Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Deal shouldered open the door of the community center room and placed the boxes he carried on the ground.
The place was a buzz of activity. The tree was in the corner, and Fox was sweeping away some needles that had fallen from when it had been carried in.
There was so much to do, in such a little time. It seemed almost impossible that they would get everything done, go back to the office, and open the envelope on their desks, and then go home to change.
“We’re never going to get it done in time,” he grumbled, as he picked the boxes up and took them over to the tree.
“We will, we don’t have a choice.”
“Did someone call for reinforcements?”
Deal glanced over his shoulder and saw Julian standing in the doorway. “Is there an army behind you, because we’re going to need more than you.”
“I can leave if you want me to,” Julian fired back. There was no anger in his tone, as he had a big grin on his face.
“Don’t you fucking dare. You’re in on this now and we expect to see you here tonight.” Fox handed him a box. “Here are the plates. Can you lay them out?” He pointed to the two long tables, which were covered by green tablecloths, and had red table runners down the middle of them.
“I’m looking forward to it and this I can do.” Julian took the box and headed to the first table.
“I’m going to have fucking glitter all over my face,” Hound grumbled, and Deal bit back a laugh. His friend was hanging the glitter covered paper bells in the corners of the room.
“You’re going to have to go home and have a shower before you head to the office. Otherwise, they’re going to know we’ve been up to something,” Jag slapped him on the back as he went past with another box.
“No shit, sherlock.” Hound returned to his job of hanging the decorations.
“Come on Deal, this tree isn’t going to decorate itself,” Jag said.
“No shit, sherlock,” Deal mimicked Hound, who gave him the bird.
They all worked on their tasks silently, all aware that if they were to pull off this surprise, they needed to stop joking around.
Deal stood back to look at the tree. He and Jag had managed to get the lights on evenly.
“Let’s test that they work. When I was a kid, there was always that one bulb that was busted, and we had to check every single light to find out which one was blown.
It always took fucking hours. That’s why I get a pre-lit tree.
I don’t have to mess around with making the lights even or working. ”
“You’re sounding like a Grinch,” Julian commented. “Also, isn’t that something you should’ve checked before you put them on the tree?
Deal sent him a look, annoyed that he made a valid point.
He still didn’t trust the guy. He’d grown up in a cult, and some of the shit Julian had been exposed to as a kid and teenager had to still be ingrained in the way he thought and acted.
It didn’t matter that Deal hadn’t seen much of that from Julian, give a person enough rope, and they’ll hang themselves with it.
Julian held his stare, and Deal had to hand it to him that he didn’t look away. “How about we check the bulbs?”
“Let’s.” Deal turned and went to plug the lights in. Luck was on their side, and they all lit up. “See, nothing to worry about.”
“Looks that way. Do you need some help decorating the tree?” Julian asked.
Deal would’ve loved to tell him to fuck off but, another set of hands would be a big help.
Jag was watching him with interest, and he didn’t want to make a big deal out of his dislike for Julian.
The guy was their contact with the FBI, and he was giving them cases involving the scum of the world. “That would be appreciated.”
Julian nodded as if aware of the truce that Deal was proposing.
It didn’t matter what Deal said to the other man, he always took it on the chin, as if he believed he deserved the shit treatment.
As if he was taking it as punishment for being part of the problem of the cult he’d once been involved with.
Over the next hour they all worked solidly, and by some miracle, they were able to get the tree decorated. The other decorations put up, and the tables were set. Everything looked festive, and Deal couldn’t believe that they’d pulled it all off.
“Good work, guys; we fucking did it.” Fox came up and slapped them all on the back.
“Let’s hope they don’t ignore the invitations, and this was all for nothing,” Hound commented and stretched, his joints cracking loudly.
“You’re sounding like an old man there,” Deal joked.
“Fuck off, like you can talk. I heard your neck cracking,” Hound fired back.
“We’re all getting old, so let’s leave it at that,” Fox said. “We better bet back to the office and be suitably surprised to receive the invitations. After we’ve all showered; we look like we’ve been hit with a glitter bomb.”
Deal looked at his hands and clothes, noticing the little sparkles glinting in the glow of the Christmas tree lights. “Let’s get out of here, we’ve got three hours to get home, changed, and at the office, before we’ve got to do it all again to get back here.”
“I suggest we meet at the office, in an hour. It would be a bit suspicious if we rocked up separately, considering we were all together at a meeting.” Jag clapped his hands in attempt to rid himself of the glitter clinging to his hands.
Deal could’ve told him it was a useless exercise, but he’d let his friend find that out for himself.
They all nodded and parted ways. Deal was the last to leave, giving the room one last look over. It looked amazing, and a little bit of Christmas spirit filled his soul. He only hoped that the others appreciated what they’d done.