And Randall was loving it.
He had one leg swung over the chair arm and was telling them a story.Tom couldn’t hear what he was saying, but they were loving it.Every damn word.Guys like Randall were automatically popular.They would always be flocked to and surrounded.
“What am I doing?”Tom mumbled to himself.His hair smelled of cardboard boxes and his baggy jeans were built for comfort not sex appeal.What happened between him and Randall was a fluke.Their relationship was built on Tom being at the right place at the right time.He was someone to talk to in an empty, abandoned office and the only person he knew in a random gay bar.Against real competition, like the sextet flanking the throne, Tom didn’t stand a chance.
He walked away, unseen by Randall.He treated himself to a Cinnabon for lunch and made his way to his secret spot.He glanced out at the mall from high on his clandestine perch, and for a second, he felt like a mighty king.Tom tossed his Cinnabon bag on the desk.He spotted something sticking out underneath.The air coming from the heating vent made it flap around.
Tom squatted down and pulled a folded piece of paper taped under the middle drawer.
Thought you might need this before your big trip.Look in the right bottom drawer.
He opened the drawer where a tube of SPF 50 sunscreen and a book50 Beaches To See Before You Diewaited for him.
Maybe there would be a next time.
CHAPTER9
Three weeks until Christmas
Tom’s scheduledevolved into a mess, all thanks to Julie Who Cares.That was the name of the character in The Décor Store’s national Christmas ad campaign.In each commercial, she went through the store looking for the perfect gift for someone most people would give an envelope of cash to, like a mailman or crossing guard.She wanted to find them the perfect gift because shecared so much.The spots went viral, the actress who played Julie was interviewed onGood Morning America, and about six people so far had posted Julie memes on Tom’s Facebook.
Julie Who Cared was working, which meant business was picking up more than they expected.Little-to-no downtime existed in Tom’s shifts.He and Kirsten couldn’t hang out on the pillow wall.One day, Antonio ordered in lunch for everyone, which they ate quickly in the break room.
Tom was exhausted and didn’t have the energy to elbow his way over to Santa’s Workshop, and with the extra crowds, he doubted Randall had any energy himself.He put the book and bottle of sunscreen on his nightstand and might’ve looked at them before he went to sleep.(And he might’ve used the sunscreen to masturbate once.It worked surprisingly well.) He figured it was just a nice gesture by Randall, perhaps a thank you for an awesome fuck.
Tom left him a note taped under the desk with a gift in the bottom drawer.Thank you for the book and sunscreen!Here’s something to protect against any more grabby visitors to Santa’s Workshop.
In the drawer, he left an athletic supporter.
Tom worked the closing shift the next day and didn’t have his break until eight at night thanks to extended hours.But sometime around six-thirty, he saw a familiar guy in a Santa costume walk past The Décor Store and glance inside.Randall smiled at him briefly and kept walking.A group of girls followed him with their phones out.
When he finally went on break, Tom steadied his breath as he felt under the desk and silently cheered when he pulled down a note.
Please tell Julie Who Cares to relax.Santa’s worried about her.She’s going to give herself a heart attack picking out the right gift for the captain of her daughter’s lacrosse team.Take it from a guy who gives out gifts for a living: you can’t please everyone.
P.S.I left something in our drawer that should make this communication much easier.
Inside the bottom drawer, he placed a candy cane pen, Christmas stationary, and a roll of tape.(Not everything had to be holiday-themed!)
Tom reread the note, smiling extra hard at the “our drawer” part.
His shift didn’t end until 10:45.The store closed at ten, but it took the rest of the time to clean up the store and get it ready for the next day, when it would be destroyed all over again.He formulated a response to Randall in his head all during clean-up.
When they locked up the store for the night, Tom darted to the secret spot and placed his response.He also left a box of markers, in case either one of them felt inspired to draw.
And so it went like this for the next week.Notes under desks and split-second glances through store windows.Tom printed out an internet article titled10 Crazy Things You Didn’t Know About Rutherford B.Hayesand stuck it in their drawer.They never thought to ask for each other’s phone numbers.Tom liked this way better.He hated waiting for a text or email from someone while on duty.He would check his phone once a minute and time would drag and then when he did receive an answer, it would never live up to the anticipation that had mounted in his head.
“What’s gotten into you?”Kirsten asked him, almost one week after Tom and Randall had last seen each other in person.She swept up in kitchenware, and Tom restocked and cleaned up displays.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s like you’ve been in your own world.”
In a way, he had.He and Randall lived in this secret world with hidden rooms and coded messages, like they were spies.
“Are you seeing someone?”Kirsten put down her broom.
“No.”
