To celebrate the publication of
My So-Called Christmas Carol, I thought I'd do three blog posts on a suitably Dickensian theme. The first, Christmas Past, will be posted online soon, at
Tales From The Village. For Christmas Present, here's a short story I wrote a few years ago, called
Santa's Secret. It was published by My Weekly in December 2010. Christmas Yet To Come will be posted on Christmas Eve and I'll pop a link up asap.
So grab an eggnog and a rug and steal a few minutes for yourself...
Santa's Secret
by Tamsyn Murray
“You’ve got to be joking. I’ve got Sulky Sue again!”
Staring in dismay at the slip of paper in
her hand, Lucy recalled last year’s attempt at Secret Santa. Ripping open the
carefully wrapped present at the company Christmas meal, Sue’s lip had curled in
obvious disdain at the bubble bath and body lotion gift set.
“Cheap,” she’d spat, dropping the
offending item onto the table with a clatter.
At the end of the evening, the gift set had
been unceremoniously abandoned. Lucy had waited until everyone had gone before
scooping it under her jacket; it was considerably better than the novelty
peppermill she’d been given and had cost a lot more than the ten pounds they
were supposed to spend.
“Can I swap?”
Elaine stared disapprovingly over her
glasses. “No, you can’t. That’s cheating.” Seeing the younger woman’s
crestfallen expression, she sighed. “Go on, then. But keep it to yourself, OK?”
Taking care to fold the paper along the
original creases, Lucy kept it to one side as she thrust her fingers into the
bag and drew out another name. This time her luck was better; Daniel O’Neill.
She bit back a grin of triumph. With his blond
good looks and golden tan, Australian Daniel had caused quite a stir when he’d
joined the IT department three months earlier. In fact, his arrival had prompted
a mysterious rise in the number of computer problems reported by the company’s
female employees. Things settled down once they’d discovered he had a
girlfriend but, even so, a few unscrupulous women admitted to harbouring some seriously
dishonourable intentions for the approaching Christmas party.
“Happy?” Elaine angled her head, trying to catch
a discreet glimpse of the name on Lucy’s paper.
“Oh yes.” Lucy closed her hand into a fist
and flashed a smile at her colleague. “I know exactly what to get for this one.”
The meal was in full swing by the time the
Secret Santa gifts were distributed. Lucy gave her badly wrapped parcel a wary
once-over. It looked suspiciously like a bottle of wine. Her heart sank; hadn’t
she seen Sue in the local supermarket at lunch-time, peering into the bargain
bin? Half-heartedly, she tore away the paper and then sat back in her chair,
stunned. Moet and Chandon didn’t come cheap; someone had really splashed out.
But who?
She gazed round at her colleagues but
no-one was watching her reaction. Elaine seemed delighted with her photo frame;
Marcia from Accounts was less pleased with her Sexy Santa fancy dress kit.
Trying to appear casual, Lucy’s eyes drifted to the other end of the table,
where Daniel was sliding his own gift out of its wrapping. He studied it for a
moment before breaking into a slow grin.
“What is it, Daniel?” Sue looked as though
she’d had more than her fair share to drink. She laid a possessive hand on his
arm and leaned into him.
“It’s a ticket for Christmas Eve at the
Somerset House ice rink.”
Sue snorted in derision. “Just one? What
good is that?”
“Are you kidding? It’s been sold out for
weeks. I really wanted to go but couldn’t get tickets.” He raised his voice.
“Whoever my Secret Santa is, they know me really well.”
Ducking her head to hide a smile, Lucy thought
of the matching ticket tucked away in her purse. It hadn’t been easy keeping their
romance under wraps but the strict no-relationship policy at work made it necessary.
Sometimes it was tough, especially when Sue was throwing herself at him, but
being on hand at any work party helped.
Lucy traced the logo on the bottle in front
of her, wondering who her benefactor was. She looked up in time to catch a wink
from Daniel and felt happiness surge through her. What were the chances of them
pulling each other’s names out of the hat, she mused? Then she noticed Sue was tearing
the paper from her present and smothered her grin.
“Oh for heaven’s sake!” Sue’s disgust was
obvious.
“What did you get?” Daniel asked, his face
a picture of innocence.
“Last year was bad enough but this?” Sue
thrust the half-covered package into the centre of the table. “Who in their
right mind would buy me a peppermill shaped like a snowman?”
The
End
