Chapter 7
Willy
It was a day like any other. Which, considering how close we were to Christmas, was a good thing. There had been years when we were working round the clock and still sweating it out, fearing that we were going to miss all of our targets. Boring was good. The best, even.
Campbell had been here for two weeks. He was spending a lot of time in the stable getting to know the reindeer, which would do well for when it came time to do the whole Christmas-night thing.
He’d promised that he would get to know them and practice driving the sleigh.
The stable hands loved him and said he had a knack for communicating with the reindeer.
In that way he was very like his brother.
From everything I saw, Campbell was on his best behavior.
I hadn’t found him in any of the stations making unsanctioned products, and as far as I could tell, he hadn’t been any place he wasn’t supposed to.
And if he had, he’d been sensible enough not to set off alarms that dragged me out of bed in the middle of my sleep.
Most mornings he spent walking around the village visiting the shops and bakeries. It seemed the sweet tooth ran in the family. All of the shop owners adored him, or maybe it was Snowdrop they adored. Either way, he was a welcome visitor, and that would make Nick exceptionally jolly.
I knew that today was one of the days on the calendar I indicated that he should make rounds in the workshop. It would be good for the staff to see him there from time to time, without hovering.
And if Campbell was the reason that I took over somebody’s shift, well, that was my business and no one else’s.
I was working on Dildo Row at the time Campbell was scheduled to come around.
I had a bin of purple tentacled dildos next to me that I was inspecting, then packaging up to be wrapped.
It was tedious and boring work, but at least they were tentacles.
My last batch had been pink and straight.
Testing those had nearly lulled me to sleep.
“Who knew that tentacles were such a popular thing?” Jimmy, another elf, said.
“Chester knew. He’s the one who suggested we make some,” Harry said as he inspected the green one he held. “Do you think it’s because people think aliens have tentacles? I’ve read a book like that once. Tentacle porn is really popular. Aliens, sea creatures, all the things.”
“I suppose that makes sense. Monster porn is very popular these days,” I said. I’d read my fair share of it, and I loved it.
“Oh, and how would you know? You got a secret bookshelf you haven’t shared?” Harry waggled his eyebrows.
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “I do love reading books. But when I’m tired, I tend to stick with watching my television. Speaking of TV, did any of you watch the Christmas movie The Secret Snow Cabin on Snowflix last night? It came out yesterday.”
Each year the Christmas shows started earlier and earlier.
I predicted that in the next few years they were going to run year-round.
Because my life was Christmas prep all year long, I was down with that.
I wasn’t sure the general population would be.
Unlike me, they only thought about the holiday as it rapidly approached.
“And of course, you were counting down the hours until its release,” Chester said.
I couldn’t tell if he was being a stale marshmallow or if he was being serious. Probably the first. Chester was not my favorite elf. Not by a long shot.
“Like you weren’t! You love all those Christmas rom coms, just like I do.” We were elves, after all, and who didn’t love a good Christmas romance? Whether it was books, movies, podcasts, we binged them all. Chester tried to play it cool, but I didn’t buy it.
“You go a little over the top, though, Willy. When’s the last time you watched a movie that wasn’t Christmas themed?” Jimmy asked.
I couldn’t think of one. Did Die Hard count? Probably not. I did love holiday movies.
Honestly, I was a bit burned out on them lately.
You could only watch the same happy-ever-after scene by yourself so many times before you realized that having a person to snuggle with might not be in your cards.
I was okay with it, really I was. Except on the days when I wasn’t, the days when the loneliness set in.
I’d been thrilled when Percy found his mate. He deserved all the happiness in the world. But also, seeing him find his always and forever was the equivalent of a huge neon sign reminding me that I hadn’t.
“I’ve been reading a lot of Christmas books lately.
They always have such fun dates.” I got the warm fuzzies just thinking about the last one.
They went ice skating on a frozen pond, and the snow began to fall, just as the Christmas lights clicked on and music started to play.
He proposed right there, their family and friends joining them on the ice the moment he slipped the finger on his fiancé’s hand. Cliche? Absolutely. Still loved it.
“When’s the last time anyone actually went on a fun date that wasn’t just dinner and fucking afterwards?” Chester asked.
He could be so ewwww.
“When’s the last time any of us had time for a date?” Jimmy chimed in.
“Two weeks ago, I went on to date with an elf from Santa 36’s crew. He took me ice skating. We had to leave early cause we both had to work the next day,” Harry said.
“That’s sweet,” I said. Not quite the ice-skating date I’d been thinking about, but that had been fiction. Harry’s was at least real.
“Right. I thought it was nice, although a little unimaginative. Do any of you ever just get tired of snow?” I thought he was kidding, but Harry looked so serious.
We all looked at him like he forgot his cocoa this morning.
“I don’t,” I said. “I think an ice-skating date sounds amazing, followed up by one of those Christmas festivals where there’s hot chocolate tasting or snowman building or any of those things.” What was the point of going on a date if it wasn’t romantic?
“You mean, all the cliché things that you see in those silly rom coms you like,” Chester teased.
I refused to be embarrassed by this. I lifted my chin. “Yes, if I’m going to go on a date with someone and they’re serious about me, then they should pull out all the stops. Treat me like a prince.”
“I want someone to tie me down and treat me like a naughty elf. Fuck being a prince,” Chester said.
I laughed. “Well, they can do that after they treat me like a prince and feed me hot chocolate.”
We all laughed at that. At least when things were going smoothly, we all got along. Not that we were all the bestest of friends, but lately it seemed like things were pretty good.
We went back to our work, and I’d made pretty good progress on the purple tentacles when the door opened and Campbell walked in. I knew it was him before I even looked up. It was like the atmosphere in the room had changed.
“How’s everyone doing?” He came over to where we were inspecting our wares.
For us, this was normal work, but it had to be shocking for Campbell to be looking at us all just hanging out with the dildos.
It was one thing when it had been just the two of us, and it became this hybrid weirdness of flirting and working, but this?
This was different. It wasn’t the two of us, it was a whole group, and we weren’t flirting, it was all business.
“Oh, it’s good to see you, Campbell.” Chester made sure to hold up his dildo with one hand and stroke it inappropriately with the other. “I was just wondering when I’d see you again.”
To his credit, Campbell ignored his dildo demonstration. “Probably the next time I do a walk-through.” And then he walked right around Chester.
That small gesture shouldn’t have made me as happy as it did.
“Willy, tonight we have a meeting, right?” Campell asked.
We did not.
“Yes, Boss, we do at… at six.” I was winging it. I had no idea what he was getting at, but something told me to play along.
“Excellent. Why don’t I pick you up on my way back over here? Snowdrop needs some exercise.”
“Sounds good, sir.”
He made some small talk with everyone there, and then away he went. The entire time, Chester’s eyes were glued to me, and they were not filled with holiday cheer.
“Why is he picking you up for a meeting? He can just meet you here.” He wasn’t pretending to hide his jealousy.
“Why? What do you think?” I rolled my eyes. “Because he knows I love Snowdrop, and he’s only here for a few months. So Snowdrop has to go somewhere when he leaves.” Obviously, Snowdrop could go with him, but I was still in the winging-it stage of this entire situation.
Shockingly, it was enough of a plausible excuse for Chester to get back to work, and for me to get lost in my head—and in my tentacle dildos.
What was Campbell planning? Because it sure wasn’t work.