The Christmas Elf, A Secret-Santa Story

Chapter 31 - Uncomfortable revelations

Saturday 24 December

Michael, Jonathan and Abigail met in the front of the pub space. The light through the windows was weak, filtering through the thick glass and thicker layers of snow piled against the walls.

"All good?" he asked. He was relieved when they reported that the areas he had assigned them to look at were all okay. He wouldn't feel quite right until he looked them over himself, of course, but it did help to know that it was covered.

"I think we should try to make calls – see who came through alright and if anyone needs help," he said.

"Agreed," Jonathan responded. "The last time we had one of these, Sam pitched in by driving us around in his truck. That old thing must be a hundred by now, but it can get through anything."

As they turned to head back upstairs, Michael was conscious of a rebuilding of tension in his chest. "We need to find a way to get Lisa out of here. Soon."

"On it," Abigail agreed. "I'll have her booked into a hotel for tonight as soon as we get back up. Even if I have to pay for it myself."

"She has a way, doesn't she?" Jonathan marveled. "You have to admire her skill."

"No, you don't." Abigail snapped.

Jonathan slid an arm companionably around her shoulder, "You don't think it takes skill to make even the simplest sentence, with the nicest words, sound like an insult."

"Maybe," she acknowledged, "but what kind of person wants to hone a skill like that?"

Michael walked into his living room to see Lisa replacing the phone with a satisfied smile on her face. Jonathan and Abigail were close behind him and he continued to feel an unquantifiable sense of relief that everything on the inside looked fine. No windows had been damaged, no pipes flash-frozen in the cold and no other impacts he could see. It was too early to venture out, given the depths of the snow piled around the building.

"Did someone call?" he asked.

"Yes," she responded breezily, "I made sure to write it down, see? Eileen called to make sure everything was okay and I told her it was."

"Is that all?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, I told her how neighborly it was that she would do that. Does she live close by, by the way?" she said sweetly.

He didn't answer, took the notepad from her and took the phone into his room. The phone rang a couple times before it was picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi," he said, "I'd like to speak to Eileen please."

"Who may I say is calling?" the voice on the other line asked.

"Michael?"

"I see," tone suddenly hostile, "she is not available. She's outside, shoveling snow like it's her personal enemy."

"What??" Michael thought of his petite beauty, out in all that snow.

"And Michael? I would suggest you get rid of the one woman already staying at your place before you try to date another. Good-bye."

The dial tone sounded in his ear as he stood in shock. Since the person on the other end of the line had not volunteered a name, he was left to assume that it was Claudia. The tone of the voice and the anger she had exhibited on meeting Lisa aligned with each other. It certainly didn't sound like Mrs. O'Connor and he winced when he thought of what Eileen's parents' reaction would be.

He walked back out into the living room, every sense on high alert and adrenalin pumping through his veins. This was the rush he had forgotten from his days in the courtroom, but this time the rush was not inspired from challenge but from anger.

"What. Did. You. Say. To. Her.?" Each word was clipped out with precision but his voice never rose.

Abigail and Jonathan, seated side by side on the couch, looked up alertly. Lisa, seated on the barstool closer to the kitchen, turned in surprise. Maybe it was his tone, or something on his face, but he saw the playful look in her eyes fade.

Cautious now, she said, "I only said that you were around somewhere..."

"And?"

"And that she was being neighborly and it was nice?"

"And? Word for word. Relate the conversation." His voice left no room for maneuvering.

She wrinkled her forehead in concentration and thought about it, before starting. When she had finished, he had a better understanding of why Eileen might have been upset. An even better understanding of why Claudia might want to rip him to shreds, even if only verbally.

He saw it through Eileen's eyes. An ex staying over at his place, through a stormy night. The insinuation that Jonathan and Abigail might have been leaving them to their own devices. He sighed.

One thing at a time. To fix the situation with Eileen, he had to move fast. But first, he needed to resolve the situation with Lisa. "We've been dodging around this for enough time now," he said, "why are you here?"

Lisa looked to Jonathan and Abigail, squirming uncomfortably on her seat. Before she could protest the audience, he forestalled her, "You may have realized by now that they are family and I can't think of anything you might say that you can't say in front of them."

She straightened her shoulders suddenly and glared at him, "Fine. I love you. I made a mistake in letting you go. I think we should get back together."

He would have burst out laughing if he hadn't been so shocked.

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Author's note: Hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feels odd to be posting about Christmas in the middle of summer...lol