Jingle Bells and Parallels

5. Orchid

Chapter 5

~Orchid~

       On Alan's day off, we went to the mall to try to figure out what was going on at the North Pole. I didn't know if we would be able to find anything out since he wasn't working so he wouldn't have access to it but he assured me he had a plan.

       I didn't doubt him. He seemed very determined to figure out what was happening.

       I still wasn't sure if it was true but I did believe Alan in a way. Why would anyone have a blueprint for the mall? Alan said he knew his coworkers well enough to know that none of them were mechanics or anything else that would need the blueprint.

       Apparently, Alan and I had other priorities first. We wanted to get investigating done as soon as possible but we decided to go to the food court first because we were hungry.

       There was no point investigating on an empty stomach.

       Which was why after we got lunch, we went to get some frozen yogourt as well. We spent over an hour eating.

       Needless to say, we would be horrible private investigators if our priorities were like this.

       We finally decided to go to the North Pole and get to work. We already thought of a plan while we were eating so maybe we didn't completely waste our time.

       "You remember the plan?" Alan asked as we got closer to the North Pole.

       I nodded and took my cell phone out of my pocket, typing a quick message to Alan but not sending it yet. I was going to keep a lookout while he went into the break room to try and see if he could find the backpack with a blueprint and whose backpack it belonged to.

       I sat down on the closest bench by the North Pole where I could get a clear view of what was happening.

       Alan went through the staff entrance and talked to one of the workers there before heading into the staff room. I made sure my message to Alan was ready to be sent just in case he had to get out of there quickly.

       Alan sent me a text, saying nobody was in the staff room so he was going to start looking for a bag. I kept my watch closer on the North Pole, making sure nobody was about to enter the staff room any time soon. So far, everyone was just doing their jobs, whatever it was.

       Almost a minute passed when Santa suddenly stood up from his chair and one of the elves placed a sign on the chair, announcing Santa's break. Then Santa started making his way to the staff room.

       I looked down at my phone and sent the message to Alan, making sure it went through before watching carefully. Please don't get caught.

       Right as Santa was about to grab the doorknob, the door opened and Alan walked out, giving Santa a friendly smile before stepping aside to let him in. He then left the North Pole and walked over to me.

       "So?" I asked.

       "Not here," Alan said. "We don't know who could be eavesdropping."

       "Nobody is going to randomly eavesdrop on our conversation," I said.

       "Good point," Alan said as he sat down beside me. "The bag was there. The blueprints were still in the bag. I even took a few pictures of the blueprints. But I wasn't able to find out whose bag it was."

       "You might have been able to if you weren't taking pictures," I pointed out. "Why did you do that anyway?"

       "Because if something truly does happen, like a break in, we can look at the blueprints and see if it can help somebody know the ins and outs of the mall," Alan said. "Now we just have to figure out how we can know for sure who has the blueprints."

       "Uh, you work there," I said. "Use your inside knowledge to find out on your next shift," I said. "Just listen in on everyone's conversations, see who's the most suspicious, that type of thing."

       "Dang, I should have thought of that," Alan said. "I'm a stupid person. So why we're hear, want to go Secret Santa shopping? I have enough money to get a present for my Secret Santa. Unless you got my name. Then we probably shouldn't go."

       "Nope, I don't have yours," I said. "You got mine?"

       "I wouldn't have suggested we went Secret Santa shopping if I did," Alan said. 

       "Fair point."

       It actually didn't take long for the two of us to find a present for the people we had for Secret Santa. I thought mine was going to be a bit challenging but I guess not.

       Since we had nothing else to do at the mall because he had to hold off on our investigating, we went back home. As soon as we walked inside, Dad asked, "Where were you two?"

       "The mall," I said. "We got some Christmas shopping done."

       "And we went there to investigate the North Pole," Alan said. "Someone from the North Pole is most likely planning a heist at the mall."

       "Right, that too," I said.

       Dad furrowed his eyebrows. "What? Is that a normal thing to say? I'm confused."

       "We're confused too but we're going to figure it out," I said. "Alan has to work there tomorrow so he's going to take the insider approach. Like a double agent."

       "Yeah, whoever is behind it won't even see it coming," Alan said. "I'll be like a spy. Or a ninja. Or a spy ninja."

       Dad stared at us with a confused look for a while before saying, "You know, I want to say I'm glad at least one triplet is normal, but Nolan's in his room crying right now because his food stash is empty. Whatever heist you're talking about, just... Stay out of trouble."

       "We can't promise anything," I said. "Elves are the least expecting people to do a heist so nobody will suspect them."

       "If we figure out who's doing it, we'll have to fight an elf," Alan said. "Trouble will be involved. They can be nasty fighters."

       "You're an elf too," I pointed out.

       "Exactly how I know they're nasty fighters."

       "Okay, I'm still very confused so I'm going to end the conversation," Dad said. "Seriously, though. Stay out of trouble."

       "Again, no promises," I said.

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orchid and alan is the duo i never knew i needed. we need more of their sibling relationship.

also nolan is me right now. my food stash has been empty for probably over two weeks now and it's horrible, especially when i'm hungry at midnight or when i want to snack on something while watching a movie :(