Bah Humbug (manxman) A Christmas Romance *NaNoWrimo 2014 Winner*

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

(Let it snow------------>)

“Stephanie, I think we need to call it a day, the forecast calls for snow moving in this evening and it’s already started. I don’t want you caught out there if it gets bad.” I called out of my office door knowing she would hear me sitting at her desk that was situated right outside the open foyer.

“It’s barely four o’ clock in the afternoon.” She said as she came through the open door carrying a few file folders under her arm. “And we still have the minutes to go through from the meeting, and you need to sign off on these documents to allocate the funds for charities.” She said as she placed the files in front of me and turned to take a seat across from my desk.

“It’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow, call for the car and have Thomas take you home then have him return to the office for me. By the time he comes back I will have gone through these and have them ready for you tomorrow. The weatherman called for several inches of snow and sleet tonight and like I said, I don’t want you out in the mess. Hopefully it won’t be too bad and we can make our way into the office in the morning.”

She got up and the scent of her signature Dior perfume floated gently through the air surrounding her as she brushed an invisible speck of lint from her skirt. “Alright, I won’t refuse the gift of a free afternoon. For once, I can surprise Allen with a hot meal by the time he makes it home tonight.” She giggled like a school girl at the thought of surprising her long time boyfriend.

I just shook my head at her, “That sounds like a plan, don’t make no babies. I am not losing you for months to maternity leave.” I teased her as she blushed and waved me off before she sauntered out of my office to get ready to go home and pamper her man.

A wistful sigh escaped me, that was what I was craving, someone to go home to and surprise them with my early arrival home from work. Maybe we would order in some food and snuggle in on the sofa under plush throw blankets for the remainder of the night and watch the snow blanket the city from the panoramic view of my penthouse condo, instead of us traveling halfway across the city to my house. But that wasn’t the case for me. I knew that when I set foot out of the office tonight, I was going home to an empty house or an empty condo and the morose thought did nothing for my depressed mood.

“Goodnight Boss, don’t you stay here all night either. You were right about the weather, it’s already beginning to sleet outside, take a look.” She instructed as she pointed to the windows behind me and I swiveled around in my chair to see what she was talking about, and sure enough you could barely make out anything other than the electronic billboards the snow started coming down hard enough to obscure the view of the streets below.

I swung back around to face her, and she had her tote bag on her arm and her purse over her shoulder. And Stephanie was buttoning her calf length coat. “Alright, make a trail then, and remember to tell Thomas to swing back and pick me up. I will be going to the condo tonight instead of the house. So you can reach me there if the cell service is acting up with all this snow. Oh, and call me so that I know you got home okay.”

She made her way over to me and pursed her lips to noisily peck a kiss on my cheek. “Alright worry wart, I will call you as soon as I open my front door, see you later. You should come home with me instead of the condo tonight.”

“For shame, and interrupt your dinner plans. No way, I will be fine, Mom.” I teased her as she straightened up and made her way towards the door.

“Whatever!  I will call when I get home.” She said as she disappeared towards the elevators.

I pulled the folders over towards me and opened the first one and pursued the numbers. These were our yearly charities that I donated to. My Chief Financial Officer thought I donated the obscene amount of money to the less than fortunate because it made a good tax write off, but for me, it was sharing my wealth and giving back to those that were less privileged than I am. I was once one of those latch key kids surviving off oodles of noodles and butter and Wonder Bread sandwiches while my mother worked two jobs to keep a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs. Never forget your roots, because that is where you came from. That was my motto.