Chinatown Christmas (Chen Family Cuisine, #1) by Kailin Gow & Nancy Wu

Author:Kailin Gow & Nancy Wu
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult, new adult, asian folklore, chinese food, chinese american
Publisher: Sparklesoup.com
Published: 2022-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

Jake

“Everyone’s received their Christmas gifts, Mr. Austin,” my HR manager/self-designated right hand person Cindy Marigold announced to me as she closed the doors to my office.

“Excellent,” I said. “What did they say?”

Cindy shook her long red hair, “They were speechless at first, but then when they opened their envelopes, they all said, “Thank you, Mr. Austin.”

I leaned back into my chair, crossed my arms above my head and said, “She did say it would be better if the staff received their presents before Christmas instead of on Christmas Day.”

“Who?” Cindy asked.

I smiled. “Oh, Charisma.”

Cindy frowned, “Oh her,” she said. “The temp. Of course after Christmas holiday, she’ll be gone soon enough.”

“Why?” I asked, a sudden sense of panic came over me. Gone?

“We only have her for this holiday season, until Janet comes back after her maternity leave,” Cindy said. “Charisma’s only temporary. Like Christmas is. Here today. Gone tomorrow.”

“Such talent, Cindy,” I said sitting up. “Shouldn’t be let go.”

“Janet should be returning in January,” Cindy said with a smile. “Then things get be back to the way it was.”

“And you seem happy about that?” I asked her.

She walked over to me and placed her well-manicured hand on my elbow. “I followed you from your first start up to YouBite. You were always so focused, so direct.”

“So I’m not now?”

“You seemed distracted. Not the kind of man who is driven to turn this startup into a bonafide company,” Cindy said.

“I’ve been working non-stop for over five years to get this company to this stage. We’ll make it this year, Cindy,” I said.

“Not if you’re distracted by the pretty face temp and all her sunshiny sunshine bursting out of the lab,” Cindy said bitterly.

“You mean Charisma,” I said, picturing her at her desk, poring over spreadsheets. “There’s nothing wrong with her being so positive and peppy. The team needs that to get them motivated, especially around the holidays.”

“There’s just something about her...” Cindy said. She reached out to fix the collar of my shirt. “Oh, today is the last day the staff is in before they take off for Christmas so you might want to make an appearance to see them off.”

“Oh yes,” I said. “Thanks for reminding me, Cindy.”

Cindy smiled, her face closed to mine, “What would you do without me, Jake?”

“I don’t know,” I said, touching her cheek. Cindy had started as my personal secretary at my first start up years ago and had made her way to becoming head of my Human Resources. She was professional, no nonsense, and reliable.

She smiled as she looked into my eyes. “Janet’ll be back. And if not, Harold can take over the department. He’s got the degree and more years of experience than Ms. Chen.”

“Harold?” I asked. Why did Cindy bring him up?

“Everyone likes Harold,” Cindy said. “He’s been here since the start of YouBite, Jake. I don’ even know why you got Ms. Chen in. She hasn’t done anything yet to move the project forward. Thanks to her, you’re not going to hit your goal.

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