Page 26 of Resisting Fate
Chapter Six
Missy started her new temp job at the Eastman mall the next day with as much quiet dignity as she could muster given her outfit—green velvet dress with a red sash, white tights patterned with giant candy canes, felt shoes curled up at the toes, and a large pointy green hat. Yes, she was an elf.
Think of the children.The Harper family needed her. This was good, honest work at Santa’s Workshop. All she had to do was get through the next three weeks and four days and she’d have enough to repay the money Louis had stolen. She’d have to settle for Christmas shopping the sales online now that her free time was taken up with a second shift. Not as satisfying to shop that way, but whatever.
Thankfully, her first day, though hellishly long, had proceeded without incident. More importantly, she hadn’t run into anyone she knew. She certainly hadn’t told anyone of her new job. She’d never live it down.
Now it was Saturday and she was determined to power through with Christmas cheer intact.
“Yo, new elf,” her baby-faced boss said. Chris? Christian? She couldn’t remember. Yesterday when he’d introduced himself, all she heard wasclick-clackdue to his tongue piercing. “You forgotclickthe jingle bellsclack.”
She put a hand to her chest where the jingle bell necklace should’ve been. “Shoot. I’ll run and get it.” She must’ve left it back in the mall locker room where she’d changed.
“No timeclick,” he said. “We gotclacka lineclackalready.”
She peered around a large candy cane column to find a huge line of kids fidgeting with excitement, waiting for their big moment with the jolly man himself. Their parents were doing their best to keep them presentable in their Christmas card photo-ready best.
“Santa’s not here yet,” she told her boss. “I’ll be quick.”
“Santa’s arrival is timed for dramatic effect. Hang on.” Tongue-clack boy reached into a small storage trunk near the camera stand and emerged with a shiny red nose with red string that looked like it belonged on Pennywise, the terrifying clown from Stephen King’sIt. She suppressed a shudder.
He offered the nose. “Here, you can be Rudolph.”
She stared at it in horror. “I’ll look like a scary clown. The kids will run away from me.”
“You won’t look scary. Just tell them you’re Rudolph the Red-Nosed Elf.”
She was so distraught she couldn’t even hear his tongue click-clacking. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Elf or Pennywise the Terrifying Elf? “Isn’t there anything else in the trunk?”
He pawed through the small trunk. “Extra granny glasses for Mrs. Claus, white beard for Santa, and somebody left a Santa belly in here.” He looked up. “That must’ve been from the skinny Santa who quit.”
“Great.”
“You giving me attitude on your second day?” he snapped, straightening to his full height, a mere inch taller than her five feet three. “Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I tolerate insubordination.”
Ooh, big word. “No attitude,” she said, taking the Rudolph nose and notputting it on. Maybe she could wait him out.
“Let’s see it.”
She gamely put it on. “Merry Christmas,” she said with a bright smile. If anyone saw her in this getup, she’d bolt behind the nearest candy cane. She was sure she was somewhere between absolutely ridiculous and terrifying. Either way, her friends would have a field day if they spotted her.
“Perfect. The kids will go nuts.”
And boy, did they ever. She was the official greeter at the front of the line, keeping the kids back until it was their turn. Not one kid was put off by the nose. Guess they hadn’t discovered Pennywise yet. The little ones rushed her legs, hugging her tight, asking to be picked up so they could beep her nose. She deflected by asking them to sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to make Rudolph feel at home at the Eastman mall. It was cute.
Two hours later, feet aching from the pointy shoes, hungry, with the beginnings of a headache from the incessant Christmas carol soundtrack piped into the North Pole and the sounds of children squealing and screaming over Rudolph elf, the cuteness wore off. Big time. Also her nose was sweating. She feared the red might rub off and she’d have to explain to her friends why she was a red-nosed Missy.
A little boy smacked a metal Hot Wheels car into her shin as he rushed at her.Ow!
His mom pulled the boy off, but the car caught on her tights, pulling them before breaking free. She looked down, assessing the damage. Great. Now her tights had a hole in them that would surely get bigger as she moved around. At least she wasn’t bleeding.
“So sorry,” the boy’s mom said. She turned to her son. “Tell the nice woman you’re sorry.”
“Sowwy,” the boy said. “Can I beep your nose?”
Missy heroically refrained from covering her nose. “No, but you can sing ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.’ Santa loves to hear Christmas cheer.”
The boy launched into an off-key Rudolph that made her ears ring.
