Page 1 of A Grinchmas Delight

CHAPTER ONE

DAYRA

The incessant tappingof the keys on my keyboard is about to drive me insane. Now that Halloween is over and we’re almost to Thanksgiving, my joy meter is steadily rising. The closer we get to eggnog and Christmas music, the happier my little soul is. I’m ready for this workday to be over with. I technically only have one boss, but there are two CEOs of the company here and one of them hates me. And I hate him. He’s been a thorn in my side since the first day I started here.

No matter what I’ve done in the two years I’ve been here, it’s been wrong. When I started out as the receptionist, the coffee was wrong. When I moved up to data entry, that was wrong too. Now that I’m in media marketing, everything I do in this position is wrong. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, has been right if it were done at my hands. I don’t know what I did to this man, but he makes my blood boil and infuriates me to no end.

Zane Moore, also known as the THD—Tall Hateful Devil—goes out of his way to make my life miserable at any given opportunity. And rest assured, he never misses an opportunity. For instance, we have a meeting this evening at four o’clock. Wednesday evening. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving. TheWednesday that every other office in the city is closing early. I roll my eyes at the thought.

I shut my computer down for the day and gather my paperwork for this meeting that Zane justhadto have done today. He wants to go over a project that our guys won’t even get to until after the new year. It most definitely could have waited. I sigh, pressing my fingers to the bridge of my nose. I tap out a text to my best friend, expressing my utmost inconvenience.

Dayra: THD is at it again. Last minute meeting at 4. Why does he have to try and ruin my life every fucking day?

Maia: Because he is THD. And an ass hat. Or maybe a douche canoe? I’m not sure which is more fitting. Just put laxative in his coffee and jet when he runs to the bathroom.

I laugh, loudly, and thank god that I wasn’t taking a sip of my water from my green insulated tumbler that I don’t go anywhere without.

“Is something funny?”

I jump so hard that I drop my tumbler, my phone, and my folder of paperwork, all three hitting the ground together as water drenches all of my papers and my phone.

I huff as I glare at the intruder in my office doorway. Zane.

“Shit!” I scramble to pick up my things and to my surprise, Zane comes over to help. I snatch my phone up first, locking it as I wipe the screen on my black dress. Having a little bit of extra weight around my hips makes for a good squishy spot to wipe the screen clean. Zane picks up the ruined papers and folder, holding them out away from his light gray suit.

He looks like he’s holding a child for the first time and doesn’t know what to do with it. I quickly set my phone downand take the mushy mess from his hands and place it in the trash can underneath my desk.

“I didn’t realize speaking would send you into a spiral, but I guess I should’ve known you couldn’t do more than one thing at a time.”

I stare at him in utter disbelief. “You’re infuriating, you know that?” I ask, slamming my hands across my hips to dry them.

His eyes watch my hands for a moment before his brows furrow.

“Get yourself together. The meeting is about to start and now you have none of your material,” he says sternly, before storming out of my office, leaving me baffled and staring at the door.

I go to storm out of the office after him, forgetting about the spilt water. I take two angry steps before my feet come out from underneath me so fast that I hit the ground hard.

I scream out in agony and tears instantly stream down my face. I try to catch my breath as the pain radiates from my tailbone but I can’t focus on anything other than how badly it hurts.

I hear stomping footsteps and Zane comes into view. I expect him to be angry or to yell, but instead the anger that was plastered across his face moments ago is gone.

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

He reaches down to help me up and all I can do is nod.

“I got it,” I whisper, trying not to let my voice break. I don’t have any fight left in me and the last thing I need right now is for this man to humiliate me while I’m down.

“Jesus, Dayra, just take my hand and let me help you.”

I stare up at him and accept his hand, trying to pull myself up the best I can, but it’s no use because he hauls me to my feet as if I’m not as heavy as I know that I am.

“Thanks,” I choke out, placing my hands on my desk and leaning forward, trying to get any pressure that I can off of my backside.

He walks around my desk and presses a finger to my chin, lifting my face until my eyes meet his.

“Are you sure you’re okay? We have insurance, so if you need to go to the hospital or the doctor or whatever…”

I laugh softly through my tears. “I don’t think it’s that serious. I may have broken my tailbone though.”

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