His Golden Cuffs: Christmas (2 page)

"Shayna! Please, let us never speak of my father as a sexual being again
.
Remember, he abandoned her at the first sign of trouble
.
"

"Fine, fine, we will never again speak of her
shtupping
anyone again
.
But having the holiday spirit does not mean you actually have to forgive her
.
"

"I'm not sure there is enough holiday spirit for that
.
Still, to go from a very well-paid executive assistant to being unemployable? That does not make for a very good holiday
.
"

"So send her a fruit basket
.
She's unemployable because she violated her boss's trust
.
And she not even actually unemployed, you know
.
"

"Wait, what?"

"I'd say the spirit of Christmas moved somebody, but that jackhole Laurence Schall hired her, like, a month after she got canned
.
"

"How do you even know that? Also, ew
.
Maybe I should send her a fruit basket, I would not like to work for that slime
.
"

"Right? But I know because we all kind of end up working together, coordinating things
.
He's still in your general social circle and he's always had a thing for a frigid Grace Kelly type
.
Five bucks says they end up married before a year is up
.
"

"I am not sure I would wish them on each other, but at least we won't be invited to the wedding?"

"Are you kidding? You would so be invited! How can you still be so innocent about this stuff? It's business, not personal
.
And then you would have to see her at all the stupid events
.
She always lands of her feet, doesn't she?"

"Let's think about something else
.
Anything else
.
"

"Oh my God, perfect gift
.
We could get Leo a monkey!"

~ * ~ * ~

Leo sprawled on the brown leather sofa while Brian poured them each a stiff measure of scotch
.

He leaned back and groaned, covering his face with his hands and said, "Brian, I am going to be such a dead man come Christmas Eve
.
Anya is going to open the package, smile sweetly at me and say, 'Wow, yet another sparkly necklace
.
'"

Brian handed Leo the tumbler with a single round ice cube in it and said, "You know she will do no such thing
.
Anya always enjoys your gifts and she is a far kinder woman than you deserve
.
"

"Why can't she be a woman who goes into raptures over excessive jewelry, as long as the price tag on it is big enough?"

Brian settled into the chair across from Leo and said, "You would never have married a gold digger
.
Well, stayed married to one, anyways
.
"

"But it really would make gift giving so much easier
.
" Leo took a swig of the amber liquid and swirled it around his mouth
.
He savored the peaty scotch
.
He said, "I just want to see her eyes light up
.
Not just be generally pleased to get a gift from me, but for her to be absolutely completely delighted by something I gave her
.
" He gestured his glass at Brian before continuing, "She’s such an angel and she puts up with me being a grumpy workaholic
.
She's always really happy when I surprise her with gifts, but well, it's our first Christmas together
.
I just want to shower her with joy
.
Pure, radiant joy
.
To forget anything we started as and just be over the moon, rapturously happy
.
"

"That's a lot of pressure to put on a gift, dude
.
I'm not sure anything you buy could live up to that
.
"

"I know, I know
.
I just
...
"

"Want her to be happy?"

"So that came through?"

Brian gestured at Leo and said, "Just a hair
.
Well, she isn't going to be transported over any shiny gewgaw you get her
.
You guys already do whatever the heck you want, so it's not like you can give her a vacation to any place you haven't already gone
.
"

"Oh my God, I'm doomed
.
I'm going to get her all the jewelry in town and just go into hiding
.
"

"Well, you could do that, but I'm thinking that will not make her happy, unless you actually brought her with you
.
Time is the only thing you don't already have enough of
.
"

"Time?" Leo tilted his head at Brian
.

"Like you said, you are a completely unrepentant workaholic
.
"

"I mean, it's not as bad as it used to be
.
Larry pretty much kicks me out at 6pm
.
"

"Larry is one of the most ruthlessly efficient assistants I've ever seen
.
"

"He's worth about a dozen Mirandas
.
"

Brian raised his glass and said, "Amen
.
He also didn't try to torpedo your marriage, and if he's sending you home at six pm, might actually be saving it
.
"

"I almost didn't hire him, you know
.
During the interview when I talked about late hours, he said if it was a regular occurrence, then I was doing something wrong
.
Either not delegating or being bad at my job
.
"

Brian's eyebrows shot up and he couldn't hide the surprise in his voice when he said, "He called you bad at your job in an interview?"

"And just raised an eyebrow when I started reacting huffily
.
"

"He does have an epic eyebrow raise," Brian said
.

Leo said, "No kidding
.
But you know what? He was right and I'm glad someone called me out on it
.
And now my assistant has four assistants of his own
.
"

"Wait, really?"

"Really
.
And it's totally worth it
.
Worth every penny
.
I'm so much more relaxed than I've ever been
.
Between them, nothing slips through the cracks and I think we get about ten times as much accomplished
.
"

"I guess it's worth it to deal with that stone face instead of a little eye candy
.
"

"He's only like that at work
.
You should have seen him when his partner surprised him at lunch with a visit with their little boy
.
"

"I guess he's always so, well, stone-faced, that I assumed he was a robot that didn't go home, just shut down for the night
.
" Brian finished off his drink and walked back to the bar
.

"Anyways, Larry's stone-faced efficiency is getting me home for dinner most nights
.
So what else do you mean by time?"

Brian freshened his drink and said, "And exactly how much work do you do when you get home? After dinner?"

Leo stretched his arm out and let Brian top his drink off, before continuing, "Well, so, you see, that's not a fair question
.
I'm not working so much as doing some reading
.
"

"Just some light reading of a few dozen prospectuses? Maybe a little analytics to rock you gently to sleep?"

"Right
.
I see your point, but Anya hasn't complained
.
"

"You want to wait until she complains?" Brian waited for Leo to respond, but he just shrugged
.
"I thought not
.
Seriously, consider the life you have now, and the life you actually want to have
.
"

"I have a pretty amazing life
.
"

"Sure, for a bachelor
.
Sleek, modern,
cold
penthouse suite in the middle of the city
.
"

"I tried to get her to redecorate!"

"This is never going to be a cozy, homey space
.
There isn't enough napalm in the world to make this place feel warm
.
"

"I could look for another apartment, I guess
.
"

"A house, you idiot
.
A house with rolling acres
.
A pond
.
Maybe a stable
.
A dog
.
"

"That sounds more like a manor
.
What would we do with a sprawling house?"

"Throw parties, getaways, make out in every room?"

"I guess I just never thought past being anything but a single guy living in the city
.
How will I work?"

"Welcome to the modern age, remotely! Hone down your responsibilities
.
You can work from the office two days a week, stay in the apartment, then spend the rest of the time with Anya
.
"

"You're right! I'll buy her a house!" Leo sat up in a rush
.
He could already picture Anya in a rocking chair on a wide porch, with a dog curled up at her feet
.

Brian waved his hands at Leo, trying to distract him
.
"Uhm, well, I wouldn't just buy one
.
Maybe she has her own ideas about what kind of house she would pick
.
Maybe she's allergic to dogs
.
"

Leo settled back on the couch
.
"Well, I can find some real estate agents and get them looking, so I can have some to show her
.
So we can go check them out together
.
That covers the big gift, but we are doing a smaller exchange Christmas Eve, without her family
.
"

"I can't solve all your problems, man
.
What's close to her heart? Besides you? She loves animals, right? You could get her a monkey!"

~ * ~ * ~

Anya flitted around the living room
.
A massive but very fake evergreen tree filled a corner of the room
.
Leo arranged for its delivery
.
Sadly, he also had arranged to have it decorated
.
She flicked a gorgeous but impersonal ornament
.
He'd looked so shocked when she asked him where his ornaments and decorations were
.
It was clearly not something he'd ever really considered
.
Considering they had to entertain his various business partners, she let him select some elegant designer tree for the penthouse
.
It was lovely, and except for the lack of scent, looked real, but just like the apartment itself, it had a cold hard edge
.

Anya remembered the Christmases her mother put together for the family, before everything fell apart
.
She still missed her mother, but finally, she could enjoy the joyful memories of her family, instead of just the sorrow
.
The house was always warm and bustling with life
.
Her, Robb, and Vicki would all invade the kitchen to make cookies with Mrs
.
T until it was time to make paper chains and trim the tree
.
Her father would sit in his massive wing back chair and thread cranberries and popcorn
.
Anya was surprised to have a positive memory of him
.
It felt nice to remember that before her mother got sick, her father seemed to love them and to be part of the family
.
She didn't forgive him or excuse him, but she couldn't help but wonder if her mother's illness and death had driven him out of control
.