“I don’t think I ever will. You’ve hurt my pride.” Trying to look innocent really doesn’t suit him. He’s got a permanent mischievous look on his face. Why am I noticing all of that? Seriously, I need to get a grip.
“Ah, that’s all right. Your ego is big enough for the whole of Europe.”
“Someone has a sharp tongue this morning.” He looks amused and doesn’t seem to be that much of a jerk when the spotlight isn’t on him.
“Someone had a rough night.” I groan, thinking about last night when I got back home.
“Does that someone want to talk about it?” This conversation seems to be reversed. He’s being sweet and caring to me and I’m acting like a bitch.
“Why do you care?”
“No need to be so aggressive.”
“Sorry. It’s habit. My ex is an even bigger dick than you are.”
“What? That’s not possible. I need to step up my game.”
He’s actually making me smile, despite the situation.
“What have I done?” I shake my head in despair.
“No, what has he done?”
“When? Now or when we were still together?”
“Both.”
Just as I’m about to open up about Jeremy, our co-workers start to fill up the offices, and just like that, we go back to being complete strangers who hate each other. That brief moment alone with him was quite nice, if I’m honest. He can be funny and sweet when he wants to be. That was a nice change from his usual ways. I wish he could be like that all the time, but then it’d be dangerous because I’d for sure end up in his bed, moaning his name. Just to prove my point, I’m never going to allow myself to go down that path.
Chapter 4
December 15
Daniel’s good ways from a few days ago are long gone. The twat was meant to book the caterer for the party, and guess who hasn’t done the one thing they were meant to do, once again?
“I can’t believe you forgot to book it! You had one job, Daniel! One!”
“You should have done it in the first place since you’re so picky about everything.” He’s thirty-five and acts like he’s five. He’s been doing my head in since the first time we met, and things haven’t changed in the slightest.
“I’m not picky about everything. We were asked to do one thing, put together the company’s Christmas party. How the fuck do you want this party to be a success if there’s nothing to eat or drink? We are one week away from the party, Daniel! Do you even realise how bad this is, and how bad this is going to make me look?” The only thing he’s right about in all of this is that I probably should have taken care of it myself from day one just to be sure it would be done.
“Make you look bad? You’re not the centre of the universe, Elisa.”
“No, I know I’m not, unlike someone else. Whenever something goes well or someone compliments something I did, you take the credit for it when you’ve done nothing. If there’s no buffet, people are going to complain, and you are going to say I was the one in charge and the one who forgot to book a caterer in time. I know how you work now!” My frustration with him is finally coming out; I can’t hold it back anymore. And it feels so good.
“Someone had another rough night.”
“You can fuck right off.”
I leave his office, slamming the door, and storm to mine. How am I going to find someone available to feed a hundred and some people within a week? It’s impossible!
Chapter 5
December 19
In the end, I managed to find a caterer. It’s costing a lot more than what was left of the budget. I’m going to have to cover it because, of course, it’s not Daniel’s fault. Bastard.
I can’t wait for Christmas to be over. This is the first and last office Christmas party I’m ever putting together. I hated Christmas already, but this just made it ten times worse.
The only thing I will never skip on is Marly, Caroline and my secret Santa. Even though we don’t spend Christmas together, we always give each other presents. That’s going to be the only thing I’ll ever do on the day now. I’m not going out or spending it with anyone. I’ll just eat and drink myself to sleep and watch movies. You don’t have to love Christmas to enjoy Christmas movies.
“Baby, can we please talk?” As if he’s reading my mind that I’m pissed off already, Jeremy shows up out of nowhere as I’m casually doing some Christmas shopping for my friends, and myself, let’s be honest.
“Oh, no. Not you! What don’t you understand in leave me the fuck alone? Huh?” I can’t deal with his shit right now.
“Baby, please. I want you back.”
Good try, Jeremy, but you can plead all you want. I’m never getting back with you.
“Well, I don’t.”
“Don’t say that, please. Give me another chance.”
As if his puppy dog eyes will do anything to make the situation any better.
“Why should I? You stole from me, probably to give to your other girlfriend.” I still don’t have any proof of that, but at this point, I don’t care anymore.
“She didn’t matter, it was only ever y—”
“So you had someone else. I was right all along.”
Well, there we go. The award to the worst boyfriend ever, Jeremy Murphy. I might be a bit over-dramatic with my statement, but to me, he is the worst boyfriend ever.
“But she meant nothing!”
“And that should make it better? Are you kidding me? You’ve just admitted to cheating on me and stealing my stuff to give to her to make her happy! What kind of bullshit is that?”
“I’m sorry, baby. She was forcing me to do it.”
Always having to put the blame on other people; it’s never his fault.
“Was she holding a gun to your head?”
“No.”
“Then she wasn’t forcing you.”
“She was going to tell you everything if I didn’t give her money or expensive stuff.”
“I do not care. She should have told me. At least I wouldn’t have wasted so much time, energy, and tears on you.”
“Baby, please.”
“No! Don’t baby me. We are done. We’re never, ever getting back together.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift comes on the radio. Talk about an omen.
Pushing past him, I rush away and look back to make sure he’s not following me. I’ve had enough of his sad story. He looks angry and sad at the same time, not that I care, but I can’t stand the fact that he is playing the victim in all of this. As if that wasn’t enough for today, I walk straight into a wall and nearly fall backwards in the middle of the shopping centre.
“Come on! Can I catch a freaking break?” I groan out my frustration.
“What’s wrong?” Daniel looks and sounds confused as he helps me steady myself.
“Nothing.” I compose myself and get ready to walk away, but he gently takes a hold of my wrist, stroking it with his thumb.
“Come on.”
“One snake a day is enough for me.” I try to walk away, but it’s like he’s bewitched me.
“Elisa…”
“Fine. Ugh. I walked into my ex and he’s trying to play the victim when I’m the one who’s been hurt, lied to, cheated on, and stolen from. Happy?”
“He’s an asshole. You deserve better. He doesn’t deserve you being upset over him and now I get why you don’t like that I stole your clients.”
Ha! I knew it!
“So, you finally admit to it.”
“Yes.”
“Is it because you pity me that you’re confessing to it?” I’m probably jumping to conclusions, but it’s getting too much.
“Where did that come from?” He actually looks like I’ve hurt his feelings. Oh well.
“The look on your face.”
“I’m concerned for you. You look upset and I don’t like to see you upset.”
That’s news I could have done without today.
“Why? I thought you hated me.”
“That’s where you’ve got it all wrong. I don’t hate you; you hate me.”
“Only because you’re an asshole.”
“Maybe I am, or maybe I’m just being this way so you don’t fall madly in love with me, and so I don’t break your heart.” In a way, this is kind of sweet, but he’s full of shit.
“Sounds like someone knew already what they were going to say in case of a confrontation.”
“It’s an easy answer, I’ll admit to that. Let’s just say you’re not the only one who’s been hurt and cheated on. Even though I’m a man, it’s not pleasant to have the trust you put in someone broken.”
Well, shit. He’s managed to shut me up, and that’s not an easy thing to do.
“Tell me about it. I’ve only just found out that I’ve been cheated on. I didn’t know until a few minutes ago.”
“That’s messed up. Can I buy you an ‘I’m sorry I’ve been a dick to you’ coffee?” I want to laugh so bad at his joke, but I know I won’t hear the end of it if I do.
“I don’t drink coffee.”
“A hot chocolate, then, maybe?”
“All right. That’s better.”
“Don’t sound too excited about it.” His soft laugh is making me soften up to him. What’s wrong with me? Or maybe it’s just the promise of a hot chocolate.
“I’d like that, thank you.”
Looking up at him, he mirrors my smile, but for the first time, I can see the hurt behind his eyes. Maybe he’s not that bad after all.
Chapter 6
December 23
Today is the day of the party, and I’m shitting myself. Seriously, I’ve never been this nervous before. It’s awful. I don’t know how people do this for a living because something will go wrong no matter how good you are. It’s a guarantee.
Working with Daniel on the Christmas party these past few weeks has been interesting and challenging to say the least. We went from hating each other, or me hating him as he said, to being best friends, to hating each other again because we weren’t agreeing on so many things. He wanted the most luxurious things to make it more like a New Year’s party than a Christmas party. In the end, I got my way, but it wasn’t easy. He’s as stubborn as I am, which led to some interesting conversations. He’s not that bad when you get to know him a little bit, but he still acts like a spoiled brat when he’s not getting his way. I guess I do too, but he’s learned to deal with it.
In the end, I managed to salvage the caterer and found one last minute who could provide us with the amount of food and drinks we needed. It would have been a disaster had we not had one. Who sets up a Christmas party without food and drinks? Daniel, apparently.
We had a little hiccup yesterday. The caterer nearly cancelled on us last night, but after spending an hour with them on the phone, we’re back on. Let’s just say I won’t do something like that again, or I’ll have to quit my job and move far away to avoid the embarrassment of being the one who hosted a Christmas party without a buffet and ruined everything.
“We did good, didn’t we?” I can’t believe he has the audacity of taking credit for the party.
“We?” I’m trying to stay calm, but he’s testing my patience more and more.
“All right, you did amazing. I was your little helper.” He actually looks proud of himself. I’ll wipe that grin off one day.
“I’m not even going to go there tonight.” I sigh, losing my will to fight. I just want to go crawl in bed and sleep the rest of the year away.
“Christmas truce?”
“Fine.” We shake hands, and it’s weird. I’m not going to say I felt electricity run through me as our hands touched and that there is a connection, but I did feel something, and I’m not sure I like it. His bright smile isn’t helping either.
The party has been going on for a little over an hour now and everyone is loving it. It’s such a relief to know that people are appreciating the hard work Daniel and I put in. Even though I did most of it, he did help a bit, and I don’t think this would have gone so smoothly without it, although it pains me to admit it.
Talking of Daniel… On a daily basis, he looks hot as hell, but tonight, in that suit… it should be illegal to look that good and for him to make me feel like a horny teen again who’s experiencing her first crush. Only thing is, I’m not a teen. I’m thirty, and that man is doing things to me without even touching me, things I’ve never felt before with anyone else. I’ve come to realise that I do like Daniel. Well, I appreciate him, and seeing how things were with Jeremy, I’m wondering what I ever saw in him and if I ever really loved him. I thought I did at the time, but now I’m not sure.
“Babe?” a tentative voice says from behind me.
“What are you doing here, Jeremy?” I snap, turning to him, not wanting to deal with his bullshit ever, much less right now. This is my night to shine, and I refuse to let him ruin it.
“Please, talk to me.”
“I am. Get the fuck out of here,” I mutter under my breath, trying to lead him away. I’m two seconds from smashing any of the empty bottles I can find on his head.
“Please, Elisa.”
“Don’t start. We. Are. Done. What don’t you understand in that? I’ve told you more than once that we are and that I never want to see you again. I do not care about how you feel. You’re the one who messed up, not me. Now you’ve got to own up to what you did.”
“But we were good together.” His pleading is getting annoying.
“No, you were good at stealing my money and my belongings to give to some other bitch that you were fucking. That’s not being good together. That’s you being a coward and a cheater. Now, leave or I’m calling security on you.” Anger is building inside of me and I don’t like it at all. I’ve never felt this way before.
“Not until you forgive me and give me another chance.”
“You know what? Fine. Stay as long as you want, but that’s never happening.” Turning my back to him, I see Daniel walking toward me.
“Elisa, love. Are you okay?” Pulling me straight to him after buttoning his jacket, he wraps his arms around me, caressing my arms. Not that I’m complaining because this feels nice, but what is he doing?
“I’ve been better,” I say through gritted teeth.
“What’s going on?” It’s like two lions are sizing each other up. Well, one lion and one hyena.
“Jeremy here doesn’t want to get the message that we are done.”
“I hope this is enough for you to get the message, Jeremy.”
Without wasting a second, Daniel cups my face gently with his free hand and kisses me. Not a little peck. Oh no. A full-on, tongue-teasing, lip-biting kiss. I have to hold on to him to keep my balance. How is he expecting me not to turn into a puddle on the ground with that kind of kiss? And how am I going to pretend that this isn’t our first kiss, or the best kiss I’ve ever had, might I add.
“Are you seriously dating this tool?” This is the most animated I’ve seen Jeremy about this whole situation since we broke up.
“I think the only tool here is you, buddy.” Hand casually resting on my hip, Daniel glares at Jeremy. I’m pretty sure I’m shaking from my rage at Jeremy, but also because of the intense desire I feel for Daniel in this moment.
“This is not over,” Jeremy warns.
“Bloody hell, Jeremy. It is! It has been for the past six months. You just want me back because you don’t have money to buy you and your slut whatever she wants. So suck it up and move on. Or better, find yourself a job.” He goes to slap me, but Daniel stops him straight away.
“If you as much as think about lifting a finger to her again, I’m going to make sure money will be the last of your worries, if you get what I mean.” I know this is not the time, but Daniel getting all intense like this is doing things to my lady bits.
“Fine. She’s not worth it anyway. If I can give you any advice, it would be to run while you can. She’s a ps
ycho and not a good fuck. Very loose.” I know this is said in anger, but it hurt.
“She’s not a psycho, she’s passionate. She’s an amazing ‘fuck’ as you say, and she’s not loose. You just have a small cock and don’t know how to use it. Now, leave before I kick you out myself.”
Why is Daniel defending me like that?
What a way to ruin the party, Jeremy. There’s nothing like being called a slag in front of your co-workers. I don’t bother watching if security take him away. I run to my office and hide, hoping everyone will forget about me.
“Don’t let what he said ruin this party for you. You’ve worked so hard on it.” Walking into my office as if it was his own, Daniel sits next to me on the couch.
“You’re not taking credit for it anymore?”
This is the sexiest moment of my life. My make-up is running, I’m not a pretty crier, and I have to blow my nose.
“Come on…”
“It’s too late anyway. He’s ruined it already.”
“The way he handled things proves the kind of person he is. He put you down to make himself appear to be the better person and feel better because he probably has a small dick, can’t use it, and probably can’t keep it up more than two seconds. Tell me I’m wrong.”
I don’t know how he does it, but he manages, despite the situation, to make me laugh.
“You’re not entirely wrong.”
“Dry your tears and come back to the party. You deserve it.” He brushes his thumb gently over my cheek, removing the running mascara. I knew I should have worn waterproof.
“How can I with what he said?”
“Elisa, everyone heard what he said, sure, but anyone with common sense will know that it was a low blow just to make himself feel better and feel more important.”
“But…”
“No buts. Except your amazing bum in that dress. Come with me. Let’s go dance and forget this ever happened.”
Christmas Wishes: A Christmas Romance Anthology Page 9
