Page 6 of His Christmas Gift

“Oh my god,” Jenny whispered seeing the price on an Oscar de la Renta dress well over six thousand dollars.

“Shh.” Melissa hushed her knowing she had one that was nearly nine by the same house at her father’s home. She guided the woman away from the body clinging items that wouldn’t let her breathe and agreed to try on a sleeveless, illusion neckline dress that was a blush color. It was magical against her complexion and fit like a dream without the need for alterations.

She had a pair of shoes at the apartment that would go well with it and the neckline made necklaces unnecessary, letting her get out of the store without spending a huge fortune. She felt awful using Jasper’s money to buy the dress when she could afford it herself, but if she did that, he would know she was keeping things from him.

They dropped Jenny off first and she smiled as Keith walked her to her door, carrying the dress for her. She shook her head unable to stop the stupid grin from hitting her lips as she watched him wait for her to close and lock the door before leaving. It was sweet but she didn’t know why he, or Jasper, was being so cautious over her.

Yes, it was nearly seven now, but she’d walked around the city by herself enough after dark to know how to protect herself from potential bad situations. She was always cautious when she went out, especially in her neighborhood, but she hoped it would keep people from putting her together with her father.

Had she moved into a building he approved, everyone would instantly know that she had money, or at least, her father had lots of it. It wouldn’t be a stretch to go from that if they saw her information in HR with her real last name on her degree, to realizing that Ethan Hannover, CEO of Hannover Electronics Global-Tech was her father.

He started the business from ground up at barely twenty-one, and now, thirty-four years later, he was still in business, able to keep others from overtaking him in the industry, in which Jasper’s company wasn’t competing. That was another reason why she’d taken this internship. Her father couldn’t begin to ask her about the company and the company, if they did uncover who her father was, wouldn’t attempt to use her against him.

She wasn’t about to let that happen.

She knew her father hoped she would become interested in the business. In order to step in and one day, take over perhaps. As much as she enjoyed technology, she didn’t want to run the rat race with it. She saw growing up, especially after her mother died when she was twelve, just how much work it was on her father, and didn’t want that for her eventual family. She did want to get married and have kids one day. Working in her father’s high-powered office, that would have to be years down the road, rather than soon as she’d always dreamed.

Her father was thirty-three when she was born and plenty of times she hadn’t seen him growing up; she wouldn’t do that to her children. Then part of her worried as to how long she might even be around at all. Her mother died when she was just forty-two, her maternal grandmother at forty-six, and her maternal great-grandmother at forty-three.

She wouldn’t begin to waste time that might be dearly precious to them all with business, but how could she possibly admit that to her father without him worrying further? She didn’t know but it was always in the back of her mind. If she only had twenty or so years left, why would she ever want to waste them behind a desk rather than loving someone?

Chapter 3

Melissa walked into Jasper’s suite with a light smile on her lips grateful for her easy morning commute. It was going to be a busy day getting everything arranged for the evening, but it was far more enjoyable than sitting behind a desk, at least to her. Someone else may find party preparations tedious, but they hadn’t grown up with her father.

He was already asking her to start putting together ideas for the company’s thirty-fifth anniversary celebration for this coming summer. Her internship would end mid-February and the anniversary celebration would be mid-May most likely unless he wanted to wait until June to avoid most of the graduation parties. It would be quite busy for her but far nicer than going to graduate school.

She gave Elaine a smile seeing her at her desk and slipped over to hers to put her bag away as she said good morning.

“Melissa, you’ve no idea how glad I am you went with seating for thirty,” Jasper stated coming out of his office. “A last-minute acceptance came in putting us up to twenty-six others,” he added, and she gave him a soft smile holding onto a laugh.

“Always plan for a few extras, you never know when you invite someone if they’ll bring an unexpected plus one.” She could easily recall her mother’s instructions quite well despite the ten years she’d been gone. “Everything should be delivered starting late this morning, I was going to head over to get it set up after finishing the filing here.”

“There’s nothing there that can’t wait,” Jasper said not seeing the dress bag that contained what Keith said was a masterpiece well worth the cost. “I’ll have Keith run you home to get your things that way you won’t have to rush later tonight.”

“Alright, it seems arguing is pointless with the two of you, so I’ll agree to that after this,” Melissa said making his brow lift in question. “Do you prefer a specific seating arrangement or just free seating as everyone comes into the dining room?”

“With Evan and Nicole coming, let’s go with a seating arrangement,” he stated showing her into his office to grab the full guest list. They sat down going through it as he noted who shouldn’t be next to one another to keep the peace and he stopped at Callum’s name. “Let’s put Callum at the other end of the table, his latest girlfriend Sonya can sit beside him on his right, and you can be on mine that would make it all even.”

“I’ll get the name cards finished and then head that way,” Melissa said thankful for the extra pack of cards as she sat down at her desk with her calligraphy set to finish them. She did ones for most of the names she had yesterday in case he chose a prearranged seating arrangement, but she wanted to confirm spelling on a couple.

Elaine paused next to her desk as she finished the last of them, her brow lifting in surprise. “You did all of that by hand? Wow, that’s amazing Melissa. I would have just printed them with the computer and hoped for the best.”

“My mother was meticulous about penmanship; she would keel over at the thought of anything computer generated on a dinner table. She taught me when I was little, long before school even started, but at least I won awards for best penmanship all through elementary,” she said with a smile as she gathered everything up into her bags.

“I’d say Mr. Thomas’ dinner party is in very good hands and seeing as how incredibly simple you made it seem, perhaps you could take the lead for the investors’ dinner that will be coming up in late January? It’s this huge to-do and normally Mr. Thomas’ mother would arrange it, but she’s recently remarried, and she’s been nowhere to be found the last few months traveling with him.”

Melissa held in a grin, knowing that would be something to get her through the rest of her internship, quite easily.

“If Mr. Thomas doesn’t have an issue with it, then I’d be glad to,” she agreed as he moved out of his office towards them.

“All finished?” he asked, and she nodded. “I’ll let Keith know you’re on your way down. If you run into any issues just let one of us know and we’ll make sure to get it taken care of, and Melissa,” he added stalling her after she assured him she would, “thank you for your help with this, I think it’s going to be a wonderful evening.”

She gave him a smile as she moved out to the elevator. Keith was waiting at the front with the car, taking them across town to her apartment. He waited for her to gather her bags and add a few items she would need to do her hair and makeup later.

He ushered her down carrying all of the bags while keeping watch on her progress making her smile. She saw the curious looks the car was getting and breathed in relief as they pulled out into traffic, heading away from the rundown complex of apartments that cost far too much for what they were.

It was very enjoyable to be in Jasper’s home, directing traffic as items arrived, allowing her to set up the dining room while Jenny came in to take over the kitchen. She had a few of Jenny’s helpers set up the tables in the sitting room while she laid out the dining table.

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