Chapter 5
Felicity
I make it up to the conference room just in time to slide into a chair as the strategy meeting commences. The meeting lasts forty minutes, and I struggle to pay attention the whole time. My wrist is throbbing and I can’t get smirking, winking Nolan out of my head. Martine actually has to kick me under the table at one point when my boss asks me a direct question. She wanted to know if I had a designated Santa yet to hand out gifts to the kids. I said I would lock it down by the end of the day. I should’ve done that this morning before the meeting, but my stupid wrist injury and Nolan threw me off.
I walk back to my desk with Martine. “What happened to your wrist? Are you okay?”
“Just a sprain,” I mutter. “I’m fine.”
I walk into my office and sit down at my desk. I leave the door open and can see Martine as she sits at her desk in her office across the hall. As I shuffle papers to find my To Do list for the day, I notice a gorgeous evergreen colored envelope on the corner of my desk. It’s got a sprig of fresh holly taped to the corner and in very simple block print it says, To Felicity. From SS.
Secret Santa! My mood instantly swings upward. This is one of my favorite parts of the season. It’s just fun to get a little pick-me-up gift from a stranger. My family and I don’t really talk let alone celebrate Christmas anymore, so this is all I get, and I really love it. Last year my Secret Santa was an intern from social media who worked under Martine. She was super creative and made all the gifts herself. I got amazing essential oils and a cute crocheted pillow with the Comets mascot on it and a really nice beaded bracelet.
I’m smiling in excitement as I grab my letter opener and slice open the envelope. There’s a lovely, thick card stock inside embossed in gold and it says Cuke-gratulations! You’re a member! In big bold letters. On the backside is a lot of fine print and with every word I feel my smile shrink.
You are now a member of the cucumber a month club! There are over 100 varieties of cucumbers in the world and this year you’ll be trying 12 of them. Every month for a year we’ll send you a bunch of cukes as well as two recipe cards for inspiration. It’s Cuke-tastic! Enjoy!(Memberships are non-transferable and non-refundable.)
“You have got to be kidding me!”
Martine’s head snaps up from her computer, and she looks through the open office doors at me. “What’s wrong?”
“My first gift,” I wave the card in the air. “A one year membership to the Cucumber of the Month club.”
Martine cocks her head, her brown bangs tumbling into her eyes. “Is that a euphemism? Because everyone knows, sex gifts get you sent to HR.”
“I’d be happier if it was, but sadly no. It’s actual cucumbers,” I make a gagging sound.
Martine tries to stifle a giggle and fails so I glare. She lifts her hands. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I just can’t believe that’s an actual thing. Who joins a club for cucumbers? That’s insane.”
“And who orders this as a gift?” I ask, annoyed. “And for me? I hate them!”
“Well, whoever it is obviously doesn’t know that,” Martine replies. “It’s not a common hatred or anything. I mean, if someone gave me something with truffles, I’d have to cut them some slack it’s not like…”
Her voice trails off until there’s nothing but silence and her eyes seem to lose focus. She’s looking at me but not seeing me.
“What? What are you thinking?’
She blinks and her eyes refocus. “Or maybe it’s someone who does know you hate them. Maybe it was on purpose.”
“Who would purposely give me a shitty gift?” I whisper harshly. And as her eyes connect with mine, a picture of winking Nolan Duggan fills my head. “No. No freaking way. Nolan Grump-Ass Duggan is my Secret Santa?”
Martine nods. “Yesterday I shared an elevator with him, and he was abnormally chatty. It made me nervous, and I had verbal diarrhea and was rambling on about food allergies and I definitely mentioned you hated cucumber. With a passion.”
She looks remorseful, but it’s not her fault. She couldn’t have known that hot asshole was pumping her for information to try and destroy my festive spirit. I think about how I made sure his first gift was something he’d really enjoy. Something that might make him smile. Argh! “Well, now I officially have something I hate more than cucumbers. It’s Nolan.”
“What are you going to do?” Martine asks, nervously.
“I’m going to fight fire with fire,” I say and grab my phone off my desk and punch my bosses number. “So I’ve got a Santa locked down for the party. It’s Nolan Duggan. Yeah. I know, I was shocked too, but he insisted. I’ll be there every step of the way to make sure he is the jolliest Santa that ever Santa’d.”
I hang up the phone and raise my eyes to see Martine looking at me with her hands covering her open mouth. “Oh my God he’s going to KILL you!”
“He can try,” I shrug and open my laptop. “Now get over here and help me with phase two. Picking out the most useless, annoying gift I can find for him.”
Martine drops her hands from her mouth and joins me in my office. I grin at her. “Nolan says he hates Christmas now. Well, I’m going to give him a real reason to hate it.”
Martine looks at me with the weirdest grin. “You two are going to either kill each other or bang.”
“Kill each other it is!” I declare and ignore my fluttering girl parts.
