Keir patted the thick leather beside him. I was supposed to sit? But that was Santa's throne, so to speak. It was like touching a sacred object when you weren't really supposed to. People were watching. I was old enough to know that maybe this wasn't going to be so great for me once we got back to Control.
“Well?” Keir patted the leather again. “Are you going to just stand there? Or are you going to sit and show me what I need to do to correct the problem?”
Slowly, I lowered myself to the seat. Immediately, the pillowed softness formed to my shape. It was the most comfortable couch, which shouldn't have surprised me.
Keir touched the dashboard screen. It lit up with the wind shear program. I was so nervous I couldn't see it. The figures danced before me as if blurred by a faulty monitor.
“I can't see it now, sir.”
“What can't you see?”
I couldn't think of an answer. Everything around me was confusing. The cold wind shifted, making a moaning noise across the ice.
“Fallon?”
“The code. I can’t see it.”
Keir gestured. “Look closer.”
I leaned in, blinking. My eyes were blurred. “I’m not used to the wind in my eyes.” It was a lie. I did fine in cold weather. I shifted and ran the frozen outskirts year-round.
“Maybe back inside we can re-visit this,” Keir said.
I turned and stumbled out of the sleigh, noticing the frowning faces around me. I had failed.
“Test is done for today,” Keir announced behind me. “We’ll go over everything at Control.”
I heard the glorious sleigh make a whooshing noise on the ice, and the reindeer hooves dancing. But I didn’t look back.
I shuffled back down the sidewalk and inside with the crowd. People were chattering but I didn’t listen. I didn’t want to hear my name. Not anymore.
I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Clea’s words had jarred me, but I’d endured crosstalk like that before. When I was first starting in the workshop, people called me a suck upbecause my mom was the boss. I told myself I didn’t care, but it hurt. I stayed to myself. I studied harder. That was all I wanted anyway.
But now, here was my dream job. My whole heart was wide open. I cared very much how it was going to work out. Maybe too much.
Once inside, I freshened up in the bathroom, washed my face, took deep breaths. My nervousness retreated.
Back at my desk, I turned on my monitor and switched over to the wind shear program. I could see it clearly now. My brain supplied the image of the sleigh’s behavior with what Keir had said. The solution popped right before my eyes and I began to quickly type. My focus zeroed in until I felt a thump against the back of my chair.
Startled, I looked up. Clea stood beside me, dark brows drawn together.
“You thought you had everything solved out there, but you didn’t. Don’t speak up to the boss unless you’re sure.”
“I—I—” I had been sure. Her comment had thrown me into some sort of freeze. I couldn’t tell her that, though. A twenty-two-year-old who couldn’t take a co-worker’s snide remark was pathetic. Weak.
“What?” she asked when I couldn’t complete my sentence. “You have no excuse. You didn’t know anything about fixing it and made us all look ridiculous. Don’t let it happen again.”
I knew Santa’s Sleigh would have strict protocols and be a challenging job. Everything had to be perfect for Santa’s flight, and for the reindeer. But everyone had been so nice yesterday. Even Clea. What changed?
Clea was my senior, the co-boss with Drake if Keir was not around. She could tell him anything about my work performance. I needed to remember that. “I’m sorry. I won’t.”
She huffed and walked back to her station.
I tried to go back to my work but my hands were shaking. I kept making typos. I had the solution. I could have had it done by now, but my fear that I’d screw up wouldn’t leave me. What did everyone think of me now? I thought I would fit in fine. But now I wasn’t so sure.
6
KEIR
