The Christmas Elf, A Secret-Santa Story

Chapter 30 - Lisa causes trouble

Saturday 24 December

"Phone lines seem to be back on," Eileen listened to the dial tone on the land line. It was early evening on Christmas Eve and the storm had only recently abated. The snow had, mercifully, stopped.

"Still no service on the cell phones, though," Claudia said, trying unsuccessfully to send a message.

Eileen held the phone out to Claudia, "You go first, I'm sure your dad must be worried. I'll check in with my troops as soon as you're done."

Hands on hips she surveyed the scene in the living room. The remnants of an extended camp out downstairs littered the floor and sofas, as no one had wanted their beds while the winds howled around the house last night. Board games and piles of blankets and a center table piled high with snacks had her shaking her head.

It had been both a frightening experience and a strangely enjoyable one. All of the enjoyment came from the fact that, if you had to go through a potentially life-endangering experience, it helped if you were surrounded by the right people. A part of her wished Michael had been there also, but she muted it.

Mrs. O'Connor said, "Indoors first or outdoors?"

"I'd rather you and dad didn't go out yet, if you don't mind?" Eileen slid a hand around her mother's waist and leaned her head on her shoulder.

"Mmmmm...." Her mother didn't commit and Eileen knew it was because her father wouldn't like the idea of his only daughter out in the mountains of snow that surrounded the house.

Mr. O'Connor came in then, switching the radio on. "Reception's poor but they seem to be saying that the snow ploughs are out now. Don't know where we fit into the scheme of things but they should be able to clear the roads by tonight."

"Indoors first, it is, then," Eileen said.

By that time Claudia was done on the phone and handing it over. Eileen called around to her key staff members, since she couldn't tell if the human resource system had kicked in. Then she called Jake who was more worried about the lot than anything but agreed not to go check on it until the roads were clear. Everyone was fine.

She stared at the phone a full minute while the sounds of cleaning came from the next room. 'Should I wait for him to call me?'

She shook her head in annoyance at herself. "The day I start behaving like one of those females that plays games and has to wait for the man to call for as simple a thing as finding out whether they survived a storm is the day I know I'm not being myself," she muttered as she punched in the numbers with more force than necessary.

She was glad she had his land-line from when she had been helping with all the IRS stuff.

"Hello?" the throaty female voice that came over the line was most certainly not what she had expected.

"Hi..." she said tentatively, hoping it was Abigail but knowing it was not. "May I speak to Michael please?"

"Oh, I think he's around somewhere. We had a late night last night," the voice answered and managed to insinuate a number of things into that one sentence. "Would you like me to give him a message?"

Very polite words, but an insinuation that she was privy to taking any messages from anyone. Determined not to be taken in by insinuations, she tried again, "Are Jonathan or Abigail around?"

"They are downstairs, assessing whether there are any damages to the pub," she responded.

Eileen started to feel her blood simmer, wondering if they were assessing damages where that left Michael and if he was indeed 'around somewhere'. Or in bed. Waiting for her to return.

'Shall I take a message then?" an excruciatingly polite voice asked again.

"Let him know that Eileen called, checking in on whether everyone was alright," she gritted out.

"Of course Eileen! It's so good of you to call to check up. I was telling him how wonderful it is to have neighborly folks like you around. It's Lisa, by the way – we met briefly when I arrived."

A part of Eileen desperately wanted to ask questions, dig into why Lisa was staying there and how long she planned to be here. She reined in that side of herself sternly, reminding herself that she and Michael had never even kissed. But he had kissed Lisa bunches of times.

They hadn't exchanged any of their past stories and were only in the getting to know you phase. She had no right to pry. Then why did this woman being in his space feel like an interloper?

"Hi Lisa," she responded, "our cell phones are not working well, so you can give him this land-line number if he wants to return the call."

"Will do!" Lisa said and hung up.

Eileen looked at the phone for a second or two more, before placing it gently in the holder. She suddenly felt so fragile she could shatter. Taking a deep breath, she walked slowly up the steps and into her bedroom. She slid into bed and pulled the sheets over her head, curling into a ball. With her eyes closed, she listed all the reasons why she should not be upset and all the ways in which there could be a perfectly logical explanation for Lisa having spent the night at his place.

Ten minutes later when the logical arguments were not working, she moved on to the distraction technique. She called up a mental list of all the things she had to do, all the ways in which she could not afford to have a melt-down and all the people who relied on her.

It snapped her eyes open and she tossed the covers aside with an angry energy. Walking to her closet, she pulled on her older but warm layers to get a start on the outdoors. She needed the mind-numbing intensity of serious physical labor.