Club Endless Fantasy

“For the Christmas party.” She tilted her head slightly, and the smile left her face. “Please tell me you didn’t forget…”

“Oh!” A sense of relief shot through me. “Right, yeah. No… I’ve already got that taken care of.”

I haven’t. Crap! That’s later this week…

“Good!” Her smile returned.

I had been so distracted with work and a general disdain for the holidays that I completely forgot about the annual Christmas party. I got Maggie the previous year and just wrapped up a bottle of wine that I had at home before I left for work that morning. I really didn’t know anything about the guy I had drawn for the upcoming party. His name was Bob, and he worked in the accounting department. That probably meant he liked math—and was hopefully good at it. I couldn’t think of anything math related that would make a decent gift. We were supposed to stick to a fifty dollar limit but judging by some of the gifts that I saw at the last exchange, that rule didn’t seem to be set in stone.

Damn it; I’m going to have to do some reconnaissance.

I returned to my desk and tried to focus on work instead of the holiday crap that was starting to worry me. There was no way that I could just skip the annual Christmas party. Mr. Thornton made it very clear that it was mandatory unless someone had a religious reason that prevented them from attending. It was too late to find a Jehovah’s Witness or Seventh-day Adventist and devote myself to their cause—not that I would have been that disrespectful to anyone’s religious belief just to avoid the holiday season entirely.

Truthfully, my hatred of holidays had started to wane a little bit since meeting Ian. I wasn’t ready to sing Christmas carols or ring any Jingle Bells, but I hadn’t taken down the wreath I put up. That was one step further than I ever expected to go. Either way, whether the season was gaining some traction in my heart or not, I was going to have to find a gift for Bob and make an actual list.

The day started winding down, and about thirty minutes before it was time for most people to call it a day, my phone lit up with a message from Ian.

He’s definitely going to be at the top of my list this year—I need to make sure his gift is perfect…

Ian: I really wish I could see you tonight.

Elly: I wish I could see you too. Any chance of that happening?

Ian: No, I have a dinner party, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be canceled.

Elly: Blah. :( I don’t think I would be able to spend much time with you anyway.

Ian: Why is that? Are you already trying to replace me?

Elly: No way! You’re going to think this is funny coming from me, but I need to do some Christmas shopping.

Ian: Did you finally get some holiday spirit?

Elly: You might have shifted my perspective from vehement disdain to mild toleration, but that doesn’t mean I’m eager to shop for anyone…

Ian: Not even me?

Elly: You’re the exception.

Ian: Who else do you need to buy for?

Elly: Well, there’s this guy named Bob…

Ian: Bob? Who is Bob? I thought you said you weren’t trying to replace me. :)

Elly: He works in accounting.

Ian: Is that a joke?

Elly: No, we really do have a Bob that works in accounting. I got him in the office Secret Santa—which is a lot different than your version.

Ian: It better be!

Elly: I’m going to go snoop around his desk once everyone leaves for the day and see if I can get a hint about what to buy him.

Ian: Hmm. Yeah, I don’t know. We have a Bob that works here. He shares Grumpy Cat memes with everyone and talks about his Magic: The Gathering collection all the time.

Elly: I don’t know what Magic: The Gathering is.