Page 3 of His Christmas Gift

“Thank you.” Melissa shut the door behind him, turning the locks with a smile on her lips. It stayed long into the morning as she hurried across town to get to work on time. She slipped onto the elevator thankful everyone in it practically ignored her, it was far better than being stared at, snickered at, far better.

She moved to her cubicle and stopped seeing someone else sitting at her desk. The few items she’d had on top of it gone, and she wondered what was going on. Jasper had said she had nothing to worry about last night, so had Callum done this himself? The girl looked up, giving her a smile.

“Melissa, right?” she said, and she nodded. “Mr. Thomas said someone would be here in a few minutes to show you to your new desk. I guess his brother was way out of line yesterday and he didn’t like it, huh?”

“Not exactly,” Melissa agreed.

“No sweat, I’d rather deal with the BS up here than in the mailroom anyway,” the girl stated before looking back at the computer screen leaving her even more confused.

Melissa turned hearing her name and moved over to meet the secretary from HR she barely remembered from her time filling out paperwork on her first day. “I’ve already moved the small things from the desk, was there anything else in the drawers you needed?”

“No, what’s going on?” she asked the woman as she led her towards the elevator, hitting the button for the top floor where Jasper’s office and the conference rooms were.

“Mr. Thomas wanted me to take you to him when you got here. He said he’d explain things then,” the woman answered, and Melissa thought about it as she moved them down to one of the smaller conference rooms, pushing open the door showing her Jasper, Callum, Patrick, and David inside the room with a few others she hadn’t met.

“Perfect timing,” Jasper said. “I believe you have something to say Callum.”

The dark look he shot at his brother made her heart flutter and her breathing slowed slightly seeing the irritation wash over Callum’s face.

“I apologize for my rudeness yesterday, it was uncalled for,” Callum said, and she knew he truly didn’t mean the words he said.

“And if I hear you behaving that way towards anyone else inmycompany, you will regret it Callum,” Jasper stated before moving out into the hallway with Melissa, his eyes sliding over her, enjoying how simple her outfit was compared to several others around the office.

He spotted Elaine heading their way and smiled down at Melissa’s confused face. “I am not about to subject you to my brother’s arrogance again, Elaine will show you to your new space for the remainder of your internship here. I will see you both later.”

Melissa couldn’t find the breath to speak as he slid back into the room, closing the door after a nod at her. The other woman smiled, and she wondered what on earth she was supposed to do.

“I’m Elaine,” she stated holding out her hand. “And I am more than happy to have you helping me out for the next few months, Mr. Thomas finally agreed to get someone else to help in the office and I won’t even complain that you’re only temporary.”

“You work for Mr. Thomas?” Melissa asked and the woman nodded showing her into Jasper’s suite. The desk in the reception area had a middle-aged woman behind it and Elaine introduced her as Ann before moving them further into the suite. This room had two desks, one piled with work and the other had her few little things on top of it.

“Welcome to the den, don’t worry, I’ll handle the phones and mail,” Elaine said seeing the shock on her face. “Mr. Thomas said you weren’t interested in extending your time after the internship, so I won’t bother you with learning them.”

“Sounds good to me then, I’m more than happy to help with typing, filling, copying…I’m just honestly not a ‘business’ person. The internship was just to satisfy my father.” She offered the information noting the curiosity on the woman’s face.

“Ah, that explains it then; Mr. Thomas was pushed into law by his father. He was successful at it but then the company here got in trouble, and he was working with it, decided to hang up his law degree and now we’re number one in the industry.”

That didn’t surprise her at all, and she hoped the next three months would go by quickly so she could keep her interest to herself. The last thing she wanted was Jasper to discover she had a crush on him, the absolute last—beyond anyone discovering who she was at least.

Chapter 2

“And how are things going in here?” Jasper asked, smiling more than he likely should be seeing Melissa at a desk so close to his office. He’d be enthralled if he could see her nearly every day for the next three months.

“I believe we’re good,” Elaine said, and Melissa nodded as she sorted things out at the desk.

“Great and everything with the caterers is on track for tomorrow night?” he asked, glancing at the calendar on Elaine’s desk.

“Caterers?” Elaine said, her eyes widening in shock as she pulled up her email. “Oh no…no, no, no…I completely forgot to double-check the confirmation we sent.”

“I’m to have twenty-four guests over tomorrow night with no food?” Jasper said shaking his head in disbelief.

“I am so sorry, Mr. Thomas…” Elaine stated, and he held up a hand stopping her.

“There’s no need to apologize,” he said surprising Melissa who’d witnessed a total dress down from her father to his assistant several times because of a similar situation. “I know my mother usually would handle these sorts of things; it’s just my luck that she decided to remarry.”

“I can call to see if they can still do it,” Elaine said, and Jasper shook his head no.

“They’re booked weeks if not months in advance,” he said, and Melissa took a deep breath before speaking not wanting her voice to shake.

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