Red Hot Christmas

by Carmen Falcone

  “Fraser baby,” Gabby, looked down at her son. “You know Santa will be able to cope by himself. You won’t need to help all day.”

  Fraser shrugged. “I’ll just help as long as he needs me,” he said.

  What did I do to deserve such a wonderful boy?

  “Good idea. Then we can hang out together for a bit.”

  Fraser smiled again and his adult demeanor slipped. “Maybe we could go for ice-cream.”

  What the hell, it was almost Christmas. “Sure, baby.” Gabby struggled to concentrate as the full heat of Nicolas Morganti’s eyes swung onto her.

  “Is there anything else you haven’t told me?” He snarled.

  “Look, I’m very sorry, I had no idea Mr. Able would call you. I mean, I know how he feels about tradition but he was so keen to do this one last time. It’s just for the opening day, we…”

  “I’m not talking about that.” Obviously aware of Fraser looking up at the two of them, Nicolas changed his dark tone. “We’ll speak later.”

  Clearly he still thought she was the thief and some new piece of evidence was going to “prove” her guilt.

  He cut into her thoughts. “Are you good to go Elfin Mcready?”

  “Elfin Mcready?”

  “It’s my elf name,” Fraser stage whispered. “We made it up in the car coming here. In case someone from school comes today.”

  If he didn’t look like he wanted to maim her, Gabby would have laughed at the thought of Nicolas making up elfin names while dressed as the Christmas fat man.

  “Are we ready for doors?” An assistant appeared at her elbow and Gabby shoved aside all thought of Nicolas and his veiled comments. “If you’d like to go inside Santa.” She indicated with her arm. To Fraser she said, “I’ll come and get you in quarter of an hour or so baby, don’t worry.”

  “Quarter of an hour? That’s not very long.” Fraser’s voice turned winey.

  “We’ll see how it’s going. Now scoot. Both of you. Inside.” Once Fraser had followed Nicolas inside the grotto she nodded to everyone assembled and spoke into her walkie talkie again. “Let’s go. Cue music, reindeer handler, Christmas elves, and fairy welcomers. Merry Christmas.”

  The noise of the crowd began as soon as the doors were opened and the group of children who’d dragged their parents downtown to be first in to see Santa, stumbled in from the cold.

  Gabby began her checks in the foyer area. She should have gone straight inside the grotto, but she couldn’t face being in a confined area with Nicolas. Not yet. After she’d satisfied herself that the fairies and floor staff were doing their best to both promote the various sales in Able’s stores, and to channel people towards Santa, Gabby turned back to the grotto.

  “It’s your job,” she reminded herself. Still, she went through the exit area, just to check on the reindeer before she had to go into the ice cave where Santa held court. Absently patting the head of one of the reindeer Gabby listened to the chatter coming through the wall from the ice room.

  “So what do you want for Christmas?”

  It was muffled by the fabric draping, wood and scaffolding, but Gabby could make out Nicolas’s voice in faux Santa fullness. As if drawn to a magnet she walked closer to the wall.

  “Your mommy told you to ask for that did she? Well maybe she was just playing games with you….No I think a pink bicycle with sparkle tassel handlebars sounds great. But I think I might look a bit silly on one. And my reindeer might get jealous.”

  He was great. Gabby let go of the knot of tension she hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying since it turned out Mr. Able wasn’t this year’s Santa. While it was hardly her fault that the old man was too sick to show, she figured Nicolas would have found a way to blame her.

  She heard a few more children come and go and there was no sign of the angry man Gabby had seen just before Nicolas “became” Santa.

  The reindeer enclosure was starting to fill up now, with parents and children spilling in from the other rooms in the grotto. To Gabby’s delight, she spotted a young couple standing by the Christmas spirit tree she’d shown Nicolas when she’d given him a tour. Her team hadn’t been sure there needed to be the purely adult and sentimental tree in the midst of such a shrine to children’s fantasies. But here were the people she’d been thinking of when she insisted the tree and its poetic adornments were included.

  The man bent and touched a candy heart before putting a hand to the woman’s belly. Gabby’s heart sank and swelled simultaneously. The woman’s stomach was round and full of the unmistakable bloom of a child. Remembering when her own stomach had looked like that, Gabby tried to picture what it would have been like if she and Nicolas had been together, sharing an intimate touch and the excitement of their upcoming child, like the couple in front of her. She couldn’t picture it.

  The couple moved on and Gabby’s legs took her over to the Christmas spirit tree, almost as if they had a mind of their own. The candy the couple had been looking at was still swinging from the man’s touch. FAMILY.

  Gabby straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. It’s Christmas, I’m always emotional at Christmas. Emotional, sure. And stressed. Stressed and overworked and likely left with nowhere to live again.

  She shook her head and made her way out of the reindeer enclosure to go and retrieve Fraser.

  One of Gabby’s assistants was at the internal entrance to Santa’s ice room. “Miriam said you called him ruthless and efficient,” she whispered. “You forgot to mention how great Mr. Morganti is with kids.”

  Gabby did a double take. Nicolas? Great with kids? Then she settled on a reassuring thought. “He’s a professional. He’s going to make sure everyone leaves here happy otherwise they’re not going to buy anything.”

  “Yeah. Sure. But still.” The assistant gestured at Nicolas who had a small girl on his knee and her mother looking on in rapt adoration. Even with a big white beard and a belly load of stuffing, Nicolas Morganti still managed to look attractive.

  “I think it’s the way he looks at them,” the girl continued. “You know, like he’s really listening. As if he’s trying to figure out what makes them tick, and he’s not just going to take their parent’s word for it.”

  Gabby shrugged. Then spotted Fraser hanging on Nicolas’s every word. She started and her assistant’s words reverberated in her head. He’s trying to figure out what makes them tick. Fraser had taken Nicolas’s hand when they went into the grotto. He’d been excited to be an elfin helper. Seemed excited to be staying at Nicolas’s apartment.

  Could it be that Nicolas really was good with children? That his protestations about not wanting any, about finding them irksome, tiring and generally unnecessary were defense mechanisms against the wrong woman landing him with one? That he’d been afraid of leaving a child alone like his parents had left him? Or maybe the answer was even simpler. He’d assumed he didn’t like children because he’d never spent any time with them.

  Gabby watched Nicolas whisper something in Fraser’s ear as the next child moved forward in the queue. Fraser laughed and gave himself the little hug Gabby knew he used when he was especially pleased with something.

  Had she made a terrible mistake keeping Nicolas from his son? Just at that moment, Nicolas looked up and caught Gabby gazing at him. His eyes turned from clear and sparkling to dark and threatening in an instant. No wonder he was such a menace in the boardroom, one look like that and his competitors probably capitulated on the spot. It was incredible that Mr. Able had held out against him as long as he had.

  Gabby dropped her eyes. The look had pierced her, made her doubt herself even when she knew she’d done nothing wrong at Able’s. Yet as painful as it was, the look was also somehow exhilarating. He had clearly been thinking about her. A lot.

  Maybe one day Nicolas would look like that at her with all of the fire, but none of the fury.

  Maybe.

  Maybe not.

  Gabby’s heart felt as if it had been weighted with st
ones. Nicolas Morganti had never had the same sort of feelings she’d had when they were together. In fact he might never have them. The man might have just discovered he was good with kids, but when it came to relationships, his heart was as cold as the South Pole.

  It sucked. Everything was going to fall apart again. She and Fraser were going to have to find somewhere else to live, it looked like she was going to need a new job, although how she was going to get one if it Nicolas made it look like she’d embezzled money from Able’s she didn’t know, and she was never going to pay off the stupid debt her father had left her. Goodbye to her dreams of starting out on her own.

  Her heart started racing and her breaths quickened. No. Pull it together.

  Fraser caught her eye again and immediately her thoughts of despair disappeared. It was hard to be depressed with him around.

  None of her woes were Fraser’s problem. And whether she got along with Nicolas was irrelevant to how he related to Fraser. Gabby looked again at the two of them, making sure this time that Nicolas was occupied with the little boy dressed as a fireman on his lap.

  Maybe she’d tell Fraser when he was a little older and he could be the one to decide if he wanted Nicolas in his life. She set her shoulders. It was a good compromise. Yes, and by that time she’d be well clear of anything to do with Morganti’s: the store, the apartment, and the man.

  “I was going to take Fraser up to my office, but he seems to be fine,” she said.

  “Oh no, don’t take him, he’s having a blast,” her assistant replied. “I’ll let you know if there are any issues.” The woman pointed to her walkie talkie and Gabby nodded.

  “I’ll go check in with everyone else then I’m going to check I haven’t missed anything in the piles of paper on my desk.”

  As she walked through the foyer filled with excited Christmas shoppers, Gabby felt a little of her tension diminish. Nicolas had nothing on her because she hadn’t done anything wrong. They needed a new place to stay anyway, they couldn’t stay at Nicolas’s apartment forever. And so what if she was in debt forever? Thousands of people were in debt and it didn’t seem to bother them. One thing at a time. Yes, and the first thing to sort was making sure she didn’t lose this job. Otherwise it was going to be more than just difficult to find a place to live.

  As the elevator dinged open on her floor, Gabby was confused to see Miriam rushing around the office with piles of files and a frown pursing her lips to thin lines. Gabby picked up her pace and entered the office. “What’s up?”

  “Oh thank god you’re here. That guy, Malcolm from Morganti’s account division, was up here snooping around. And, well, I didn’t want him to…”

  When Miriam trailed off, Gabby wasn’t sure what she was supposed to read from the woman’s knowing look. She tried to appear blasé, in control, but wasn’t Malcolm the man Nicolas had been talking to on the phone when he’d practically accused her to being a corporate thief? “Sorry. Am I missing something? You didn’t want him to what? I thought we’d already sent over our accounts.”

  “We have. Technically. But I didn’t want him, um…I told him to come back later so I could talk to you first.”

  Gabby walked to the sofa in the reception part of their office and sat down heavily. Perhaps she’d underestimated Nicolas’s fury at the dent in his ego. Perhaps he was trying to frame her. “What didn’t you want him to find? You better tell me everything.”

  Miriam brought the pile of files over to the sofa but hesitated. “I won’t get in trouble will I? I really need this job. I thought about just shredding everything and then I thought I might get implicated or, god I don’t know.”

  “Slow down.” Gabby pulled Miriam down to sit next to her. “I haven’t done anything wrong. If someone had said something different, they’re not telling the truth. You are not going to lose your job. I’ll make sure of that, I promise.”

  The young woman let out a puff of breath. “Okay. I guess I noticed something when the sale went through, and they wanted all the accounts sent over. I usually don’t have anything to do with them, but because we had to send everything over I was just checking through things.”

  Get on with it. No. Be calm, be supportive, it’s not her fault. Gabby nodded, hoping she looked serene. Actually, she’d just settle for innocent.

  “Anyway, I was checking through the folders, making sure they had what they said inside when I kept seeing this same number over and over. I wouldn’t usually even notice, but it was my birthday, the fourth of December, 1204.87. I was going to email the Morganti people and then Brian turned up.”

  “Brian?”

  “Mr. Able’s old account guy.”

  “I thought he left,” said Gabby.

  “Nope. So close to retiring he wanted to see the transition through. Anyway, I told him about it he sort of looked at me funny. But I figured he just didn’t know how old I was, or thought I was interfering or, I don’t know. I didn’t really think that much more about it until Malcolm showed up asking loads of questions, and he asked specifically about that amount. My birthday amount.”

  Gabby said nothing, waiting for the full story to make an assessment. Something odd was going on, but she still had no idea what.

  “The other day Malcolm mentioned something about your dad. I’m so sorry, I knew nothing about it, I probably egged him on. He pulled up some old newspaper reports online for me. Man, what a nightmare.”

  “I had nothing to do with any of that.”

  “I know. I’ve worked with you for long enough. There’s no way.”

  Gabby’s hackles lowered. This was the woman who had been about to shred files to protect her. She put a hand on Miriam’s shoulder. “Thanks for believing in me. It really means a lot.”

  “You’re my boss. I know you’ve covered for a few of my mess-ups since I started.” The two women shared a smile. “Do you think Brian could be…I don’t really know? Dodgy? I really can’t picture it.”

  “I don’t know. But something is going on and Brian clearly knows more about it than he should. So what next?”

  “Malcolm said he was coming back but I said you’d be busy all day with the grotto.”

  “Well let’s see if we can’t figure out what’s going on before he gets back. No way am I taking any flack for a man who should know better. Not this time.”

  The two women poured over the figures for an hour but after an hour had passed Gabby had to admit defeat. “That figure does seem weird, but I’m no accountant. I can balance a spread sheet and workup a pretty complicated budget, but I can’t tell the difference between accrual ledgers and the tax deducted figures. Let’s get some food, let me check in downstairs, and see if we can come up with something.”

  They popped down to grab sushi and Gabby rescued Fraser from the Santa cave where he was beginning to flag.

  As they approached the office again however, Miriam grabbed her arm.

  “What?”

  “It’s Brian. What’s he doing here?” Miriam clutched at Gabby’s arm then let go, looking sheepish. Brian was a small, thin old man, not exactly about to knock them to the ground if they confronted him.

  Gabby straightened. “Call security up here in case he tries to run. Fraser, stay with Miriam. Leave this to me.” She stalked into the office and gave Brian what she hoped was her most authoritative stare. “What’s this I hear about you appropriating company money?”

  Brian’s face dropped, his sallow cheeks hollowing even further as his jaw went slack. “What do you mean? How would you…”

  “Mr. Morganti has had his people following you since the takeover,” she lied. “If you come clean now they might let you pay back what you’ve stolen without pressing charges.”

  “But I…” his eye’s suddenly narrowed. “How do you know all this?”

  Damn. “Miriam here spotted the anomaly. You shouldn’t have picked her birthday as the amount.”

  “But it was a random number.”

  “A random fourth of December
1987 number,” Miriam piped up.

  “Mr. Morganti’s man is on his way up so you might as well get your confession ready,” Gabby said, hoping he didn’t call her bluff.

  Brain looked between the two of them and Gabby saw him register the files spread out on the floor by the sofa.

  “And if you don’t tell the truth, Santa won’t bring you any presents.” Fraser coiled his hand into hers and Gabby fought the bubble of laughter that threatened to destroy the credibility she’d been working hard to build up. “Morganti’s certainly won’t be bringing you any Christmas bonus, that’s for sure.”

  Whatever resolve Brian might have had clearly crumbled and his shoulders sagged. “I can’t believe this is happening. My wife is sick, it was just to pay her medical bills.”

  Gabby felt a lump rise to her throat, then she remembered that it had almost been her in the firing line. “Why this office? It’s obvious you’ve been laying a paper trail back to us,” she pressed, guessing this was his intention.

  Brain gulped. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think anyone would find out. I knew about your father’s history, I guess you could say you were a bit of an inspiration.”

  “An inspiration?” Small black spots appeared in front of Gabby’s eyes and if she could have she would have blown fire at the man.

  Fraser tugged at her hand and she exhaled slowly. Brian would get what was coming to him anyway, she made it a policy to try and never yell in front of Fraser. On cue, two security guards appeared at the office door and Gabby waved them in. “He’s been embezzling company funds, lock him in my office and one of you stand guard.”

  “You said if I came clean…”

  “I’m very sorry about your wife but what Morganti’s decides to do about you really isn’t my call. Just like what my father decided to do wasn’t my call. If people took responsibility for their own actions more often, we’d all be a lot happier.” She turned her back on Brian. “I have to take Fraser home. You said Malcolm was going to come back this afternoon?” she asked Miriam.