North Pole Unlimited Collection 3, page 2
That got her attention. Jilly’s fingers paused above the keyboard as she froze for a second. “Hi there!”
“Hi.”
“Hi,” she said again. “Was there a problem at the warehouse? I gave them everything you gave me last night. Did something fall out of your envelope?” She pulled her purse from under her desk and began rummaging through it.
“No, everything was fine.”
Nick grinned at the two of them. “Jilly Lewis, I’d like to introduce Ebenezer Fredericks, our newest hire.”
She tilted her head to stare at her boss. “Really, Nick?”
Nick barreled on as if she hadn’t spoken. “Mr. Fredericks is the new logistics trainee. He’ll be starting with Kristen Gillam to learn the ropes for transport coordination before he gets assigned a region. Mr. Fredericks, this is Jilly Lewis, the second-best administrative assistant working at North Pole Unlimited,” Nick continued.
“Second best?” Jilly asked with mock concern.
“Ginger Malone, Gabriel Conner’s second in command over in the Toy division, shares her Christmas cookies with me,” Nick said.
“Second best is good enough for you, boss.”
Ben laughed. He knew how lucky he was. Jilly’s Scrooge-like tendency when it came to sharing cookies was legendary.
“In that case, welcome to the new team, Ebenezer,” she said. “I’d give you the usual warnings, but I already know you’re good with paperwork and reports, so I won’t have to pull out my pool noodle. But in case you get any ideas about slacking off…” Jilly opened her lower desk drawer and drew out a foam tube the length of her forearm.
Ben lost it and howled in laughter. So did Nick. “You promised me you’d get rid of that thing!” Nick said.
“Some people need the reminder. Like for, oh, getting me the paperwork for new hires more than ten minutes before they show up for work,” she hinted.
“Come into my office, Ben. Let’s get those forms signed before Jilly turns on us.”
“You are so well-trained, boss,” was Jilly’s unconcerned retort as her attention returned to her computer.
Nick’s office matched his energetic personality, with a treadmill in the corner and multiple televisions along one wall. The only thing out of place was the stuffed bass wearing a mini-Santa hat mounted above the window. It came alive when Nick took his seat behind his desk. The fish started flapping and singing the chorus to “Sweet Caroline.”
“That is deeply disturbing,” Ben said.
“I know.”
“Can’t you turn it off?”
“No. I can’t reach the switch. Believe me, I’ve been trying for four years. It’s bolted to a beam somehow. Jilly said she had Maintenance look at it, and it can’t come off without taking down part of the wall. I’ll have to wait till the next round of renovations.” Nick glared at the fish.
“How has that thing not run out of batteries in the last four years?” Ben asked.
Nick’s blue eyes went wide. “I’m going to kill her.”
Ben wanted to laugh at the fact Jilly had kept a prank running for four years. It was going to be so much fun working here. “Maybe you could hold off on that until January. I’m glad to see her showing some Christmas spirit.” He took the offered pen and began signing at all the flagged locations.
“You’re glad to see Jilly showing some Christmas spirit? Have you not met my assistant before? Her picture is in the dictionary.”
“Not this year, it isn’t. Did you notice she has nothing up at her desk?” Ben had. Every other office he’d passed had been decked out with Christmas decorations, a celebration of lights for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, or countdowns to the new year, be it calendar, Chinese or Ukrainian. Jilly, on the other hand, had stacks of files, a small crystal candy bowl filled with an assortment of wrapped nougats and chocolate kisses, and a book with yarn on the cover balancing precariously on the corner of her desk. There wasn’t a candy cane or stocking in sight.
Nick frowned when he handed over another stack of forms. He went to his door, opened it, looked into the outer office, then closed it again. “What’s wrong with her? Is she sick?”
“She’s boycotting Christmas,” Ben said.
“What? Why?”
“She told me none of her family will be around on the twenty-fifth, so she doesn’t feel like there’s any reason for her to celebrate.”
“But Christmas is her thing,” Nick protested. “She must have been joking.”
Ben leaned forward, trying to emphasize the importance of the news he was about to share. “She took the leaves out of her dining room table, and she doesn’t have a single decoration up at home. I think she’s serious.”
“That can’t be. She must need a holiday jump-start.” Nick nodded to himself. “I’ll take care of it. It’s disappointing to hear about her family, but I’m sure she’ll come around. In the meantime, let’s introduce you to your new department and make sure they’re ready for you.”
Nick walked him to the door. “Jilly, will you take Ben over to Logistics so he can talk to Kristen about his training schedule? Here’s his file. If we missed anything, please grab him before the end of the day so he’s ready to go first thing tomorrow.”
She set the file on top of her keyboard and grabbed her security pass. “Let’s acquaint you with your new desk.”
The walk back to the Logistics division took much longer than it had the first time, probably because people were willing to flag them down to talk to Jilly and ask her questions, whereas everyone had been much too busy to look up when Nick walked by.
Jilly kept up a running commentary as she introduced him to his coworkers in his new department, from how long they’d worked at North Pole Unlimited, to their educational backgrounds, to whether or not they participated in any of the company’s sport leagues. She talked to and about everybody.
But the number one topic people wanted to discuss with her was Christmas. Did Jilly have a list of floats for the parade? Did she know Madison Hill was selling wrapping paper for a school fundraiser and her father Tim had the order sheet? Had she signed up for the office bake exchange that Ginger Malone was organizing?
“How do you expect to escape Christmas working in a place like this?” Ben asked. It was everywhere. He was surprised she’d held out this long. “It’s the beginning of December. It’s only going to get worse.”
Jilly crossed her arms. “I’ll find a way.”
He was in for a fight and was looking forward to every minute of it.
Chapter 3
Avoiding the holidays would be harder than she thought. Signs—figurative and literal—were everywhere, and they were insidious. Being known as the Christmas Queen around the office had seemed like a good idea when she started at North Pole Unlimited years ago, but now, when people were stopping by her desk for just that reason, Jilly was reconsidering her title. The constant cheer rubbed her the wrong way, but she’d invited it upon herself, so she couldn’t complain too much.
Jilly found a real smile when little Madison Hill ran into her office and gave her a hug as a thank you for the birthday wrapping paper order she’d placed. Jilly could be as miserable as she wanted, but she wasn’t going to poison anyone else’s holiday spirit.
She might have to do something creative to her boss, though. Once she was back from lunch after dealing with Ben’s surprise paperwork, Nick called her into his office.
The bass above his desk greeted her.
“Once we get that thing unbolted from the wall, I have to check to see what kind of batteries it runs on,” Nick said as he pulled a file from his drawer.
“I’m sure you’ll be surprised.” She was pleased her voice held steady for her answer. It hadn’t been easy switching them out every six months without getting caught.
“But until then, I have an urgent staffing problem I need you to solve.” He slapped a thick manila folder, bulging with paper and paperclips holding various photos to papers, onto his desk. “Enjoy, and good luck.” He didn’t look at her when she flipped through it.
“This is for a float in the December Christmas parade.”
“Yes, it is.”
“This isn’t one of my projects.”
“It is now.”
“No, the Santa Claus float is sponsored by the Klassen family personally. I took care of the company entry already,” Jilly protested.
Organizing the parade float had been fun. Of course, she still thought she’d been celebrating Christmas when she planned the design of the trailer which would be pulled down December’s Main Street. The flatbed would be decked out as Santa’s workshop, with snowsuit-wearing volunteers dressed as elves tossing candy canes to people cheering from the curb. It wasn’t easy coming up with a new theme every year, but Jilly planned each design months in advance. She’d usually have an idea for next year by now.
But it had been a lot of work. Weeks of work. She didn’t have time to put together a float in less than a month.
“You don’t have to deal with the float itself. I checked it out already. Santa’s Sleigh is in good shape and ready for another year’s trip around town,” Nick said, saving himself from a pool noodle beating. Then he continued, “The problem is that Mr. and Mrs. Claus are A.W.O.L., and since they’re your parents, I’m putting you in charge of finding their replacements.”
That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t her fault her parents were celebrating their anniversary on a different continent. “Are you telling me your grandmother didn’t scramble over the dining room table to volunteer when this news came up?” Jilly asked. She’d worked with Adelaide Klassen for over a decade before the company’s former president had resigned a couple years earlier. Adelaide may have retired, but she definitely hadn’t stopped working. She’d shifted her focus from the business to family and friends. Dressing up as Mrs. Claus to serve the community would be right up her alley.
“Feel free to ask her. Ask everybody. Just please find somebody. You’re the Christmas miracle worker. Do your thing. You have two weeks to fill those red velvet sleigh seats,” Nick informed her.
She sighed and thought of the coffee cup she used to have that said, If you want something done, give it to a busy person. At least this assignment wouldn’t take long. All she needed to do was make one call to Adelaide, and she could give Nick the file back.
In theory.
A weak hack sounded on the other end of the line. “I can’t. I’ve come down with a mild chest cold that I can’t shake.” A faint sneeze. “At my age, I can’t be too careful.”
“Adelaide, you have the constitution of an ox. You’ll be fine.” Jilly knew Adelaide was on two curling teams and two community boards. She had a more active social life than Jilly did. She was never down for long.
“Sorry, dear. You’ll have to find someone else to be Mrs. Claus. Or don the red cloak yourself.”
That wasn’t happening. Ever. “I’ll make some calls. Feel better, Adelaide.”
Jilly steepled her fingers. She had no Plan B. Mrs. Claus’s rosy cheeks could be achieved with rouge, and Mr. Claus’s bowl-full-of-jelly belly was only a pillow away, but who did she know who’d be willing to play dress-up?
Jilly didn’t have the time or energy for this. Not between the year-end paperwork and the constant interruptions. She needed help, someone who’d done this before. She needed… “Rudy Gillespie, my favourite warehouse manager in all of the Prairies, how are you?” she asked, after a frantic hunt for an out-of-province phone number.
“Uh, oh. What do you want, Jilly?” was the cautious reply.
“Nothing bad. A simple referral,” she said. Rudy had been in this exact same position a year ago and pulled a Santa out of his hat at the last minute for his community Christmas party. He’d have a list of suggestions for her. “I need a man in a red suit.”
Hysterical laughter made her pull the receiver away from her ear. “This month? Good luck with that,” Rudy said unhelpfully.
“You did it. Surely you have a list.”
“First of all, stop calling me Shirley. Second, yes, I’ve got a list. I used it last December, the day after the party that almost wasn’t, to book my guest of honour for this year. You won’t find anybody available last minute.”
“I know you have contacts. There’s got to be somebody. What if I sweeten the pot with a dozen imported chocolate meringues?” It was the best bribe in her arsenal.
The laughter got louder.
“Two dozen.” She could afford to take that out of her personal holiday cookie stash. Barely. It would be a sacrifice, but a necessary one to get this task off her to-do list.
“Imported? Nice try, Jilly, but I’m dating the baker that makes those for you, remember?”
Shoot. She’d forgotten that Rudy was seeing Kris Singleton, who was also in Calgary. The Totally Iced baker had sent her a private order of her favourite cookies back in November. They were excellent incentives in the office, but apparently, they weren’t going to work in this situation. “What kind of bribe would work?”
Rudy’s voice lost its amusement. “If you’re serious, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can help. I have no idea where our Santa came from last year. Honestly, until this conversation, I was still convinced you had sent him to help us out and were denying it as a joke. Give me a minute.” She heard paper shuffling on the other end of the line. “I’ll send you an email of all my leads. You may be able to find similar companies or services in your area. Frankly, at this point, you may have to do what I did.”
“What was that?”
“Rent a suit,” Rudy said. “I was already dressed when our mysterious man in red appeared. I hid in a storeroom till he left, then changed back to my regular clothes.”
“We already have the costumes, Rudy.”
“Then what’s the problem? Practice your ho-ho-ho’s and fill those shiny black boots yourself.”
“Not on your life.”
“I don’t know what else to tell you, Jilly. I’ll send you the list, but you’re on your own.”
“I’m telling Kris to ban you from the bakery.”
He laughed again. “I’m her number one quality control supervisor. It’ll never stick. Good luck, Jilly. And Merry Christmas.”
Rudy was as good as his word. An email appeared in her in box a couple minutes later, listing various talent agencies and actors-for-hire. He’d also added a list of search terms to use online and a reminder that they’d probably be booked.
She couldn’t believe her parents had left her in this predicament.
Double humbug.
Chapter 4
He was going to like it here. His trainer was knowledgeable, the other people in the logistics division had welcomed him with open arms, and he had the option to use a headset or not when talking on the phone. Ben was a definite “not,” but it was nice to have the choice.
He was also gratified to learn that his long-haul career had lasting value. Policy was well and good, but things happened on the road that could not be predicted or avoided. His practical knowledge meant the entire office would have the benefit of his experiences.
All that was left to do was return some final paperwork to Human Resources, and then he’d be done for the day, with his first day of actual work to start at eight o’clock the next morning. As he retraced his steps to Jilly’s desk, he ran into Joy McCall-Harkness in the corridor.
Ben didn’t know the auburn-haired employee well, but he knew she worked as a veterinary assistant, even without the clues of two leashes hanging out of her jacket pockets and a feather stuck to her shoulder. Ben held a fire door open for her, since both her hands were full of shopping bags. “Where are you headed?” he asked.
“I need to see Jilly before I return to my litter of Tasmanian kittens,” she said.
“Is that a breed? I haven’t heard of them before.”
Joy laughed. “No. I call them that because they are all little devils. Devils with escape artist genes. I’m pretty sure some of the older cats have been giving them lessons on how to open their cage doors. I’ll miss them when they’re gone, but right now, I’d like to, just once, find them where I left them,” she complained.
Ben caught a peek inside one of Joy’s bags. “Is that whole bag full of toques?”
“You bet.” She raised the one in her left hand. “Hats.” Then her right hand. “Slippers.”
“You’re a knitting machine!”
“This wasn’t all me. These are donations from the Southern Manitoba Fibre Association. They make them all year for distribution to various charities during the holidays. I’m part of the wrapping committee. Which is why I need to speak to Jilly.”
Ben had no problem waiting while the two women discussed yarn business. He was simply thrilled to have experienced a normal office workday. He started paying attention when Joy picked up the bags she’d set on the floor.
“I can do that,” Jilly said to Joy. “I’ll grab the list from the Sunset tonight and get it to you tomorrow.”
“Thank you. The sooner I can scratch the wrapping job off my ever-growing to-do list, the happier I’ll be,” Joy said.
“Did you get the wrapping paper from Tim Hill?”
“No, one of Madison’s classmates’ parents works in Veterinary Services. He got my business this year.”
“It’s all for a good cause. Have a good night.”
Jilly was pleasant but professional when he handed over his paperwork. It took her ten minutes to go through each form to make sure every “I” was dotted and every “T” crossed. He thought he’d done a good job, but one signature and three initials later gave him new appreciation for her thoroughness, especially since his future paycheques were on the line. When she was done, she locked the file in a drawer and turned off her computer screen.
“Are you done for the day?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ll get that done tomorrow, but I’ll backdate it to today,” Jilly promised.
“I wasn’t worried about that. Did I hear you say you were heading to the Sunset? The Sunset Retirement Residence?”
