CHAPTER 4
Sequined Reindeer
Kris
Lila pulled in the driveway and hit the garage opener fastened to her sun visor. This was a nice house. An exceedingly nice house for a secretary in a young real estate office. I wasn’t trying to judge, it was just the way life was. Home ownership was a tough achievement for anyone.
When we entered the kitchen through the door from the garage, the decor suggested that maybe Lila lived with her parents still. Not unheard of, but I was instantly worried about meeting new people in my current get up with the lack of well, anything at all.
“My parents are snowbirds and are currently at their Florida place.” She tossed her keys on the countertop.
“Snowbirds?” I had heard the term, but it hadn’t been something I looked into.
“Yeah, Dad retired a few years ago and now he’s contracting for his old company--but he can do it virtually so they got a small place down in Ocala. I think they will sell this place as soon as I’m settled. Which will be maybe never.” She tossed the doom and gloom over her shoulder as she went to the fridge. “Are you starving? I’m starving.”
“I could eat an entire Holiday spread by myself right now.” Why did I add Holiday? My brain seemed to be hot-wired to think seasonal thoughts.
“Well, I’ve got mac and cheese and a salad to offer.” She pulled out a casserole dish and a giant bowl. I grabbed the fridge door before it could close on her overloaded arms.
“Thanks.” She put the food on the counter and started to prep two meals, utilizing the microwave.
“Can I do anything to help?” I wished there was less of my stomach showing. I felt like a pop star at an awards show.
“Sure, if you want to grab us two sparkling waters--is that okay?” She hit a few buttons on the microwave. “Any flavor is great.” Her fridge was pretty well stocked for a person living on their own. My own back home had beers and cheese sticks at the moment, but in my defense I was due a trip to the grocery store. I had a disturbing bit of brain fog, where I couldn’t picture where I went grocery shopping. I shrugged it off and snagged two cans of pink lemonade flavored water. I walked them over to the kitchen table and offered, “You need a hand with anything?”
“Thanks, I’ve got it.” Lila had to use potholders to carry the dishes over to me. “I swear these aren’t even microwave safe, they get so nuclear hot. Be careful.”
She went back and grabbed us forks and some napkins while I had a seat. It was homey here. She was homey. I could almost picture her in an apron with her hair in a bun. I shook my head. Of all the things I imagined women wearing in my head before-- it had never been that.
Lila shouted for the listening robot to play music and then winced. “Sorry, I hate to listen to myself chew. I have to have background music.”
“Fair.” That was the last time I said anything until my plate and bowl were clean. When I finally had time to pause, I offered my compliments to the chef, “That was so good. Holy crap. Did you make that?”
She smiled as she took another bite. Once she had swallowed she gestured with her fork. “Yeah, my grandma’s recipe. I knew I was going to have a busy week, so I thought making a casserole would cover me for a few dinners.”
“Thanks for sharing it. I loved it.” I sat back in my seat and rubbed my exposed stomach.
“So, I think next up for you is seeing if we can get you clothes and then maybe get you in touch with whoever makes sense to settle you up.” She peeked up from under her lashes.
“I don’t even know where to start.” I was feeling overwhelmed.
“My dad has a few outfits that might work. You’re taller than him, but the one I’m thinking of was pretty roomy.” I stood and carried her plate and mine to the sink, then I followed her upstairs.
I tried not to make eye contact with her beautiful tush in front of me. When we got upstairs, it was obvious that the decor was apple-themed. An apple border, apple knick knacks, an apple bedspread completed the scene.
My concerns for the proposed outfit were ratcheting up. I wasn’t sure what the tastes of her parents favored. Lila opened the large walk-in closet that had a sloping ceiling. It matched the line of the roof from the outside.
Lila went deep into the back. “We were planning on spending the holidays down at my parents' Florida place, so I’m pretty sure he didn't bring back his velvet tracksuit.”
She pulled out a hanger that was home to a velvet green get up with red piping. Of all the things I had worn in the last few hours this was, randomly, the most normal looking.
“That’ll do. For sure. If you don’t think he will mind me borrowing it?”
“He’d want to help. Also, I think he had a pack of holiday underwear too. Let me grab them.” She riffled through the drawers of the dresser until she was able to toss me a pack of new underwear. Three different holiday styles were inside-- but thankfully no stuffed novelty appendages. Lila then closed the closet door to offer me some privacy.
I was able to source a plain white t-shirt from her father’s side of the closet and zipped the track jacket and yanked on the pants. Yeah, it was festive, but it was more subdued than the thrift store get up. The waist was a little big, but I could make this work by yanking on the string there.
As I reached for the door to let myself out, I glanced in the full length mirror on the back of the door. A full rainbow was reflected on the ceiling and it matched my movements.
I reluctantly turned so I could see the back of the jacket. Across the full span of my back, there was a cartoon reindeer. He was holding a candy cane and had on a Santa hat and sparkling all the sparkles he could spark. The sigh I heaved came from a deep place of frustration. This was all shitty. Lila was out there, looking so pretty. I kept being nearly naked or dressed like I was in a game show in a thrift store or now, a fan on a football team for the holidays. I’m sure I had suits. Probably tailored clothes. I bet I cared about how I represented myself to the world and certainly to a beautiful woman.
I yanked open the closet and faced her and then twirled. She looked me up and down, clearly assessing the sequin problem. “Wow. That seemed like a way smaller decoration when my dad wore it. It’s big. It’s…fabulous, but… I mean, I bet you could wear it inside out, if you wanted.”
“That’s actually a super great idea. Also, do you think it’d be okay if I borrowed this t-shirt from your dad as well?” I unzipped the jacket and started to turn it inside out. The sewing work that was on the back, when inside out, was horrifying. The cute reindeer looked demonic and his eyes were red.
“Wow. I think I prefer it the right way around. Surprisingly.” I turned it back.
“Agreed.” She moved her weight from one foot to the other.
“Okay, now we have you in at least clothes that at least semi-fit and are staying on your body. What can we do to get you in touch with your computer and phone and stuff?” She headed back downstairs. I gathered up my thrift clothes and followed her.
When we were back in the kitchen, she offered me a reusable tote bag from the pantry. Even though it wasn’t Christmas, it was red and my body allowed me to carry it. I added the clothes that she had bought for me earlier.
“I have to email work, if possible, and tell them I can’t be there.” I rubbed my chin.
“So what does working for a toy website entail?” She leaned against the countertop.
“I freelance for companies. I integrate their websites with their social media and their marketing to make it cohesive. I’m currently on a job for toy companies.”
“That sounds very involved.”
“I was on my way to a presentation. It was super important.” I glanced at the clock. “It’s actually in fifteen minutes and I was supposed to present to a CEO. Hopefully would have landed me a great contract.”
“Do you think you could video it in? Did it have to be a physical presentation or was it all online?” Lila pushed off the counter and walked me into a bedroom I was assuming was hers.
After she opened her laptop on the desk in her room, she signed in. Lila logged out of her account and turned the computer chair towards me. “Have at it, you can do whatever you need to on here. I’m going to leave you to it and go over that book for a bit. Maybe find out what I have to do now that I’m fired.”
I thanked her and took a seat. I felt guilty that she had to consider her unemployment while actively trying to save mine. It was a hell of a nice thing to do for essentially a stranger. She was brave and kind.
I needed to make sure that I took advantage of this moment she had given me. First, I would have to warn work that we were shifting to a video call presentation, then I needed to see if I could find my phone using a location service.
It felt like the beginning of a really long evening.
*******
Lila
I walked into the laundry room near the garage and pulled a pair of sweats and a cropped t-shirt out of the dryer. I needed to be in something more comfortable to manage the rest of tonight. I tossed the dressy work clothes I had been wearing into the laundry basket.
I could hear the timber of Kris’ deep voice in my room, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.
Was a glass of wine appropriate on a Wednesday? I mean, I guess if you are fired, Wednesday becomes a Friday. I held a glass and pulled out the cork to my wine bottle with my teeth. I could hear my mother complaining in the back of my head that they had spent good money on braces for me to use them as a kitchen utensil.
I poured the glass while I walked into the living room near the front door. As I set the bottle down on our coffee table I watched a white van pull into my driveway and park. It was far too late for a delivery and I wasn’t expecting anything either. I took a sip of the Malbac as a man with a package exited the driver’s side and headed toward my front door.
He was tall and lanky. His hair was bleached almost white and his eyebrows had a slash scar through them. As he mounted my front steps, I saw some of his tattoos clearly. From his sharp jaw line down he had intricate tattoos. He rang the doorbell and I thought about the fact that I normally don’t open the door. Like ever. Maybe having a tall dude in my bedroom gave me either a dose of bravery or stupidity.
I also really liked presents. And the brown box in his hands seemed like it could be one. I opened the door. He regarded me through the screen door. He went from my eyes, down my body to my bare feet and back up to my lips.
“Wow.” He lifted his scarred eyebrow.
“And you are?”
I answered for him in my head. Dangerous. Hot.
“Here to give you this.” He held out the package.
I took another swig of my wine in defiance before setting it down on the side table. Then I opened the door and stepped out. He had to back up a step.
“Doing a bit of self care?” His fingers brushed mine as I took the brown box from him.
“I was fired a few hours ago, so I think I’m entitled to a glass of wine. Not that it’s any of your business, Mr. No Name Candy Van After Hours Delivery Guy.”
His eyes were a deep brown and the angles of his face were harsh, rugged and lickable. Whoops. Not lickable. That would be so inappropriate.
He smirked. “You can call me Glacius for short.”
“I like my name for you better.” I twirled the package in my hands. “There’s no address on this? How the hell did you know it's for me?” I tilted my head back a bit. He wasn’t as tall as Kris, but certainly taller than I was.
“Well, I tried to drop it by your job, and was told by Darren that his mother was gone, and now his new replacement for his mother was also gone. A little poking around and I found out you were you. You were the secretary at the real estate company.”
He had on a white t-shirt and dark jeans. He had layers of leather necklaces. Now, that I was this close to him I could see his tattoos were actually interconnected snowflakes. They continued down his forearms and he even had a few on his hands.
“Done giving me the once over there, love?” He flexed his forearms and gave me a wink.
“No. Yes. I’m not.” I wished I had my glass of wine in my hand for some liquid fortitude. This guy was a player. Like a charming player. Probably a douchebag. I wanted to know how far the snowflakes went on his body. I tried to push the box back to him, but he tucked his hands behind his back in refusal. Instead I pushed the box into his rock hard chest.
“It’s delivered. No backsies.” His eyes sparkled. Different from Kris’s sparkle. Glacius’ sparkle was filled with naughtiness. Kris had happiness in his.
This was the weirdest Wednesday in the history of Wednesdays.
“Now, all I need is the book from the business and I’ll be on my way.” He peered around my shoulder.
All of my alarm bells went off then. The book no one knew about? The one that had been hidden in an antique desk? Why did he know about it?
“I don’t have books. I don’t read.” Not my most clever rebuttal.
“You don’t read? But you were a secretary? I saw your handwriting on notes on your desk.” He pushed the box back at me and titled his head as he stepped into my personal space. “You initialed the contract, right? Extra holiday duties?”
“People keep bringing this up. Yes. I initialed a spot on my employment contract with Fargone Real Estate. It was fine print. Barely read it.” My fingertips were getting cold. I glanced at the front window of the house. There I noticed that a small crackle of frost was etching itself on the edge of the glass. When I glanced back at him, I could swear that the borders of his tattoos had an iridescent sheen that sunk into his skin.
He was giving me a shit-eating grin like I had said something that gave away everything. I knew my eyebrows were pulled together in confusion.
Glacius took another step towards me, pressing the package even tighter between us. Then he was looking from my eyes to my lips and back again.
“If you weren’t special, you wouldn’t have been able to see that part of the contract.” He lifted his eyebrows and waited for the realization to hit me.
“Oh.” That’s why it was a big deal. I needed my wine. I turned my back on Glacius and felt a chill skitter from the base of my spine to the crown of my hair. He grasped the screen door above my head after I opened it and followed me in. I didn’t hear anything hit the ground, so he must have caught the package that had been between us. After snagging my wine, I took a huge swallow.
“You need that chilled?” He spoke right behind my ear and his hand covered mine, letting his fingertips touch the glass. It went cloudy everywhere save where my fingers were. “There.”
His voice was sin on hot toast. I could almost taste it.
I heard my bedroom door open, and the air in the room started to smell like cookies. “Lila? Can I get the zoom password?”
Before Kris could make it to the living room I was able to gather the fortitude to push myself away from Glacius.
The tall guy took in the scene. “Everything okay?”
I took the last gulp of my now ice cold wine before setting it down on the end table near the couch. Walking toward Kris made my whole body warmer.
“Yeah, this guy is trying to give me a package.”
Glacius and Kris were full on man-staring at each other. Glacius tipped up his chin in that special threat/hello guys who don’t know each other have on the street when they cross paths.
Glacius stuck his hand out and tried to cross the space of the living room to shake Kris’s hand.
I stepped between them, preventing the touch. I had my back resting against Kris’s chest when Glacius’s fingertips connected with the exposed part of my stomach.
The differing temperatures sent my mind reeling.
Glacius clocked the change, because his grin went wicked. “Oh, Love. Usually the WereSecretaries are older. And they can ward off my…talents. But you’re still ready to be open to them.”
I pursed my lips together as I felt Kris put his hand on my hip. If vaginas could clap, mine would be engaging in a full out standing whistling ovation.
“Hey man, maybe stop coming on to the lady you just met.” He took a step back and pulled me with him.
I glanced down at my skin and there was an iridescent snowflake painted there. The second I looked at it, it dissolved into just some dewdrops.
I turned my head a touch. “Thanks.”
“And maybe get out.” Kris kept his hand on my hip.
“No need for hostility. Just doing my job. Just like she’s doing hers.” Glacius held his hands up as if there was a gun trained on him, the package held in his left hand.
Kris responded with a grunt.
“Just need the book and I’ll be on my way. Why don’t you be a good little velvet Santa and fetch it for me.” Glacius wrinkled his nose at Kris.
“Oh no. We’re not doing this here, in my parents’ living room. There's no fighting.” I held up my index finger. “You? Glacius? You’re leaving right now. There is no book here for you.”
I stepped away from Kris’s warm comfort towards the chill that was Glacius. My nipples registered the change first. Glacius’s eyes got a devious gleam before he checked out my chest. I put my forearm over my boobs. I hated wearing a bra when I was home, but I was wishing I had put one on now.
“I’m out. No worries, secretary.” His voice was stupid with how freaking sexy it was. Syrup on a rock. Nails in satin. Damn it.
“Again, you’re the first one that’s ever been this age. I hope there are more. This has been entertaining.” With that Glacius left, in his wake a small tornado of snowflakes that swirled for a few beats above the package he had left on my coffee table.
“Can I get that Zoom password? I’m so sorry. It's just that I’m already late for this meeting.”
I watched the white van back out of my driveway. “Sure-- leavesandtwigs69 no caps.”
“Lock that front door and we can chat about this as soon as I’m done, if you want.” He gave a sigh but I didn’t turn.
Of the two strangers I’d met today, the one taking meetings in my bedroom seemed like a very safe choice.
I paced in the living room after Kris had closed my bedroom door, not bothering to throw the lock on the front door. Something told me locks would be powerless against Glacius. The cold that seemed to be his best friend had powers in it, of that I was sure.
I looked at the plain package on the coffee table. I should throw it out. I knew I should throw it out. But it was interesting. On the day that I found out that magic and secrets existed, opening a package from a guy that showed up at my house with a cold touch seemed, well, not prudent.
I sat on the couch and watched the brown package like it might do something special. It did nothing.
After sitting next to it for a few beats, I tore into the paper. There were plain brown boxes inside of plain brown boxes for so long, all I thought was really in the package was a mess that needed to go to recycling. But eventually and after I had given up all hope that there was any point to opening this package from Glacius, I got to a white jewelry box with that same iridescent sheen that was on his tattoos. I took a second to consider not opening it, but maybe the wine made the decision for me and I went ahead and popped off the lid.
Inside was the most exquisite necklace and charm. The silver chain had little chunks etched out so it almost looked like diamonds glistening in the sun. The crystal pendant had what had to be an unfathomable amount of rainbows trapped inside. I picked it up from the satin bed of white where it was displayed. The second I touched the pendent, I dropped it. Hot or cold?
It had been cold. Like an ice cube kind of cold. The clear design definitely tricked my brain into thinking the crystal was actually frozen water and as I poked it again and again, I kept waiting for a dot of moisture to be on my skin.
“Oh this is crazy.” It was definitely something from out of my comfort zone.
It was defying explanation. Part of me wanted to try it on, but the more common sense part of me insisted on tucking it back into the box and trapping it inside with the lid secured.
I heard Kris’ voice taking on a more booming quality. He must be getting to the good part of his presentation.
I had down time, it was the perfect moment to open the book. I took the white box with me and left the mess for later. After retrieving the book from inside the cabinet I had stashed it in, I
pulled up a chair. I hefted the book onto the table. This book was old. Like the kind of old normal people shouldn’t be allowed to touch without gloves and lessons in paper preservation.
Glacius said I was a WereSecretary because people shouldn’t be able to read the fine print on the employment contract. I wondered if the book was the same. I flipped open the first few pages. The paper seemed so brittle, I forced myself to go slow as to not rip it.
There was a table of contents that went on for pages. A quick skim showed chapters for the secretary and holiday after holiday. When I went to about halfway through the book, I spread the pages wide open.
The WereCupid should appear about three weeks before the Holiday. Make sure to provide them with the appropriate amount of chocolate to prevent the constant singing of love songs.
So Kris was one of many. I wondered if they all had a secretary or if I was meant to monitor all of these people. There was no chapter on paychecks or benefits, so I was leaning towards the idea that this was more of a forced volunteer position.
Kris came out of my bedroom and walked over to me. “You okay? That guy didn’t come back, did he?” He glanced at the pile of brown paper and cardboard on the floor before touching the white box. “What’s this?”
“Glacius’s package. Let me show you.” I popped off the lid and Kris regarded the prize inside.
“Fancy. It’s pretty. I don’t think I’d wear it though. He didn’t seem trustworthy at all.” Kris touched the glass charm.
“Does it feel weird to you?” I watched as he didn’t react like the pendant was an ice cube on a string.
“I mean it’s hard and smooth.” He shrugged his shoulders.
Instead of telling him about my experience with it, I covered it up with the lid again and changed the subject.
“So we met Glacius. We know that Mrs. Fargone was in on all this, and this book seems to convey that there are many, many more holiday Were-creatures.” I pointed at the page with the cupid information.
“That page is blank for me. Honestly, the fact that there are real beings for all these holidays is kind of surprising. I thought all of this stuff was made up by the greeting card companies.” Kris sat on the couch next to me.
“Me too. But until very recently, I’ve never seen a grown man’s body reject clothing before either. Today is a day for new things, I guess.” I flipped past Arbor Day and the Summer Solstice. I didn’t think there were even holiday characters that someone could be a secretary for with those holidays.
I found the chapters for Santa. “So this seems to be your wheelhouse now, let’s see what we have to face.”
I slid closer to him while I perused the entry.
“If I’m getting this straight-- you’re the Santa for the upper New York and slightly North East chapter? It seems like there are thousands of Santas. So why is Glacius messing with us? I mean, we don’t even know what the whole purpose of this is yet.” I flipped through a few more pages before sitting back. “We have to assume either he visits Santas in order of when they are identified or…” I stopped myself.
Kris finished for me, “Something about us has caught his eye.”
“I think we need more answers from Fargone. Either the son or the mother. We might be headed into a trap and I don’t like it at all.”
Author's Note:
A huge thanks to my Beta girls and for Carol for letting me steal her name (again). Up next we get some insight into Kris' background. See you next Monday!
