#Naughty or # Nice (The Holidaze Book 1)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Around the large table sat the ten women, including one Meri, who had had no idea about being a part of a television show. Santa and his wife, who insisted that everyone call her Martha, sat next to a scowling Sander.

Holly had eventually convinced Sander and Meri that they needed to return to dinner with his family. Sander hadn't been that impressed, but Meri concluded that the sooner she finished the dinner the closer she came to not being a part of the show.

Now that she sat here, she regretted her decision. Having nine women's beady eyes focused on her made her uncomfortable. She also wanted a chance to think over all she'd heard tonight.

"Perhaps everyone should introduce themselves," Santa said jovially.

A blonde woman with her hair in elaborate curls, but with a nose that was a tad too long to make her beautiful, jumped to her feet. She had no qualms about trying to gain as much celebrity status as she could.

"Hi, I'm Cindy!" she gushed.

Meri rolled her eyes when she caught Sander's eye. He had to quickly stifle a laugh and then turn it into a cough, which Santa noticed.

As Cindy pointed out all her perfect attributes, Meri ate more of the delicious dinner put before her. They met Vanessa, Jessica, Angelica, Cara, Jill, Ava, and Odessa, who all had similar answers. Meri found herself bored at the end of each girls introduction.

"Good evening, my name is Ivy."

The last woman spoke with such eloquence that she captured Meri's attention. This woman sounded determined. Meri tilted her head on the side and considered Ivy with more care than the others. She had a feeling that Ivy might be more troublesome.

With a casual swish, Ivy moved her raven shiny hair about. Piercing blue eyes spoke only to Sander, and Meri found a burning inside of her that suddenly hated Ivy and anything she stood for.

With a deep breath, Meri stifled the intense hit of jealousy. None of the other women's unsubtle advances had caused such a weird reaction within her. Why did Ivy make her feel this way?

Perhaps it was her effortless beauty that Meri knew she could never match. Was it the way she held herself with such esteem? Meri couldn't put her finger on it and that bothered her.

"I've always welcomed such an opportunity as this and I look forward to getting to know you, Sander," Ivy finished her speech and followed it with a wink to Sander, who responded with a smile.

That made Meri's chest swirl with more nasty emotions. Nausea swirled in her and a weird lightheadedness had her gulping in a breath. Meri stood and excused herself.

"But, Meri, it's your turn to tell us about yourself," Santa encouraged but Meri shook her head.

She couldn't even bring herself to speak, because she knew her voice would crack. Not even bothering to grab her useless coat, Meri walked out into the frosty air.

What was that? She had no claim over Sander, so why did Ivy's advances bother her? Meri decided that it was time to return to her hotel and forget about everything. She was at Santa's Village and she intended to enjoy her visit here.

By the time Meri made it back to her room, every inch of her body shivered and began to ache with the intensity of the frosty air. Icicles of cold made her fingers and toes numb.

The warmth of the foyer made her gasp at the way her extremities now tingled painfully. Perhaps she shouldn't have chosen to storm out of Santa's house so nonchalantly.