Holiday Coffee ✓︎

Chapter 1

"Elllaaaaa!" came the whine.

I sighed and pouted, glancing down at my mug.

So, so close.

"In here," I answered.

"Were you hiding from me?" my best friend demanded.

"Yes."

She narrowed her eyes at me but didn't say anything. She came over to where I was sitting and sat down, suddenly pressing her side into mine. I raised an eyebrow in answer at her actions.

"I will share my blanket, but I will not share my hot chocolate with you," I reminded her.

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm aware. Your hot chocolate is more precious to you than the crown is to the Queen of England," she retorted. "Besides, I'm grabbing coffee on the way out. You guys have the best roast around here."

I shook my head in amusement as I took another sip of my drink.

"What brings you by?" I asked.

"The catering company you're working with? They canceled. Apparently, they won't work with my client."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Sadly, I'm not. You're going to have to choose someone else to cater for the reveal now."

"I don't know anyone else who can prepare that big of an order within the next three days, Ny."

"Well, lucky for you, I have someone in mind. The owner is really cute, too."

I gave her a look.

"What?"

"Naomi. You are not playing matchmaker for me," I answered.

She pouted.

Ignoring her expressions, I got up and walked over to my desk. I set my mug down, away from my papers. The last thing I needed was my clumsiness ruining the schedules in front of me. I got my notepad out and decided to write down the change for the event.

"Is the company any good?" I asked her.

"One of the best. I did call ahead and ask if they would even be interested, and they are. One of their clients recently cancelled an event with them, so we got lucky. I can set it up if you would like. I still have the order that I had given you. All I have to do is send an email, and things are good to go."

"That's fine. I'll note the changes here so I know. Make sure you add me in on the email so that I can work with them for any changes or details that they need to know of."

"Don't worry about it, Ella. I got it."

Ny winked at me, making me furrow my brow. She was up to no good. We'd worked together before for her boss's events, and she never personally did anything for me.

"What, exactly, are you up to?" I asked her.

"Nothing! Do you not trust me?"

"No."

"Harsh! But I'll let it go because you're my best friend. I'm doing this for you because it's the holidays. And, I know that this is a stressful event for you because of all of the details you have to manage. Let me help with this one thing."

"You don't have your hands full?"

"Nope," she answered, popping her lips. "Since we chose your event company, you've basically been doing my job for me lately. Everything on my end is done, minus any last-minute details that come up not related to the event."

I grabbed my mug again and sat back in my chair as I watched my best friend.

"What's it like to work for one of the top fashion designers in the world and have it as easy as you do?" I asked, teasingly.

"Lovely, actually. It helps if you met them in school. You get to enjoy the trips even more," she answered cheekily.

I laughed and shook my head at her smug expression.

"Bring me a sample of the food tomorrow so that I can finalize it, please," I requested.

She nodded and made a note of it on her phone. She stood up from the sofa and looked at it and the throw blanket with a longing expression. I smiled into my mug, taking another sip of warmth.

"Your office is my happy place. I wish I could come here more often," she thought aloud.

"You come here almost every single day, without fail," I reminded her.

"Yeah, because it's my happy place. And you guys have the best coffee."

I laughed again.

"Anyway," she sighed, "I have to get going. I'll make sure I get those samples to you by tomorrow. They can most likely start the order today, and I honestly don't think you'll have an issue with anything. We've worked with them before, so it should be well for all involved parties."

"Do I know the company?"

"Maybe not the company, but you know the man behind it."

"Which is...?"

Naomi smirked but didn't say anything. She waved her fingers at me as she grabbed her things and left my office. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Cryptic as ever.

I eyed my now empty mug and shook my head. Break time was over, and it was back to work for me. At least I could have more hot chocolate after work, I reminded myself.