Her Secret Santa

Chapter Fourteen

CLARA

I sit anxiously at an empty table that stretches almost the length of the entire room. The conference room I’m in is huge—which makes sense, the whole building is huge. I’ve seen it from the outside, a towering monolith of glittering windows, the Hawthorne name branded proudly across the top of it. I didn’t expect it to feel just as massive inside.

The flash drive in my hands feels much heavier than it is, and I rub it between my palms in an attempt to ground myself. It contains the entirety of my graphic design portfolio—my entire website and the two pieces I’m currently working on. I feel woefully under prepared.

I spring out of my seat when the door swings open to reveal an older blonde woman, with a perfectly neat bun, wearing a skirt suit that probably costs more than any clothes I’ve ever owned. I’m wearing a neat sweater and thrifted slacks, hoping I don’t look as out of place as I feel. She meets my eyes with a pleasant, if distant, smile, and pulls the door closed behind her.

“Ms. Sanders?” she asks, stepping forward and holding her hand out. “I appreciate you making time to see me this morning. My name is Heidi Roberts, feel free to call me Heidi.”

I fumble to shake her hand, feeling instantly outclassed. She’s exactly the kind of the person I expect to be employed in such a prestigious company, and it’s obvious how out of my depth I am.

“Heidi, it’s lovely to meet you. Thank you so much for having me,” I say as she drops my hand and gestures for me to take a seat again. “Please, call me Clara.”

“Clara, I’d like to inform you that this interview is really just a formality, so I won’t waste too much of your time.” My heart sinks as she flips through a folder in front of her. I recognize my own work, printed out and organized neatly, but she skims right past it to some paperwork. I know I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up, but it’s still a heavy blow to realize that I’m not really being considered. “We’ve already chosen the projects we’d like you on, but until the new year, in-office work will be limited, so you’ll be doing much of your onboarding at home.”

I blink at her in confusion.

What ?

She looks up from the folder with that same perfectly professional smile, but it falters when she sees the blank shock on my face.

“Is everything alright, Clara?” she asks.

“I… sorry,” I say with an anxious little laugh. “Are you saying I got the job?”

That can’t be what she’s saying. There’s no way.

“Unless you don’t want it,” she replies, sliding the folder across the table toward me along with a pen. “Salary is negotiable, of course, but we are looking for a full time commitment after the new year.”

There’s an employment contract in front of me, listing out wages and benefits and hours. I stare at it in complete shock.

It can’t be this easy.

I grab the pen and sign before I can overthink it all. I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I’m not stupid enough to ruin an opportunity for myself before I even get the chance to prove my worth.

“I want it,” I say firmly, pushing the contract back toward her.

“Good,” Heidi says, her smile widening ever so slightly. “We’re glad to have you as part of the team. You’ll have a separate manager for your graphic design duties, but I’ll be your trainer for the personal assistant role. I was the secretary and assistant for the two previous CEOs, and have kept the role with our current company head, Mr. Zaiden Hawthorne. I’m approaching retirement, and will need someone to fill in for certain duties while I find a full time replacement for my role. We would have loved to put you into the Graphic Design Department full time, but we currently have a number of outsourced projects. Once they come to a close, and I find a permanent replacement, your role will change to suit your strengths.”

I didn’t realize I was going to be a PA for the CEO himself . That’s a hell of a bomb to drop. At least it’s not permanent. From what I’ve heard of Zaiden Hawthorne, he’s kind of an ass. I mean, the guy didn’t even bother to show up to his own company’s holiday party.

If that’s the price for getting my foot in the door, it’s worth it.

“I do have another job right now, but it’s seasonal,” I say. “Will that be an issue with any training schedules?”

“Not at all,” she tells me, flipping the folder closed. “Most of us are working from home until after the holidays. The majority of your onboarding will be online, and you can do it on your own time. Just remember to log your hours so you get paid for them.”

Shit, I’m getting paid for training too? This really is too good to be true.

Only one, massive, glaring problem with that.

“I don’t have a computer at home,” I admit with a wince, sure that this is where the offer will get rescinded. “Will I be able to do the trainings on a library computer?”

It’s more embarrassing than I can put into words to admit to someone so well put together that I can’t even afford my own computer.

“That’s no problem. I’ve set up an appointment at this store for you tomorrow morning,” she says, sliding a card for a computer store across the table. An appointment time is written on the back, and I stare at it in shock. “If that doesn’t work, just call them and reschedule. They know to charge it to the company, so pick whatever laptop you’d like, then drop it off with IT so they can program the security system on it before you start working. You’d have a desktop in the office, so this will be for any work you take home and any personal projects you’d like to use it for.”

A computer?

They’re giving me a fucking computer ?

How is any of this real? I pinch myself subtly beneath the table, so certain I won’t feel it that the pain is a genuine surprise.

“I— thank you ,” I blurt.

It’s probably unprofessional, but I’m so shocked that I can’t even try to hide it.

“Oh, no, thank you , Clara,” Heidi says, standing and holding her hand out again.

There’s a twinkle in her eyes that makes me wonder if she’s thanking me for more than taking the job, but I have no idea what else she would be referring to.

I rush to copy her, shaking her hand with fervent appreciation. I’m still too dumbfounded by the insane turn of luck to say anything intelligent. It’s probably obvious on my face, but Heidi kindly doesn’t mention it.

“You can fill out the rest of your paperwork with HR tomorrow when you drop your laptop off for programming,” she says. “I have another meeting to prepare for, but it was wonderful to meet you. Once your company email is set-up, I’ll email you to schedule the few in-person trainings we’ll be doing together. I look forward to working with you, Clara.”

“Yes, thank you, Heidi.” I know my eyes are wide and I’m stumbling over my words, but I do my best to keep it together. “I look forward to working with you as well.”

We say our goodbyes, leaving the conference room and heading our separate ways down the hall. I rush back outside, trying not to hyperventilate in shock and excitement. As soon as I make it out to the sidewalk, grateful tears spring to my eyes, an almost manic smile on my lips.

I’ve never had luck like this.

I think back to the Christmas list Allie made me write. I think I left it in my work backpack, or maybe it’s in one of my junk drawers. I’ll have to find it and start crossing things off. A job and a laptop, all in one day. This is insane. I’ll need to call Allie as soon as I get home, but my first priority is telling my grandma the good news, and the best way to do that is in person

I took the bus here this morning, but decide to splurge on a cab to get over to the nursing home. I’m about to have a lot more money in my pocket, after all.

The morning traffic is kinder than usual, and I make it to the nursing home before lunch. I give the cabbie more of a tip than I usually would before hopping out and heading inside. The receptionist is on the phone, so we just wave at each other before I make my way down the hall toward my grandma’s room.

I knock lightly and head inside, too excited to wait for an invitation.

She’s sitting in her usual armchair, a heavy sweater draped over her frail form. Her face lights up when she sees me, and I rush in to hug her tightly.

“Clara, honey,” she says, chuckling softly. “You’re in a good mood, aren’t you?”

I pull away to take a seat in the chair beside her, positively beaming.

“I have some good news.”

“Well, spit it out,” she urges, reaching over to pat me on the knee in excitement.

“I got fired from the diner just before Thanksgiving.” She gasps in horror, her smile fading, immediately replaced with worry. “Allie got me a temp job for the holidays, so I’ve been doing fine. But today, I had an interview with Hawthorne Enterprises , and I got the job! I’m going to be a graphic designer for them!”

She gapes at me for a long moment before laughing incredulously, shaking her head. I can see in her eyes that she’s not really upset with me, even if she’s going to pretend like she is.

“I wish you would’ve told me you were struggling,” she huffs. “I don’t like knowing that you work yourself to the bone like this over me.”

“I know,” I say with a soft smile.

She did everything for me growing up, it’s my chance to give back to her now. I’ll always do anything for her.

“I’m glad it all worked out,” she adds, her smile losing the scolding edge to it.

I beam at her, so grateful for her support that I can’t even begin to put it into words. She’s always been my number one fan, and she’s the reason I am who I am today. Without either of my parents around, it’s been me and her—and now Allie—against the world. I’ve always wanted to be just like her when I grow up, and everything I do is to ensure that I can be as generous and wholeheartedly kind as she is.

“Thank you, Grandma,” I say, leaning over to rest my head on her skinny shoulder. “The pay is really good, so I’ll be able to donate more to Brooke and the kids, and make sure everyone gets presents.”

Her weathered hand pats over my cheek affectionately, the metal of her wedding ring cool against my skin. She never took it off, even after my grandfather died. She always said he was her one true love, and she’d wait for him even in death.

The romanticism of it has always made my heart flutter, but I never thought I’d get anything like that.

To be fair, whatever is between my Elite and me isn’t exactly the fairy tale romance I always dreamed of. It’s not sharing milkshakes in a diner and dancing in the rain like my grandmother always told me stories about, but it’s a lot more than I expected it to be.

“You’re happy about something else, aren’t you?” she asks when I pull back.

I instantly blush, ducking my head down in a poor attempt to hide it. She’s always been able to read me like a book.

“It’s just been a good day,” I say.

Sure, I haven’t been able to keep him off my mind for more than a few hours at a time. I know the color of his eyes, the rumble of his voice, the wash of comfort that immediately surrounds me when I’m in his arms. But I don’t know his name, or anything else about him. I don’t know if he thinks about me the same way I think about him.

Even if all I ever have with him is moments in the dark hidden behind masks, I can content myself with that.

Thankfully, a knock at the door interrupts what would surely have been a full blown interrogation. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see one of the aides peek his head around the door, an easy smile on his face.

“Nora?” he asks. “Are you ready for lunch?”

Perfect timing. I still have to tell Allie about all this too.