1
Aubrey
It was weird and more than a little creepy for a twenty-eight-year-old woman to be sitting in Santa’s lap, but that’s exactly where I found myself. In all fairness, the photo shoot hadn’t been my idea. Isaac, my boss, wanted some photos for a calendar he was sending as a Christmas present from the liquor distributor where we worked. No doubt he considered me a cheap model substitute since I worked as his secretary.
He also wanted to get into my pants because he was a sexist pig. Why was I still at this job? Why was I even here at a mall before opening hours? Because I was going to hold down a job for at least six months or die trying.
I pasted on a smile and hoped I wasn’t showing too much leg next to the bottle of high-end tequila perched on my hip. I had no idea where Isaac had found this Mrs. Claus get up, and I was afraid to ask.
Ah, the things I did for my job.
I couldn’t afford to lose this one because I already had an impressive string of failed careers and failed relationships behind me. Waitress? Dumped tray of spaghetti on a mayoral candidate. Retail? Accidentally gave back change for a hundred instead of a ten. Babysitter? Kid set the house on fire while I ran to the bathroom for just a second.
Santa, I could tell, was not amused by my latest stop on the job train, and there was no telling what lie Isaac told the mall to make this photo shoot happen. At least we were taking these pictures before the mall opened so none of the kids would witness it.
“Hold on, let me take a look at these,” Isaac said as he looked down at his expensive camera. A short, wizened woman in a green elf costume stood beside him, tapping her foot. With her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face, it was clear she wasn’t happy about the proceedings, either.
I caught movement in the corner of my eye and saw my housemate, Cole Frost, gawking.
What the heck is he doing here?
He never took a day off. He didn’t believe in mental health days or spontaneity or…fun. It would be my luck that he would witness yet another lapse in my judgment.
My skin prickled at the thought of his disapproval. And to think I’d had a crush on him all through high school because I thought the glasses made him hot in a nerdy, intense sort of way.
That was before he moved in and started berating me about dishes in the sink and where I left my socks. No doubt he would tell my brother about the whole thing, them being tight and all, and then the whole family would make fun of Aubrey over Christmas dinner.
It could be my gift to them since making fun of me was a favorite pastime for the whole family—minus me, of course.
“Ho, ho, ho,” said the snowy bearded man in whose lap I sat. “While we wait, I might as well ask. What’s your name, little girl?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say something sarcastic, but the twinkle in his eyes stopped me. There was something about him that justfeltsincere. Even more importantly, he’d been very carefulnotto cop a feel. And his beard? Definitely real.
“Aubrey. Aubrey Longfellow.”
“Why, that sounds like an elf’s name.”
“Aubrey does mean ‘elf ruler.’” I smiled in spite of myself.
“And the Longfellows are a very good family, even if they should probably be called the short fellows,” he said with a wink.
I grinned, utterly charmed in spite of myself. Who knew where the mall had found this guy, but he was the real deal. Parents were going to bring their kids from all over to meet him.
“And what would you like for Christmas?” Santa asked in a tone of voice that didn’t hold an ounce of double-entendre. This man was kind and genuine. Something about him made me want to ask for a kitten or a bicycle or that Nintendo Wii I never got even though I was an absolute angel that year.
Well, almost an angel.
I shifted a little and opened my mouth to tell him about the Wii.
“For God’s sake, Aubrey, I can see your underwear.” Cole’s voice carried across the mall.
I jumped out of Santa’s lap and started adjusting my skirt. My face burned. Why did it have to be Cole who saw me?
Shame melted into anger. How was it any of his business how I was dressed?
I flipped him off, in front of Santa and everyone.
Cole threw his hands up in the air, shaking his head in a combination of disgust and defeat before walking away. Now I felt bad for flipping him off.
