Page 1 of Temporary Santa's Knotty Workshop
Chapter 1
Willy
I smelled disgusting. Absolutely, positively, disgusting. I didn’t even want to be around myself. That’s how gross I was.
One would think, since I had been working in the edible-lube station, affectionately called Lube Lagoon, filling up bottles of various sizes for the past six hours, that I would smell fantastic. After all, each lube was flavored and scented with all sorts of delicious things: blueberry, cotton candy, bubble gum, chocolate, peppermint. And oddly enough, we had an up-and-coming, popular flavor of lemon. I wrinkled my nose at the idea of that on my tongue.
Each variety was a bright color to match their flavor and with a scent just light enough that you could identify it, but without being overwhelming. Unless of course you were in the room with all the flavors, then you smelled like a sugar explosion, so much so that my tongue had gone dry.
I was tempted to plug my nose, perhaps find a nipple clamp to put on it so that I couldn’t smell anything anymore. It was awful.
Finally, I filled the last bottle for the day, put it in the sample pack, and shipped it off to the wrapping station. We were three months away from Christmas and working diligently to stay on target. Looking at the calendar, it was easy for us to convince ourselves we had plenty of time. But the reality was, we were always just one mistake, one long lunch, one off shift away from being behind.
It was a lot better than it used to be, though. There was a time when we were always racing to catch up. I did not miss those times.
Thanks to Percy’s organization changes in the past two years, we would likely meet that deadline without any issue. It was the first time in a long time we’d have a Christmas season without a hiccup. But even as I had that thought, I knew better than to get too confident.
“Elf Willy, please come to Nick’s office.” The intercom boomed throughout the room.
There were giggles. There always were. Being “Willy” in the adult toy department lended itself to being the butt of many jokes. Not that I minded. I thought it was hilarious, too. I even joked that my name was an asset when I first started here.
“Perfect timing,” I said.
I slipped off my apron and tossed it in the laundry chute, then made my way to Nick’s office.
For most people, being called to the boss’s office was anxiety-inducing. It was the elf equivalent of being called into the principal’s office; 99 times out of 100 it was because you did something wrong. And it didn’t matter if you had the world’s nicest principal or not, it still sucked.
Nick was the world’s best boss, but even so, you didn’t want to be in trouble with him. And it actually made it worse, because not only did you mess up, but you disappointed someone as great as he was.
But I wasn’t worried about any of that. My best friend was his mate, and I knew that I hadn’t done anything to get in trouble. I was on the good list. I always was. If there was a best list, I’d be on that. Maybe I should put that in the suggestion box.
I knocked before going in, but the door opened right away.
Inside the office, Nick sat at his desk, wearing his red pants, white button-up shirt, and candy-cane-striped suspenders. He was not like the other, round Santas. Our Santa was more of a Daddy bear-looking type with biceps the size of most men’s thighs.
He was definitely a good-looking man, but I wasn’t looking because this man was taken. Plus, he was my boss.
Percy, his mate and my bestie, was also there. The two of them were the perfect couple. Just being around them had me thinking about what it would be like to have a mate of my own. Not that I was looking. Who had time for that? Making sure the workshop stayed on target meant I had zero time for a social life.
“You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Yes, sit down.” Nick gestured to the chair.
Percy came over and sat on Nick’s knee. “We have a really big favor to ask. You’re the only one we trust.”
“Oh, what is it? How can I help? Do you need me to watch the little guy? Cause you know I’ll always do that.”
Their young son was named after me, and I had a deep love for the little guy. Being Uncle Willy was the best. I got to play with him, and then when it was time to go home, I went on my merry way to my nice quiet home and sleep for a week.
“Well, you know, things have been a little crazy for the past two years, what with getting mated, having a kid, and all of that.”
“Of course. You both have done great, though. Things are running smoothly.”
They exchanged a glance. “Things are running smoothly, and there’s absolutely no reason why we won’t remain totally on target for this season. This is shaping up to be one of our smoothest seasons of all.”
“Of course,” I said. “And that’s all thanks to you two.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Willy. You’ve done a lot to help us out as well,” Nick said.
