10. Max
CHAPTER 10
MAX
M ax added his signature to a few documents for the new Colorado Springs branch, humming under his breath as he did so. To his surprise, he realized that he was humming a Christmas song, “Jingle Bells.” He was almost certain that this was the first time in his life that he’d ever hummed a Christmas song.
Clearly, Billie was having a festive influence on him. And if Max were being honest, he was enjoying the time he spent with her. Shopping for gifts the day before had been fun — more fun than he’d expected. Billie was a really special woman, and Max was looking forward to spending more time with her. The next scheduled event wasn’t until the following week, when they’d deliver gifts to children in a local hospital, but Max was already looking forward to it.
He checked his watch. It was just after six p.m. on a Monday evening and, although he normally would have stayed at the office until well past eight, he didn’t feel like he could focus any longer today.
As if on cue, his phone beeped with a message. Max turned it over to see a text from Billie.
Hey. Need some help wrapping presents. No cameras, but are you in?
Without hesitating, Max replied, Sure. Now?
Yes, at the outreach center. See you soon.
Well, Max had been wanting to leave anyway, and here was the excuse he needed. He packed up and headed out, ignoring his employees’ startled looks at the fact that he was leaving so early. The outreach center was a bit of a drive, but Max didn’t mind. He enjoyed having the time to think and listen to the radio, although he chose a classic rock station instead of Christmas songs.
When he arrived at the outreach center, he found that it was full of kids. They seemed to be heading out after their afterschool program, based on the way they were all tugging on jackets and calling out excitedly to each other. Max wondered if Eloise, the little girl who wanted a charity donation instead of a present, was here today. Perhaps one of these children was even Josefina, the girl who so badly wanted a Sunshine Sparkle Alpaca.
Max threaded between the kids and made his way to Billie’s office. She was sitting on the floor, surrounded by gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, and tape. About a quarter of the gifts had been neatly wrapped, while the rest waited for their turn.
“Max!” Billie looked up and grinned. Today, she wore a red dress and tights and looked very Christmassy. “You made it. I’ll try to pretend I’m not surprised.”
“For both our sakes, I think that’s a good idea.” Max surveyed the wrapping-paper piles. “How can I help?”
“Have a seat. You can choose the floor or the desk.”
“You’re on the floor, so I’ll join you.” Max lowered himself to the ground and picked up an action figure. “So, we just wrap these up?”
“Yep. Although you might want to start with one of the boxes. They’re a bit easier.”
“I’m sure I can handle this.” Max unspooled a length of wrapping paper and cut it neatly with the scissors Billie handed him. “Although I’m pleased you thought of me, I have to ask — why am I here, instead of one of your other volunteers or your employees?”
“They’ve all been working hard lately, and I figured you’d enjoy a chance to pitch in.” Billie winked. “Can you pass me that bow?”
Max looked over his shoulder at a row of bows ranging from crisp white to bright tie-dye. “Which one?”
“The yellow, please.”
Max handed the bow to Billie, who stuck it on top of a beautifully wrapped box. Meanwhile, Max wrapped the paper he’d cut around the action figure, tucked in the flaps, and used a long piece of tape to secure the sides in place. He added a few more pieces of tape to the top and sides of the figure, where small pieces of wrapping paper were threatening to peel away. Satisfied, he held up the action figure to examine his work.
Immediately, Billie burst into laughter. Max glanced at her, then looked at the action figure again. Despite himself, he began to chuckle as well.
“It looks like you tried to wrap that with your feet,” Billie giggled. “In the dark. In a windstorm.”
“Hey, it isn’t that bad!” Max held up the action figure by the top piece of the wrapping paper. As if to contradict his point, the bottom part of the wrapping paper gave way, and the action figure slid out and landed on the floor with a hollow bounce. They both burst into laughter again.
“Okay,” Max said, once he was able to talk again. “You’re right, that may not have been my best work.”
“I certainly hope not. If that was your best work, I’d be very worried about the quality of your restaurants. Have you ever wrapped a present before?”
“I mean, I’ve put things into bags.”
“Okay, we can work with that. There are a bunch of gift bags over there. Maybe it’ll work a little better if you try those instead of the wrapping paper.”
Max threw the sticky, torn mass of wrapping paper and tape into the small trash can beside Billie’s desk and took a handful of gift bags and gift tags. He slid the action figure into the first bag, but the figure’s helmet poked out over the top as though he were watching Max’s every move. Max added a little tissue paper around the figure’s head, then looked up to see Billie watching him with wide eyes.
“What?” He tucked another bit of tissue paper into the bag.
“You can definitely see what’s in there.” Billie nodded to the head, which was still very obviously poking up through the wrapping paper.
“Fine.” Max took the action figure back out of the bag and put it in a second bag, which was much taller and thinner. The figure fit perfectly. “How’s that?”
“Maybe you’re getting it.” Billie grinned broadly. “Maybe.”
“I’ll take it.” Max reached for another gift bag and a round plush animal with small legs. “Do you always wrap this many gifts?”
“Yep, and that’s just the ones for the kids. I have a bunch more for my siblings and parents and nephews.”
“Right, you told me you had a big family. How did Thanksgiving with all of them go?”
“Oh, it was nice. My infant nephew came to the table with us in a sling and smiled at everyone for the whole meal. And the food was lovely, of course, since my mom is a great cook. How was your Thanksgiving? Did you really spend it in the office?” Billie carefully crimped the edge of a sheet of wrapping paper and fixed it to the box with a single, perfectly sized piece of tape.
“I did, and it was fine.” Max slid the plush animal into the bag and tucked a few pieces of tissue paper around it. Then he reached for a gift tag and a pen.
“I have to ask.” Billie bit her lip. “I know you said that Christmas wasn’t that magical and that the holidays aren’t a very special time for you, but don’t your parents miss you on Thanksgiving?”
Max thought of his parents and gave a low chuckle. “They spent this Thanksgiving in Aruba on the beach. I don’t think they missed me.”
“Why didn’t you go?”
“I had to work.” Max shrugged. “I’ll have time for vacations later.”
“Right.” Billie nodded slowly. “Once you have a child and the child takes over the business.”
Max laughed. “Yeah. Exactly. That’s my plan.”
“That’s some really long-term planning. Especially since you appear to be single now.”
“It’s all about the long game with me.” Max stuck the gift tag to the bag. It peeled off and floated to the floor, so he went for round two, this time armed with a large piece of clear tape.
“I’m curious, though.” Billie leaned over, took the tag and tape from Max’s hands, and carefully tied the tag to the handle of the gift bag. “Do you want kids?” She blushed. “Sorry, I know that’s personal. You don’t have to answer.”
“I don’t mind.” Max set the gift with the other wrapped presents. While his back was to Billie, he took a moment to formulate his answer. “I like kids. But I’m clueless with them. I don’t know what they need or how to parent one, so I worry that if I actually had a child, I’d mess things up. Does that make sense?”
“It does.” Billie nodded. “But, as someone who’s spent a lot of time around kids, I can tell you that it’s harder to mess them up than people think. As long as you show up for your kids and support them, things mostly turn out okay. And you seem like the kind of guy who would show up. I saw your dedication to getting the Sunshine Sparkle Alpaca.”
“Thanks.” Max was oddly touched by Billie’s words. “I’m a long way from having kids, though.”
“Same. I’m as single as you are.” Billie held up her left hand to showcase her lack of a ring. “But, since I do spend all day with children, it’s something I think about.”
“Why were you curious? About if I wanted kids?”
“I don’t know. When we first met, I thought you were…”
“A jerk?” Max filled in the blank. “I know. You weren’t that subtle.”
Billie bit her lip again. “Sorry. I don’t mean a jerk, I just mean… we seemed really different. But I saw another side to you when we went shopping. It made me wonder what else there is to you that I don’t know.”
Max wasn’t sure how to reply to that. He was glad that Billie didn’t think he was a jerk anymore — he was certain she had thought that during their first few meetings, even if she was too nice to admit it now. On the other hand, he was still the exact same guy he’d been when they first met. He cared about his business more than his personal life. He didn’t appreciate the holidays much. He wasn’t sure he understood the point of charity.
Nothing had changed.
Yet, at the same time, Max was sitting on the floor of Billie’s office, wrapping Christmas gifts for children he would probably never meet. He could have been at work, preparing for the holiday rush, but instead he was helping Billie. That wasn’t something he would have imagined himself doing a few weeks ago.
It’s just for the publicity, Max told himself. But that wasn’t entirely true, since there were no cameras here.
“I don’t think there’s much more to know about me,” Max said. “You, on the other hand, must have some good stories. What do you do all year, when you aren’t being one of Santa’s elves?”
“Well, I’ve told you about our afterschool programs,” Billie said. “We also have lots of Saturday workshops. And apart from Christmas, we try to do something for the other holidays, too.”
“So, what do you do for, I don’t know, Halloween?”
“We have a costume party, of course.” Billie grinned. “A lot of the kids can’t afford costumes, so we always put together a big rack of donated costumes, as well as a table full of art supplies for kids to make their own. Everyone chooses or creates a costume, we have snacks and carve pumpkins, and then we offer escorted trick-or-treating groups around the local neighborhood.” She paused in the middle of tying a bow around a box. “Do you also dislike Halloween?”
“It’s not that I dislike the holidays exactly.” Max put an oddly shaped painting kit into a bag with a picture of a unicorn in a Santa hat on the front. “I just don’t love them as much as other people do. Halloween is a good one, though.”
“Are you one of those guys who loves scary movies?”
“Guilty.” Max chuckled. “I’ve always enjoyed a nice scary movie. Or a documentary.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Whereas you probably like heartwarming Christmas rom-coms,” Max guessed.
“I do.” Billie grinned. “I love stories with happy endings. And you already know that I love the holidays.”
“How about Easter?” Max continued. “Do you have a celebration for that?”
“Sure. We do an Easter egg hunt all around the center. And for the Fourth of July, we have a barbecue in the park down the street for the kids and their families. There are sparklers and hot dogs and even some small fireworks.”
“How about… Presidents’ Day?”
“Okay, you’ve stumped me. We don’t have a big celebration for Presidents’ Day.”
“I knew I could get you.” Max surveyed the room. “I can hardly believe it, but we’re almost done.”
“You’re right. Hand me Mrs. Cowper, please.”
Max twisted around and found the stuffed cow they’d picked out together at the store. “Here you go.”
“And here’s the charity donation certificate.” Billie held up an embossed piece of paper. “I found a charity that buys cows for families in need in rural Ethiopia. They get milk from the cow that they can drink or sell, so it provides for them for a long time.”
“Aha — and since you’re giving the kid a toy cow, it all ties in. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks. It felt kind of funny to donate money from one charity to another, but Eloise will be over the moon. Now, we need a special bag.”
Max found a bag with a picture of a cow jumping over the moon next to a sleigh pulled by reindeer. “How’s this?”
“Perfect.”
He held open the bag as Billie put the cow and the certificate inside. Their hands brushed, and Max looked straight into Billie’s soft brown eyes. She looked back at him, and, for a long moment, time seemed to freeze. It was as if they were the only two people in the world. They were so close that Max could have closed the distance between them in a heartbeat and brought his lips to Billie’s in the kind of kiss they’d shared the first night they’d met. The kind of kiss that had made Max’s heart race and had made him ache to be closer to Billie. The kind of kiss he’d thought about a few too many times since then.
The temptation was huge. Just a few inches and he’d feel Billie’s soft, pink lips on his own. He’d be surrounded by her slightly pepperminty smell, and he’d run his hands down the gentle curve of her back. A little longer and he could lift her onto the desk, where she’d wrap her legs around him, and he’d kiss the curve of her neck and…
Max quickly sat back, doing his best to banish the flood of images from his mind. He and Billie were partners now. They were working together for the Christmas season, and that would be it. Even though Max enjoyed spending time with Billie, even though they’d spent a few very lovely hours together buying and wrapping presents, even though kissing her was the closest Max had come to magic, it would never work. They were just too different. And sooner or later, Max would let her down. He’d have to run to the office, or he’d say something disparaging about something she loved, or he’d be unable to conjure the Christmas spirit, and it would all be over.
“Thanks for your help.” Billie’s voice sounded a little higher than usual and, when Max glanced at her, he saw that she was biting her lip again. “I think we’re good here.”
“I was happy to help.” Max got to his feet. “Let me know when you need me again. For more charity work.”
“I will. Have a nice evening.” Billie pushed to her feet and smoothed her shirt. “Do you want me to walk you out?”
“That’s quite all right, I know the way.” And the cold air outside would do him good. He couldn’t think of Billie as a potential romantic interest. It wasn’t good for either of them.
As Max headed out, he waved to a few straggler children who were just leaving. They waved back enthusiastically, and Max thought of what Billie had said about children. Then he tried not to think about Billie at all.
As a distraction, Max went back to the office. It was getting late, and most people were on their way out, but there was always more work to be done. The more Max could focus on his work, the less Billie would slip into his thoughts, and the easier it would be to put the memories of their night together out of his mind.