Page 8 of Bossy Bride: Emma and Jesse

We don’t rush back down the escalator. We stand there like the king and queen of Bright Berry Beach. People notice us return. They notice with sly glances and whispered giggles behind hands over their mouths. But it’s a good-natured kind of attention.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that we are in love.

We separate then. Jesse heads off towards his brothers and their dates and I mingle a little, smiling and wishing our employees a happy holiday as I make my way over to my girls.

Hannah and Darrel are doing one of those corny, intertwined-arm champagne toasts. You know, the one where you loop your arm around his and then drink your bubbly as a team. They are sorta cute in their own nerdy way.

Mila and her husband, Diego, slow-dance like the married couple they are. They’ve been together for almost a dozen years now, so their secret office-desk trysts at the holiday party are probably behind them. But I remember when they used to sneak away for secret sexy times.

Natalie and her two dates. I don’t remember their names. She might not even have told me their names. Natalie is a woman who likes to keep her options open. But I’m sure, if she hasn’t fucked them both in some out-of-the-way empty office, she will before the night is over.

I linger at the punch bowl and just… enjoy our success.

Because that’s what this holiday party was always about. A way to bask in the glory of how we did it. We made it. We pulled ourselves up, and changed the future of our families. And yeah, there was a lot of hard work involved. But one night of every year we stop to say thanks and to celebrate with the people who decided to take this ride with us.

Then it’s late. After midnight. Mila steps up to the microphone to make her annual holiday speech. It’s filled with gratitude. She can be humble when she wants to, and this is her humble speech.

All faces go solemn as she begins to express our collective thanks. Then everyone is smiling and clapping when she calls people out by name, expressly thanking them for their Bright Berry Beach contributions.

And then Hannah takes over and invites everyone to visit the Santa Machine on their way out.

Everyone gets a cash bonus that will be automatically deposited into their bank accounts once they scan their lanyard. But everyone gets a personal present too. Sometimes they are just earrings, if that employee is an earring lover. Or a nice pair of cashmere gloves. But sometimes they are scholarships to the college their kid wants to go to next year. Or a new car, if theirs came to a sudden demise recently and they are now forced to take the bus to work.

When everyone gets back from the holiday break in the new year a new page on the employee website will pop up and there will be a form you can fill out. A form asking for a gift for a friend. You’re not allowed to ask for your own gift. Someone has to do that for you. And if you’re crazy and say, ‘I’d like Bright Berry Beach to pay off my co-worker’s house,’ we look very closely at the reason why before we do something that extravagant.

But we don’t ever say no outright to anything. Not if someone needs help.

Do we buy their loyalty? Or do we earn it?

It’s actually not that hard to know. If someone is here just to get the gift from the Santa Machine, they are in for a sad reality check. All gifts are based on need.

Some years you get earrings or gloves, but when you need it—when you really, really need it—we’re there to send that kid to college or pay that mortgage off.

The party begins to wind down as people pass their lanyards under the Santa Machine laser and say their goodbyes and well-wishes.

Mila, Hannah, Natalie, and I always meet in the executive conference room while this is all happening so we can take a moment to appreciate each other and revel in the success of the past year.

Sometimes there are more failures than successes, but we always try to concentrate on the positives. Some years we pay for this extravagant party out of our own pockets.

But not this year. This was a great year.

“Whew!” Hanna practically slides into one of the oversized leather conference table chairs, scooting backwards so she can kick her alien-elf feet up onto the brushed metal table. “Those edibles were the best idea ever!”

“They so were,” Mila exclaims, slumping down into her own chair. “I had three.” She wobbles a little and the chair rocks backwards a little too far, so she has to lean forward and catch herself. But she’s smiling like a Cheshire cat in a Santa suit. Her beard is gone and so is the stuffing that made her look like a plump apple, so her suit is loose and the belt is missing. She toes off her black boots and puts her candy-cane-socked feet up on the table too.

Natalie is still drinking, a full flute of bubbly Dom in her hand as she leans against the wall with a sigh. “Well,” she says, looking at me. “Tell us, Ems. How did we do this year?”

I’m in charge of our bonuses. That’s why we meet after the party.

“Exceptionally.” I beam. “I’m not sure what was so different about this year, but… ladies. We killed it.”

“What’s the number?” Hannah asks. “I need to hear it out loud!”

I take a breath. Because it’s a big number. “Twenty-four point three million.”

There’s silence as that number sinks in. It’s almost double the bonus of our best year ever.

“Wow,” Mila exclaims. “Just… like… wow. I had no idea.”