’d be about five minutes. She walked into the house where a few other elves were just tidying up before leaving. She waited for the downstairs to be empty before she quickly sneaked up the stairs, let herself into Quinn’s flat and looked around. There were a few simple Christmas decorations in here, a tree and some lights. It looked nice, but nothing like the over-the-top Christmas grotto downstairs.
She washed her face, cleaned her teeth, got undressed so she was completely naked and then slipped into his bed, waiting for him, wondering whether to lie in an alluring pose.
She waited ten minutes and then waited some more.
The next thing she was aware of was Quinn slipping into the bed next to her, taking her in his arms and holding her close.
‘Oh, god, sorry,’ Alex mumbled. ‘I fell asleep.’
