For the Love of an Elf (Bernard the Head Elf romance)

Matters of the Heart.

Bernard seemed to be avoiding her after the weird interaction they had, so Claire spent the rest of the afternoon in the stables with Terrence, and dinner with Tinsley, who, between the both of them, finally got a chance to fill her in on all the latest interesting news. New transfers from the South Pole, the drama between departments, and of course, who was courting who. That was Claire's favorite part. Elves, she was told, each had a soulmate of sorts somewhere in the world. It was theorized that once upon a time, each elf had shared a magical core with another, and they were more powerful as a pair than alone. That connection drew most of them to fall in love over time, and that was that. That version was told as a fairytale in modern times, though, as eventually some wise elf chalked it up to biological compatibility, and the rest just sorta followed. Nowadays, when an elf met their match, they didn't feel pressure to mate like they once had. Elves live very long lives, after all, so they figured there was no sense waiting centuries to find the one, if they found them at all. Some never found each other, or already had a domestic partner before they did, and then what? So it was accepted that a soulmate could be whoever you wanted or needed them to be. Claire loved the sentiment of the whole thing, but she had also spent an unreasonable amount of time dwelling on one elf in particular. She knew Bernard was around 1,600 years old, and she knew from Judy that he hadn't found his mate yet. He didn't even seem interested in just finding a partner, even though Claire knew for a fact through break room gossip that a lot of female (and a few male), elves had their eye on him. He was Head Elf, after all, in his prime, and overall the perfect partner material. Claire sighed. She knew all of this, and that he would probably meet his perfect match one day anyway, a beautiful, poised female that could help him with his duties. But she still couldn't get him out of her head. She decided to just spend the time she had left as a sort of 'Bernard cleanse'. She would crush on him as hard as she wanted to, and then when she went home, he would be out of sight, out of mind. Easy. Riding on the high of her resolution, she wandered to the floor where her good mood instantly took a nosedive. She found Fake Santa arguing with Bernard about checking the List, which was bad enough. But then Curtis tried to lighten the mood by telling Fake Santa how to play football with the elves. The three of them could only watch in horror as he obliterated any elves in his path, and then chased down one that tried to run. She shook her head at Bernard in disapproval and headed back into the workshop. He followed and caught up to her quickly. 'Hey, where are you going?' He called. 'I'm going to call my dad and tell him to come back here. This has gone far enough. That thing out there is on some sort of power trip, and Curtis is just going along with it, and you're what? Not going to do anything? I thought you were the boss around here. My dad sent me to help you, but you're not interested in my opinion so I'm done. I for one think you could have run the Pole just fine for a month but what do I know. Men never listen.' She threw open the doors to his office and crossed to his desk, picking up the phone, but in a second Bernard had pulled her back by the waist and taken the receiver, slamming it down with a little more force than necessary. He spun her around, getting between her and the desk, and held up a finger. 'Now hang on a minute. I know it was a bad idea, and I was very against it, but we're in it now. We cannot call your father until we absolutely have to. If the elves find out we all lied, it would be very bad, do you understand?' He paused, and she nodded. He put his finger down and continued. 'It's still ok. We just have to keep him away from the List. No biggie, right?' Claire took a deep breath and said, 'Ok, fine. No biggie', before walking out, leaving him alone. Bernard massaged his temples and fell into his chair. Claire was right. This was bad. But they just had to hold on a little longer. And he had to hold himself together for a different reason entirely, a reason that made him want to vomit with nerves. He had always felt a connection to Claire, had enjoyed having her around, but now that he was spending so much time with her daily, there was no denying it. Claire Calvin was his soulmate, and he was ecstatic. But then he felt guilty for being so happy. It was natural for him, even though he had never had the urge to find his mate before. But she was human. That obviously wasn't a dealbreaker for him, but there were a ton of reasons she might not want him. He had heard through the holly boughs that she had a giant crush on him, so maybe the bond was working its magic on her, but it would never be the same for her. She was an adult now, but still so young. She would have many crushes in her short life, and maybe more than one love, and Bernard could stand by, content to always just be there for her. He couldn't tell her, not now, when she might mistake her crush for love and throw everything away for him. She had a bright future ahead of her. She was something Scott called a 'type A'. A good student, a perfectionist in any task she undertook, and a wonderful daughter, sister, and friend. No, she would move on, and he would be fine. He ran a hand over his face and sighed. The girl in question chose that moment to barge back in, out of breath. He stood up as she said, 'You need to come see this, now.'