The Secret About Christmas

by Amanda Bennett

  Twelve

  Hayden

  I had a new plan going into work this morning. It had been a week since the incident had happened, and it seemed that Officer Jude had wormed his way right into Noel’s life. I didn’t want to interfere so for the time being, I had kept my distance. Sure we had agreed to be friends, and from what I could tell, we were. We spent every break hanging out. We spent every lunch hour eating together and getting to know one another better, but at the end of the day, I let Officer Jude nudge his way into her heart, while I took the high road and tried to ignore every feeling, besides friendship that I felt for her. But not today.

  Starting today, I was going to start showing her exactly what she would be missing out on if she decided to choose the cop. Nora thought I was completely insane, and warned me not to do what I was about to do, but Nora was a girl, and she had no idea how to get a girl.

  My alarm started blaring for the fourth time, and now I really needed to get out of bed and get ready for work. I rolled away from the girl that was lying next to me in my bed, and quickly made my way into the bathroom to take a scolding hot shower before heading out into the freezing abyss. When I emerged about thirty minutes later, Meghan, or at least that’s what I think her name is, was half naked, perched on the side of my bed. She looked good enough to eat, and as much as I knew I shouldn’t…I did.

  I dropped my towel to the floor, exposing every ounce of my hardened body. She licked her plump lips as her eyes made their way down to my most needy part of my anatomy. Without a second thought, she was on her knees, crawling across the mattress to get to me. She took me into her mouth slow and easy, and I had to talk myself off the ledge as to not let myself get carried away. I had to draw this out as much as I could, because I knew as soon as I slid inside of her, I would imagine she was Noel, causing me to come far sooner than she or I would have anticipated.

  Her tongue grazed the most sensitive part of me, and I shuttered as she pulled back just enough to let a little bit of air hit the wet exposed skin, before she opened her mouth a bit, and let my dick slide quickly to the back of her throat. I could feel myself on the brink, and I pulled out of her mouth and flipped her over on the bed, pulling her ass up as my hand gently pushed her face against the pillow beneath her.

  I started out slow, wanting to prolong the yearning sensation I felt when I first slid into a girl, and I let out an unbearably loud groan as her walls tightened around my length. As much as I wanted to savor this moment as I imagined it was Noel staring back at me, I just couldn’t control myself any longer. I thrust in and out of her at a dizzying pace, counting down the seconds until I was releasing all of me into her, and that’s when I realized I had broken my cardinal rule. I pulled out of her so fast, you would’ve thought that the cops were banging at my door. I reached into my nightstand drawer, rolled the condom down my rock hard cock, and thrust as hard as humanly possible back inside of her.

  Her screams vibrated off of the walls as I slammed into her over and over again. When I finally finished, I pulled out, gave her ass a nice hearty slap, and went about my business. “You want me to give you a ride back to your car this morning?”

  “Could you?” She was out of breath, and it almost had me wanting more, but I forced myself to finish getting ready.

  “Of course. But you gotta be up and ready to go in ten.”

  Ten minutes later, we were headed out to my car and on our way into the store. Of course I had ulterior motives bringing her back to her car, but I needed Noel to get a taste of her own medicine. For the last week she had been doing nothing but rubbing it in my face how much fun she was having with Officer Jude every night after work. Of course she wasn’t having “fun” the way I was having fun, but it still hurt just the same.

  I sat in my car and waited until I knew Noel would be pulling up, and then I ran around and helped Meghan out of her side of the car. When I saw that Noel was looking in my direction, I pushed Meghan up against the car and laid one on her. Sure it was a bit over the top, but that’s just how it had to be done.

  “Call me later.” I knew I wouldn’t, but I lied to her to make her feel better.

  “Sure. Have a good day.”

  “You too.” She whispered as she walked away.

  Noel came strutting up to me a few minutes later as we took our morning stroll into the store together. It was weird, we did all the things that coupled people do, but none of the fun, beneficial things, but for some reason, I didn’t mind. I actually liked that we held hands, and walked into work together. Of course she took every opportunity she could to remind me that we were “just friends”, but I was surprisingly okay with it all.

  “So what was this one’s name? No wait, let me guess. I like to guess.”

  That she did. We did this every morning that I dropped off a new girl. She would give me a rash of shit, and then try to guess the name of the skank, her word not mine, and almost nine times out of ten, she ended up being right. It was definitely a twisted and weird gift she had.

  “I wanna say, Tiffany? No…no, no, no…Meghan?”

  “Holy shit, how do you do that?”

  “What can I say…I’m gifted.” She laughed as she held up her hands and bowed.

  “That you are.”

  We were almost to the backroom, and this was usually the point in time where we hugged and parted ways. I held my arms open for her to come in for it, but today her face had a look on it that I hadn’t seen before…disappointment.

  “What’s wrong, small fry?”

  “I don’t know. Don’t you think this is weird at all?”

  “What? Hugging you? No, I actually enjoy feeling you close to me.” She playfully smacked my shoulder. If only she knew I wasn’t joking.

  “No. I meant us talking about your conquests like it’s a natural thing. Like we are just…”

  “Friends? But you said that’s what we were. Well…this is how I talk to my friends.”

  “I know, and I love being friends with you, but it’s just…”

  “Just what?” Say it. Tell me that you want to be mine, and I’ll ditch all those other girls in a heartbeat. Tell me you only see yourself with me, please just say it.

  “Never mind. I have to start getting changed, and so do you fatty.” She joked, and I knew that the moment had come and gone. I laughed in return, and then went to my locker to down an entire water bottle of orange juice and vodka. This day was about to go from awesome to shit in about thirty minutes.

  Thirteen

  Noel

  “Noel!”

  A small childlike voice kept calling my name, but given the fact that there were about a million kids in the department store at the moment, I ignored it and kept working. When I heard it again, I stopped what I was doing and glanced around. When I caught sight of Vanessa and her daughter waving at me, I went running in their direction.

  “Hi guys. How are you?” I bent down and gave Lexie-May a huge hug.

  “We are doing great. Just getting some last minute shopping done.” I stood and gave Vanessa a hug as well.

  “That’s awesome. I don’t envy you one bit. I loathe Christmas shopping.” I turned to Lexie-May with my hands on my hips. “Miss Lex, are you just super excited for Christmas?”

  “I am. I am. I really think Santa will bring me what I asked for too.” She leaned towards me and gave me her best wink, which looked more like blinking, but I knew what she was implying.

  “I hope he does.” I smiled.

  “Hey, so we are having a little get together at our house tonight, and we wanted to come and invite you. You can bring anyone you like, and I promise there will be plenty of adults.” She laughed.

  “Well, it just so happens that my date has to work tonight, so I’m in. I have a couple of friends I can bring with me. Are you sure that’s okay?”

  “Of course. The more the merrier.”

  “Perfect. Can I bring anything?”

  “If there are any specific adult beverages you wo
uld like, then feel free to bring those. There will be plenty of booze, but sometimes I don’t have what others drink. Other than that, just bring yourself. Oh…and it’s an ugly sweater party.” She grimaced as she told me the last part as though I would change my mind.

  “Sounds perfect. I guess I’ll see you ladies tonight. I gotta get back to the hoard of kiddos.”

  “Bye Noel.”

  “Bye Lex.” I waved as Lexie-May and her mom walked out the doors, and I turned quickly to make it back to my station. Luckily Nora had picked up my slack the whole two minutes that I was gone.

  “Thanks for covering for me. Hey, you feel like going to an ugly sweater party tonight?”

  “Will there be some handsome gentlemen at this party?”

  “Um…I would assume so.”

  “Count me in.” She started to walk away but turned around real quick. “Oh yeah, Mr. Rowe is looking for you.”

  “Great!” I muttered under my breath as I moved the rope back for another child and his parents to walk through.

  A couple hours later, it was finally time for lunch, and I couldn’t wait to get something in my stomach. I swear coffee always sounded like it should be part of the major food groups, but somehow or another it never kept the actual hunger at bay.

  “Sandwich?” Hayden’s hand flew out in front of my face, and I practically ran into the sandwich, forcing it into my mouth whether I wanted it or not.

  “Sure. Thanks.” I pulled up a seat next to where he was sitting, and dropped my head onto the table. “They should really do mandatory naptime. I’m beat.”

  “Long night?”

  “I wish, but no. Jude left at like ten, but I tossed and turned all night long. It was weird.” I looked up at Hayden through hooded eyes just as he was making a weird face, but I chose to ignore him. “Hey, I know you’re probably super busy with some random skank tonight, but would you possibly want to escort me and Nora to an ugly sweater party?”

  “Whose party?”

  “Some girl I met when I first started here. I ran into her and her daughter this morning, and she invited me and friends.”

  “A kiddie party?” He laughed. “No thank you.”

  I smacked him hard across the back. “It’s not a kiddie party, ass. She said there would be plenty of adults, oh and booze.” I knew I could lure him in with the temptation of alcohol.

  “Hmmm…I guess I could make an appearance. Can we leave and go to a bar if it sucks?”

  “Uh absolutely! Duh!” I shoved the sandwich he gave me into my mouth, and gracefully ran out of the backroom to get myself a soda at the deli that was inside the store.

  Of course now I had to find myself an ugly sweater to wear to this damn thing. I hated last minute invites, but whatever. There had to be something in this ginormous department store that I worked in. I grabbed my soda and headed to the second floor where we kept all the ugly as sin clothing. Just as I stepped off of the escalator, I spotted the perfect one. It was beyond ugly, and I swear if they gave away awards for the ugliest sweater, I would win…hands down. I grabbed my size, and headed over to the register to pay. When I was headed back downstairs, I caught the sight of a guy who looked exactly like Jude, but I shook my head in disbelief. Why would he be at my store when he was supposedly working?

  I tried to follow the guy, but Mr. Rowe stepped in front of me just then. “Ms. Christmas. Can I see you in my office please?”

  Ah crap. What did I do now? “Sure. Lead the way.” I joked, but the look on his face was definitely not one of amusement.

  I sat in the chair across from Mr. Rowe, and tried to imagine what I could’ve possibly done to get into trouble. I had been trying my hardest to keep my nose clean since my first day went so smashingly, but apparently I hadn’t done a good enough job. “You know me and Hayden are just friends right?” I blurted out.

  “Excuse me?” His eyes went wide in shock.

  “I mean, I know it looks like we are more than that, but I swear on my life we are just friends. I would never date a co-worker.”

  Mr. Rowe let out a loud overbearing laugh. “I don’t care about you and Hayden, Noel. But I think it’s great that you think because I wanted to speak with you that it was because you were in trouble. I wanted to let you know that we have decided to give you a raise.”

  My mouth fell open in shock, and I was practically speechless. “Oh my god, shut up. Are you serious? God, I thought after my first day that I would never get a raise.” Okay, I said almost speechless.

  “Well actually, I was also wondering if you would like to stay on after the holiday season is over? You’ve been a real asset to this company in the short time that you’ve been here.”

  “That would be amazing. Thank you. Oh, and yes. I would love to.”

  “Enough of the formalities, Noel. Now it’s just me talking, not Mr. Rowe. What exactly is going on with you and my nephew?”

  The minute the word nephew came out of his mouth, I was thrown for a loop. That would mean…holy…shit. “I’m sorry, nephew?”

  “Ah crap. I thought he had already told you.”

  “Told me what, Harrison?”

  “Who his father is. Damn me and my big mouth. You can’t say anything, Noel.”

  I held my hands up in surrender. “I won’t. Cross my heart.” I may have looked cool and calm on the outside, but on the inside I was livid. Why would he keep something like this from me? Did he not trust me? What the hell? “So that would make Mr. Darrington, his father?”

  “Yes. Look…I’ve seen a change in Hayden since the two of you have been hanging out. He’s not the screw up he once was, and that’s exactly why his father sent him out here. You’re good for him, and before he knows it, he will be back in his rightful position in New York. So thank you.”

  New York, huh? There were so many expletives running through my head, but I gritted my teeth, and simply said, “You’re welcome.”

  “Alright, well back to work. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good.” I stood from my chair, and slowly made my way down the long white hallway that lead out to the sales floor across from Santa’s Workshop. The overbearingly loud shrills and shrieks of tiny children took over my brain, and I felt as though I would pass out. I caught myself on the wall, and slid down the cool tacky wallpaper until my butt came to rest on the ground beneath me.

  I wasn’t sure which part was worse, making a complete ass out of myself in front of the boss’s son repeatedly, or knowing that he had been lying to me since day fucking one? Before I had a chance to process what was going on, Nora was at my side making sure I was okay.

  “I’m fine.” I muttered. “Just help me up before anyone else sees me, please.”

  “Okay.”

  Once I was back in a standing position, I made my way over to the water fountain on the wall, and took a long sip. When I felt a little better, I turned to look at Nora. “Sorry. I don’t think I ate enough. Let’s hurry up and get this day over with, I need a drink.” I joked, but Nora didn’t laugh and I could tell that she was really worried. “I’m fine, Nor. Come on, slap on a happy face.” I pinched her cheeks and she finally gave in and let out a laugh. This was gonna be fun.

  Fourteen

  Hayden

  Noel had been acting weird since midday at work. But she became unusually so once we got to the Christmas party. I tried to offer to get her a drink, but she refused. Then I offered to take her coat, but she refused again. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was that I had done to her, but apparently it was something completely unforgivable.

  “Hey Nora, what’s wrong with Noel?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea. Come on, help me find a man.”

  Nora grabbed my arm, and began pulling me through the crowd of people I didn’t even expect to be here. When Noel mentioned that this girl had a kid, I half expected a sea of kids ruining all the good times to be had. Lucky for Nora and myself, there were plenty of ripe fruit for the picking. Unfortunately, Noel was who
I wanted to pick, and at the moment she seemed as though she would rather kill me than talk to me.

  “Have you seen Noel anywhere?” I shouted into Nora’s ear as we turned the corner, and ended up where the open bar was. Score!

  “I haven’t seen her, but I found someone I think I should introduce myself to. See ya later.”

  Before I knew it, Nora was off like the wind, and I was left to fend for myself. I ordered myself a drink from the bartender who looked all too familiar, and turned around to survey the room. If Noel was going to ignore me all night, then I was bound and determined to find someone who wanted to be with me. I pushed myself off the wall, and started to make my way out towards the living room when I heard a silky sweet and sexy voice say my name, but not the one I usually go by.

  “Luca?”

  I turned around thinking I would know this person immediately, but I had absolutely no idea who this strikingly beautiful girl was. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

  “You don’t recognize me at all?”

  “I’m sorry, no.”

  “Well I guess that shouldn’t surprise me, seeing as you practically slept with every girl in town every summer you came around.”

  She sounded quite angry, and I couldn’t figure out why. Had I lead her on at some point? “I’m really sorry if I hurt you in any way. I was young and stupid, and thought that I could practically get away with murder back then.” Suddenly it all started to come back to me. There was only one girl I had met here that I actually told my real name too. She was the one girl who made me feel for someone other than myself. She started to walk away, but I gently caught her arm in my grasp. “Vanessa?” She turned with unshed tears in her eyes. “It is you. Oh my god, it has been what…”

  “Almost six years.”