All I Want for Christmas is You

All I Want

This is a three-part AU story that I started writing last weekend as a treat for you guys since It's my first Christmas as a fanfic writer. 😊

Merry Christmas! 🎄🎉

Unbeta'd and non-proofread. But do let me know what you think my tweeting me at @bankingonkismet or voting and commenting down below.

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Maine

Drunk lady bosses never bid well with team parties. She willeither be rowdy and noisy or will pair you up with random officemates for fun, just because she can. And you as the employee doesn't have a choice because she just spent twenty thousand pesos for a KTV room in City of Dreams on a Saturday night just to give your management team a well-deserved Christmas party after a very successful year.

Well, in Boss Eula’s case? It’s both. She knows I’ve been single for the past two years and that I’ve had a crush on Richard Faulkerson, Jr., the Command Center Manager, since he started working for the company last July. I, on the other hand, am a Capacity Planning Manager. And the best or (maybe worst) part, was that she’s been set on finding me a date since last month para daw hindi malamig ang Pasko ko. More specifically, she’s been set on finding me a date named Richard Faulkerson Jr kasi bagay naman daw kami. Height difference pa lang daw, pak na pak na. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Eula is also my kumare because we were both godmothers to a common friend’s son so she calls me Mars outside the office. Richard on the other hand, is muscled mestizo guy with fluffy cheeks so she calls him Mallows. Yep,
Mars-Mallows and ship name namin. Para di daw halata. Kung di ko lang talaga boss to to, binatukan ko na to. Ang mais e.

And she did warn me that I should look stunning tonight kasi may surprise sya saken. I mean of course I brought my A game but I didn’t take her “surprise” seriously.

The party started at 8pm and is already in full swing an hour later, overflowing with booze and food with lots of singing and laughter. I’ve been belting out Coldplay songs and watching him discreetly hoping he’d at least sing along. I love Coldplay and I hope he likes them too. Not that it mattered. He doesn’t know me anyway. Well, he does because we’re in the same organization but we haven’t really had a chance to work together so our encounters really only involved quick hi’s and hello’s when we pass each othey along the hallway or by the pantry.  By 10pm, Eula also had one too many Bacardi shots and already took over the microphone. She pulled Richard from one of the couches and sat him next to me, generating screams and hoots from the rest of the party. The room only has 16 people in it but I swear my ears rang sa lakas ng tili nila.

We both blushed. At least I did. I brought my right hand to my cheek hoping it would be enough to cover the crimson hue spreading all over my face. What was unmistakable was that I saw his ears blushed too despite the dim lighting of the room. I couldn’t even look him in the eye but in my periphery I saw him rub his nape and smile shyly at our boss who seemed to be having way too much fun giggling and playfully shoving his shoulder so he’d stumble closer to me.

There was this one time na napalakas ang tulak ni Eula, he almost fell off the couch if hindi sya napaakbay sakin for balance. Oh e di lalong tumili ang buong Workforce Management team. Kainin na ko ng lupa please. My neck was hurting already, training it not to face him kasi baka di kayanin ng puso ko ang kagwapuhan nya upclose. Di naman ako magkakaila, kinilig din ako pero syempre lowkey lang. People I work with were in the room and I want to still be able to look them in the eye come Monday.

“Richard, i-holding hands mo na yaaan!” His colleauge Jerald shouted, gaining jeers and laughter from the crowd. When both of us only smiled in response, Boss Eula took it upon herself to make things happen.  She walked over to us and pulled Richard’s hand, then took mine and clasped them together. And if that wasn’t enough, she forced his fingers to interlock with mine. E di syempre yung kilig ko please, diba? Pero pano kung ako lang ang kinikilig? Pano kung sinasakyan nya lang yung trip ni Boss? That thought kept screaming inside my head. But who am I kidding? I may never have the chance to hold his hand ever again if it wasn't for Eula so sige, isang gabi lang naman. Pagbibigyan ko na tong  kagagahan kong to. Enjoy mo na lang, self.

Before my boss walked back to her seat, she leaned down and whispered to my ear, “Surprise! Merry Chrsitmas, Mars!”

I could only hope that Richard did not overhear her.

Richard

My friends Sam, Je and Kris who were with me at the party, sila pa ang pasimuno, susmaryosep. Gago tong si Je, ang lakas makaudyok. Nagka-idea tuloy si Boss Eula. Now, I am holding the hand of the most beautiful woman I have even seen. Not that I’m complaining. Yun nga lang, she wouldn’t even look at me. Baka ako lang nagfifeeling dito. She wasn’t even talking. She’s right here next to me, her hands cold, her shoulders tensedandIwanted so much to warm them for her pero paano? Hahayaan nya ba ko? From what I’ve observed since I first laid eyes on her, she’s not the type who craved attention but my God, halimaw tong si Maine when negotiating with our clients. She’s a silent worker. That’s what I like about her. She’s beautiful but she doesn’t know it, she does her job well but she doesn’t brag about it. I find her...refreshing.

At work, she has a no make-up, t-shirt and jeans thing on Fridays and just slacks and blouses on other days of the week. And then she walked into the room earlier wearing that red dress with that ahm, sweetheart neckline ba yun? Yung parang kay Betty Boop na dress? Wag nyo nang ipadescribe saken, basta ang ganda ganda nya, ok? Lalo na with her long wavy hair cascading down her shoulders. Hindi naawa ang ganda nya sa puso ko. Every lady in the room gushed at how she dressed up to the nines tonight, how beautiful she looked that even Boss Eula exclaimed, “Wow, Mars! Kinabog mo beauty ko ha! Good job.”

And those black and gold heels. Lord, patawarin nyo po ako pero…

Then I overheard some of the boys checking her out. “Hot pala si Maine no?”

Tangina, gusto ko silang sapukin. That’s my Maine they were taking about. It took all of my strength not to go to her and put my coat over her shoulder para bakuran sya pero ano namang karapatan ko?All I wanted was to take her hand and bring her somewhere na kaming dalawa lang pero paano nga? Napakatorpe ko. Ugh.

to be continued...

📷 Karlitong Lito