“Welcome to the office.”
There was something in his expression I couldn’t quite read—amusement, maybe, or curiosity—but I didn’t stick around to analyze it. I fled down the hallway, my heels clicking frantically, glitter trailing behind me like evidence of my shame.
It wasn’t until I found Shelby’s office—empty, with a note saying she’d be back in twenty minutes—that I let myself collapse into a chair and properly process what had just happened.
I’d just made a complete fool of myself in front of the hottest man in the building. On the bright side, I’d probably never have to see him again. Senior management types didn’t exactly hang out with junior copywriters. I could avoid that hallway, avoid that office, and pretend this morning never happened.
My phone buzzed with a text from my roommate Sutton.How’s the first day? Did you murder your boss yet?
I typed back,Worse. I destroyed some hot executive’s award display and had a full breakdown in front of him.
Her response was immediate.Tell me everything.
But before I could reply, the office door opened, and Shelby breezed in—red blazer, perfect makeup. She had the kind of effortless polish I could never quite achieve.
“Gabriella! Welcome, welcome!” She air-kissed near my cheek. “So sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived. Eli called an emergency leadership meeting this morning, and you know how he is.”
“Eli, our founder and CEO?”
“The one and only. He’s the one who sent the return-to-office email. Between you and me, I think someone pissed him off, because he’s being extra Grinchy about the whole thing.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “He’s brilliant, but god, the man has no holiday spirit whatsoever. Anyway, he just texted me from his office—he wants the Q4 numbers before lunch, which means I need to?—”
Suddenly, everything clicked into place.
He just texted me from his office.
Hisoffice. The corner office at the end of the hall. The one with the floor-to-ceiling windows and the credenza full of awards that I’d just?—
No.
No, no, no.
“Shelby?” My voice came out strangled. “The corner office at the end of the hall. That’s…?”
“Eli’s office, yes. Why?” Shelby’s eyes widened. “Oh god, you didn’t go in there, did you? He hates being interrupted, especially with everything going on this week.”
I thought about the awards. The tinsel in my hair. The way he’d looked at me when I said my name.
The copywriter, he’d said. He’d known exactly who I was just by hearing my name. Because he was the CEO.
I’d just destroyed the CEO’s award display, babbled incoherently at him, and then fled like a tornado, leaving glitter and chaos in my wake.
“Gabriella?” Shelby’s voice sounded very far away. “Are you okay? You look pale.”
I wasn’t okay. I was the opposite of okay.
Because I’d just met my boss’s boss’s boss, and my first impression had been catastrophically, irredeemably terrible.
And I had to work here for three more days before I could flee to my parents’ house and hide under the covers until this nightmare faded into a distant, humiliating memory.
Merry fucking Christmas to me.
2
ELI
She had tinsel in her hair.
Not the accidental, “I walked through a dollar-store garland display” kind. These were intentional strands woven in like she was celebrating something. After she walked out of my office, I actually looked it up. Turns out women did that on purpose for “festive vibes.” Or Christmas. Same difference.
