Sip of Assistance

Chapter 30

We got to work and not long after she began asking me questions about myself. Her voice was low, as though she didn’t want us to be overheard and I noticed that the volume on the television had gone up as well.

“So Holly, are you single?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to be a personal assistant and date at the same time. I’m really busy.”

“Yeah, I bet. You’ve been single for a while then?”

“About a year.”

“Oh, what happened with the last guy, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Ah, well he cheated on me with his ex. I should have seen it coming though. We were really good friends first and he was really in love with her still for a long time.”

“That sounds rough.” The words were sincere, but the tone was more calculated.

“Yeah it was, but I learned a lot and I’m okay now.”

“What kind of guys would you like if you were looking?”

I turned to look at her. She wasn’t decorating the cookies, but rather moving them around on her plate so they were lined up evenly. I wondered what she was playing at with all the questions. Definitely a lawyer.

“I like confident men that know what they want. Someone who’s honest and does the right thing. That’s funny and doesn’t care what people think. Someone thoughtful and sweet, but passionate.” I started thinking about James and how he’d gotten me the star to put on the tree and how passionate he was when he kissed me in the trailer. Olivia cleared her voice and I looked back up at her.

“Sounds like you know someone like that already,” she hinted, as if she could read my mind.

I laughed, “Who knows. That’s just an ideal perfect man. Who knows if he exists, right?” I went back to my task, finishing the last of the cookies in front of me. She still hadn’t frosted any of hers. Seeing I was done, she placed my decorative ones on top of hersplain ones and picked up the plate.

“All done, we should get back.” I nodded in agreement and followed as I had before. James lifted the blanket for me so I could curl under it. As we continued watching A Christmas Story, the women began commenting on the film. Everything they said revolved around the parents or couples in general and then they began asking for my input.

“They’re so cute together.”

“I love how she takes care of them even before herself, that’s love.”

“Even despite the faults and how ugly that lamp is she tries to let him be himself.”

“Oh Holly, if you were with a man that had horrible taste or something what would you do?”

As the questions came, the women began taking turns going to the kitchen to work on dinner. Next we put on A Christmas Carol and the queries continued, but they became more complex.

“Do you think he’s greedy? Would you give to the poor or do you believe that you earned it and you shouldn’t help?”

“What would you do if you had a sickly son like Little Timmy?”

“If the ghosts of your past came what lessons do you think they would try to teach you?”

I was beginning to feel like this was all a test. James was sighing loudly next to me and shaking his head, but other than that he said nothing. I wasn’t sure if he was in on it or if this was normal for them.

By the time we put on Elf, they were all three turned towards us and probing James as well and the questions were getting stranger. William was unphased by the questions and answers, seemingly tuning everyone out.

“It’s so clear they belong together, but she’s fighting it. James dear, what would you do if you were in his place?”

“Holly would you believe in him if that were you even if what he said sounded crazy?”

“Would either of you move to the North Pole to be with someone… if they were ‘the one’?”

I furrowed my brows hoping James would answer the last one.

“Mum, isn’t it time for dinner? I’m starving for some more of your food.” We’d been eating all day but James had had a bigger appetite than usual so I wasn’t sure if he was really hungry or just trying to get out of answering more questions. Either way I was grateful for the subject change. At the mention of dinner William snapped out of his reverie and perked up finally including himself in the conversation, “Supper time?”

We filed into the dining room and dug in. I turned to Olivia, wanting to be the one asking questions and also looking for confirmation on my thoughts. “What is it you do for a living?”

James answered for her, “Liv takes advantage of the desperate, sad, needy and lonely, exploiting them to make a pound or two.” He took a big bite of food and Olivia came with a rebuttal. “Isn’t that what you do?” she asked him, but James just laughed at her.

She faced me again, sitting tall and rigid as she had since she showed up, “Actually Holly, I’m a matchmaker.”

I coughed, choking on the bite of broccoli. James starting laughing loudly and William joined quietly. “A matchmaker? Like you set people up on dates for a living?” I asked.

“It’s much more complicated than that. I get to understand people’s personalities and opinions and I profile them and pair them. It’s a long process and takes a certain understanding and intuition to be successful. My company has gone a very long way to become what it is today because of these skills.”

I looked at her stiff posture, noted her aloof confidence, remembered how she hadn’t laughed or touched anyone except the awkward forced hug since she arrived and my brows rose in disbelief. She was frigid and cold in her tone and stance so the concept of her helping people find love seemed preposterous. James kept right on laughing as he shoveled more food down his gullet.

“How did you get into that field exactly?” I asked, genuinely curious and even more confused.

“Actually I have a Bachelor’s in both Psychology and Sociology. I needed a job in college and so I worked for an online dating website. I found that with my understanding of the human brain and emotions I could tell where the site was going wrong. I don’t really do well working for other people so I decided to open my own business.”

I could definitely see how she couldn’t work for others, but how she worked at making people fall in love when she showed so few emotions wasn’t really making sense. I dropped the subject and focused on the delicious meal.

“So Holly, can you see yourself being a personal assistant for the rest of your life?” she asked.

“Actually yes. It’s perfect for my nature and feels rewarding.”

“So there’s a chance you and James will be together for a long time?” I caught myself before coughing and reminded myself that she was talking about work.

“As long as he needs me I’ll be here,” I replied, growing more exhausted from the questioning. James smiled at me and I returned it. After that the rest of dinner was spent discussing James’ recent and future work and how things had been in Yorkshire lately.

Once dinner was over Caroline reminded us that it was time to throw our Christmas wish lists into the fire. We headed to our respective rooms to write them and then met back up at the fireplace, still clad in our pj’s. In mine I wrote: To fall in love/ have no regrets/ a new planner for the upcoming year. I figured Santa could manage at least one.

We tossed them all in at the same time, mine folded into the shape of a bird, James’ a crumpled ball like his father’s, Olivia’s neatly folded twice and placed right where she wanted, Nana’s tossed in with Caroline’s both open but burning before they could be read by others.

We spent the rest of the night watching It’s A Wonderful Life and A Charlie Brown Christmas minus the inquisition that previously ensued before retreating to our beds to settle in and await Christmas morning.