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Big fucking deal.
Some people get to buy his wine.
I don’t know what drives these people, money? Pfft.
My next phone appointment is with a cranky property owner and his lawyer. Same deal, different conference call.
Both suspicious as to why I want to buy a rat’s nest on the wrong side of town, but agree on the first price closest to what he asked.
Happy days. He even agrees to my only condition, that the super is out by nine this morning.
Saves me another trip to look at his sorry ass.
I would though, I’d keep true to my word, that piece of shit.
Carol’s apartment is all hers now. And it’s Merry Christmas to all her neighbors (except one), but I’ll leave that up to her to work out once I fill her in.
The rest of my morning is my workout and breakfast, followed by a nap I sorely need.
But without her, it feels like empty sleep.
I want so badly to go to our bed, to take her right now.
But it has to be just right and it also has to be what she wants.
After last night, I vowed to let her rest as long as she needs.
At least I know she’s safe now, undisturbed at home.
In our home and in our bed.
I hope she’ll turn up to work too.
This year is a little different, my usual Christmas Eve gig is dressing up as Santa and doing a full shift at Kellerman’s mall.
I’ve done it as long as I can remember and it’s the closest thing to Christmas as I get. We even used to do a Christmas day thing years ago, with food and everything.
These days, folks stay at home, don’t seem to trust ‘free’ anything.
The thought of Carol in that suit again though. It makes me suck air in between my teeth, feeling myself getting hard just thinking about it.
But knowing what it’s really for, how much it means to all those families to see Santa and get a free something or other.
I tell myself I can deal with Mrs. Claus in that way later.
Mrs. Claus eh?
The thought makes me groan louder, throwing my head back on the headrest as the car zooms towards Kellerman’s.
Away from her, but only just for a little while longer.
Easy, Lucian. Just take things one step at a time, I tell myself.
I wonder what old Kellerman would say if he could see me now?
Talk about the ghost of Christmas past. The guy was as uptight and about as Scrooged as they get.
But I’m not him. And I never will be.
Not really anyway.
As much as I try and hold off, I finally give in. I call up the staff just to make sure she’s coming in to work at least.
Otherwise?
Otherwise, I’d drop everything and go to her. But I’m thinking she’ll be here.
When I hear she’s already on the way, I relax a bit, just a little.
If she can put up with my busiest day of the year, she can put up with me for every other day in between.
I get to the employees’ entranceway ahead of time and make my way to the changing room.
It feels like a lifetime ago that I saw her, right here.
But it was only yesterday.
Mr. Claus’s suit, for me anyway, is a little more complex.
I have a couple of helpers when it comes to covering my dark brows and features, making me look like the real thing.
The padding is light, adding rounded edges to my physique.
I don’t know how they do it, but in an hour and a half, I look like a six foot seven Saint Nick.
“Will there be anything else, Mr. Kellerman?” I’m asked, my hand waving them away out of reflex.
“Uh… no. Thanks. And call me Lucian for god’s sake,” I scoff.
“Oh. But do patch through the national payroll manager when you can?” I add, disappearing into my own thoughts, looking into my own eyes in the mirror.
Wishing she was here already.
My Christmas Carol.
Pressing my fingertips together and letting them go out of focus, I can hear a different kind of Christmas.
The kind where there’s laughter instead of meetings. Carol against me, begging me to let her come.
The smell of roasted turkey instead of makeup and the feeling inside that makes me want to hug and hold all the reasons for the season.
I can see us all now… Carol, the kids.
But it’s not snowing.
We'll have Christmas where there’s always summer.
Lobster and warm beaches. No more white Christmases for me, they’re too damned cold.Chapter ElevenCarolChristmas Eve.
Once the car passes out of the gates of Lucian’s house and its winter wonderland feel onto the freeway towards the city, it’s clear what day it is.
Traffic’s backed up for miles in the opposite direction and it’s nothing to do with the weather.
In the city, it’s no better and I worry about getting to work on time at all. But like everything else Lucian arranged, it works like magic.
