Magical Christmas

The Hall

Madeline

I look at my calendar from my computer. Jesus!! I forgot to buy Ethan's birthday present. We never celebrate the birthday since you know why, but still each year I'd cook the birthday noodle for him and also bought him a present. But somehow this year I was so swamped with my work. I just finished raising money for hundreds shelters and suddenly there was a big earthquake in Asia. I couldn't sit here and do nothing. The head of The Hall Foundation isn't just a name. I take my work seriously. So, I made another fundraiser to help people there. Last week I just came back from Asia after delivering all the help and money. Jet lagged and everything else made me forget to buy Ethan's presents. Ughh...

I bite my lower lip and look at a mountain file on my desk. End year is always the busiest time for The Hall Foundation. Ugh.. tonight! Tonight I will think about what is the most suitable present for my husband.

My land phone rings. I take it "Madeline Hall"

"Mrs. Hall, Ashley from GA is here to meet you" my secretary, Zahira, says.

"Okay let her in, Zahira. Thank you" I say and we end the phone. GA? Whatever for?

A young woman comes into my office, a little bit nervous, so I give her my friendly smile. "Hi Ashley"

She smiles a bit "Mrs. Hall, I'm Ashley from the GA. I'm sorry I came here without prior arrangement, but I need your sign for the changing spare part for Mr. Hall's jet. We need to change it now so it will be available by the time you want to fly. I came to Mr. Hall's office but he was in the important meeting so his assistant, Rainey, sent me here"

I know, Ethan is having a meeting with the government. "It's okay" I take the file and look at it. "We will pay extra for this?"

"Yes because your schedule for flying is December 19th. The mechanic said they need to ship the spare part from Europe. And since we are in hurry so we will pay them flying to Europe to take the spare part and back to LA, instead of waiting for them to ship it"

"December 20th?" I look at her and back to the file. I don't remember Ethan saying anything about December 20th. "Um... can you give me a minute?"

"Sure ma'am"

"You can sit down by the way" I say and she sits in front of me. I look at my computer's calendar. They sync Ethan's schedule to mine. Nothing. We don't have any plans for that date.

"I'm sorry Ashley but I couldn't find anything on December 19th in my calendar nor in my husband's calendar. I think there is a mistake here"

"Um..." she takes out her phone and click something. Show me the screen. "Mr. Boyle is the one who told me"

Indeed. She showed me the email from Eric Boyle, the GA manager, telling her apparently Mr. Ethan Hall, my husband, is planning to use the jet on December 20th.

I sign the paper and give her with a smile "Maybe they haven't put the event in the calendar. Thank you Ashley" I say.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Hall" she smiles nervously. "Um.. by the way. I.. um... I'm your big fan. I always love your work helping people and... and you look much more beautiful than in the picture. Thank you Mrs. Hall. I'm sorry I'm bubbling" she nods and runs away.

I chuckle. "Ashley"

She stops and looks at me nervously.

"Thank you" I say, giving her my smile.

"Oh God" she squeals. "Your smile is like an angel. Thank you Mrs. Hall" she waves a bit and closes the door.

I chuckle and then stop. Wait a minute... I refresh my calendar. Nothing. It's still empty. I call Rainey.