Page 420 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
He made a fair point. Alastair had loved me since he first met me, mostly due to my work ethic. I’d used that to my advantage working here. I’d hate to see all my hard work go down the drain when Chadwick took over because he didn’t appreciate my brand of business. Benji was right. If I was smart, I’d use this month to get in good with Chadwick to make sure the rest of my career went smoothly at Bamford’s.
I was about to tell Benji that he made a good point when Hugh arrived breathless at my desk with a bright ensemble wrapped up in a garment bag thrown over his arm. “Ms. Miller? Could you come with me, please? We have to get you in your costume for a quick photo shoot for some store posters.”
I blinked at the garment bag. All I could see were obnoxious shades of red, green, and yellow. “Do I have to wear that?”
He undraped the bag from his arm and held the elf costume up for me and my friends to see.
I cringed.
Aleena slapped her knee and rocked back in her chair, howling with laughter.
Benji made the sign of the cross over his chest. “Dear lord in heaven, that’s bad.”
Danielle covered her mouth, but I knew she was smiling because of the crinkles in the corners of her eyes. “It’s not that bad, Tinsely. It could be worse.”
I scowled at her as I got to my feet and pointed at the red and white striped stockings of the costume. “Could it?”
My friends burst out laughing as soon as my back was turned, and I followed Hugh with my shoulders slumped and my head down. He led me to the spare board room that we never used, where lights and cameras were already set up for the shoot. A white backdrop had been hung up against one wall, and a frosted Christmas tree glittered to the side of the frame.
Chadwick stood beside the tree in a red velvet suit that fit him immaculately.
I folded my arms over my chest and spoke to Hugh out of the corner of my mouth. “So let me get this straight. He gets a classy velvet suit, and I get a mall Santa’s elf costume?”
“We’re working on short notice,” Hugh said. “I’ll talk to Alastair and see what we can do.”
In my gut, I knew I was stuck with this costume. If the pictures for the posters were being taken while I wore it, that meant, for branding reasons, I had to look the same at all our other events.
Grumbling and groaning, I yanked the garment bag out of Hugh’s hands. “Where do I change?”
He pointed to the opposite corner of the room where a pop-up changing room had been set up. “In there. Let us know if you need help getting it on.”
“Oh? Let you know if I need help stepping into a onesie?” I sneered. “Sure, I’ll holler if I need you.”
In the changeroom, I cursed my bad luck as I stepped into one candy cane striped pantleg after another. The costume fit snugly and, since it was made almost entirely of spandex, was relatively comfortable. The bottom half fit like pants, but a ruby red skirt had been sewn on around the waist that flared out dramatically, almost like a tutu. A large glittery gold belt cinched my waist and the rest of the one piece continued in the form of a long-sleeved green shirt with a relatively modest neckline. The cuffs of the sleeves had been finished in fluffy white stuff that resembled fake snow and was full of glitter that made my wrists immediately itchy.
I stared down at myself and felt much less the successful businesswoman and much more the nerdy kid in high school who never got picked for team sports.
It’s temporary, I told myself before stepping out of the pop-up changeroom.
I heard a low whistle and found Chadwick checking me out as a wardrobe assistant steamed part of his suit jacket. “Look at you, Tinsel,” he called across the room. “Someone tell me her costume comes with shoes?”
“Right here,” Hugh said before scurrying across the room with two gold shoes with upturned toes. Red jingle bells dangled off the end of the toes.
“Absolutely not,” I said.
Hugh grimaced and held the shoes out to me. “I’m afraid they’re nonnegotiable.”
Chadwick snickered as he watched me put the shoes on. “This might just be the best day of my life. And the silver lining? There is going to be so much photo evidence of this. I’ll always have something to look back on. Tinsel, come on over here. Jingle all the way.”
My shoes jingled with every step until I found myself standing beside him by the tree in front of the white backdrop. “I hate you.”
“That’s no way to speak to your future boss,” Chadwick said.
“Yeah well, they also say you shouldn’t lie to your boss. So at least I’m honest.”
Hair and makeup people swarmed us. My day got even worse when they put my short blonde hair into tiny pigtails at the nape of my neck and secured them with sparkly red bows. Chadwick, curse him, reached up and flicked one of my pigtails.
I swatted at his hand. “Stop it.”
