I glanced up from my new Pun book to look at Andrei. He was furiously typing away at his keyboard, which meant he was purposefully avoiding looking at me.

I knew his patterns by now. Slow typing meant he was replying to a meme Nikita had sent him, steady typing meant he was actually doing his job, but crazy fast writing - that was reserved only for me.

I smiled, taking a bite out of my KFC chicken.

“Lucky,”

Jessica said as she approached my desk from behind. She was giving the bag of chia seeds in her hand a disgusted look.

“Aw, damn. Sorry. Someone had to get stuck with William, I guess.”

“Yes but why me?”

I shrugged. “You were born with red hair and killer legs. Maybe the universe wanted to balance things out,”

Jessica sighed, absentmindedly admiring her reflection in the black screen of my phone. “Maybe,”

As she walked back to her desk, I caught a glimpse of William’s tailored felt coat out of the corner of my eye. His thinning, wet hair clung to the sides of his face, making him resemble a well-dressed Gollum.

He looked giddy as he approached his desk. I straightened up in my seat, peeking at him from behind my monitor. He picked up one of the supplement bottles.

‘This was a bad idea, wasn’t it? Maybe I can bribe Nikita to take the fall for me.’

I watched as he removed the ribbon and held the bottle up to his squinting eyes. To my absolute shock, he let out a quiet gasp, then clutched the bottle to his chest like it was some newfound treasure. He glanced around the room, and I quickly averted my gaze.

‘Are you kidding me? He likes it?’

“Everyone, I have an announcement to make,”

Mr. Miller said, emerging from his office with what looked like remnants of frosting around his mouth.

“You’ve all gone above and beyond, and because of that, we’re ahead of schedule. So, as a thank you for your hard work, we’re taking this Friday off to celebrate!”

Everyone’s eyes flew to William, incredulous. I met Andrei’s eye from across the room. ‘There’s no way he approved that,’

I know, right?” He thought back to me. “If it were up to him, we wouldn’t even get lunch breaks. We’d all be hooked up to mandatory feeding tubes. Probably full of his homemade Kombucha.’

I chuckled to myself, and he raised an eyebrow. Ok, maybe he didn’t think all of that, but I was sure I was close.

“It’s also going to be a great opportunity to meet some of our partners at Catalyst Inc.” Mr. Miller continued.

Andrei narrowed his eyes. ‘If they’re anything like William, I don’t want to meet any of them. Also, you’re looking gorgeous today, so much prettier than my blond girlfriend!’

I sighed. This imaginary version of Andrei was perfect, if a bit of a suck-up. Of course, the real one was giving me a puzzled look again, so I awkwardly returned my gaze to Mr. Miller.

“I’ll email you the details today. Wear your best and don’t forget to bring your last gift as a secret Santa!”

Xxx

Tuesday’s gift was a big chocolate chip cookie and some mysterious Russian candies with a cow on the wrappers. Wednesday’s was a mix of chocolate bars. Thursday’s was an adorable set of D&D dice that I couldn't wait to bring to our next session.

I wondered what today’s gift was going to be as I took a final look at myself in the mirror.

“Looking good!” Nataly said, releasing the final lock of my hair from her curling iron.

She brushed her fingers through it a little to give it more volume and then stepped off to the side to admire her work.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“What would I do without you?” I asked.

It’s been a while since I had an excuse to dress up, and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.

The dress I picked was dark red, tight-fitting with a slit down one side. It made my waist look tiny, my thighs look wider, and my legs look longer. I even busted out the high heels from the back of my closet.

If I were a bouncer, I'd let myself skip the line. ‘I hope Andrei likes it,’ I thought, the idea deflating my excitement a bit.

Mr. Miller said we could bring a plus one. I wondered if he was bringing his blonde.

I did try to find a date on Tinder, but it felt like the app was overrun with clones of the same dude flexing in front of a bathroom mirror or posing with a surfing board at the beach. And too many of the bios started with ‘Just a king looking for my queen’ for my comfort.

“What, is the eyeliner not matching?” Nataly asked, having noticed the change in my demeanor.

“It's not that, you did an amazing job with the makeup. It's just…” I trailed off.

My eyes wandered to the dice set on the table, and when I looked back at her, I could see she understood.

“Forget about Andrei, there are plenty of other fish in the sea,”

Nataly wasn't one to say things like ‘You're too good for him’ to make me feel better. But even if she were, she would never say that about Andrei. We both knew he was a catch.

Still, there was no point in letting that get me down.

“You're right,” I said, grabbing my coat and the festive gift bag I’d filled with dried pineapples and figs.

“I'm gonna have fun tonight!”

Xxx

I expected a rented hall at Pinevale’s small community center, maybe a room at the local karaoke place - not this. This was an actual event venue.

It was obvious that Catalyst Inc. had funded everything - Mr. Miller could’ve never afforded it on his own. I shrugged off my coat and folded it under my arm as I took in the scene.

Tables with elegant white tablecloths were scattered around the room and a festive balloon archway was set up at the entrance. Christmas decorations sparkled from every corner, and the food stands - there were so many of them!

Most of the faces were unfamiliar, though I recognized a few from mandatory Zoom calls. I let out a small sigh of relief when I spotted Nikita, already piling a mountain of food onto his plate. I made my way over to him.

“Anything you’d recommend?” I asked, eyeing his overflowing plate.

He glanced up at me, already having managed to stain his fancy vest with some type of orange sauce. He looked me up and down.

“Damn, girl” He said appreciatively.

I gave him a wink and immediately regretted it. How do people ever do that without feeling super awkward? Still, his expression remained impressed, and it was a nice boost to my ego.

“Hey, uh, question for you,” I started, looking around. “Did Andrei get here yet?”

Nikita’s lips curled into one of his signature shit-eating grins, so I hurried to clarify. “For work reasons. I have a work-related question. About one of the screens I designed.”

“He got here a little before me,” He answered, still grinning. “He’s over there,”

He gestured toward the dance floor with his fork. No one was dancing at the moment, but several of my co-workers had gathered in a circle, chatting amongst themselves.

I tried to keep my reaction in check as my gaze landed on Andrei, aware that Nikita was watching me.

The man could easily pass for a model.

He was wearing a dark blue suit, but the jacket had been discarded. The sleeves of his crisp white shirt were rolled up to his biceps, showing off his muscles, and his collar was unbuttoned.

His hair was as messy as usual, and I wanted to run my fingers through it so badly. I bet his new girlfriend got to. ‘Where was she, anyways? Did he not bring her?’

“They broke up,” Nikita said.

My eyes snapped back to him, mortified that my thoughts were so transparent that even Nikita could read them so easily. Embarrassment was quickly replaced with excitement however. I couldn’t contain my smile.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” I said, figuring there was really no point at keeping up the act. I just didn’t want the rest of my co-workers to know.

Nikita laughed. “I won’t, but if you keep staring at him like that someone is bound to notice,”

I summoned every ounce of willpower I had and turned my eyes away from Andrei. ‘Ok,’ I said to myself, ‘What now?’

The thought of making the first move was beyond terrifying, but maybe I could find a way around it?

I looked around the room. There were several men my own age that I could strike up a conversation with. I was horrible at flirting, but maybe the dress could do the talking for me.

My eyes settled on a guy by the bar near the dance floor. He was handsome, though a bit too feminine-looking to be my type. But he was in clear view of Andrei - and that was more than enough.

I squared my shoulders, tugged my dress a little lower at the neckline, and made my way over.

“Hi,” I said when the man didn’t seem to register my presence at his side.

He turned, took one look at the way I was playing with my hair, and immediately offered me an apologetic smile.

“Sorry sweetheart, I’m gay,”

‘Well that’s a bummer.’ I tried not to look disappointed.

“That’s alright,” I said, already scouring the room for the next possible target.

“Aw, don’t look so sad. You’re gorgeous, I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding a guy to take home with you tonight,”

Against my will, my eyes returned to Andrei.

He was mid-conversation with Mr. Miller when he noticed me. His eyes widened, and whatever he’d been saying came to an abrupt halt.

“Like that guy, for example. I think he’d love to switch places with me right about now,”

I could almost feel Andrei’s gaze on my skin. It lingered on every exposed inch with an intensity that made me hold my breath. Particularly where the slit of my dress revealed a generous stretch of my thigh.

“You think?” I asked.

The man leaned a bit closer and twirled a lock of my hair around his finger, before glancing at Andrei.

“Pretty sure,” he said with a chuckle, stepping back again.

Mr. Miller looked at Andrei with a confused expression, clearly waiting for him to continue speaking. When nothing was forthcoming, he followed his gaze. I waved awkwardly in greeting.

He waved back, then gently jabbed Andrei on the shoulder, highly amused.