Chapter Seventeen
Saturday 7th December
Ashleigh – The Baxters’ Christmas Farm
Darren, Ashleigh was quickly starting to realise, was a complete toss-pot. Obviously he used to be the king of whatever drama school he’d come from and was determined to maintain his dubious status by doing lots of sniggering at other people (which took some dedication, when he too was dressed in an elf costume) and by slacking off whenever he possibly could.
This afternoon, Ashleigh was on gingerbread decorating duty in ‘Mrs Claus’s Kitchen’. It was a big tent, with lots of painted scenes on the inside to try and make it look like the interior of a farmhouse. Unfortunately, it was still cold. There were no gingerbread baking in the oven despite the scents of cinnamon and nutmeg, which were sprayed liberally through the room. There were four elves altogether, not counting Mother Christmas, Julie Baxter, and her helper elf, who would come out to do their little show once a new group of kids had been let in.
As Ashleigh set out the little pots of icing and Smarties on the tables facing the stage on her side of the room, Darren was leaning against one of the giant candy canes, scrolling on his phone, leaving Selina to do his corner of the room too. He wasn’t even supposed to have a phone on him – if the kids saw it would ruin the illusion.
Selina hurried over to the entrance to start stamping the little cards the kids all had to use to make sure they didn’t go to an activity more than once. As the room filled up, Ashleigh went around her tables, greeting them and helping them put the little red aprons on and making sure the parents moved to the side so that they didn’t block the view for the kids behind them. She noticed one little boy was already scoffing his Smarties and took a new cup of them over, giving him a conspiratorial wink and assuring him that Father Christmas wouldn’t mind, as long as he tried really hard not to eat any more before they’d had a chance to decorate the biscuits.
He grinned at her and put them down, his eyes still clearly full of longing, and she caught the parents’ exchange glances with each other that were half embarrassed, half adoring.
The loud jingling of bells signalled Mother Christmas coming out with her helper to start the show. She was all in a panic about the gingerbread men she’d burnt and how on earth could she get more baked and decorated on time for the Christmas party later? Would the boys and girls be able to help?
Every child’s attention was fixed on the stage, their mouths slightly opened and then they started miming along to the special actions that would help bring the Christmas magic to bake more gingerbread, like stirring the bowl and cutting the cookies out. Their pure enjoyment was palpable.
Ash’s nan saw this grotto gig as yet another way for people to spin money out of parents at an expensive time of year…but the adult faces in the room were just as happy as the children’s. Hers included. There were worse jobs she could be doing.
Darren was joining in now too but probably only because their boss was in the room. He was going completely over the top, distracting some of the kids at the back and earning some strange looks from the parents.
Once all the magic had happened, the elves went to fetch the ‘freshly baked’ gingerbread men in their paper bags and hand them out for the kids to decorate. Mother Christmas was gone, and Darren was back to being a lazy little git. Selina caught Ash’s eye and they shared a look before they filled in for Darren’s idleness.
Once they’d helped the kids spread white icing over the biscuits and fix on the Smarties and gum drops, they directed them out the exit door where they could have a special photo done with Mrs Christmas, their faces sticky and cheeks full of gingerbread.
Ashleigh began the clean-up and made a point of going over to Darren. ‘This isn’t a spectator sport you know.’
He looked up with an eyebrow raised and then raked his gaze over her, lingering on her bottom as she leaned over a table to wipe it. ‘I could get way more active if you were involved.’
Bleurgh. She’d been given the smaller uniform to try, which fit her around the waist and shoulders now but the tunic rode up too high, like she’d known it would. She tugged it down and moved around to the opposite side, using the table as a shield. ‘Iaminvolved. I work here and when you slack off it means the rest of us have to cover for you.’ He rolled his eyes and Ashleigh’s temper flared. ‘You’re not supposed to have your phone on you either. It spoils the effect.’
‘What are you going to do – tell Mother Christmas on me?’ He snorted.
Why did the elves have to be young? She knew it was probably because they would accept minimum wage but still – older elves seemed more convincing to her and they’d probably love being around the kids. ‘Urgh, just stop being a dick.’
‘You can’t call me that. That’s abusive language.’
‘What are you going to do, tell Mother Christmas on me?’ she retorted. Great, now she was the being dragged down to his level. But this was the kids’ magical day and the parents had paid a pretty penny to bring them. The least she, and all the other elves could do, was put in some effort.
‘Maybe.’
‘Ashleigh’s worked here for years. I doubt they’d believe you over her,’ Selina piped up, coming to stand beside her. ‘And I’m a witness. I didn’t hear anything, but Ididsee you slack off all day.’
‘Wow. You two are proper saddos.’ He sneered but he pocketed his phone and went off to start tidying up the tables, huffing and puffing.
Ashleigh sent Selina a smile. ‘Thanks for backing me up.’
‘No worries.’ She pulled her cap further down over her curly hair. ‘I’m starting to see what you mean about all the drama queens around here. Did you fancy grabbing some something to eat later once the farm’s closed?’
Darren was skulking around behind them and Ash didn’t want to embarrass Selina by saying an outright no, even though it went against her usual socialising with temporary work colleagues policy. ‘That’d be nice. I’m just busy tonight—’
Darren laughed as he walked past, interrupting her and throwing a smirk in Selina’s direction. ‘Bad luck, lezzer.’
Ashleigh saw red and stuck out her foot, so he stumbled over it. ‘Homophobe. I could get you the sack just for saying that.’
He scowled and stomped off out of the room.
