Page 29 of The Santa Swap

Gary held up an ornament, with golden wings attached to the front. He had drizzled red and gold paint down the inside of the globe, the marbled look making the wings stand out even more. “Christmas is about family. This ornament reminds me of my mom. I lost her six months ago, but I know she is watching over me.”

A few people in the cafeteria began to dab at their eyes, and sniffles punctuated the silence. The embarrassment Luke felt over his half-done ornament was increasing by the minute. He wasn’t sure what he had been thinking, other than the fact that he had been distracted at the time Olivia asked him to make it.

Tara held her ornament out next, and people in the crowd began to cheer. Somehow, she had wrapped a string of yarn around the globe in such a way that it looked like a ball of yarn. There were even two toothpicks stabbed through a small section to resemble knitting needles.

“I was going to add a cat to the back of the ornament, but I figured it wouldn’t look good if the ornament got turned sideways.”

Tara’s ornament earned an actual cheer from the employees. Not just a halfhearted clap. A cheer. How was Luke supposed to follow that? He gulped as all eyes turned to him.

“Well, those are a hard act to follow. I’m pretty sure my arts and crafts skills would get me kicked off any of your teams.” He held his ornament up, pointing to it like he was holding a precious award. It had taken him all of five minutes to cut a pair of antlers out of brown construction paper and glue them to the side of the ball. Then he added a red nose and a pair of googly eyes to the front. If Rudolf existed in real life, he’d bury his head in shame.

A small laugh began in the back of the room, but it quickly spread. Luke joined in, turning to Olivia with a sheepish grin on his face.

“I’m so sorry, Olivia. You can hang mine at the back of the tree.”

Olivia winked at him. “Thank you for demonstrating the best point.” She held Luke’s ornament up next to Gary’s. “Some people clearly have more artistic skills at their disposal than others do. That’s why we are on teams. For this final part of the contest, every single team member needs to make an ornament. Then you’ll bring your favorite one to the front for us to judge.”

Luke admired the way Olivia was commanding the room. The excitement was palpable as teams began to chatter to each other. He was getting ready to call them back to attention when Olivia held up her hand.

“As a final reminder, you’ve got thirty minutes on the clock for the first task. Any time you save will be added to your next task. And if you’re lucky enough to have any time remaining, that will be added to your final 30 minutes. Any other questions?”

A woman in the front row raised her hand. “Who is going to be the judge?”

Olivia’s face brightened up. She held a hand out to Luke, Susan, Gary and Tara. “You’d think I’d say these guys, but really, I think it would be much more fun to make them participate in the contests. Don’t you agree?”

The crowd roared an enthusiastic yes.

“Every person in this room is a judge. You’ll be given three tickets at the end of the party to vote with. There will be vases in front of each item and we’ll total them up tomorrow. To keep it fair, no voting for your own team’s work. Any other questions?”

If the whispers that shot through the room were any indication, the teams were ready to go.

“Alright. Your first task is laid out on the tables behind me. Look for your proper colored tablecloths. On your marks. Get set. Go!”

Luke jumped to Olivia’s side when employees thundered forward, their laughter loud. They raced past Olivia to the tables, pulling off the tablecloths to reveal rows of decorating supplies.

Luke gave Olivia a high five. “I think they are going to love this.”

She nodded, a smile lighting her pretty eyes. “I think you meant to say that you were going to love it. When I said you guys were on teams, I meant it. Here’s your colors. Now, go.”

Tara and Susan were on the red team; Gary was blue. They exchanged glances and then ran for their groups. Luke looked at the green paper in his hand and then he held his arm out.

“What’s that for?” Olivia asked.

“If I’m going to be on a team, so are you. We’d better join the green team before they get too far ahead.”

Olivia pointed to the clock. “Who is going to keep track of the time? What are we going to do when the first team finishes?”

It was endearing that she was trying to get out of the competition. Luke nudged her hip. “I tell you what. Between the two of us, we’ll keep watch. I think we’ll see when a team starts running to the table.”

With his sound logic, there really wasn’t much Olivia could say to turn him down. Luke waited for her to take his arm, and then he led her to the green table.

Each place was set with the pieces of a gingerbread house, a piping bag filled with frosting, and a paper plate. Candies of every color and shape were in bowls running down the center of the table. Luke had believed that Olivia could pull off the party, but this was next level planning.

“Do you have room for two more?” Luke asked.

Sherry looked up, her face flushing. “You bet. Can someone pass down the supplies?”

Luke handed a plate to Olivia before taking his own. He picked up the first piece, immediately glad that he had forced Olivia to endure the same torture as he was. If he had to glue pieces together with flimsy stripes of frosting, so did she.

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