Page 11 of Wrap Me Up

Tinsel power walks around the table before making his decision and grabbing a star. It’s about the size of his hand. I chose the same and we walk to one of the massive craft tables to grab seats next to each other. Everything you can imagine to decorate an ornament is at this table. Glitter, paint, pens, confetti, stickers, all sorts of things. Reminds me of the gift wrapping warehouse in a way.

Tinsel examines his star and hums as he thinks. It’s adorable. He’s adorable.

“I’ve always wanted to come here,” he says. “Usually I just do whatever I want, but this place… dunno. Feels off limits without a sweetheart.” He gathers a few things. A thin brush, glue, silver glitter, paint. I can’t wait to see what he does.

I have no idea what I want to do with my ornament and grab some glitter and a rubber seal.

Christmas music plays like it does in all the buildings. We listen to music from around the world, but my favorite is the pop versions of each song. “What’s your favorite type of Christmas music?” I ask.

Tinsel dabs his brush into black paint. “I don’t know that I have a favorite. I like pretty much all of it. But I do like the faster beats in certain styles. However, if I really really thought about it, techno Christmas is where it’s at. I can get lost in all the different parts of the song. You have to listen to them on repeat to appreciate everything going on. And then there are the instrumentals. I can sit for hours with my eyes closed and just soak it all in. The raspy rock versions are fun too. Oh, and the pop princesses.” He shrugs. “I like it all. What’s your favorite Christmas tradition?”

I grab some red glitter and dump a bunch into my glass ornament. “I’m a simple guy. The tree lighting ceremony. The choir always puts on a show and the tree is beautiful.”

“Will you go with me this year?” Tinsel turns to face me.

“I’d love to.”

He gives me a curt nod. “Good. It’s a date.” His tongue pokes out as he concentrates on his ornament. I can’t quite figure out what he’s painting on the inside, but it doesn’t matter. I grab the bottle of star confetti and dump some into the red glitter and give it a shake.

“Do you miss the cold?” I ask.

Tinsel shakes his head. “I like not freezing my ass off in shorts and my harness.”

“You could always wear trousers and a shirt.” I grin at the shocked face he gives me.

He presses his hand to his chest. “Never! I live in shorts. Well, except sometimes. I figured dress pants would be good for a date.” He gives me a wink and goes back to drawing what looks to be starbursts with his paint. “What about you? Do you miss the cold?”

“Not really. I was worried about not having a white Christmas, though.”

Tinsel shakes his head. “Oh, we should have one. Santa said Snow and Dylan have to make it snow for us. It’s tradition in the North Pole. How did you get into gift wrapping?”

I’m sure my grin makes me look manic. “I love giving gifts. When I was a kid, I always found things on my walk to and from school that reminded me of people and I wrapped the gifts up as best I could. Santa noticed and asked me if I’d like to be a part of the Nice Workshop and I jumped at the chance. I love it. It lets me be so creative in different ways. How did you get your own leather studio so young? You and Dylan are superstars getting your own studios before you turned one hundred.” We’re all part of the younger generation of elves between the ages of twenty-five and thirty.

Tinsel goes bright red. “I think everyone knows how I got started with leather.”

“Everyone knows the rumor.”

“Well, it’s not a rumor if it’s true. Me and an elf that shall not be named to protect him really were caught in the stables getting frisky. To play it off to Santa, I told him I’d seen a tear in one of the ceremonial harnesses for the reindeer and offered to fix it. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing, and he knew it. So he sent me to training, and I did what I could to become the best leather worker the North Pole has ever and will ever see.” He sets his ornament on the table to dry. “I have no regrets, but sometimes I wish I’d gone about things differently.”

“That seems to be my life right now.” My shoulders sag.

“You’re doing it again. Don’t. We’re talking and communicating and it’s beautiful. We had something before, but I think what we’re creating is better. I like you. A lot. So put the past behind us and let’s move forward, okay?”

I nod and turn my glittery ornament into a water globe, following the directions on the bottle of liquid in front of me. I’m not sure what the liquid is, but I love watching the glitter swirl inside the star. “I’m going to make your next exchange gift while we’re here.”

His eyes light up. “That’s what I was planning on doing! See, we’re already back in tune with each other.”

I love how optimistic Tinsel is. He makes me feel like I can do anything and everything.

For the next few hours, we continue decorating ornaments. We wrap our gifts and exchange with each other, promising to open them when we get home. But now, it’s time for dinner. I hold up my blindfold again.

Tinsel laughs as he closes his eyes. “I like this mystery thing you have going on. It’s really fun.”

“I’m glad.” Because my plan is to cook for him and I hope it’s not a disaster.

Chapter 11

Tinsel

---