EIGHTEEN: James

EIGHTEEN

JAMES

The following afternoon

“Mr. Calloway, will you be joining us at our annual Four Seasons caroling event tomorrow evening?” The woman on the phone asks.

“No, but I need your manager to do me a huge favor.”

“I’m listening.”

“My mother, Jane Calloway, will be getting a reservation gift from me soon,” I say. “I need the valet to bring her to The Grace Estate when she checks in.”

“Will do. Is it just you she’ll be meeting?”

“No.” I pause. “Tell her Taryn is here, too. She’ll know who I’m talking about.”

“As you wish, sir.”

I end the call and slip out of my car, tossing the keys to the valet.

Making my way to the gift plaza, I debate getting a second gift for Taryn.

“James?” A familiar voice calls out, making my blood run cold.

I turn around to see Tucker in a suit.

“Hey, what’s up?” He has the audacity to smile. “Me and Lauren have been on the waiting list for this place for months, and can’t believe we managed to reserve Christmas dates.”

“How amazing.”

He holds out his hand for a shake, but I leave him hanging.

“I haven’t seen you in person in forever, and this is the welcome I get?”

"If I had known you’d beanywhere here, I would've never stepped foot in the lobby."

“Are you here alone?”

“I will be when I walk away.”

Lauren appears at the staircase, and he waves her over to join us.

"Guess who I ran into, babe.”

“Oh wow.” She beams. "Are you here alone?"

I walk away from them. I refuse to normalize their shitty behavior, and I'm too exhausted to play games today.

When I’m halfway to the elevator, a gorgeous woman with long black hair jumps in front of me. She’s holding scissors and a long tail of garland.

“Sorry to interrupt you, but can you stand there for a second?”

“Sure.”

"Okay, great." She holds the garland next to my head and snips. “How tall are you?”

"Six foot, four."

"Perfect." She takes a few more snips. “I didn't feel like walking all the way across the estate to get my phone and measuring tape, so your height will have to do.”

"Glad I could be of service."

"As a thank you, I can set you up on a nice fireside chat with someone special.”

“I’m fine. Thanks, though.”

"No, listen to me.” she snips. "You're my cousin's exact type and I’m trying to get her to date around before a certain…Well, that’s not important. You’re her type and she’s so beautiful that every guy who sees her does a double take.”

"I'm sure your cousin is lovely, but..." I spot her name tag: Georgia . “What else can you tell me about your cousin?”

“So, you would like to go out with her?” She winks. "Her name is Taryn, and she might have a thing for her co-worker-slash-boss, but don't let that deter you because he hasn’t made a move in forever. I even think they went to high school together so the time for him to shoot his shot is way past due. You're her type and she'll definitely go out with you."

"I see."

"I see it, too." She steps back, making a few more snips. "Just give me your room number and I'll make the reservation."

"I'm in the Holiday Homecoming suite."

“No, that can’t be.” She shakes her head. “You have to be in another one. Do you remember what number it is by chance?”

"It's definitely the Holiday Homecoming suite, 4404," I say. "I'm sharing a room… with Taryn."

Her eyes widen, and she steps back.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person, Georgia.” I smile, extending my hand. “I’m James Calloway, her co-worker-slash-boss who hasn’t made a move in forever.”

“Yeah, um…” She shakes my hand. “You and I have never met, this moment never happened, and happy holidays!”

She rushes away with the garland.