The Christmas Grinch - Rebel Hart Page 0,4

putting my father into retirement earlier than he expected. It was more of a culmination of a hundred little things, all with exhaustion and being overworked as the main culprit.

“Sorry,” I grumbled, staring down the line that waited for my name.

I knew the day was coming, so I don’t know why it bothered me as to when it happened. It was inevitable. December was just as good a time as any, no matter how complicated it was. More than complicated. It was the worst possible time for that kind of transfer of power, but my father wanted to go into the new year as a retiree. He didn’t just want to. His doctor and my mother insisted on it.

“I know I’m leaving everything in good and capable hands,” he assured me. “You’ve been preparing for this your whole life.”

It’s true. It was the role I was born to fill. From the moment the doctors told my parents they were having a son, my father was intent on passing the family’s chain of department stores down to me just as they had been passed down to him from his father.

But I wasn’t being handed the same golden egg my father had been given. We both knew things were floundering, and it was now my job to save them.

I sighed and scribbled my name on one page, and then another, until the stack was complete. “That’s it then?”

He sighed too, but with more relief. “That’s it.” He waved to his assistant waiting outside the door and handed the papers over. It felt like I had just signed my whole life away to a sinking ship.

We both turned to face the view of the workers down below, using dollies to transport giant stuffed giraffes and elephants along with trees and arrangements of fake food and flowers towards the windows. An old french woman, that year’s head designer, barked orders and snapped her fingers as she meticulously arranged every last detail of the display, set to be unveiled tomorrow evening.

My father patted my shoulder with a look of pity. “I don’t need to tell you that with internet shopping on the rise, certain aspects of the day to day functions of the job you’ve been prepared for are changing. It used to be all about the store. But now it’s all about our website.”

All I could hear was that it was all about that office, that desk, and that computer. I envisioned a life of being trapped in a box, communicating with people through emails and ruining my eyes and my body from being stagnant in front of the computer screen for days, weeks, months on end.

The daily morning walks through the store that I had accompanied my father on so often since I was a boy were now becoming the thing of the past. Making sure every last detail of the shops were perfected was now considered inconsequential in comparison to the online presence of our business.

“This annual display is no exception,” he continued. “I think you should make the announcement tomorrow evening at the unveiling. Better to rip it off fast like a bandaid.”

“Absolutely not,” I argued. “They’ll blame me for everything. I can see it now. Oh hi, everyone. Thank you for coming to this ridiculous event you all look forward to all year. Now that you’re here, I’d just like to let you know that I am the new face of the company and my first order of business is to inform you this will be the final year for your beloved Christmas display. Enjoy it while you can.” I shook my head and stood to pace the room. “Not exactly the best first impression.”

“I’m not the boss anymore, so it’s your call. Wait until next year if you want. But sooner or later, we will have to announce it.”

“Maybe if we had stopped doing it years ago, our financial state wouldn’t be in such shambles,” I suggested.

I stared disapprovingly at the expensive decorations and custom designed decor being shuffled back and forth. The annual display was a huge monetary drain, but for decades it had been worth it. What it brought in terms of customers and sales more than made up for the extra expense. But that had stopped being true some time ago, and yet my father insisted on keeping up the tradition.

“This display was one of my father’s favorite accomplishments,” he noted. “He wanted to give something back to his customers. A big show that captured the