Page 5 of The Christmas Mistake

And everyone wants to get laid at Christmas.

“I can’t believe you hate Christmas and yet you work at a shopping mall management company,” Chastity says, indignant. “Why would you submit yourself to that? Masochism? This time of year is our most important. It’s our biggest season.”

I shrug. “My biggest season is a paycheck.”

“You finance boys are all the same.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Really? How so?”

“You’re all about the money and not about the spirit of things.”

“And you social media girls are only interested in being popular.”

“Ouch, Nicholas.”

“It’s true. Tell me, do you even do a proper job, or does it mostly consist of scrolling through Tik Tok?”

“Where’s your romance, Nicholas?”

“My romance?”

“Your passion?” she asks me, waving her arms about outrageously like she really is crazy. “Your desires? Are you just so caught up in numbers all day that you’ve forgotten to look around and enjoy the world around you?”

“I don’t have time for… such things,” I reply.

“You really are such a Grinch, aren’t you? At least I’m not boring, sitting there on a calculator all day putting numbers into Excel worksheets.”

“Ouch, Chastity.”

We have an easy rhythm; I’ll give it that. I like her bite, and she likes teasing me.

Fuck, we really are flirting.

“Why haven’t we spoken yet, Nicholas?” she asks me.

“We did speak,” I reply. “On my second day here. A few weeks ago. Don’t you remember accosting me?”

“Hey, hey, I didn’t accost you. Merely approached the new mysterious guy in the office looking for some background, that’s all. And that wasn’t even a proper conversation, that was an introduction. Why haven’t we had a real heart-to-heart?”

“I don’t know, Chastity.”

“Why aren’t we friends?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

She leans in even closer. I notice she’s swaying on her feet. I’m probably doing the exact same thing. “Do you like me, Nicholas?” she asks me, her face suddenly growing serious.

“Nope. I find you annoying, actually,” I reply. “Really annoying.”

She chuckles at that. “And I find you insufferable. So stern and somber. It’s a pure wonder why I’m even talking to you.”

“Why are you talking to me, Chastity?”

She shrugs. “Because I saw you from across the room and you looked so lonely and cute.”

And that’s when I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. “Chastity?” I ask her.

“Yes, Nicholas?”