The New 90210

. 15 .

"Alright no telling what gift you gave! That's the point of a Secret Santa," Mr. Howell spoke to his employees as he handed out everyone's gift. "And this is for you, my star pupil."

He hands Tiffany her gift and she nearly blushes when his hand barely grazes hers. It was a Christmas card with $40 inside. But written on the card said: Your real gift is on your desk, don't tell anyone! Merry Christmas :)

Tiffany discreetly snuck down the hallway to her desk and found a small gift-wrapped box. When she opened it, it was a rose gold Michael Kors watch. She immediately knew who her Secret Santa was. The gift-giving maximum was $30. This watch was over $200.

"I know I broke the rules," she heard Mr. Howell speak behind her.

"I-I don't know what to say," she chuckled. "Thank you so much, but I don't think I can accept this."

"No, no, it's yours. We pay you interns in peanuts, it's the least I can do."

"Sir, I still can't..."

Thomas takes a deep breath. "Alright then how about I treat you to lunch, anywhere you want, I don't care how expensive it is. And do not say Olive Garden," he chuckled.

Tiffany thought about it, he was trying to be nice. 

"Alright," Tiffany smiled. "We can do lunch. But somewhere there won't be paparazzi."

"Sweetheart, the paps don't care about me, I'm not a Kardashian or a Hilton."

. . . . .

Sam's surprise party is proving to be a complete success. He couldn't believe he was celebrating in Kylie Jenner's home. The whole night he stayed hugged up on Serenity unbeknownst to the occasional glances Stass was giving them from afar. But Stass kept herself busy by making sure the food table stayed in order and chatting it up with everyone she didn't know. Since Sam's birthday is in December, the party was holiday themed with Christmas lights everywhere along with silver, gold, and red decor.

Stass made sure to stand out the most with her dress which hugged and clung to every curve. She definitely caught the eye of most of Sam's football teammates. Even made some of the girls jealous & rude towards her regardless of the party being her idea. She sees Sammy leave Serenity to go get another drink out of the kitchen. So she picks up an empty platter and heads to the kitchen as well.

"Enjoying the party?" She places the platter down.

"It's amazing," Sam spoke in a drawn-out matter. He's clearly had enough to drink. "I'm truly grateful for all this. Thank you."

"Anything for the love of Serenity's life," she smiled. "She talks about you a lot, you know? She really loves you."

"And I love her." Sam pours some dark liquor into his cup, mixing it with Cola.

"Well," she takes a deep breath. "If you ever need anything in the future..."

Stass gets close to Sammy and takes the liberty to reach into his pocket, taking out his phone. It made him tense up with her hand being that close to him. She held the phone up and he pressed his thumb to it, unlocking it, and she puts in her number.

"Give me a call," she speaks softly, handing him the phone back.

After she leaves the kitchen, Sammy realizes he hadn't been breathing.

. . . . .

"Will you wait a minute," Gilinsky calls out to Vanessa by the pool area.

"What is it, Jack?" Vanessa is bothered.

"We shared that one night, that one special night. But ever since Halloween, you've been distant as hell. We used to talk everyday and now you're always busy. Which is bullshit, by the way."