Page 24 of Winter's Surprise
“Merry Christmas!” her coworkers called on their way out of the office.
Michelle looked around frantically for her desk calendar. She shouldn’t have been surprised that the holiday was on Monday. It was the Friday before, and the company she worked for was generous in their holiday time.
“Janey called. She asked me to remind you today was a half day and you need to, and I quote, ‘Get your ass out of that office before I send Jake to get you.’ Happy Holidays! I’ll see you in a week,” another coworker told her quickly before moving along for the exit.
She looked at the file open on her computer and sighed. There was still more to do. Another knock on the door sounded, and she couldn’t help the eye roll. “Let me guess, Janey sent you with some threat that she would whip my ass raw?”
The person cleared their throat. “No. I just came in to wish you a Merry Christmas,” her boss, Kerry, told her. “You know, every night when I leave you are still here. Every report you submit? Is perfect. I assume it was perfect hours before you finally submitted it. I appreciate your hard work, but it sounds like I’ve been neglecting my worker. Michelle… go home. Whatever you have pulled up on your screen? It can wait.”
Her face burned, her throat was dry, and she was pretty sure her mouth hung open. When she didn’t speak because she didn’t think she could form a coherent word, she sat and stared.
“Okay… how about this. Go home, Michelle. That’s an order. If you don’t, I’ll have to stay here with you. If I stay, my wife will come over here and whip both of our asses raw, like you so eloquently said.” Kerry narrowed his eyes at her. “Please don’t make her come up here. I would really like her to stay in the kitchen where she is baking me my favorite pie. It’s the one thing I ask of her. Her only request is that I come home on time.”
“Yes, sir.” Michelle giggled at his pleading eyes. When he crossed his arms and stared at her, she moved her attention to the computer. She saved and shut down her files before turning off the computer itself.
“Phew, I was worried I’d lose out on my pie. Merry Christmas, Michelle!” Kerry told her, and she would have sworn she saw a pep to his step that she’d never seen before.
Michelle grabbed her phone and tapped on the screen.
Michelle Harper: Got the message Warden. I’m on my way out now.
Janey McCleod: Good. You work too hard. I hear Jake’s coming over tonight. Go get yourself some.
Michelle laughed at her friend’s text as she changed windows to text Jake.
Michelle Harper: Can’t wait to see you later. I’m on my way home now.
She gathered her things, and as she walked out, she noted that once again she was the last to leave. Michelle was a perfectionist. It was both a good thing and a bad thing. Hearing Kerry tell her his opinion of her work felt great. It was also a reminder that she needed to live life a little. Her boss wasn’t a hard-ass, and he wanted her to live too.
Sure, that isn’t exactly what he’d said, but that was what Michelle heard. She used to not mind the long hours. But that was before.
Before Jake.
The need to see this thing out with him—whatever it was—was a priority. It was easy to excuse her behaviors when there wasn’t anyone in her life, but it seemed that the tide finally changed.
That thought alone brought a smile to her face. Maybe it was the Christmas cheer in the air, or maybe it was the fact that she would see Jake in a few hours, but the snow covering her town shone with a renewed brilliance.
“Merry Christmas,” a random person said with glee, pulling Michelle back to the present.
She called back her greeting and stopped short. “Shit. Christmas.”
A mother walking by gasped and covered her child’s ears as she shot Michelle a dirty look. “Oops, sorry!” she told the pair.
Looking around at the shops, her mind raced as she considered what to get Jake. Sure, she didn’t expect him to get her anything, but there was no way she couldn’t get him something. Her eyes scanned over to the local brewery they’d met at for their first date, and her mind devised a plan.
Almost an hour later, she found Jake’s car parked in front of her house. She pulled into the garage quickly and gathered her bags but left his gift hidden.
“A man could freeze to death waiting on his woman to come home,” Jake told her from his spot on her front porch.
“How long have you been out here?”
“Too long,” he said with a shiver.
Michelle unlocked the door and let them in quickly. She was dying for a taste of him, but it was clear that he hadn’t expected her to take a detour on her way home. “I thought you were coming by at six?”
“I was… that was until this beautiful woman said she was on her way home.” Jake rolled his eyes and added, “Big fat lie that turned out to be.”
Michelle turned from the closet and swatted his arm. “How was I supposed to know you were coming over early?”
