A drizzling Snow coated the street, and umbrellas shielded the people with trench coats in the busy city, close enough since it was the rainy season in the tropical country instead of snowing.
The city was bustling, and Christmas song was playing all around the malls, with a stall selling cookies, snacks, and decoration. Most of the people with families would take their children to have fun and shop for their celebrations.
It was a very special Friday for those who work since Christmas would fall on Sunday which means they would have an extra holiday on Monday. So, the staff in the office was practically goofing off in pre-celebration and ready for their holidays.
All the staff in the company would have their duties for their pre-celebration even though it might be too short for them for doing this since everybody was busy with their job.
Everyone had put their jobs aside, split into a few groups for the decoration, and set up the venue for the potluck party. Every corner of the office and the conference room was a party filled with the Christmas song, with some of the staff singing joyfully yet out of tune while they were setting up the place.
A lot of laughter and chatter had been shared and everyone was thrilled about their potluck party since all the food was home-cooked instead of take out from the fast food. However, the son of the CEO didn't make any home cook and he insisted to get a turkey for the party. But no complaints since everyone loved the food.
The setup of the conference room was eventually done and everyone was salivating at the full of food on the table. It was time for the party, except for Tom whose eyes were busy searching the sea of girls' bodies in the room. His expression seemed famished and in his mind, he looked forward to devouring them even as he flirted with the girls around him.
Amy had no time to catch up with the girls since that lunch get together last month. She missed her dear friends badly and decided to stick around with her favorite girls. Most of the time Amy and Giselle would drive the conversation, and Drew would listen and pipe in every once in a while.
The two younger girls would giggle a lot since they were sharing certain silly stories from their high school and certain things had involved Drew which caught her attention in the topic.
"No offense, all the girls were so upset after they found out Benson had a huge crush on you back in high school. Don't get me wrong, I mean we all are fans of Benson so we were kinda sad about that," Amy shook her head with a chuckle and gently put a hand on Drew's right shoulder and said, "Seriously, I never know Yun Min is you because I only know your name is Drew Shaw. So, last Friday when we hung out, all of us were dying to know who Yun Min is, and he showed the picture of you to us, I was shocked."
"Drew was given by my dad and he didn't put the name in my birth cert, but we had to use the name with our ID in school," Drew explained with a shrug. "Let's be frank. It was a bad joke," the taller girl shook her head and still couldn't believe what Amy had shared with her.
"Let's agree to disagree! You are pretty, I can tell you had a lot of admirers in high school," Giselle said close to squealing, and happily bumped Amy's shoulder asking for agreement.
Amy nodded her head and said sheepishly, "I have to agree with Giselle but my apologies for not taking so much attention to you back in high school since I had to pay more attention to Benson," she sighed softly, "Well, it was past. I was kind of silly looking at him like a little fan of the Oppa."
"I guess no more good-looking guy after Benson left," Giselle hummed a little and asked, "I wonder how he looks like."
"I can show a picture of him to you. Do you wanna see it?" Amy wiggled her eyebrows at Giselle.
"Yes, please!" Giselle giggled and Amy proudly opened her phone to tap a picture of the boy and showed it to Giselle. However, Giselle didn't have much interest like Amy who sat with her and smiled dreamily.
"He's handsome. Isn't he?" Amy asked with a grin.
"Ye..yea," Giselle nodded her head with a hum and seemed like agree to please the girl next to her as she looked at Drew and asked, "Let me guess, he isn't your type?"
Men were never my type.
"Uh-huh," Drew merely replied with a shrug as she quickly took a sip of the juice in the paper cup.
"Hey, Nancy!" Amy waved with a nice smile and looked in the direction behind Drew. In the meanwhile, the pregnant lady put a hand on Drew's shoulder and the smile seemed like they were a close friend.
"I love the pandan pudding a lot! Anyway, I don't like to beg. I have been asking you since last Christmas. But, please, do you mind if you share the secret recipe with me?" Nancy's face was in a great mood.
"I would like to, but my nanny insists on not sharing with me, so I don't even know it myself," Drew replied nicely with a small smile and added, "I'm sorry."
"That's pretty sad. How can I change your nanny's mind?" Nancy asked while her hand left Drew's shoulder and sighed, "My daughter loves that pudding a lot."
"Perhaps you have to trade your secret recipe for lamb pie," Drew said with a half-hearted joke.
"Let's forget it," Nancy shrugged with a soft sigh as she walked away from the trio.
The trio shared a look before eating their food, neither of them enjoyed creating office drama since it wasn't necessary to do so. Except for the day Drew was pissed off at Nancy bullying Giselle. After that incident, Nancy never gave them trouble anymore, and she did share lamb pie with them during the tea break. However, Drew and Giselle played it nice and accept the lamb pie from the lady.
"Amy, over here! Let's have a group photo shoot!" one of Amy's teammates called out loud and waved the tiniest girl to their side.
Amy happily took Drew and Giselle's hands and chimed in, "Let's join the fun!" the pair could never say no to their tiny friend, but they shared a grin and let Amy take a lead to pull them to the group.
The tiniest girl happily joined her team and let go of Giselle and Drew, and the pair just fit in Amy's group. The brunette bit her lips and gently held the taller girl's forearm for attention who instantly whipped her head to look at the brunette, and the soft smile from her was a hint that waited for the cutie to speak.
The brunette's lips were eventually free from the trap of her front teeth, and a wide grin spread on her delighted face. A pair of her light brown eyes were twinkling while gazing at her senior and whispered, "Let's go to our secret place after this?"
It was kind of a surprise for Drew since she had been thinking to go there after this. She happily nodded her head at the cute brunette in agreement, slightly lean down, and whispered, "Let's not forget to grab a few slices of chocolate cake for our dessert picnic."
"That's my plan," Giselle whispered with a quiet giggle as she slowly slipped her hand away from Drew which was too soon for Drew's liking. However, Drew shot a smile at the cutie once again before paying her attention to the phone camera from the ladies.
Amy smoothly tugged taller girl's left arm to lower Drew's height next to her and said proudly, "Okay, now your height is perfect for the camera!" The group laughed and the chatter filled the room while they were busy posing for the best angle for their modeling shoot.
Meanwhile, when Drew looked at Giselle who had stood closer to her and tried to fit herself in the group, looking awkward and seemed like an outsider among them.
Drew felt bad for Giselle, and she had an idea for her. But, she hesitated whether it was appropriate for her to do so.
Took a silent deep breath, the taller girl eventually took her gut and carefully put her right hand on the brunette's right should, her heart skipped a beat, and held her breath when Giselle turned to look at her. Right before the taller girl could say something, the brunette's beautiful face lit up, and happily leaned closer to her senior.
The assurance smile and closeness from the brunette smoothly dusted off the tension from Drew's shoulders. Feeling relieved, the taller girl's smile grew wider, looking at the cutie before gently wrapping the remainder of her arm around the brunette's petite shoulders. She wouldn't care about the result of the pictures, and she focused on the brunette next to her.
The pair just sneak into their secret place successfully after the exchange gift session and ended the party. Drew had prepared a small gift for Giselle since she didn't get a chance to be the secret Santa of Giselle.
Surprisingly, her secret Santa was Amy, and her gift was a Calendar book for the next year. Giselle got her present from Amy's co-worker a neon tumbler and she was happy it would be the best thing for her morning coffee regardless that it wasn't her favorite color.
Drew was kinda stressed out with the gift she had prepared for Giselle since it wasn't something fancy, but it might be Giselle's favorite. It was a jar of sticky candy with a blue dolphin design since both were Giselle's favorites.
While putting down a small container of two slices of chocolate cakes they had taken from the party on the table, Drew just found out there had a red square size box tightened with a delicate green ribbon on top.
The taller girl quietly slipped her hands into the box behind her to search for the gift she had prepared and took it out to hide at her lower back while the brunette was busy setting up the table by getting out the paper plates, paper cups, and the plasticware even though there were just two slices of cake for them.
The brunette clasped both of her hands looking at the table and seemed happy with her setup and swiftly turned back to take out a bottle of sparkling juice, turning back while holding the bottle like an award and squealed delightedly, "Now it's perfect for our dessert picnic!"
"Have a seat, I need to open this for us!" Giselle happily indicated the seat for Drew to sit. The tally girl quickly slipped on the stool while putting the jar of candies on her lap and watched the brunette happily open up the bottle and ready to serve the drinks for them.
The pair made a toast before taking a sip of the drink and the brunette bounced a little on her chair, "It's so nice!"
"Yes, it is. Thank you for your nice sparkling juice," Drew smiled softly at Giselle.
"I always like to drink sparkling juice whenever I'm eating cakes, especially at my birthday celebration!" Giselle said with a wide grin and put a spoonful of cake into her mouth and moaned with her eyes closed, "I love this cake so much!"
Drew couldn't help but admire the cutie across her, resting her cheek on her open palm and elbow propped on the table, and her other free hand took the paper glass of juice for a sip.
"Drew?"
The taller girl's eyes slightly widened and she hummed softly as the brunette took the gift on the table and passed it to Drew with both of her hands and a wide grin, "I got a Christmas gift for you."
"Thank you," Drew smiled in return and gladly accepted the gift from the brunette, gently put it on the table, and took the jar of the gift from her lap as she chuckled, "I got a Christmas gift for you too."
"Thank you!" the brunette said in awe while happily holding the jar of candies with her delicate fingers gingerly wrapping around it like taking care of a newborn baby in her hands.
"It's so beautiful. A blue Dolphin is perfect, I love it!" Giselle murmured with her adorable smile was like a cozy home in the cold weather filling Drew's heart indeed.
Drew didn't need a mirror to look at herself since the evidence of her sore face was a silly smile for herself. But that wouldn't bother her since she was happy to look at the cutie across her twirling the Blue Ribbon with a finger on the jar and giggling softly.
"I'm glad you like it," Drew eventually said softly.
The brunette's light brown eyes gazed at her and said, "I will like and appreciate anything from you."
Drew could feel a warmth in her heart, and she couldn't explain what was this feeling supposed to mean whenever she heard any kind words from the cutie across her. Everything that came from her was genuine and Drew really liked it.
"Do you wanna open the present now since I have seen yours?" Giselle asked with a soft smile.
"Sure, if you don't mind!" Drew said as she was excited to see the gift inside the box, but she looked at Giselle and inquired, "Are you sure about that?"
"Hurry up, open it already!" Giselle assured with a wide grin.
Drew gently pulled the string of the ribbon to loosen, she carefully opened the lid of the box, and a soft gasp escaped from the taller girl's lips, "Wow..."
Drew's heart was swelling as she gently caressed her chest again and again, and she was overwhelmed by the heart-shaped cookies inside the box. It was too much for her to express her thankfulness since it wasn't enough for her to thank the brunette who had spent her patience and time on this.
"It isn't something fancy. It is just a simple handmade cookie for you. But, I make sure to get the approval from my best tester before giving this to you. Let's hope my mom didn't lie to me." Giselle said with a soft chuckle while resting her chin on her both opened palms.
"No, it is the best gift for Christmas. I can tell it is delicious!" Drew assured Giselle and blurted, "Can I have it now?"
"Sure, I hope it won't disappoint you!" Giselle beamed.
Drew happily took the heart-shaped cookies and took a small bite since she wanted to take it slow to not finish too fast. Once her tastebuds touched the heavenly baked goodness with just the right amount of sweetness she moaned happily. Drew nodded her head eagerly, "It's really good! It tastes like Biscoff."
"I'm glad you know that taste! I love Biscoff. It's my favorite of all time, but my mom told me nothing tastes like it," Giselle said with a small shrug.
"Thanks for the delicious cookie. You can be a pastry chef," Drew said truthfully and she felt bad just letting the cutie watch her eat the cookies. Drew gently broke another corner of the cookies and asked, "Wanna share?"
Giselle shook her head and smiled, "I made another jar and kept it in my home." her eyes lit up, "Oh, I actually did save a jar for you and your family." Giselle's face tinted and her smile seemed shy, "I would only give it to you after you tried it and liked it, but I won't worry since you told me you did."
Drew laughed at Giselle's cuteness, she shook her head and assured, "My mom and Delilah would definitely like it! Especially, from pastry chef Giselle."
"No, I'm not. I'm just baking for fun!" Giselle's face was turning red as she buried her face in her hands in embarrassment and Drew just kept laughing but gently patted the poor shy girl's head.