Chapter 1
Chapter One
Milo hurried down the street, burying his nose in his scarf. An icy wind came off the ocean, promising a damp, cold evening.
Yuck.
The first of December was too early for a holiday party. Milo wasn’t ready for lights and carols, but tonight was too important for his career to skip.
At least each passing day meant he was that much closer to summer. Fingers crossed, he’d have a promotion by then.
Milo’s phone buzzed, and he dug it out of his pocket, jostling the wrapped present under his arm. He checked the incoming text.
Jane: Don’t kill me, but I screwed up.
Milo sighed. His fellow administrator had a taste for the dramatic. It was probably nothing. He replied.
Milo: I won’t kill you. Promise.
Jane: Thanks! Because I realized I gave you the wrong name for the gift exchange.
Jane: I’m sooooo sorry. I was talking to Luna in purchasing, and she was going on about her gift for Holt, and I was like, wait. Then I checked my spreadsheet. You’re supposed to have Paul! Not Holt!
Milo stopped in his tracks. No. She couldn’t be serious.
Paul was the head of the insurance company where Milo worked as a low-level admin. Holt—Milo’s direct manager and head of the assessment team—was the one Milo had set out to impress tonight, in the hopes he might snag the team’s head admin role when Cindy left in the spring.
He had the best gift for Holt. The custom, screen-printed shirt was unique, thoughtful, and had come in under budget with the help of Milo’s roommate’s access to the art school, but there was no way in hell Milo was giving big-boss Paul a pink tank top that proclaimed Purrfect Cat Dad.
Holt would have gotten a kick out of it. He and Milo were always talking about their cats. It was a whole thing.
Milo checked the time.
He had thirty minutes to find a new gift. No problem. He could do this.
If anything, the mix-up would be a funny story, and he could still give Holt the shirt. He could still get the promotion and corresponding raise, and finally be able to breathe, maybe even save some money.
Milo turned the corner and was blinded by a shop covered in so many Christmas lights that it had to be visible from space. A neon sign blinked in the window: Give the Ideal Gift This Holiday Season.
The growing tightness in Milo’s chest eased. See. Everything was fine. He’d found the exact shop he needed, almost like it was meant to be.
He hurried inside, a bell tinkling as he closed the door behind him.
Sweet scents of gingerbread and vanilla filled his nose, and warm air thawed his icy cheeks.
A black candle flickered on the windowsill, a bit of a fire hazard next to all the tinsel, and totally out of place next to all the red and green decor, but whatever.
“Welcome to my magical gift shop. I’m Maeve,” a woman with hair as black as Milo’s said from behind the counter. Her jewelry clinked as she made a welcoming gesture. “How may I assist you, young one?”
Milo tamped down the urge to insist he wasn’t that young. He was in his mid-twenties, for heaven’s sake, and she didn’t look more than a few years older than him.
“Hi. I need something for a holiday gift exchange happening tonight.”
“You’ve come to the right place.” She beckoned him closer, her dark eyes twinkling, which had to be a trick of the light. Eyes didn’t literally sparkle.
Milo approached the counter. The gift shop wasn’t what he’d expected. There wasn’t a greeting card in sight, and the stock seemed totally random. It was more like a secondhand store, but that was fine.
“You can relax,” Maeve said with a smile. “I’ll find you the perfect gift. All you need to do is write the person’s name on this card and tell me a little about them.”
Usually, when people told Milo to relax, he tensed out of spite, but for some reason, his muscles unbunched, something deep inside him releasing. He’d been so damn tired all month. All year. It didn’t matter if he got Paul the perfect gift. Anything was better than the pink cat dad shirt.
He didn’t have to worry so much.
Milo grabbed the pen Maeve handed him and wrote Paul’s full name on the small card.
“He runs the company where I work. I don’t really know much about him personally. The gift needs to be twenty dollars or less though. Rules of the exchange. Something simple would be great.”
Maeve nodded. “When it comes down to it, what we want most is often simple.”
“Uh… right.” Milo readjusted the present under his arm. He wasn’t in the mood to get philosophical. “Do you gift wrap?”
“I do. Not to worry. I’ll be right back.” Maeve took the card and disappeared into a back room.
Milo tried to be patient, but Maeve was taking a while. He glanced around the shop so he wouldn’t watch the clock.
His father always said that if he was on time, he might as well be late because it revealed his laziness to everyone around him. Which was dumb, but Milo was still perpetually early.
Didn’t look like he would be tonight.
For the first time, that didn’t bother him. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if he was a few minutes late. It was a party after all. A time to have fun and enjoy himself, not agonize over every little thing.
It wasn’t like the world would end.
Milo snorted to himself. When was the last time he’d been this chill about anything? Probably never.
“Here we are.” Maeve reappeared and presented a small wrapped box with a festive red bow and a name card attached. “Twenty dollars exactly.”
“Awesome, thanks.” Milo paid and tucked the present in his coat pocket.
Disaster averted.