“There’s been no advertisement, no media, nothing indicating Santa would be here tomorrow. People assume he will be, but we’ll ignore it. We’ll pretend this was all intentional. It’s all about the sales.”
I nodded, slowly getting on board. “It is all about the sales.”
“Then that will be our focus in the store. We’ll work on the Santa problem behind the scenes.”
She was stuffing things into her satchel. “What are you doing?”
“It’s Thanksgiving. I’m going home and stuffing my face. Are you going to your parents’ house? Don’t tell me you are skipping Thanksgiving. There is nothing you can do here. Nothing. Go home. You know this will be the last time you see anyone until New Year’s.”
I slowly shook my head. “No, I need to doublecheck the displays and make sure everything is perfect. If we are going to ignore the elephant in the room, I need to make sure there is plenty to distract customers and Bob Banner.”
“Bob Banner is the reason we are in this mess,” she growled. “He is a scrooge. If he would have given them a little bit of a raise or offered them some kind of employee discount, we would have Santas coming out our ears. Him and the other Richie Riches decided to keep their wallets sealed tight and now they are going to ruin Christmas.”
She wasn’t wrong. “I’m not about to tell him that and neither are you. We’ll figure something out.”
“Go home, Harper.”
“And do what?”
“You work too much. You just said you don’t have a boyfriend. That’s because you are here all the time, and when you aren’t here, you are elsewhere doing stuff for here.”
“I don’t mind it. Besides, what am I going to do? Go to my parents’ house, eat until I can’t move, and then pass out on the couch?”
“Yes. That’s what you do on Thanksgiving. Hang out with your dad and watch football. Enjoy a nap. That is exactly what I plan on doing.”
I curled my lip with disgust. “I hate football and I really hate naps. Nothing but a waste of time and they make you feel worse when you get up. The entire day is lost.”
“Sleeping is definitely a waste of time,” she said sarcastically.
“Go home. Eat. Be merry.”
“I’ll be merry next month,” she said, correcting me. “Now I’m going to be thankful.”
“Got it. I need to check the displays.”
“Hey, are you suggesting I didn’t do my job?”
“Absolutely not.”
She sighed, putting a hand on her hip. “I know. I know. It’s just your way. It’s why you are the boss.”
“I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. Do not be hungover.”
“I’ll be here.”
She left the office. Sitting around and wallowing in my misery was not going to help save my job. I needed everything to be perfect tomorrow. If I had any chance of saving my job, I needed to make sure the displays were on point. No mistakes.
I walked out of my office and down the empty hall, passing the offices of the other administrative personnel. I was used to being in the place all alone. I was always the last one out and the first one in. I took the employee elevator down to the bottom floor of the four-story building. I walked through the gray hall that employees and janitors used to move through the store without being seen. I stepped through the door and into the store. The floor gleamed and the scent of pine and cinnamon was in the air. That was my idea. We wanted to get customers in the Christmas spirit.
I knew a lot of my coworkers thought I was an uptight bitch. I probably was. I was a perfectionist and I would not quit until things were perfect. Sometimes, that required me demanding the best from those I worked with. They didn’t always like that. I didn’t believe in good enough. I was Harper Lincoln and I wanted that name synonymous with excellence. Being diligent had gotten me to where I was today. Accepting whatever came my way or accepting good enough would not have earned me a four-year-scholarship to an elite prep school that paved the way for another scholarship to USC.
I couldn’t stop being good. When I accepted okay, I was accepting a life that was mediocre. I was not mediocre. My dad always told me I could be better than him. I didn’t think I was better, but I was doing much better financially. I