The Perils of a Yuletide Office Romance

Part of Indie Ink's Writer's Challenge- Prompt "You don't choose love; love chooses you"



The trouble with having a secret is that every routine interaction that takes place in the course of a normal workday becomes a potential hazard. For the rest of society, these casual moments of carefree conversations add a degree of levity to an otherwise monotonous day; but for Thompson, these moments were a collection of stress filled seconds, as he wait to see if this was the moment that his charade of normalcy had come to an end.


A simple “Hey Thompson” heard in the break room caused panic to course through his body, as a quick scan of his co-workers face would try to detect any sign of knowing, any sign of judgment or any hint that blackmail was on the horizon. The secret had evolved into a carefully orchestrated 12-hour recital, established to ensure a satisfactory completion of all of Thompson’s assigned duties, maintaining his current level of autonomy in the workplace, so that he could maximize the amount of time that he could slip off to the spend object of his fantasies, the lovely Miss Cheri.

This type of emotionally driven behavior was out of character for Thompson, who had always had a reputation as a logical individual, with a strong work ethic and a respect for the governing rules of the community. He rationalized that this new found relationship with Cheri was the subconscious brain’s way of dealing with the work time stresses brought on by the Christmas season. Even though his feelings compounded each day, he assumed this affair would run its course and dissipate along with the layers of snow and ice outside.

And who knows, that plan might have worked, had it not been for a phone call early on Tuesday morning. The caller ID simply said “The office of C.C”. Thompson’s stomach filled with adrenaline fussed acid, as his first reaction was to not answer and let the let it go to voicemail. He instantly knew that something was wrong, since he wasn’t on the immediate radar of the Executive office. His orders and objectives were filtered down though a layers of middle management and being off the radar was one of his primary goals.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Thompson mumbled to himself, “He knows, he knows. Ok, think.” Pounding his closed fists into his forehead failed to produce any meaningful results, although by some stroke of luck, the phone did stop ringing. With a hint of shock, Thompson turned his attention to the phone and quickly wondered if he had somehow adverted a crisis—this question was quickly answered as the red message waiting light illuminated.

“Mr. Thompson, please report immediately to Chief Executive’s Office,” the voice on the message calmly stated.

“I’m dead, I’m dead,” Thompson recited as he began the short walk up to the main workshop. “How did I get myself into this mess?”

But Thompson knew exactly how this all began. He replayed the last few weeks’ events in his head like a movie on a continuous replay. He’d first seen Cheri while crossing the courtyard on a break. For Thompson, the moment their eyes met he felt an instant connection. He later discovered from his obsessive research that she was in the transportation trainee program and new to the area. Thompson soon spent every free moment peering out windows or walking through the yard with the hope of catching a glimpse of his new found soul mate.

As he climbed the final flight of steps, he settled on the moment when he knew everything began to spin out of control. It was one of those damn jewelry commercials he saw late one night, where the couple wakes up on Christmas morning together and expresses their love with a wonderful new diamond bracelet. Thompson knew their work schedule would prevent this from taking place, but he felt an overwhelming desire to show his true love the extent of his affection in some manner.

“You can go in,” the admin said as Thompson entered the waiting room, “He’s expecting you”.

Thompson sensed a smirk on the corner of her mouth as she said this. He tentatively tapped on the slightly ajar heavy oak door with his knuckles.

“Mr. Cringle, its Thompson.” He said as he stepped onto the plush red and white carpet.

“Have a seat son.” Santa said with a deep and caring tone of his baritone voice.

Thompson did as instructed, jumping up into the high-back velvet green chair. His eyes quickly scanned the room at all the personal mementos that the Big Man kept in his office. Around the room were 100’s of framed letters from grateful children thanking him for their various presents, pictures of Santa with former Presidents and various Heads of State, along with his numerous gold medals from his participation in the Summer Olympic Games.

“Do you know why I’ve called you here?” Santa asked with a don’t bullshit me demeanor.

“I’m guessing it has to do with Cheri” Thompson stated.

“Damn right it has to do with Cheri,” Santa interrupted, as he lit and took a long drag off the one-hitter pipe resting in the corner of his mouth. “Haven’t I been very clear about the policies regarding North Pole relationships?”

“Yes sir.” Thompson relied in a hushed tone.

“So where in the hell do you get off trying to play meet me under the mistletoe with a trainee?” Santa asked.

“Sir, I didn’t mean for this to happen. You don't choose love; love chooses you.” Thompson explained in a manner that he thought his boss would understand.

“LOVE CHOSES YOU?” Santa screamed. “You think the cosmos of love decided it was a good idea for one of my elves to fall in love with one of my god damn reindeer? You think the cosmos decided an interspecies union is just what we all needed for the New Year?”

“But sir, it’s a matter of the heart,” Thompson interjected.

“It better be just a matter of the heart, because I had to physically restrain my stable manager from dragging you from behind his sled this morning when he found one of his reindeer in lingerie.” Santa screamed as his face matched the color of his Carhartt work shirt.

“It was just a gift,” Thompson stammered, “The relationship has never been consummated”.

“Consummated! Son, if I ever hear you are within 200 yards of one of my reindeer, I’m selling your ass to those tree dwelling, assembly line cookie making, mother fucking elves! You got that lover boy?” Santa asked.

Thompson just nodded his head as he tried to stop the tears from sliding down his cheeks.

“Now get your hormone riddled ass back to your desk and channel that energy into making those Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Baby Dolls. We’ve got orders to fill, a schedule to meet and little girls to make happy.” Santa demanded.

Thompson quickly scrambled off the chair and made a quick exit towards the door.

“And one more thing,” Santa reminded “Have a Merry Christmas”.



This week’s IndieInk Challenge came from Lisa, who gave me this prompt: You choose love; Love Chooses you. I challenged Kurt with the prompt "You use the same wrapping paper for your bosses gift and a "Naughty" gift for your mate. As your boss is about to open the gift, you're not sure that you didn't mix up the packages.