On the eleventh day...

The next day was the last full day Abby had to spend in the office until after the New Year. She loved her job, but with everything going on the past few days what she really needed the most this Christmas was just a day or so to sleep in. Maybe she’d even convince Jess to come with her to the Build-a-Bear workshop for once and make the bear she’d been coveting for months.

          That, and with the excitement going on around her, Abby had managed to clock an all time low productivity. She was just lucky Byers hadn’t picker up on it – the old iron woman wasn’t swayed by love stories even if they were happening outside of the pages of literature.

          Not that this was a love story of anything.

          Her card for the day was taped to the microwave, a cup cake inside it with a tiny marzipan reindeer perched atop the icing.

          It was gone in seconds, she needed the sugar.

          On the eleventh day of Christmas, your true love gives to thee: eleven piping (hot) pictures, ten teas of England, a gown pimped to the nines, eight maidens in your favourite movies, seven swans for your favourite ballet, six aspirin and a decent lay-in, five golden trinkets, GTA on PS4, three French pens, two turtle gloves and a partridge named Frosty. I know that you love cinema and stage so I brought the means to you. There is plenty of Shakespeare this season and films I know you’ll love, so whittle down your favourites and do what you love. It's in the giving of a gift to another, like a haul of gifts from a lover, It's all the ways that we show love that feel like Christmas – X.

          Eleven movies? With Boxing day releases just around the corner and the tough choice on what to see, the movie tickets were more like a gift from the angels than her secret admirer.

          She was half in love with him already, though she accepted it was sort of superfluous and superficial.

          Last night she’d dreamt that the admirer had turned out to be someone she didn’t yet know, and he’d been ‘the one’ from first sight. Damien had been there, teary, and saddened that he hadn’t realised earlier how perfect she was for him before the Twelve days of Christmas had begun. It was a sort of variant of a recurring dream she’d had for the past couple of years.

          But there was the other thing, the one she felt like a total cow for thinking: sometimes, when she was sure no one could read her mind, Abby pretended that her admirer could actually turn out to be Damien. He’d tell her that he loved her and that he was blind to not have seen it straight away. He’d take her to Paris, they’d kiss atop the Eiffel Tower for all the world’s clichés, and then they’d live happily ever after like a fairytale.

          You see, in Abby’s mind, she was the heroine of her very own romantic comedy. It was better than starting to freak out that she was approaching thirty, albeit in a few more years, and hadn’t so much as a long-term boyfriend. She was an optimist.

          As a matter of fact, a lot of the films she’d pinned to see over the next few months were optimistic ones designed to make people feel optimistic and inspired.

          Unconsciously Abby raised a hand up in a fist, determination crossing her features like a cartoon character.

          And that’s how Jess found her when she waltzed out of the bathroom in a puff of steam looking refreshed and perfect to greet the day.

          “The cupcake was a treat! No need to punch the microwave!”

          Lunch time was never a grand affair in the publishing house, but for some reason the majority had deemed to stay in to eat and the rec room was over-packed.

          It did turn out though that Abby’s romantic Christmas story had gotten around to all departments and most present knew that she was being serenaded by some mystery man. She had been prepared for that, privy to numerous little titbits of office gossip over the years; but what Abby had not been prepared for was that quite a handful of people actually knew who the admirer was.

          Ebony Harrison, ironically no relation to the Beatle despite the fact she looked kind of like him, slipped into the chair beside Abby at the table she shared with Jess.

          “Hey Abby – I bet you must be practically dying to meet your secret admirer tomorrow, right?”

          Abby, sandwich halfway to her mouth, blushed. “Uh, yeah I guess.”

          “You’ll be so surprised when you find out who it is! But you’ll love it – I just know it! Did you like the tea set?”

          Abby spat a piece of lettuce out. She hadn’t even told Jess about that yet.

          “Jeez,” she coughed, wiping the flecks of grin from her chin. “Does everyone know everything around here?”

          Ebony laughed, tossed her hair. “No, not everything, but rest assured that we all approve.” Then she stood up and went over to join some of her editing buddies.

          Abby watched her walk away with her mouth open before turning back to gape at Jess.

          “What the hell? Does everybody know who it is but me?”

          Jess hid a grin behind her coffee cup. “Well not everyone.”

          “But most of this room? Most of everyone?”

          “Well, yes.”

          Abby shook her head in disbelief. “When did I become such hot news?”

          “When your secret admirer decided to come clean and declare to all who knew you that he loved you.”

          “But what if I don’t go for him? Won’t it make him look silly.” Her face fell. “I’m going to look like a total bloody cow if I don’t fancy him.”

          Jess – and the inhabitants of the table over who had made no attempt to cover up the fact that they had been eavesdropping – barked a laugh. “Trust me, Abby, not likely.”

          Abby huffed, collected up her lunch and scanned the room. Most of the room wasn’t paying attention to her, but the ones who were cast surreptitious winks and hoots in her direction. Abby took stock of every single man in the room and tried to gage their body language, searching for a sign.

          Unfortunately Abby’s judge of body language was as terrible as her judge of character and simply staring the men down gave her no more clues to the identity of her admirer.

          So she stormed off, laughter following in her wake.

          And walked, literally, right into Damien.

          “Whoa, whoa, steady on.” His arms came up to grasp her biceps to stop her from tumbling over. “What’s happened?”

          Abby pointed back towards the staff room. “Everyone knows about the secret admirer, and who he is, except for me. I feel like an idiot! I know I’m hardly Sherlock Holmes but how come I can’t figure it out on my own?”

          Damien stared at her in astonishment. “I-

          “And what if he decides not to reveal himself? I keep imagining some incredibly romantic meeting under the mistletoe somewhere like Covent Garden with someone who’s pretty much the one, but what if I’m indifferent? I don’t have a good track record with romance, Damien!”

          “Shh, hold up now, Bee; take a deep breath.” He mimed at her to take one in and let it out, doing it with her like she was having a panic attack. Which, in a way, she sort of was. “Calm down – I’m sure it’s all going to work out just fine.”

          “But how do you know? You’re not the one who’d going to look like the office bitch if I don’t fall head over heels for the man showering me in these incredibly thoughtful gifts.”

          Damien gave her his winning smile. “Because I know.”

          And he thought that that solved everything.

          Abby opened her mouth to say something but he cut in.

          “Hey, they’re playing It’s a Wonderful Life on the telly tonight around eight. I know it’s supposed to be a Christmas classic but I’ll admit that I’ve never seen it. Would you like to come over and watch it with me?”

          Abby nodded before her brain even got onto making a decision. “I’d love to – I actually haven’t seen it either.”  

          Damien clapped her on the shoulder. “Great, well come around about seven; you have my address.” And with that, he strolled off in the direction of the staff room, Abby pretending not to notice how his bottom looked in the pinstriped suit he wore in his wake.

          It wasn’t a date, she quickly told herself as excitement bubbled up; it didn’t violate what Jess had told her and her reasoning for letting Raj off the hook the other night. It was completely innocent, just a Christmas film between friends.

          Even if she had spent a few hours thinking about him naked in the past.

          No intentions meant. It would be just fine. 

Merry Christmas

Sam xox