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After leaving Zane’s, I headed to the Christmas dinner. I made sure to stay at Zane’s until it started as I did not want to be early. My confidence from earlier was fading and I was starting to second-guess my decision. Pushing those thoughts aside, I forced myself to walk into the banquet hall that had been reserved for the staff dinner. I was still embarrassed that I was the only one not wearing an ugly Christmas sweater but there was nothing to be done about that now.
Mingling was never my strong suit so I was standing in the corner when I saw Harry walk in. I didn’t know why I was surprised to see him since he was the owner, but for some reason, I just assumed he didn’t attend these types of functions. Actually, what surprised me was who was with him. It was Zane. He saw me from across the room and waved.
My cheeks immediately turned pink from embarrassment.
What if someone noticed him wave to me? What would they think?
That might seem stupid but I knew how people were. If they saw a good-looking guest smiling and waving at a member of the maid staff, they would automatically think there was something going on. Then again, it wasn’t like I was just going to ignore him. That would get people talking even more. I smiled and returned the wave before turning away. After that, some of my coworkers approached me, and I was forced to mingle and make small talk for a while. The fake smiling and making up stories to tell when people asked me if I had plans for the holidays was starting to wear on me, so I was on my way out the door when Harry went to the front of the room and tapped on his wine glass.
“Excuse me, everyone,” he said, clearing his throat. “If I can have your attention real quick, I wanted to take this time to hand out everyone’s holiday bonuses, and to let you all know that I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and new year.” He beamed, and then picked up a red Santa bag sitting by his feet and started handing out little red envelopes to all the employees. Our Christmas bonuses were usually in the range of $200 to $500, depending on whether or not an employee was full time or part time, and how much overtime they’d worked that year. I wasn’t expecting any more than last year, and since Aleks would be ready to take the bonus check out of my hands the second I walked through the door with it anyway, it was hard to be excited at all.
I honestly thought about leaving and just picking my check up from Harry the following morning, but he made a b-line right towards me and handed me my envelope with a knowing smile on his face. “This is for all your hard work,” he said with a nod. “And for helping my friend out when he needed it.”
I frowned, then tentatively opened the envelope and pulled my bonus check out.
It was for $5,000. I was at a total loss for words, and when I looked up, ready to tell Harry that he made a mistake, that he’d written an extra zero, I realized he had already walked away and was giving everyone else their checks. I managed to catch his eye as he crossed the room however, and he winked at me.
So he did mean to give me this much.
I stuffed the check back into the envelope and put it in my pocket, then I walked out of the room as a confusing cocktail of emotions crashed over me.
Zane hasn’t known me long but he must have noticed something off in my demeanor because he followed me and found me hiding in the ice machine room. It wasn’t the savviest hiding place but I had to get out of that room as quickly as I could, before the walls closed in.
“Hey, are you okay?” he said, kneeling down beside me. I was sitting down on the floor with my back pressed against the wall. “I saw you run out of the room, and I thought I would come make sure you were okay.”
I sighed and pushed my shoulders back. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s clearly something,” he said, laughing. “But hey, if you don’t want to talk to me about it, I understand. We hardly know each other.”
“It’s not even that,” I said. “I’m just not sure how to put it into words. You’re going to think I’m insane.”
“Try me.”
“Harry gave me a much bigger bonus this year than he usually does, and it’s just—it’s really throwing me for a loop, that’s all.”
Zane looked at me with obvious confusion. “So, let me see if I understand this, you’re upset because Harry gave you more money than usual? Maybe it’s because I’m still sleep deprived, but I’m failing to make the connection here. Isn’t having more money usually seen as a good thing?”
“Yeah,” I said. “And if I actually got to keep this money, it would be a good thing. It would be agreatthing. But it’s going to be gone the second my boyfriend finds out about it. We should use the money to give my son a good Christmas, but Aleks doesn’t care about that kind of stuff.”
“But… Can’t you just, not give him the check?”
“He’s going to ask for it,” I explained. “Because he knows I get Christmas bonuses every year, and even though he’s generally a very disorganized man, if there’s one thing he keeps track of, it’s the amount of money I’m bringing into the house. Besides, he’s in charge of all the household finances, and he checks our bank account religiously. There’s no way for me to deposit a check like this without him finding out about it and immediately spending it.” I choked back tears and then looked at Zane and laughed sarcastically, because I knew if I couldn’t find the humor in all of this, I would start crying.
“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “This is way too much to dump on you all at once. I was just feeling overwhelmed and needed to get it off my chest.”
Zane was quiet for a moment, clearly processing what I had told him. That or he was trying to figure out how to get out of here as quickly as possible. I couldn’t blame him.
When he finally spoke, it was clear he had thought about what I said.
“I’m very sorry to hear that and I don’t want to overstep by asking this so please tell me to mind my own business if you want, but would you like me to help you set up your own bank account? You could deposit the money into it and he would never know it exists.”
“You would help me do that? Why?”
He shrugged. “You agreed to help me when I needed it, even though you didn’t know me, and that was after I’d already screamed at you for something that wasn’t your fault at all.” We shared a laugh, and I was starting to feel better just being in the presence of this oddly charismatic man. “Besides, you work hard, and you deserve to have some money of your own stashed away… Just in case you ever need it. Or use it to give your son the greatest Christmas in the world. Do whatever the hell you want with it—it’s yours.”
“Is it something that’s going to take a long time?” I asked. The banking systems in America had always confused me, and until Zane had said as much, I honestly didn’t even know it was possible for me to open up my own bank account without Aleks knowing.
“We can do it tonight,” he said. “If you want.”
