Page 6 of Daddy Christmas

I checked my Fitbit. Yeah, we had time. “Sure. I guess today isn’t the day you bring food from home.”

“Correct. I love sleep too much.”

I smirked and stepped into the elevator after her. The car filled up quickly, and I adjusted my messenger bag to make room. It was packed to the limit today because I was gonna hand out a crap-ton of Christmas cookies, something I’d started doing two years ago. Not to everybody—I couldn’t afford that—but at least to the people on my floor and a few others. Like Mr. Abrams.

“I have a new goal in life, by the way.” I spoke for only Mya to hear. “I’m gonna make Mr. Abrams nicer.”

She choked on a laugh and clearly thought I was kidding.

“I’m serious.”

“Doh, yeah, sure,” she laughed. “And I’m marrying Mila Kunis.”

She probably had a better shot.

Once we reached the sixth floor, we went into the cafeteria, where Mya got her usual yogurt cup and blueberry muffin. A few employees were already busy hanging up decorations for the party.

Fuck, I was getting excited. I didn’t drink often, but when I did, I drank all of it. And they were generous at this company. The bar opened at five, and it was damn near bottomless.

“Are you going home over the holidays?” I asked.

Mya shook her head and pinched off the top of the muffin. “I left Hawaii for many reasons. The lack of snow in the winter is one of them. I’m heading to Aspen with some friends.”

“Damn. I’m jealous.” I loved the snow in the winter too.

“What are your plans?” she asked.

I shrugged and eyed a guy walking past. He reminded me of the dude I’d made out with at last year’s holiday party. I couldn’t be sure… “My sister and I have two options. Either we head up to Thousand Oaks and spend Christmas with our grandmother and her two sisters, or we go see our parents in Pensacola.”

Actually, my sister had a third option. She might very well be with her boyfriend. They’d been together almost a year now.

“We’ll see what happens, I guess,” I said with another shrug. “Our folks are flying in for my birthday on the fifteenth, so it’s possible we’ll celebrate Christmas early, and then I’ll just Netflix my way through the actual holidays.”

I wouldn’t mind that. Much.

* * *

“Almost done, almost done, almost done,” I rambled. My department had already forgotten that Kim, Mya, and I had helped them all week. Mr. Williams had let them finish work an hour early, whereas my cronies and I had to go on till five. Not cool.

People in the cubicle area right outside our little nook were chatting and waiting for the moment they could head up to the cafeteria and start liquoring themselves up. I was jealous.

“Save file,” I muttered under my breath.

Henric, one of the hero coders of the week, poked his head in. “Parker, I hear you’re impossible to embarrass.”

Mya giggled but didn’t look away from her screen.

“I may or may not have a reputation from previous holiday parties.” I was exaggerating. Last year, someone dared me to sing karaoke. Easiest twenty bucks I ever made, considering I would’ve done it for free. The year before, I’d ended up in a swordfight with giant dildos. I still didn’t know who’d thought it’d been a good idea to bring sex toys to work. But it’d been fun!

The trick was to go nuts once Mr. Abrams and a couple other boring higher-ups had gone home.

Henric smirked and pulled out a roll of bills from his pocket. “Hundred bucks if you attend the party wearing nothing but your underwear and that Santa hat.”

Hot damn. For a hundred bucks, I could afford a nicer present for Nana.

“That’s all?” I asked to make sure. “Underwear and Santa hat?”

“The whole party,” he added. “At least till ten o’clock. You can’t run off and hide.”

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