Santa (Maybe): A Rom Com Novella by Alice Bex

Author:Alice Bex [Bex, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Published: 2013-11-24T18:30:00+00:00

Madeleine was late for work. She’d overslept. Emily was tired and cranky and had a melt-down on the drive to school. Getting out of the car at the office, Madeleine snagged her hose. Maybe no one would notice.

“You have a run,” Angela announced as Madeleine made her way down the hall.

“I know. You don’t have a spare, by any chance?”

“I do. I always keep one in my bag.”

Of course she did. Madeleine bet Angela never ever forget to replace her spare pair, either. Angela went to retrieve the hose from her bag.

“So, who are you bringing to the party tonight?” Angela asked as she thrust the hose into Madeleine’s hands.

Angela asked this every year. Madeleine, just as she had every year since her split from Chad, said she’d be coming on her own.

“No man of the moment? I do envy you. It’s so boring to go home to the same man every night.”

Really? Angela made it sound like Madeleine was operating an amateur brothel in her off-hours.

“Actually, I am seeing someone.” Madeleine couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. Was she seeing someone? It was too soon to tell. But she wasn’t about to backtrack now.

Angela arched one perfectly-plucked brow.

“He’s an old friend. We reconnected recently.” Madeleine floundered for an explanation.

“You should bring him to the party.”

“Ah—I think he has to work.”

That was probably true. Although, Mark had offered to take her out to dinner, so maybe he was doing the afternoon shift at the North Pole.

“Oh, what does he do?” Angela always asked what people did. She was that kind of woman.

Part-time Santa impersonator? Madeleine had a reckless urge to say that out loud just to see the shock on Angela’s face.

“Mark’s a personal trainer.”

“Personal trainer. Very nice! Pays dirt, but still—“

Madeleine didn’t say anything.

“Great body, I bet.”

Madeleine wasn’t in the mood to discuss Mark’s body with her boss. That was a conversation she would never be in the mood for.

“Does he usually work nights? Isn’t that kind of unusual for a personal trainer?”

“He has a couple of clients that only have time in the evenings.”

“Well, tell him to come down to Mackinaw’s when he’s done. We’ll be there until at least midnight.”

Mackinaw’s was the bar where they had their Christmas Party every year. It was one of those faux-Irish pub places with a back room which Angela would rent for the evening. Madeleine had never seen the appeal, but then she didn’t have to foot the bill for the party so who was she to complain?

Madeleine had a meeting with Mr. Foster—the cheating rotten liar—right before lunch. She still hadn’t come up with a plan to ensure he’d avoid paying alimony. Frankly, she didn’t care. The secret was to be authoritative and convincing when she told him so. If he’d been a different kind of man, she’d have appealed to his compassion and reason. Unfortunately, Mr. F was neither compassionate nor reasonable.

Mr. F arrived at 11:00 accompanied by Mistress Number Four. Madeleine had already met Mistresses One, Two and Three.

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