Page 7 of Jingl
“Sparkles. Pretty!” She smacks her tiny hands to my cheeks and squishes them this way and that. Then proceeds to sneeze in my face. Mouth open and everything.
Immediately I jerk my head back, probably while also making a horrified face by the way everyone’s laughing. Jack takes his baby back.
“Sorry about that, Shae—Jingle.”
“It’s fine.” I wave him away as I turn to keep my face hidden while I frantically wipe off the baby sneeze and try not to gag. I grab the hand sanitizer from my pocket and squirt some in my hands. Doing this job for so long, I know to keep hand sanitizer close at all times if I don’t want to get sick. “All better.” I give them a grin.
Jack bounces Flora. “We cover our face when we sneeze, m’kay, bunny?”
Alec sidles up next to me and hands me a cookie. “I think you need something after that.”
I take the offering and stuff it in my mouth, needing to suppress a moan. “It’s okay, not the worst that’s happened.” I shudder at the memories of kids hyped up on so much candy they vomit in line. Or the year the buffet down the street served bad oysters and so many people in line got diarrhea.
Jack chuckles, probably remembering everything that’s happened through the years. “I just wanted to check in on you kiddos, make sure you have everything you need.”
I nod. “Everything looks good.”
“Perfect. Can’t wait to see what you do this year.” Jack kisses Flora’s cheek and they head on out.
Nate leans into our little group. “I still get so nervous around him.”
“You get used to him. Okay, let’s get started.”
For the next several hours, I push away all thoughts of Trace and direct everyone as if I run the show and not Jack Winters. He’s let me have free rein for the last three years, which I appreciate. Before I really stepped into the role of head elf, no one took this seriously. But since I convinced Jack to invest in the experience, we have people coming from all over just to see our display. I’m really proud of what we’ve done over the years.
I wipe my brow and my phone rings. Liz from the Frostdale Mall’s customer service desk. Weird.
“Hey, Liz, how can I help ya?”
Liz tells me about this guy at her desk looking for a job. Even though I’m pretty sure we’ve filled all our spots, we can always use more hands. Sometimes elves get sick. And we’re just putting the final touches to the village so I can go ahead and do an interview now.
“I’ll be right there.” I hang up and address everyone that’s helped with Santa’s Village. “That’s a wrap! Thanks everyone. This is beautiful!”
I’m sure I have heart eyes as I look over the entire set. There’s the fluffy fake snow surrounding Santa’s throne. The huge decorated tree behind the throne is going to dazzle in the shots. Garland drapes around barrier poles to keep people out of the main display where we have a candy cane and gumdrop garden. My favorite is the candy cane stickers that create the line. We have stations where we can stand and pass out candy canes. Toy stations. I have a space to hang whatever instrument I bring in for the day. I can’t wait to see the mall filled with happy families.
We put away our supplies and I tell Alec and Nate the plan. Alec wants to meet at Felix’s Diner to tell us how he fell in love with a straight guy, since I ended up using all our social time before building Santa’s Village. How selfish of me, but I can’t take it back now. I’ll support my brother from another mother as best as I can.
Before I can get too far, my phone rings again. Emily’s number. My heart pounds as I slide up to answer.
“This is Jingle!” Why does my voice come out so excited?
“Hey, Jingle! Uh, Shae. It’s Emily from the concert auditions, and I just want to say that you wowed us with your performance. I don’t think anyone else had a chance. Congrats. You’re our lead pianist. ”
I suck in a breath. “Thank you!” The squeal comes out without permission.
“I’m glad to hear you’re excited. I’ll email you the plan. We’re happy to have you on board.”
“Thank you. Thank you.” We finish the call. I turn back and run to Alec and Nate. “I got the part! I’m the lead pianist!”
“Awesome! Congrats!” Nate says.
Alec fluffs up a bit of fake snow. “We’ll have to celebrate tonight.”
“Nu uh, we’re talking about you tonight. I took up all our time earlier. So you gotta spill all your stories about falling for a straight guy.”
“You fell for a straight guy?” Nate’s eyes grow big. “I’m so sorry.”
Alec groans and waves me off. “Go do your interview, brat.”
