Page 42 of Scrooged for the Holidays
“If I’m being honest, Christmas is another day of the year. And if I’m beingreallyhonest, I think it’s a time of year that most people hate but are unwilling to admit it.”
I lean back in my chair. “How so?”
She takes another sip of her drink before she leans forward. Unlike yesterday, she’s not in a business suit. Today, she’s wearing an expensive-looking cream-colored V-neck sweater that my heated imagination would love to feel rubbing against my chest paired with black pants that cling to her curves. She’s still professional but slightly more casual.
“It’s so built up during the year. People save portions of their paychecks to buy their friends, family, and children gifts. Then there are parties to host and attend, and god forbid you have to see family you don’t like. It also impedes people’s work. Either they slack or don’t do anything at all. It’s annoying.”
I quirk my brow. “Is that all?”
She lets out a tight laugh. “I think it can also make those who are alone during the holidays feel even more lonely.”
I observe her features carefully. She picks her coffee back up and casts her eyes down as if she didn’t mean to say the last part.
“All your points are valid, Greer.”
Her eyes flutter to meet mine. “How do you know my name?”
My slow pulse quickens—that’s right, she hasn’t given me her name yet. “I heard it yesterday, when you introduced yourself to Holly.”
Her shoulders relax a bit. “Right. I didn’t know you heard that.”
“Would you like to know mine?”
Greer’s cheeks flush the same pink they did when we first made eye contact on the sidewalk. My vision clouds with the memory of last night, and Idoremember my name being used. Two names, actually. I wonder which she’s thinking about: Remi or Daddy.
“You already know it, love, don’t you?”
She shifts in her chair. “Remi, right?”
I admire that she didn’t back down. Most people would have. In fact, I doubt most people would have been able to look me in the eye after what she saw.
Kai, Sam, and I have been together a very long time, and we’re not exactly shy with each other. In the office, we were especially voracious. Just like she was—or is—by the looks of her biting her lip and shifting slightly in her chair.
“Yes. My full name is Remiel, but I go by Remi most of the time.”
“That’s an interesting name.”
“Yours is as well. Is there a story behind it?”
“No story other than my mom wanting my name to be unique like my eye color.”
“It suits you.”
“My eyes or my name?”
“Both.”
She sips her coffee again, and a moment later, our food is placed in front of us by a fellow Nephilim, Celeste. Greer ordered a California-style omelet with no tomatoes, and I got a full English.
I thank Celeste for the food, making her smile. Greer doesn’t speak, only nods before picking up her fork. I’m sure Celeste is wondering why I’m even here—it’s not usual for me to have breakfast with a job. Normally, after Kai does his work, they stay in their rooms. Or if they do venture out, I observe them from afar, making notes on their behavior and preparing for my time with them in the dead of night.
But I think this approach with Greer is better. Spending this breakfast with her will help me understand her even more.
Through our minds, I tell Celeste to go, and she walks off.
“Where are you from in England?” Greer asks after swallowing a bit of her omelet.
“My mother was from London.” It’s a true statement. She’s where I got my accent from. I’ve never met my angel father,Michael, so I don’t know what I did or did not get from him beyond giving me his angelic grace.
