“He sent in a cold call application.”
“ Good thing he did. He's found enough errors to make tomorrow's test a fail if we hadn’t corrected them. Even though they're minor, the cumulative effect would have caused glitches. Too many. Santa would never be happy with this new system.”
“I'm glad we're getting the work done."
Clea nodded and got up from her chair. “It's my lunch hour,” she said. “I'll put in extra hours this evening if we don't have everything in order.”
“But with Fallon, I think we will,” Drake added. “He's already a great addition.”
I watched Clea leave, then walked over to Fallon and stood behind his chair. The code on his screen moved quickly. Was he really reading that fast?
“How's it going?” I asked.
He jumped as if startled. “Sorry, sir. I didn't see you there.”
“You looked very focused.”
“I am. The program I'm looking through right now is awesome. I'm blown away by the attention to detail and how much work went into it. I'm finding a few hiccups but that's it.”
“I know. They all come through my computer screen when they're validated by Clea or Drake. You're catching things most people don't see until the very last minute when something goes wrong.”
“You mean like the day before Christmas Eve?”
“I meanonChristmas Eve. Sometimes even while Santa's in flight.”
His mouth dropped open.
“It looks like you're fitting in quite well. I spoke with Clea and Drake and they’re very happy with your work and it's only been half a day.”
He looked down as if slightly embarrassed. In that moment I noticed how young he was compared to all of the others. Most people who worked on my team had spent many years in schoolfull time and still needed training to fit in with this job. Fallon had been taking classes part time while holding another job and he was only twenty-two. He hadn't graduated yet.
Some people were born with gifts. I wondered if his family even knew how talented he really was.
“It's lunchtime now. Everyone gets an hour.”
“I was going to skip lunch. I'm right in the middle of this doc.”
“Working on an empty stomach can fog the brain. Did anyone show you the lunchroom? And there's a cafeteria one floor up. The food's excellent.”
“No. HR gave me paperwork. I read the stuff about what was required from me. But I didn't really look at the stuff about breaks and time off. Not yet.”
It was easier to skip meals when young. But I didn’t want that to be the habit here.
“I'm glad to hear you're so focused but it's my job as your boss to make sure you’re properly treated within the guidelines Santa sets for all workers in his corporations. Skipping lunch is not an offence, but it is severely frowned upon.”
His face fell. “I didn't realize.”
“Now you know. Would you like to accompany me upstairs?” Immediately, I asked myself what I was doing. But it was just lunch. And the new omega on our team didn't know where to go.
“With you?”
“Yep. I've worked here for fifteen years. Stick with me. I know my way around.”
He stood, stretching his arms and casting a sheepish smile my way. “All right. Thank you.”
It wasn't too far to go. The stark white staircase to the upstairs curved, lending its shape to the idea that everything here was made from ice. It wasn't. But it was beautiful and the walls had glitter in them to make everything sparkle.
Fallon himself seemed to sparkle. He wore a beautiful Christmas sweater with patterns of Christmas trees and snowflakes against a brown and white background. The tones brought out the sheen of his hair and eyes. He had on thick black wool trousers that we're almost too short at his ankles. Almost. That tiny imperfection made him look even cuter. I could see he wore white socks.
