Page 16 of Under The Meh-stletoe

"Oh, well." Will continued chatting with me, ignoring both María and Daniel. "If you plan to stay in Laguna Island, I'll be around."

"I'll stay, but I can't make any promises."

"Pity. Have a lovely night, everyone." With a final smile, Will left us.

"Does that happen a lot?" María asked. "I don't take it personally; he knows I'm married. But also— wow. He just asked you out, the first time he met you, in front of other people. I didn't know he had that kind of confidence in him. He's typically a quiet guy."

"You never know what quiet guys hide underneath." Daniel grabbed my clipboard and stared at it.

"Or what cranky guys do." I gave Daniel a friendly punch.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, but humor showed in his eyes. "Stop it. I don't have anything to hide."

He gave me back the clipboard.

"Suuuuure."

Mocking him was the perfect plan. What guy liked being made fun of? Anything that had come to life between us could die a slow death that way. Best way to friendzone was to tease their ego. Laughing things off with him would make it less serious, and I needed less serious with him. Then I could just hang out with him for meetings, forget about the tension between us, do my job, and go.

A nice enough time, disguising attraction in camaraderie, until we could go our own ways. If we could make fun of Christmas together, that would be the cherry on top.

December 8

Daniel

Aweekafterthelighting of the tree, I entered the community hall at my usual cruising speed and made my way to the table where the leading volunteers gathered. Pri, María, Janet, and Hana sat and worked on their tasks, while the larger group of volunteers sprawled over the floor.

I was running a few minutes late but pretended I arrived right on time. The meeting today would include a larger group of people, as we needed the extra hands to work on decorations for the party and gift wrapping for the donation drive. Paper, ribbons, and several types of tape littered every single surface I could see; I ignored it all and grabbed the first chair I found. I took it to the main table and sat down, my to-do list in hand.

Ale was nowhere to be found. Maybe someone had told her of the surprise plan for today, and she'd try to find an excuse not to show up. Or, like me, she'd delayed it as much as she could.

I had suspected she might not want to come to this meeting if she learned of the special plans for it, so I hadn't told her. For the moral support, I preferred it if she were around; it helped to know I could always roll my eyes at her and she'd give me one of those tiny, playful smiles of hers, like I was half-insufferable and half-fun.

The whole thing made her appealing, really— actually, no. Not appealing. Just a kindred spirit. The companionship of it helped; having a co-conspirator in my anti-Christmas sentiment. It was natural that I felt better with her around.

Besides, over the past week we'd moved into a casual friendship. She teased me and I took it like a champ. I complained about things, and she gave me a sardonic curl of her lips. It worked.

And that was why, when she entered the hall and strode in the direction of the table, I responded the way I did.

"She needs this chair," I said to Pri by my side.

"What?" Pri held the scissors she'd been using frozen in mid-air, the paper in her other hand flopping slowly.

"Ale's coming this way. She needs this chair."

Janet got up at the other side of the table and went to work with one of the groups on the floor, apparently unaware of the conversation between Pri and I. My neighbor gazed at the empty chair at the other side of the table, then back at me. Technically, Ale could sit where Janet had vacated, but it wouldn't do.

"This chair," I insisted. "Best for Alejandra."

I didn't add anything else. I stared at Pri. Whether I looked antagonistic or sounded nonsensical, it didn't matter to me.

Pri left the scissors on the table, her nostrils flaring, and I gave her a curt nod in thanks. She moved to the other chair and promptly disappeared from my mind, as Ale sat next to me.

"Hey." She gazed around the room. "Well, they're having fun, at least."

Ale, on the other hand, looked like she'd rather be somewhere else.

"Any luck with Santa?" I asked.