Page 10 of We Three Kings

‘So a wedding, Jasper’s posh mansion, Leo’s up North,’ I say pointing to each of them in turn. ‘You’re telling me that’s how I’m doing Christmas this year?’

‘I do not live in a mansion,’ Jasper complains.

We all ignore him.

‘And it won’t be weird because I’m your boss?’ I ask them.

They all shrug. I never treat them like my subordinates anyway. I sit with them, we use the same mugs, we share in the same banter. For years, it’s been the four of us stuck in this basement, like a mini tech family, so for them to suggest that I spend Christmas with them this year, makes me a bit emotional.

‘Then, yeah. OK…’ I reply.

I’d like to say they all cheer and look thrilled at my response, but Frank immediately starts to type a reply on his phone to his mother, Jasper lies back to continue dying. I glance over at Leo and see his eyes looking over at me from his monitor. He catches me looking and smiles. I smile back, holding his gaze before he goes back to his work.

FOUR

1st December

‘You’ll never guess what I found,’ Leo says, bursting through the door of the office, clutching a couple of plastic bags. ‘The Starbucks on the corner has those bags where they give away all their food that’s going off. Dinner is sorted.’

I look at the excitement on Leo’s face. The cold has made his cheeks red and he pulls off his green beanie and ruffles a hand through his hair. When I said to go and grab us some dinner, I wasn’t particularly fussy, but I hope he’s not got that food out of a bin. Such is Leo. He’s particularly fond of a bargain, a free film screening, cheap eats – you could call it miserly, but in a city such as London, it’s actually quite savvy. As sad as it sounds, he helped me knock two hundred pounds off my car insurance and, as you get older, those are the hacks and tips that make someone a very useful friend.

‘CHRISTMAS TREE BROWNIES!’ he says, holding them aloft like a trophy.

I walk over to his desk. ‘And three cold brie and cran-merry toasties…’ I say, sifting through his haul.

‘No fear…Eric in maintenance has a sandwich toaster in his cupboard. We are sorted.’

I smile, pulling out a handful of smaller bottles. ‘We also seem sorted for turmeric shots.’

‘For health,’ he smirks. ‘’Tis the season to look after one’s immunity.’

‘I know that carol well,’ I reply.

There is still some bright festive excitement in his face that makes me smile in reply as he takes off his coat and hangs it off his chair, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. ‘Did Frank and Jasper not fancy it then?’ he asks me, looking around the empty office to see his colleagues decidedly absent.

‘Frank had a wedding tux fitting and Jasper looked like he’d rather pull his own teeth, so it’s just you and me. And all our toasties…’ I joke.

His excitement calms for a moment as he laughs under his breath. I don’t quite know what that laugh means. Perhaps he feels he’s been lumbered with having to stay in the office with me and put up the Christmas decorations.

‘I mean, it’s past clocking off hours. You don’t have to stay, please don’t feel obliged,’ I tell him.

He looks at me, undeterred by the lack of helpers. ‘Rubbish. You can’t do this on your own. I’ve got all this food now too. Can’t eat it by myself…Also…’ He heads over to a filing cabinet and starts to pull out long lengths of paper chains.

‘Leo…’ I say, looking at them closely. ‘Are those recycled output reports?’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll shred them later. I also made hanging snowflakes,’ he tells me, carefully getting them out of the drawer.

I bite my lip, not sure whether to laugh because, in truth, I’m mildly impressed at the ingenuity. ‘They’re very good.’

‘I feel you’re mocking me, Maggie. You got a face on that’stelling me you think I’m a Scrooge. These decorations would have set you back a lot in the shops.’

‘I am not mocking you. I appreciate the craftwork and your thriftiness,’ I tell him.

‘I went on Pinterest especially.’

I beam. ‘But did you make those on company time?’

‘Of course not. I would never do that,’ he says, putting a hand to his chest. He laughs as I watch him head over to the small stepladder we’ve borrowed from maintenance, perusing the table of Blu Tack, drawing pins and twine that I’ve brought along to help. When I decorate, I come prepared. There’s twenty metres of LEDs, a six-foot tree and a box of carefully selected red and white baubles that will transform this place by the morning. I head to my computer and open a playlist that I play ad nauseum every December, so much so that by the second week of advent it starts to send Jasper a little doolally. Leo hears Michael Bublé and smiles.

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