Page 26 of Whispers in the Dark

Turning it over, I realized it looked just as pitiful from all sides and angles. It certainly was nothing like the trees that Aria and I would decorate with our mother. The matriarch of our family invented reasons to throw lavish parties and holiday balls, so our homes always looked like a winter wonderland from Halloween to New Year’s Day.

I closed my eyes and remembered the last one we’d decorated together. Aria and I were nearly sixteen, and both of us had other places to be. Our mother had tasked us with unraveling the various strings of lights. Some were clear, but most were a rainbow of colors. As I started the tenuous task, Aria was playing on her phone.

To this day, I still don’t know what possessed me to unravel one, then move over to her undetected. Before either of us knew what I was doing, I wrapped part of the string around her neck. I think the action scared the both of us before the string fell from my hand and she cursed a blue streak at me as she removed it from her neck.

“I’m sorry,”I’d told her.

“I know you wouldn’t hurt me, but try to not be such an asshole next time. I was about to help you.”

Only she was wrong. I had hurt her. I might not have stolen her life that night, but I had on another. As memories of the dock that fateful night came rushing back, the single red ornament was the same color as her blood. I dropped the damn tree, then closed my eyes and forced those memories away. When I reopened them, I picked the damn thing off of the floor.

“I can’t keep this in here.”

Just as I was about to exit my office and go into hers, Brynn appeared through the other doorway. Her eyes narrowed the moment she saw what was in my hands. “Mr. Benedict, a promise is a promise.”

“I never promised anything,” I pointed out. “That was your word. Not mine.”

“Semantics,” she pointed out.

“I was actually going to put it on your desk where it would be appreciated more.”

“There’s no need. A nine footer is being delivered later. I think it will look very festive in that corner over there. Do you agree?”

I felt myself visibly pale at the idea of some monstrosity in the corner of an office that anyone at BT could see. It was bad enough that some of the employees made it a mission to decorate the lobby. I spent little to no time there so it wasn’t an issue, but my office. Before I could forbid it, she started to giggle.

“I don’t really have a tree coming, and I don’t want that one in your hands either. When I saw it in the store, I knew it was perfect for you. Just give it some time. I’m sure it’ll grow on you.”

“I doubt anything is growing on this damn thing, but whatever.” I grabbed my coffee from her hands, then walked back into my office. “I will be in meetings for the next four hours. Please make sure that I am not disturbed.”

With that, I closed my door. I returned the tree back to the desk, then got logged into my meeting just in time. Today wouldnot only be a long day, but as my gaze narrowed in on the tree, I realized this entire holiday season would be even longer.

18.Brynn

Iwas still pleased with myself at the fact that the little tree was still in Adrian’s office. It had been almost a week and it remained on his desk right next to his computer. Every now and then when he was on a call, his gaze would land on that tree and he would flick the red ornament, making the red ball swing back and forth. Occasionally, he would even take the blue blanket and rearrange it around the tree. It was all I could do not to grin like an idiot while my prediction came true. He'd never admit I was right, of course, but that didn’t matter. He was starting to like the damn thing.

“Let’s hope he doesn’t mind this onmydesk,” I said under my breath.

I’d brought in a desktop tree to add some holiday cheer to the area. I still couldn’t quite understand why Adrian wanted nothing to do with celebrating Christmas or any other holiday, but I suspected it might be related to the fact that he didn’t have any family pictures displayed anywhere. He never talked about his family.

Any time I cautiously tried to engage in conversation about it, he would immediately change the subject. To be fair, he didn’t know a lot about my family, but he was aware of Lug Nut and mydad. He never asked any other questions, most likely because he didn’t want me to reciprocate.

My hand automatically lifted to the chain around my neck, the fingers taking the small ‘B’ charm and sliding it back and forth. I really did need to tell him about Blair, but how did one go about that exactly?

“Hey, boss, just wanted to let you know that I had a sister who was killed last year and I’m still trying to navigate my grief…” with a sigh, I pushed away from my desk needing to walk around and get a change of scenery. I knew Adrian would be occupied for at least the next thirty minutes, so I could make my way to the lobby to see how the toy drive was progressing.

Adrian may not celebrate holidays, but for the last several years, Benedict Technologies hosted a toy drive for local children in need. Bea told me that whatever the office staff was able to donate, Adrian would match monetarily so even more children could have a good Christmas. The man was an enigma for sure.

“Oh my lord,” I said when I rounded the corner and saw how full the lobby was. A large tree had been delivered right after Thanksgiving and we had all had a nice time stringing lights and putting on the ornaments. Co-workers from multiple departments helped and we even played Christmas music while we worked. It had been a lot of fun.

There were so many toy donations that it was becoming more difficult to walk through the lobby. Dolls and stuffed animals, board games, Legos, skateboards, card games, action figures, and toy cars and trucks were piled up around the large tree. We would be able to help so many children this year that I got a little teary-eyed thinking about it.

“What do you think?” Stephanie asked from behind the front desk.

“I think a lot of kids are going to get a visit from Santa this year,” I replied. “Is it always this much?” Steph smiled and shrugged.

“Actually, I think we’ve outdone ourselves this time. We’ve not ever had this much stuff at this time in the drive. Usually people rush in on the last day because they realized that the drive was almost over. While I love it, I’m afraid I’m about to get buried under a mountain of toys,” she laughed.

“We’ll send someone in to come get you,” I teased in return. I had already placed a few baby toys on the pile the week before, but as I perused the different items, I realized that there might be a need for more board games. Video games were fun, but I still felt there was a benefit to having the family sit down around a table and play a few rounds of Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly, RISK, or even Sorry! Blair, Dad, and I used to play games all the time and we all loved it. Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit left me with fond memories.

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