The Christmas Party

The Ice Queen

"I'm picking you up at 5:30 tonight," I told Thea when I dropped off her coffee. "So no overtime tonight, got it? If you're even a minute late you have to pay for dinner."

Thea opened her mouth to protest but I cut her off.

"No, no, no. I'm not letting you stay late tonight. We're going out to dinner and you're going to enjoy yourself and not stress out and stay late at work. 5:30."

Thea raised her eyebrow at me but agreed. "5:30."

"See you tonight."

I spent my day at work trying to stay occupied so Monica wouldn't bother me. It didn't work. It never did. She was fussing about our office party on top of the big Christmas party and being extra annoying about it all. She scurried around the office with her clipboard berating people for all sorts of things.

When she left my desk after speaking to me for the fifth time that day, I glanced at Jim, who was smirking at me. I rolled my eyes and and mimed shooting myself. Monica felt it necessary to ask me twice if I was absolutely certain of my RSVP for the Christmas party. Was I sure we would both be there? Was I sure it wouldn't just be me? Yes, I was sure. I swore Monica's pestering had only increased since I set the photo of Thea and myself on my desk.

I hunkered down until the clock hit five. When it did, I jumped out of my desk and hurried out of the office. I quickly drove home, changed into a casual dinner outfit, throwing my nicer clothes on the floor, and went to pick up Thea. I parked out front of her building and texted her.

Me: I'm here

Thea: Can you come up?

Me: You're not ready are you?

Thea: I need 20 more minutes

Me: You're a bad date

Thea: This is why I'm still single

Me: You realize you have to pay for dinner now

Thea: We'll talk.

Me: Is Mark there?

Thea: Unfortunately

Me: I'll be up in fifteen

Thea: I thought you were outside?

Thea: Hello?

I rushed into the small market across the street and bought a winter bouquet of red roses, white chrysanthemums and lilies. I took the elevator up to her floor and walked through the doors with a bright grin on my face. It seemed that the receptionist was gone for the evening, so I strolled into the office and looked around for Thea. I found her hunched over a stack of papers a couple inches thick. Mark was a few desks away.

"Hey," I said, strolling over to her desk and sitting on the edge.

Thea looked up and smiled at me before she looked at the flowers. She did a double take at the bouquet. I noticed Mark look up from his desk and ogle the flowers.

"For you," I said and gave her the flowers. A smile smile crept onto Thea's face, despite herself. I leaned in closer so only she would hear me. "I thought it would be funny to piss off Mark."

Thea grinned and suppressed her laughter.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

"Just about."

Thea worked furiously over the documents. I glanced at Mark who was pretending to not be staring at us, but every few moments he would glance up from his work to see if we'd moved. I checked my watch. It had been twenty minutes. I snatched the documents from under Thea's hand and held them over my head.

"Time's up," I said.

Thea scowled. "Louise, I need to finish that."

"Says who?"

"My boss."

"Where are they?"

"Home."

"Interesting." Thea glared at me. "You can finish this tomorrow. You have to stop staying at work so late. It's time to go."

Thea huffed but didn't argue. Maybe what she really needed was someone to tell her to stop. Maybe she just needed someone to pull her away from work every night.

"Let me just put these in water," Thea said and placed the roses on her desk in a vase. She grabbed her coat and her bag and I dropped the papers on her desk with a victorious smirk. I offered my hand, which Thea accepted and we walked out of the office. We shared a laugh at Mark's expense in the elevator.

"That was very cool of you," Thea said as we rode the elevator.

I grinned. "I always hated that guy. It was worth every penny."

"You've always hated him, huh?"

"Yeah." I scowled. "I hated the way he treated you."

Thea studied me.

"I mean, I obviously don't know the whole picture, but the few times we were all together he was a dick to you; I didn't like it."

Thea was quiet for a moment longer before she spoke. "Yeah, he was pretty awful. I shouldn't have dated him in the first place."

"Why did you?"

Thea shrugged. "I'm not sure anymore."

I glanced at her but didn't press the issue. The elevator door dinged and I gestured for her to exit first.

"Thank you for the flowers by the way; they were beautiful, even if it was just to piss off Mark."

"No, they were for you," I said, opening the door of the building and letting Thea walk through. "Pissing off Mark was just an added bonus. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't bring flowers?"

Thea raised her eyebrow at me but didn't comment. We walked to the car and I pulled open the passenger door and gently closed it behind her as she climbed into the seat. When I hopped in the driver's seat Thea was appraising me.

"What?" I asked.

"You're more chivalrous than most of the men I've dated."

"You need to date better men."

"Maybe I just need to date women."

I laughed. "Yeah, maybe you do." Thea smiled as she watched me.

When we arrived at the restaurant I made sure to pull out Thea's chair for her and carefully slid it in as she sat down.

"You're really working hard for this," Thea commented.

"I'm treating you like every other girl I date."

"Even the fake ones?"

"Especially the fake ones. We've got to practice now so our act is perfect for next Friday."

"Please enlighten me about my role next Friday."

"Let's start off with how we met and started dating."

"The truth?"

"Which is?"

"We met through my brother."

"Fair. How long from the time we were introduced until we started dating?"

"How long did it take you to fall in love with me?"