An Alpha for Christmas

Chapter 6: The Weather Outside is Frightful

Chapter 6: The Weather Outside is Frightful

Dolly

“Nicky! I have a ton of ideas to run by you! I also have headshots of the models and I was thinking we should place them on a noticeboard at the Christmas Lollapalooza along with their professional contact information, you know, to generate jobs for them even after tomorrow. They are our pack members after all and even though they’re super hot, they still need our support. I also want to call them Christmas Dayters get it. It could be a hashtag. Cause they’re gonna be helping whoever bids on them by being their Christmas Date at some function or the other,” rambled Gloria, rushing to Nick as soon as the meeting was over.

Other people lingered, snatching up the remaining donuts, chitchatting and just avoiding getting back to work in general. I had an insane amount of work to do to finalise everything for tomorrow. 

Nate had joined the chat Nick and Gloria were having. I sighed. Even though my mate was in charge of me, we had just fallen out. We had fallen out before we had even really gotten together. My wolf was beginning to get antsy about it. She was ready to reconcile already.

He misses us! I can tell! His wolf is whining! I can feel it! Insisted my wolf.

I looked over at Nick who was blank-faced while he listened to Gloria’s ideas. He looked just fine. I was the only one who was miserable. I headed back to my desk. I had thought I would be miserable today because my update wouldn’t impress Alpha Nicholas. My update had actually been praised by Alpha Nicholas, a Scrooge if I ever saw one, but I was still miserable for a totally different new reason. Ain’t life just filled with surprises?

“Hey Dolly,” said a familiar voice.

I swivelled around in my office chair to face the person who was edging into my cubicle.

It was Cesca. Her name was not short for Francesca even though it sounded like it was. She was wearing cat-eye glasses and an intentionally ugly Christmas sweater today. The sweater looked itchy too.

I smiled at her. She had gone to the same high school as my Mom. I had seen my Mom reminisce with her whenever they bumped into each other at the grocery store. Thus, her belief in my Christmas Carnival idea had really emboldened me. She had been a big help.

“Hey Cesca!” I said brightly, trying to push the mental image of my mate kissing my arch nemesis away.

“Time to make our final calls,” she said, sitting in my cubicle. “Alpha is impressed with both the Christmas fundraisers.”

I nodded.

“To be honest,” said Cesca lowering her voice. “I don’t really like the Date Auction idea,” she whispered, giggling a little.

I laughed slightly, trying to hide my heartbreak.

“Auctioning off hunks like pieces of sirloin does not seem like family fun to me,” she chuckled.

I laughed more genuinely.

“I guess that’s the adult section of the something-for-everyone theme the Alpha is going for,” I agreed.

“Not that I wouldn’t bid on Nick,” said Cesca. “If I wasn’t married.”

I gave her a strained smiled feeling a little awkward. Cesca noticed my grimace.

“You don’t find him cute. I would think all you eligible she-wolves would be howling at the moon for him,” said Cesca.

“He’s cute,” I squeaked, my voice a bit shrill. “Very cute…” 

I paused. Should I tell her? She was old friends with my Mom. They weren’t super close though. She had been a great help to me throughout this fundraiser planning. She was the closest thing I had to a work friend. I was usually a bit of a loner. She was looking at me expectantly, a quizzical expression on her face. I caved.

“Nick’s my mate,” I blurted out, keeping my voice low.

Cesca’s eyes widened. She squealed in excitement.

“Congratulations!” She said. “Wow! You must be happy! My husband, Marty, used to have a body like that but that was many moons and beers ago.”

“It’s kind of a…secret…for now,” I said.

“Oh,” she said, pretending to zip up her lips. “Your secret’s safe with me!” She assured me.

“Thanks,” I said with a sigh of relief.

“Um…why is it a secret though? I’d be telling everyone! And warding off the vultures…Gloria included,” said Cesca.

“That’s just it,” I said, frowning. “Nick…”

I wanted to tell someone.

“I walked in on Nick kissing Gloria even though we only just found each other,” I said.

My lip quivered.

“Oh, Honey,” said Cesca.

I burst into tears.

“Why would he do that?” I cried.

Cesca rubbed my back.

“I guess because he’s…young? Is he not ready to settle down? Did you confront him?” She asked, handing me a tissue.

I nodded while I blew my nose.

“And what did he say?” Asked Cesca.

“That Gloria kissed him,” I said, dabbing my eyes.

I looked at the black streaks on the tissue, sure-fire signs that my mascara was smudged. I sighed. Cesca frowned.

“Hmm,” she said. “That could be true,” she said with a shrug.

“It could?” I asked, perking up.

“It could also be a bold-faced lie,” she added.

“Oh,” I said, deflating.

“Either way, if he truly can’t be faithful to you then he’s not worth your tears,” said Cesca.

I smiled sadly. Cheating was my one big dealbreaker. I still wondered if I was overreacting though. We hadn’t even had time to officially be anything. We’d barely spoken.

“Let’s start on the final calls for the Christmas Carnival. There’s really no time,” I said, sniffling. 

Cesca and I started making calls.

“Thank you so much, Uncle Bill,” I said over the phone.

“It’s no trouble at all, Dear Heart. We’re so delighted to take part! The ice ring toss is the perfect game for us to use our Frosty Friends plushies as prizes! And I never say no to a good ice-cream cart but are you sure people will want ice cream when it’s cold out?” Asked Uncle Frosty/Bill. 

“Um…” I began.

“Hey,” said a deep voice.

I looked up. Nick. 

“Hold on just one moment, Uncle,” I said, covering the receiver with my hand.

“Hey Alpha!” Said Cesca in a friendly tone.

“Hi Cesca,” said Nick, grinning and winking at her. “I’m not Alpha yet.”

“Oh, ‘bah humbug’ as they say, you’ll be Alpha soon enough!” Said Cesca.

“Soon as Scrooge steps down,” muttered Nick, lowering his voice and laughing at his own joke.

Cesca laughed too. I stared at him blankly.

“Yes?” I asked.

I would keep things cordial but icy. Being single was better than being with some ho ho ho. He hadn’t even waited two minutes before kissing another girl. He had probably kissed dozens of girls at Uncle Frosty’s party after I left.

“Is that Bill on the phone? I couldn’t help recognising his voice,” said Nick.

He wasn’t even here to apologise. He was acting like nothing happened.

“Yes,” I said stiffly.

Nick held out his hand for the phone. I frowned at him. He reached for it. I tried to move it away but he snatched it. He was a lot faster than me. I scowled at him. His grin remained on his face.

“Hey Bill!” He said brightly.

“Oh, is that you Nicky?” I could hear Uncle Bill say.

“Yeah, it’s me, thank you for agreeing to help with the Christmas Carnival part of our fundraiser,” said Nick.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Thank you for being Santa Claus at my party! You were a hit!” Said Uncle Bill.

“Yeah?” Said Nick.

“Oh yeah, the ladies kept lining up and trying to cut in front of the children!” Laughed Uncle Bill.

Nick chuckled. I glared at him.

“I was thinking…the game booth looks like a winner but what if ice cream isn’t a hot seller at the fundraiser? We also do warm brownies and warm soft cookies. It’s not too late to include them,” suggested Uncle Bill.

“If you want to include those as options for people to buy, knock yourself out, but the ice cream will sell just fine! The fundraiser is at the pack house after all. We have indoor heating the last time I checked,” laughed Nick.

Cesca laughed and so did Uncle Bill on the line. That wasn’t even funny. They were literally just simpering over him.

“Great!” Said Uncle Bill. “Ice cream and brownies and cookies for all. Thank you, Nicky!”

“See you soon. Merry Christmas, Billy!” Said Nick. “Happy Christmas Eve!”

“Merry Christmas!” Said Uncle Bill.

Nick ended the call.

“What do you ladies have for me so far?” Asked Nick, leaning against the wall of my cubicle and rolling up his sleeves to his elbows.

He was just trying to show off his muscles.

They look great, said my wolf. He’s jacked.

Oh please. He was so full of himself.

He has a right to be. He’s chiselled. You could carve a roast with that jawline, said my wolf.

“Shut up,” I said under my breath.

“Excuse me?” Said Nick, raising a brow.

Huh. I had totally zoned out. I tended to do that when I argued with my wolf. I hadn’t realised he had already starting going through some things with Cesca who had apparently already made the final calls to confirm seven of the fifteen stalls for tomorrow. I had only called to confirm Uncle Frosty. Wow I needed to start pulling my weight around here. At least, we were halfway done with final calls.

“Cesca, please excuse us for a moment,” said Nick.

“Oh, sure, I’ll just pop over back to my cubicle if you l…” began Cesca but Nick grabbed my arm and steered me away from the cubicles and out into the empty hallway.

“Ah. Your make-out hallway. Great,” I said unenthusiastically.

“Dolly, listen to me very closely,” said Nick, suddenly very serious.

I frowned.

“I’m listening,” I mumbled, taking a step back and finding my back against the wall.

Nick took a step forwards. Awesome. Cornered.

“You don’t have to forgive me okay,” said Nick. “You’re being ridiculous because I’m telling the truth but that’s fine. Think what you want.”

I sighed.

“What you will not do is disrespect me in this office or anywhere else for that matter,” said Nick sternly.

“I was not disrespecting you. I was telling my wolf to shut up,” I said, my voice a little shrill.

I’d had more confrontation today than the whole rest of the year combined.

“Sure, you were,” snapped Nick.

He didn’t believe me. I didn’t believe him. We didn’t trust each other. How could things be ruined before they even started? I sniffled. Nick let out a heavy sigh.

“Don’t cry,” he said, sounding defeated.

I couldn’t help it. Nick handed me his handkerchief. I wiped my tears away hastily.

“Are we done here?” I asked, handing him back his handkerchief.

He frowned at me, his eyes sorrowful.

“Yes. Keep it,” he said, leaving me with the handkerchief.

As I watched him walk away, I wanted to yell something that would make him come back but I didn’t. He should be the one to fix this.