Page 43 of The Santa Swap

Olivia picked up the vase and held her nose close to one of the roses, inhaling deeply. If she kept the flowers at work, her office would smell like roses when she came in the following day.

There was a small note tucked beneath the vase. Olivia read the note and then she set it to the side. Merry Christmoos. The handwriting was sloppy, as if it had been written with Santa’s non-dominant hand. It was hilariously bad cursive.

She pushed the vase to the side and peeked into her purse where a carefully wrapped gift was hiding. The hardest part of being Luke’s secret Santa was going to be getting him out of the office. He was usually the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. Olivia wasn’t going to be able to be a good secret Santa unless she got some elves to help, and she knew just who to call.

“Hi Brittany. Can you help me with something?” she asked.

“Sure. What do you need?” Once Brittany heard Olivia’s plan, her voice rose an octave.

“It’s for Luke? I’ve got you covered.”

Olivia smiled. “Thanks, Brittany. I owe you one.”

“If you want to pay me back, you can help me think of ideas for my secret Santa. I got Phoebe. I swear, our fashion styles couldn’t be more opposite if we tried.”

“I’m sure we can figure something out,” Olivia said. She hung up the phone and picked up a stack of papers, pushing them from one side of her desk to the other while she watched Luke’s door. She quickly opened one of the folders when Luke headed out of his office, picking up the paper inside so she had something to read.

Instead of heading to the elevator, Luke headed right for Olivia’s office. She kicked her purse under the table so there was no chance of him seeing the wrapping paper sticking out the top.

“Hey Olivia,” Luke said. “Thanks again for grabbing lunch. I’ve been swamped all day.”

Olivia fanned the paper in her hands back and forth. “Me too. Is it always this busy at the end of the year?”

Luke nodded. “Usually. People are getting ready for vacations so they want everything in place before they go.”

“It’s certainly enough to keep me busy for at least a couple of weeks.”

Luke stood in the doorway, the weight of his gaze pressing down on her. He cleared his throat. “Well, I’d better go. They need me on the fifth floor.”

Olivia had asked Brittany to create that problem, but now she wanted him to stay. “Hey Luke? How are you doing . . .with the Paully account?” Like the goofy Santa chicken bobbing in her flowers, Olivia couldn’t ask what she really wanted to know. Hopefully he’d ignore her awkward pause in the question.

Luke wiped his hand across his brow. “That one is a doozy. Can I swing by later to show you what I’m talking about?”

“For sure.” Olivia watched him leave, her heart pounding out of her chest. They had gotten to be better friends when he was dating Susan, but now that the couple was no longer together, Olivia didn’t know where she fit. If she couldn’t use her words to talk to him, at least she could use her secret Santa gifts.

She waited a couple of minutes to make sure Luke didn’t forget something and come back up to get it. Then she snuck into his office.

Walking into Luke’s office felt like stepping into a quaint resort. Tall oak bookshelves lined one wall, with pots of plants spaced between the books. One of the ivy plants had grown so long, leaves cascaded down the side of the bookshelf, almost reaching the ground.

The other side of the office had a large painting on the wall. It was a picture of one of the beautiful red rock formations from Southern Utah. When she asked Luke about it, he told Olivia about the camping trip where he had taken the photo.

Although Luke’s office was filled with vibrant color, Olivia knew he didn’t like to collect a lot of knickknacks. Based on the decor, she was pretty sure her gift was going to be a hit. She had found a plastic red rock formation at the pet store, and attached a small plastic Santa hat to the top of it with a thin wire. The toy would look ridiculous in his office, but awesome in the fish tank.

Just to be sure Luke got the hint, Olivia had used her electronic paper cutter to cut out a bunch of small fish. She set the present in the middle of his desk and scattered the small fish around it. Then she rolled her note into a small scroll and wedged it through the ribbon on the top.

Luke. I hope your holidays go swimmingly. - Santa

The heat was rising on Olivia’s cheeks when she ran out of his office and slid into her chair. When the elevator doors opened a few minutes later and Luke headed straight to her office, Olivia let out a sigh of relief. She picked back up the same paper she had been reading when Luke left, acting as if she hadn’t moved from her spot.

“Did you get everything taken care of?” Olivia asked.

Luke grinned. “I think sometimes people make up reasons to get me out of the office. Tara always bugs me that I spend too much time up here.”

“What do you mean?” Olivia’s stomach began doing flips. Had Brittany ratted her out already?

“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell you this, but Brittany wanted my help to deliver a secret Santa gift. I guess she figured no one would notice if I was randomly walking past desks.”

“That’s clever. You do talk to a lot of people downstairs.” The knots were beginning to loosen, but Olivia knew she had to play it cool. “Did you do it?”

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