Club Endless Fantasy

om the company. Mr. Thornton would never do that.

Ian: We did the Secret Santa thing a few times. We even did Dirty Santa once, but it didn’t go well. I don’t want them to feel like they have to spend their money on anyone unless they really want to.

Elly: Make sense. I don’t even know Bob from accounting…

Ian: You know he likes heavy metal music!

Elly: I do now. I really do hope he likes his gift.

Ian: I’m sure he will.

Elly: I miss you.

Ian: I miss you too. I wish we could spend the night together…

Elly: We will tomorrow. :)

Ian: And the night after that?

Elly: You might be able to persuade me.

Ian: I think we should try to get to the stores when they open, so we have plenty of time to decorate. Can you get out of bed at a reasonable hour?

Elly: I always do!

Ian: Good, then I’ll see you bright and early.

Elly: I’m looking forward to it!

Ian: Have fun tonight. Will you let me know when you’re home safe?

Elly: If you’re still up.

Ian: I’ve got a new book and a couple of True Crime podcasts to catch up on. I should be awake.

Elly: Okay :)

I made it to the Christmas party earlier than I expected and put my gift on the table with the others. I had no idea who drew my name, or what they could have possibly gotten me. Based on what I saw the previous year, the gifts would be either silly or thoughtful, depending on who drew your name. Some people treated it like a joke and got gag gifts while others took it pretty seriously. I felt like I had done a decent job considering that I drew the name of someone I had never even had a real conversation with.

“Did you get some eggnog?” Mary walked up behind me while I was trying to decide where to sit.

“No, not yet.” I turned to her and smiled. “I haven’t finished looking at all the awesome decorations you put up.”

“I had a lot of help with them.” She looked around and laughed. “Maybe next year, you’ll join the team—if you’re not too busy trying to get a corner office.”

“I’ll think about it.” I brushed a stray hair out of my face and nodded.

“Enjoy the party, dear.” Mary turned towards one of the other guests. “And please get some eggnog.”

“I will. Thank you, Mary.” I walked towards the table with a bowl of eggnog and several snacks.

She really did put in a lot of work to make this party festive.

I got some eggnog and a couple of cookies before I walked around the room to mingle. I really hadn’t made much of an effort to get to know my coworkers. They were just background noise and scenery that I had to look at every day when I came to the office. I had worked with a few of them on projects, but I didn’t go out of the way to meet anyone else. When I was an intern, I tried to spend all of my time being nice to the right people and ignoring the rest. Opening myself up to Ian and holiday season, in general, had made me realize that I wasn’t just Elly-nezer Scrooge at Christmas. It was my attitude towards life itself. That was something I needed to change.

“Did you get some eggnog?” Maggie walked up to me after I spent an hour mingling and found somewhere to sit.

“Yep, I just finished my second cup.” I smiled and nodded.