Eleven

Steve

That morning I’d left early for work to drive around near where Garrett said he worked in. The mall was located in a small area, but it was very busy with traffic coming and going, and as I soon found out there were many—many—UPS trucks making deliveries in the same area. After about an hour of circling I was about to give up when I saw one that I would have sworn Garrett was driving.

I pulled in behind him, close enough to follow but not close enough he’d see me. Then I waited for him to find a parking space around the backside of the mall. It was harder to hide from here, but I stayed back and watched him from a distance. When he finally parked and rushed inside carrying his delivery, I sped over to where he was parked and pulled up next to his truck before grabbing one of the cakes I’d found at the store, jumping out, and clipping it under the windshield wiper.

“Hopefully he likes Little Debbie,” I said and hurried back to my car so I could park and watch his reaction because I needed to see it. As soon as I was parked, he jogged back to his truck but paused when he noticed the cake. He looked around with a smile on his face as he took it off the windshield before shaking his head, getting back in the truck, and driving to his next stop. He drove right past, and I was amazed he didn’t see me because I couldn’t stop staring at him. “Garrett Juhl, what the fuck have you done to me.”

After reading his text, and knowing he enjoyed it, made it worth the time I’d spent looking for him, and it made me want to do this a few more times before Christmas.

I arrived at work to find a line twice as long as it had been yesterday, and twice as loud. It seemed the closer it got to the holidays the more desperate people were to get their picture with Santa even if it was still over a month away. I hurried to the backroom and changed into my uniform. There were a few new employees, which I was happy about after seeing that line.

“Hey, are you new?” one of the boy elves asked.

“Yep, I’ve just been here a few days. Don’t worry, it’s not that bad.”

“I’ve never done anything like this and I’m not really that excited about working around so many people,” he said. He was young and I guessed this was his first job. He was tall and very thin, making him look more like a basketball player than an elf, but today he was an elf.

“I don’t like crowds either, but it’s not so bad here. It’s busy, but everyone is so happy to see Santa it’s sort of contagious,” I said. He narrowed his eyes and gave me a critical look.

“Aren’t you too old to be an elf?” he asked. His eyes widened and he slapped his hand over his mouth. “I am so sorry.”

I laughed at him and tried not to think about how much he was like me as a teenager. Full of opinions and too impulsive to control my words. “I am old to be an elf. Maybe I’m a grandpa elf? I’m not sure, but it’s not so bad. Come on. I’ll introduce you to everyone.” He smiled then and his shoulders relaxed from where they’d been bunched up tight. “Just remember it’s all about giving the kids the magic of Santa. You won’t have to do much more today than mind the line, but they’ll try to get to the front, so you’ll really need to watch it. Some of the moms are super pushy. Just ignore it and stay in control of the line. Got it?” I asked and wondered how I knew so fucking much in the week I’d been here.

“Yeah, sounds easy enough. There will be other people with the same job, right?” he asked as we walked out of the employee room and past the line.

“Yes, and don’t worry, Terry will be watching everything. If anyone gets past you just look for him, he’ll take care of it.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sorry, I’m Steve, and you are?”

“Shane Daniels. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.” Terry walked over to us then with his clipboard in hand and put Shane at the beginning of the line to mostly just tell people this was the line. I walked over to where the photographer elf was working and waited to be told where I’d be today.

“Hey, mister, is that the real Santa?” a little boy asked. He looked like he was about three or four. He had dark hair combed and gelled to within an inch of its life in a side part with a little swoop at the front and was wearing his best Christmas outfit that matched his younger sister in the stroller that he clung to.

I knelt down to speak to him making his eyes widen. “That is the real Santa. He makes a special trip to Sacramento every year.”

“Are you sure?” he asked and tipped his head with a critical look.

“Positive, now be sure you have your list ready to tell him what you want,” I said and turned to speak to Terry.

“Let’s put you with Santa again, as much as it pains me to admit it, you’re actually really good with the kids. Apparently, they expect a less than sunny attitude from a Christmas elf.”

“Hey, I’m a cheerful mother—”

“Don’t even think about completing that thought,” Terry said as he peered over his glasses.

I promptly zipped my mouth and hurried over to where Santa and another elf were just getting ready to welcome another kid. The photographer took the picture and Santa sat and listened for a few minutes while the little girl gave him her list of demands and believe me when I say it was a list of demands. She wasn’t taking no for an answer, and I hoped her parents were able to get her everything she asked for because I was sure she’d make their life hell for the foreseeable future.

Santa’s wide-eyed glance told me he felt the same way, but both of us moved along to the next kid. The rest of the day was almost as crazy, and as my shift was finally ending, I was more than ready for the day to be done. After clocking out, my phone rang as I was walking to my car.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Garrett asked.

“Just getting off work. How about you?”

“Same, want to grab some dinner?”

“Tell me where to meet you and I’m there,” I said, and I meant it in more ways than I was ready to admit.