Holly“There,” Holly whispered, carefully placing the last piece of tape.She smiled at her work. The wrapping paper was neatly folded around the corners and she’d even made the tape look nice. She wrote Nathan’s name in neat print on the corner. It was possibly the best wrapping she’d ever done on a present.It was just a copy of A Christmas Carol, but it seemed like the perfect Christmas Eve present for Nathan. She’d agonized over which book to get him for the Christmas Eve tradition, but had finally settled on this one.It was tradition in her family to gift a book on Christmas eve. She was excited to share this tradition with Nathan. She was excited to share everything with him.Life was good. She tucked the book under the small tree in her apartment next to the other gift she’d picked out for him. It was just a t-shirt with the name of the town and a printed mountain background. It wasn’t much, but she thought he would like it since he was moving his company here. It felt like a
Nathan“Mr. Reed?” a soft feminine voice asked at Nathan’s office door. “I have some files for you. May I come in?”“Sure,” Nathan said, motioning forward. He was glad for the distraction. No matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to be able to focus on work. His heart just wasn’t in it.The woman came in with a stack of files in her petite hands. She wore a black pant suit with a soft, pale green undershirt that brought out the light green color of her eyes. He wasn’t sure what her age was. Her hair was so blonde it appeared to be almost silver against the black of her jacket.“Why are you delivering files?” he asked as she set down the folder on his desk. “The mail-room usually handles that.”“I’m an intern,” she explained. “And since it’s Christmas Eve, there just isn’t a lot to do right now. My boss said to find something to do.”“What’s your name?” he asked her. Now that she was here, he found he liked having some company and didn’t want her to leave just yet. The office was too qu
HollyHolly sat before a roaring fire, watching the flames jump and dance around a yule log. She wondered if it would be appropriate to put another shot of rum in her hot cocoa or if three was already too many.She wanted to feel happy. It was Christmas Eve. She was warm and full of good food. Her father had made his famous pot roast and she’d eaten enough mashed potatoes that she was probably at least fifty percent potato herself. There would soon be presents and cookies.There was every reason to be happy and content. But, all she could think about was Nathan.So, she sat on the floor in front of the fire and drank rum.It was her annual place to sit on Christmas Eve. Holly and Mark had already watched the old Claymation version of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Now they would exchange books as was their tradition.When Holly was a little girl, they used to do this every year. Her mother would pick out an educational book with beautiful pictures for her. One year, she got an encyclo
HollyHolly didn’t want to open her eyes. She had the covers pulled up around her chin and her body was comfortably warm, but her face was cold. If she opened her eyes, that meant it was morning.And for the first time in her life, she didn’t want it to be Christmas morning.Her phone began to buzz, telling her that it was almost time to leave. She had to be at the store an hour before the party to get everything set up.With a groan, she sat up, swung her feet out of bed, and immediately regretted the decision. Her apartment was freezing. Even with socks on, her feet were cold on the floor. She hurried to the bathroom, changing her clothes as quickly as possible before the cold could set in.Luckily, she’d had enough water that she wasn’t too hung over. Just a mild headache and she didn’t want any breakfast.She grabbed her things and paused at the small Christmas tree in her living room. Three presents sat under it. There was the big, bulky Christmas present for her father, a handma
NathanThe walk up the small flight of stairs to Mark’s office was the longest one of Nathan’s life. He could feel Holly’s hand in his, but he still had to keep looking back and making sure she was real.They stepped into the office, and Holly closed the door behind her.“Are you really here?” she asked, a hint of fear in her voice and eyes. “I thought you said you didn’t think this was going to work.”“It wasn’t the way things were,” he told her. “But, I made changes. I hope I haven’t missed my chance.”“No.” She shook her head and smiled. “You haven’t missed it. But I need to know you aren’t going to leave again. That we’re not just going to end up in the same place as before.”Nathan reached into the back pocket of his Santa costume and pulled out a piece of heavy paper. He handed it to her.“This says you’re the owner of Elements Computer Technologies,” Holly said, reading the paper. She looked up at him still confused. “I thought you were always the owner.”“No. Paradigm was the
HollyHolly Jones pulled out a red pen and started grading.“Did you seriously bring your grading with you?” Aliyah asked, turning to look from the road to stare at her friend.“Yes. And pay attention to the road, please,” Holly replied, motioning to the twisting mountain road in front of them. “It’s snowy and this pass is always slippery.”“Yes, Ms. Jones,” Aliyah replied, sounding like one of their second-grade students. “You know this is supposed to be a vacation, right?”“Yes.” Holly circled and marked the writing assignment of her student in front of her. “But, I’ll feel like I’m on vacation when these are done. I only have a couple left.”Aliyah shook her head sadly. “You work too hard.”“You work just as hard as I do,” Holly replied. She slid a finished page back into her folder.“I’m not the one grading papers right now,” Aliyah said, turning on the windshield wipers to brush away the big snowflakes. It was snowing harder the closer they got to the ski resort.“That’s because
NathanNathan’s phone buzzed like an angry hornet on the leather seat. Nathan didn’t even glance at it. He kept his eyes on the road. Snow flurries danced in front of his headlights as he sped along the dark road toward the ski resort.The heated seats kept him more than comfortable. The engine hummed with power as he shifted into a lower gear to accelerate up the mountain road. Behind him, two black SUVs struggled to keep pace with his silver all-wheel drive Ferrari.The phone continued to buzz and he continued to ignore it as he focused on speed and taking the turns. He pushed harder, taking the icy turns just a little bit faster. The car slid, but he stayed in control.He was on vacation now and there was no way he was going to let anyone ruin that for him.It had been a rough month. He needed this.He took the corner and the ski resort came into view. It was only then that he stopped driving like a madman. Blue Aspen Resort and Spa was one of his favorite places to ski. He’d skied
Holly“Is that your stomach?” Holly asked. A low grumble filled the elevator.Aliyah shifted her feet uncomfortably. “Yeah.”“Are you okay?” Holly asked. Beads of sweat popped out on Aliyah’s forehead and she looked pale. Her beautiful skin was usually a rich milk chocolate, but right now, she looked like she’d been Photoshopped into black and white.“My stomach,” Aliyah whispered. She swallowed hard and stared at the elevator buttons, willing the elevator to get to their floor faster.When the silver doors opened, Aliyah bolted, leaving behind her bags as she sprinted down the hallway. Holly put Aliyah’s bag over her shoulder and followed behind at a much more human pace.“Wow,” Holly said, coming in the front door of their hotel room.It was bigger than her apartment.The style was elegant western. Wood furniture with rustic accents decorated the living room, but the main appeal was the huge windows overlooking the ski slope. It was too dark to see the full view, but Holly could tel