Secret Santa

1

Kelly

Christmastime at Shop at Home TV had always been my favorite time of year. The entire fourth quarter at SHTV was pretty great, to tell the truth. Two weeks before Halloween, our workload in the quality assurance department ramped up and my fellow employees and I would hustle to push thousands and thousands of new items through the system in time for the holiday shopping season. Then, before Thanksgiving, our department would have a big potluck lunch, followed by an entire month of downtime, low-volume work days and, of course, the Christmas Reindeer Games and parties. I loved working at SHTV. Well, most of the time.

In QA, my fellow product evaluators and I were the first to see all of the new products that the buyers had selected to be sold on air. From blenders and workout gear to vitamins and shoes, SHTV had it all. By the time December rolled around, my coworkers and I were positively exhausted from logging in, evaluating, and performing quality checks on all of the new products. I enjoyed being busy right before and during the holiday season because it helped pass the time, but I certainly didn’t have extra time to train someone new. Especially someone as disinterested in learning about fit checks and size charts as Vince Damien.

Kelly, did you get those size charts done yet for the new Jeantastic denim collection?

My manager, Cindy Barnes, was hovering at the entry of my cubicle on that fateful Tuesday morning, blocking my exit. I liked Cindy, but holy cats, she could talk.

Yeah, I was just uploading them into the system now. I smiled and swiveled my desk chair to face her. I just have to finish that batch of dresses from Mia & Co., and I’ll be all caught up.

Great, because our new hire is starting today. Cindy blinked and glanced down at her file. His name is Vince. He’s in new partner orientation this morning, but I’ll have him sit with you this afternoon for a bit.

Great, I said through gritted teeth. I didn’t think fashion QA needed another evaluator?

We don’t. Not yet, Cindy said. But with Ashley and Syreeta both going on leave soon, I figured it was best to hire a floater to fill in.

Right…. My eyes grew wide as I glanced around my cubicle. Piles of clothing samples overflowed from bins, coffee cups, paperwork, and garbage littered my desk, and my box of Christmas decorations dominated the available walking space. I would have to clean up before training the new hire — and fast.

Okay, I’ll probably send him your way some time after lunch then. Just give him the usual overview of how the system works.

Will do.

Cindy nodded and disappeared from my cubicle entryway. I let out a long, slow breath and slumped back into my desk chair. Great. The few moments between Thanksgiving and Christmas that I usually got a chance to breathe would now be dominated by training some new guy.

I glanced up at my calendar on my cubicle wall and flipped to the month of December. The three weeks leading up to the end of the year were blocked out with party planning, employee engagement, raffles, and then — the big one — our week of employee Reindeer Games. For the past thirteen years, I’d been in charge of making everyone’s office holidays merry and bright. Reindeer Games were the one thing I looked forward to more than anything else and they made this job tolerable.

I swiveled back to my computer screen and hurried through my size charts, trying and failing not to stress myself out. Three Mia & Co. dresses stared back at me from my workload queue, but I still needed to deal with the mess that was my cubicle. I couldn’t train a newbie with my desk in this condition. My stomach made a noise of complaint, reminding me that lunchtime was close. My workload and everything else would have to wait.

I stood and scooped my used coffee cups into the drawer, straightened my files, and loaded all of the clothing samples up into their bins. Then, one-by-one, I returned each of the bins to the sample warehouse and checked them in with Eddie. As usual, he was busy blocking out the world with his headphones, music set to full blast.

Eddie! I waved, trying to get his attention.

He glanced up at me from under his crop of long, silver hair. Eddie used to be a roadie for a very well-known heavy metal band before he hurt his back. Now he’s my lunch buddy and SHTV’s showroom sample bodyguard.

Oh, hey. Eddie removed his headphones and yawned. Lunchtime already?

Yeah. I have to make it quick though. Cindy’s got me training some new guy right after lunch, and I still have three items in my queue.

A new hire? Eddie grabbed his baseball hat and placed it on his head. This time of year?

It’s weird, right? I huffed and turned toward the showroom exit. Cindy says they are ‘prepping’ for maternity leave and PTO, but it sounds fake to me.

Wish they would get me some more help in the showroom, Eddie grunted. I’ve been working overtime since September.

This guy probably knows someone that works here or something. I shielded my eyes as we stepped out into the bright afternoon light. Even in late November, Tampa was still blazing hot at midday.

Eddie wiped at his already sweaty brow and said, They’ll probably hire this guy and then lay off a hundred more people in February. Of course, he’ll probably stay on the payroll.

It always seems to work out that way, I said as I opened the door to the cafeteria. As per usual, it was already bustling with hungry SHTV employees looking for sandwiches or lined up at the salad bar. Eddie and I grabbed to-go boxes and began loading up on lettuce, veggies, and toppings.

Oh, by the way, would you let Chastity know that her alterations are almost done? I said, snapping the lid close on my salad box. I can bring her dress to you tomorrow.

Isn’t the groom not supposed to see the dress before the wedding? Eddie asked as he paid for his salad at the self-checkout counter.

Yeah, I guess so. I shrugged and set my salad on the scale. "Ouch! Nearly ten bucks! I need to start packing lunch."

We always say that. Eddie chuckled and nudged me with his elbow. Hey, look over there. Isn’t that Val from HR? Maybe that’s your new hire with her.

I glanced across the crowded cafeteria in the direction that Eddie was looking and immediately spotted Valerie Damien, the Human Resources representative from our department. She was eating lunch with a man who had his back turned to me, and by the looks of it, they were nearly done. When Val walked through the doors to the QA department, it usually meant one of two things — new people getting hired or people being let go. Either way, Val’s appearance was rarely a welcome one.

Yeah, that’s probably him. I frowned and grabbed a stack of napkins. I better hurry back then. I need to wolf down this salad before I have to waste the rest of my afternoon in training.

Better you than me. Eddie walked ahead of me with his salad in hand. Even though he was old enough to be my dad and suffered from many stage-diving related injuries, he was still a pretty spry guy. I was happy to see him and his long-time girlfriend finally tying the knot.

So, do you and Chastity have everything ready for next month? I asked, trying to keep up with him.

He reached the showroom door and held it open for me. Probably. We still have to pay the caterer and take care of a few other small details. Hey, by the way, do you also do men’s alterations?

Not usually, but I could fit you in. I smirked. Why?

Well, me and Chas have been doing more walks at night and eating a little better. The trousers I was gonna wear for the wedding are a little loose now. He ran his hands along the length of his beard and grinned.

Hey, good for you! I said. Yeah, of course. Bring them into the office tomorrow and I’ll see what I can do.

Thanks, kiddo! Eddie yawned and headed back toward his desk. Good luck with the new hire.

Thanks. I’ll need it. I rolled my eyes and headed through the double swinging doors that separated our office space from the showroom and warehouse. As usual, the building was freezing compared to the outside world, and I almost regretted my cold lunch. I zipped back to my cubicle as fast as possible, ready to bundle up and get lost in a true crime podcast. There was no telling when Cindy would darken my doorway again, and I wanted to get as much work done as possible.

Shivering, I slid into my oversized cardigan, popped on my noise-canceling headphones, and set to the task of eating my salad while simultaneously finishing my workload. Deep down I knew that multi-tasking was bad, but taking work home would be even worse. After doing the same thing at the same job since graduating from college, my job was almost mindless and automatic, and I knew that I was just languishing behind my desk. I wasn’t ready to take the plunge and make my part-time seamstress gig a full-time reality, but with every passing year, I knew that time was running thin. Part of me was holding out for a severance package during the next round of layoffs — another part of me was just too insecure to try something different.

Just as I was shoveling the last bite of romaine lettuce into my mouth, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my seat as I threw off my headphones and turned around. I held a hand to my rapidly beating heart while facing Cindy and the new hire. They