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Chapter One
Carol
“Well! It’s a few day’s works. Best we can do for someone in your… position,” he sneers over the phone.
Something I much prefer to hear than having to go down to the temp agency in person and get first hand.
I’ve had the man’s eye on me before and it’s not a pleasant experience.
“Alright, alright, Nathan.” I sigh bitterly. “Just say when and where, and I’ll be there,” I tell him, feeling like I’ve double-crossed myself already.
Two maybe three days for a couple of hundred bucks, I can do that.
My rent is like a month behind and it’s two days before Christmas as it is.
If there’s such a thing as a Christmas miracle, this chubby little elf needs one.
The creeper Nathan from the job agency texts me the details, and I make the call. Within the hour I’m huffing it to the subway to make sure I don’t miss the interview.
A slightly more cheerful, but in no way friendly woman scans my resume after I’ve filled out what feels like a thirty page application.
Peering over her desk at me, starting down at my feet and working her way up, she creases her mouth, making a low annoyed sound.
“How soon can you start?” she says, puffing her cheeks and looking at the clock. “I’ve got a three o’clock meet and greet with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, take it or leave it,” she says flatly.
I have no idea what any of that means, but it’s work and I need the money fast, so I feel my head bobbing with enthusiasm as my heart sinks.
Here we go again.
She breathes a curt little sigh of relief, which is followed by my own.
“Okay kid, I’ll give you a shot. We pay by cash check at the end of each shift. You’ll be starting with Bill… he’s alright. Just don’t lend him any money, and for Christ’s sakes, whatever you do, don’t sit on his lap.”
I feel myself blushing, embarrassed, and nervous as hell.
Somebody opens a side door and a woman ushers me over.
“I’m Clara,” she says. “Don’t worry about all that stuff, it’s not a bad job, just smile a lot when you’re out front and everything’s easy. I’ll take you through to your fitting now,” her heels clipping so hard on cold cement I feel obliged to follow.
“My… fitting?” I ask, feeling real panic setting in now.
“For your uniform, costume really. You’re the new Mrs. Clause, from three ‘til eight.”
I hear myself gulping over the sound of her heels.
“You did sign the part about the uniform? Any damage is on you and there’s a fifty dollar deposit, which we take from your first check. Got it?” she calls over her shoulder.
I feel myself shrinking, moment by moment back into the so-called workforce. Since college, I’ve had to take whatever work I can get, so I tell myself to be more positive.
“On the plus side,” she adds once we get to a grimy looking door, “There’s a cafeteria with all you can eat, and we even have a cashier next door who’ll do your check, so either way you won’t starve,” she says, trying to sound perky, but eyeing me up and down as if she holds grave concern for their stores of cafeteria food.
I practice my first fake smile of the day, and it works.
“That’s the spirit,” she says, leading me through to a room filled with rack upon rack of freshly dry cleaned costumes and uniforms.
“This is the biggest we have, should fit you,” she murmurs without looking, handing me what looks like a two piece Mrs. Clause suit in thin plastic film.
“Change in there,” she says, checking a clipboard while pointing and signing something.
“I’ll be back in five to take you through… Oh! Make sure you pee. We don’t have a break, you’ll be on from three ‘til eight tonight.”
I fake smile again, and so does she.
My own collapsing into a silent scream once I hear the door close and I begin to realize just what I’ve gotten myself into.
The door creaks open and closes again not long after, and I wonder if I actually made a sound or voiced what I really think out loud.
I half fancy I hear a low sound, like an animal or something groaning. I can smell something amazing too, like something I’ve never smelt before.
I try and tell myself it’s just the wind, an old building.
But I can’t deny the feeling that suddenly rushes through me.
Whatever it is, I have a single moment of wanting to undress all of a sudden, like whatever it is is watching me and needs to see more.
I strip and busy myself with putting on the Mrs. Clause suit, which as she said, is a snug fit on me.
No padding required.
Although, I’m not sure if Mrs. Claus is as ‘Jolly’ as her old man.
