Page 27 of The Santa Swap

Instead of obsessing over Luke, Olivia turned her attention to getting everything ready for the company party. By the time the following week rolled around, boxes of supplies had been shoved into spare offices. Olivia sent out sign-ups for help, and was pleasantly surprised at how many volunteers there were.

On the morning of the party, Olivia was riding down the elevator to oversee the decorations. One of her coworkers entered the elevator on the seventh floor, holding a newspaper in one hand. A large headline was splashed across the top of the page, which caught Olivia’s attention immediately.

TRUST FUND CEO ON THE TOWN WITH NEW GIRLFRIEND?

Underneath the headline was a subtitle.New girlfriend or a ruse?

Olivia cleared her throat. “Do you mind if I look at that newspaper for a minute?”

Her coworker smiled. “You haven’t seen Luke in the papers much, have you? This happens all the time. You get used to the gossip that follows him.” She handed the paper to Olivia.

Olivia held the page in front of her, her jaw dropping to the ground. There was a clear photo of Luke, holding hands with Susan while on a walk. Then, next to the photo, were two smaller photos. The first one was a picture of Luke hugging someone with long, curly red hair that looked a little too much like Olivia’s. In the second photo, Luke was grinning at a woman whose face was obscured by a Christmas tree. Olivia recognized her shoes immediately.

Heavy weights dragged Olivia’s body down more effectively than the elevator. She scanned the article. There was no mention of her name, but that was sure to change quickly as more people in the company put the pieces together. Instead, there was a lot of speculation about if Luke was actually dating Susan exclusively or if he was also dating another woman on the side.

Olivia handed the paper back to the coworker with a smile. “Thank you,” she said. “That’s got to be frustrating to always have people watching your every move.” As she spoke, she pulled her hair into a French twist, tucking it in place with a pen. The odds of someone recognizing her at work were small, but she didn’t need her wavy hair giving any hints.

“Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” The coworker leaned forward conspiratorially. “I mean, you are up there all the time with Luke. Have you seen another woman coming and going?”

Olivia could honestly answer that no, she hadn’t seen anyone. It wasn’t like she watched herself go to work. She needed to change the subject.

“Are you excited for the party today?”

The woman grimaced. “If there’s any decorating involved, I’m in trouble. I have zero design skills.”

“It’s all for fun,” Olivia said. The elevator door swung open and Olivia stepped out. “Good luck.” She headed towards the cafeteria to oversee the final preparations, crossing her fingers that at least a couple of the employees would enjoy her games.

Luke didn’t show up until the party was minutes away from starting. He pulled her to the side, his hand on her arm kicking Olivia’s heart up another notch. “I have a question for you,” he said.

Olivia glanced at her watch, making a show of being worried about the time. The newspaper in his hands made it pretty clear she knew what the question would be.

“Can we talk after the party? I need to do a final check on the supplies.”

Olivia walked off without waiting for an answer, turning her focus to a stack of bins running along the edge of the room. When she glanced back, he was gone. She didn’t know what to say to Luke. Even if some photographer had caught her and Luke being friendly, he wasn’t interested in her any more. Clearly, he had chosen the flashy, more powerful woman to show off.

As if in sync with her thoughts, Luke and Susan walked into the cafeteria, hand in hand. They were followed by dozens of employees. “Thanks, everyone for coming,” Luke said. “Let’s give Olivia a hand for making the arrangements today.”

Olivia walked to the center of the room, standing next to tables that were covered with cheap plastic tablecloths. “I’m excited to be here. Today we have a handful of games. As you know, our goal is to raise money and toys to help provide Christmas to some of the kids in our community.”

There were a few whoops from the crowd and a round of applause. Olivia waited for the cheering to die down.

“When you walked in, you were given a colored sticker. Can you please find your group? Red group to the red tablecloths on my left. Green to my right. Blue front and center.”

She glanced over at Luke and Susan while the employees shuffled around. They were leaning towards each other, clearly in a deep conversation. She pulled her attention back to the employees, who had all moved to their proper sides of the room.

“Good job,” Olivia said. “We got through the hardest part.” She reached for a gigantic clock, holding it high above her head. “This, here, is going to be your best friend or your worst enemy today.”

Two employees took the clock and hung it on the wall back behind the tables.

“What’s it for?” someone called from the crowd.

“I’m glad you asked. When I say Christmas, what comes to mind?”

“Caroling,” a woman in the front said.

“Presents,” a voice called from the side.

The voices clambered over each other to be heard. “Santa. Stockings. Snowball fights. Hot chocolate.”

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