Baby It's COVID Outside

Chapter 14 - Susie

After successfully avoiding each other all evening, we headed to bed without another word. Monday morning came, and with it, the majority of my anger had dissipated. Now I was just determined to ignore Henry as much as possible and enjoy my Christmas without him.

This was the most wonderful time of the year and no grinchy, grouchy boss was going to take that from me!

Showering quickly, singing to myself to distract from the memories of that first shower, I dressed in my skirt and tights from the previous week, along with one of the slightly unflattering turtlenecks.

With a last scan of the room and grabbing my phone, I made my way down the stairs. The garlands were still wrapped around the bannister, a fact I was relieved to see. I had half-expected that as soon as I went to bed the previous night, he would come and take it all down.

My tree stood proudly, lights off but still beautiful, instead bathed in the pinkish glow of the rising sun. I moved to the window. Another light dusting of snow had fallen in the night and our snowman from the previous day still stood just outside the doors.

No matter what Henry said, he had had fun making it and no one could persuade me otherwise. I just wished I knew what had caused the dramatic change in him. Yes, I hadn't made the safest choices, but his reaction was totally out of proportion with the moment.

Head held high, I marched through to the kitchen and began making myself a hot chocolate.

There was still no sign of Henry by the time I had finished and I pulled on my coat and boots quietly before making my way over to the office. Thank goodness Henry had sent an email telling everyone to work from home so I could still work over here and stay out of his way.

A glance back at the house confirmed all the upstairs curtains were open now, so he was definitely up. Despite it only being 8am and the fact I was not actually due to start until 9, I loaded up my computer for the day.

"Alexa, play Christmas music." I called out.

"Here's a station you might like, Christmas music on Amazon Music." The mechanical voice replied cheerily before the jingling sound of Last Christmas started pouring out of the speaker.

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, But the very next day, you gave it away." I sang along, feeling like, in an odd way, I identified with the lyrics.

OK, I hadn't quite given Henry my heart, but he had seemed open to sharing in my Christmas magic until he did a compete switch last night.

"This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special." I whispered glancing back through the windows at the house.

When it came down to it, he was my boss. Whether we got along and enjoyed each other's company occasionally was irrelevant. We had been forced together by totally unexpected circumstances and he was under no obligation to be my friend.

The phone rang, breaking through my thoughts and making me jump. I glanced at the clock again. It was only 8:04, who could possibly be calling at this time?

Taking a deep breath, I easily slipped into my professional phone voice, "Good morning Carter Investments, Susie Miller speaking, how can I help you?"

"Susie, I just saw you come online, and I had to hear what is happening. A little mouse...your mother, told me something juicy, and I have to know if it's true! Are you living in the big boss's house?" Ayla's excited squeal came down the phone.

I smiled at my friend's stuffy nose voice, "So I'm temporarily staying in his house whilst we self-isolate until Christmas Eve. Thanks to you, you little git. How are you feeling by the way?"