Page 38 of A Grinchmas Delight

Mark is already seated in his usual spot and I slide into the chair beside him. The receptionist leaves the room quietly and we sit there for a moment, just him and I.

“What made you change your mind?” he asks.

“Her application. She’s not only qualified, she’soverqualified. And that trumps any reservations I may have had about her.”

I say the words matter-of-factly because that’s exactly what they are. Even before I ever touched her, I knew she was the best candidate for the job, and now that I’ve spent a lot more time with her, I’m certain she’s overqualified and will be the best person for the job.

I don’t get a chance to say anything else because Jade, Xena, and Dayra all three enter the meeting room one after the other. Jade takes the seat across from me while Xena sits beside her and Dayra sits one chair away from the pair.

Mark presses his glasses up his nose and sits straight up in his chair, flipping through the paperwork in front of him. He flips through each stapled packet and hands each of the women their respective packets.

“I just want to say that you are all very qualified for this new position, but we were only able to select one of you. Inside, you will find the information as to why you were or were not selected. If you would like, I can tell you now who got this position, or you can discover it on your own when you leave this room and open your packets individually.”

Jade is the first to pipe up. “You can tell us.”

Xena nods in agreement. Dayra shrugs and says, “Fine by me.”

“Okay. Dayra, you’re the new Assistant Director over our marketing division!”

Jade’s jaw drops and Xena smiles at Dayra cheerfully, congratulating her.

“Thank you,” she says, smiling warmly at Mark.

Jade slowly rises and shoves her chair back with a little more force than is necessary. She doesn’t say a word as she leaves the room. Mark stares at the two women at the table then at me.

“I think I’ll go have a sit down with her. This is not high school and that behavior will not be tolerated.”

Xena slowly rises and gives Dayra a hug before the two of them exit the meeting room.

“Hey, Mark,” I say as he’s about to leave the room.

“Yeah?” He walks back toward the other side of the table.

“I need to tell you something about Jade.”

“Dear God, don’t tell me you slept with her.”

“No, no! She and I were at the same bar a few weeks ago and she hit on me. I shut it downimmediately, but she went around telling a few of the women in the office that we slept together. We didn’t.”

“If she’s saying so, then how can you defend that? Damn it,” he slams one hand on the table and presses two fingers from his other hand to the bridge of his nose.

“I can prove it.”

“How?”

“Call her in here. I’ll show you.”

Mark gives me a curious stare before he leaves the room and returns a few minutes later with Jade.

“I hear you’re claiming that you and Zane had sexual relations?”

Jade’s mouth drops and she stares at the two of us with a wide-eyed, doe in the headlights look. “Y-Yes, we did.”

“How many tattoos do I have?” I ask, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the dark cherry oak of the table.

“None. I mean, that doesn’t prove anything. You could have one hidden that I didn’t see. It was kind of dark.”

I stand up and remove my khaki suit jacket, laying it on the table in front of me. I loosen my tie and begin unbuttoning my button up shirt. As I begin opening my shirt, Jade gasps.

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