“Sothey come in, sit down in my living room, and my dad awkwardly hands me the pastry box.Thenhe andJoAnnlook at each other, andIcan see that my dad is nervous, butJoAnngives him an encouraging smile.Sohe starts talking about how this is the firstChristmasthey are celebrating since getting married and about how difficult it is to bring two separate families into one and all that.Sothey decided that forChristmas, it might be best to do that in isolation and get away to have some bonding time.”
“So...”Valeriasaid, “he wants you to go hang out with him andJoAnnand your three new stepsisters overChristmasat some secluded cabin in the mountains?Likewith no escape?”
“Honestto goodness, that’s right where my mind went, too.AndIwas wondering ifIcould get along with three teenagers who want nothing to do with me and want every second of my dad’s attention.Butno.Insteadof a cabin in the mountains, it’s a beach resort inCaboSanLucas.Andwhen he said they needed to bring two separate families together for bonding, they meant my dad andJoAnn’sdaughters.”
“Theydidn’t invite you?”Valeria’svoice was every bit as incredulous as she needed it to be.Itwas one of the reasons why she made the best friend ever.
“Nope.Mydad tried to sell it by saying how awesome it would be for me to celebrateChristmaswith him early and to have some one-on-one time.Andhow much more special it would be to spend all day with him on the twenty-first instead of the entire week ofChristmasbecause the twenty-first happens first.Andhow great it will be for me to be free to do whateverIwant overChristmasbreak instead of being tied down by family things.”
“Pleasetell me you told him what you really think of that.”
“WhatwasIsupposed to do,Val?Tellhim to cancel the trip?”
“Ortell him to invite you.Andto remember that you are every bit as much a part of the family asJoAnn’sdaughters are.”
Kellishook her head. “Itwas just me and my dad against the world sinceIwas in eighth grade.Igot to hang out with my dad more than most people do.JoAnn’sgirls are in junior high and high school.They’vebeen without a dad for a few years, and they’re desperate for time with mine.MaybeIshould just give him up.Imean,I’mtwenty-six years old.Ishouldn’t need to see my daddy all the time anymore.”
Shedidn’t even consider mentioning toValhow it had felt like she’d lost the only family she had when her dad got remarried, but she could tell by the look onValeria’sface that she knew it withoutKellisaying.
“Iknow!”Valeriasaid. “ComespendChristmaswith me andRhett.Spendthe week, even.Wecan pretend we’re twelve and having a sleepover.”
“Inyour teeny apartment.”
“Youcan sleep on the couch.Orwe’ll put an air mattress in that space between the tree and the kitchen.”
“Mostpeople call that space a ‘hallway.’”
“It’llbe cozy.”
“Valeria.Iappreciate the offer.YouknowIdo.Butthis is your firstChristmasas a newly married couple.Idon’t want to ruin that for you.”
“It’llbe fun!”
“RememberhowIsaidIdidn’t want to hear about your morning withRhett?”
“Yeah...Onsecond thought, you really don’t want to be around us atChristmas.”
Atthe sound of someone loudly clearing their throat,KelliandValeriaspun in their chairs to seeLiz.
“Sorryto interrupt your sleepover plans, butKelli, do you have the mock-ups for the print ads?”
Ofcourse,Lizhad to stop by when she was socializing instead of during any of the time she had been working diligently already today.Sheturned back to her desk and grabbed the folder that had been leaning against her binders, revealing an upside-down white paper cup that had a picture of a spider drawn on it with the wordsDon’tlift until you’re ready to squash it!
Kelliscreamed and shoved herself away from her desk, her chair rolling backward until it hit something, and then she jumped out of her chair to get more space between the cup and her. “I’vebeen sitting next to that thing for more than two hours?!”
Herheart raced, her breaths were ragged, and it was likely that everyone on the second floor had heard her scream, but right now, she didn’t care.Allshe cared about was that a spider had been crawling around who knew how much of her desk before someone trapped it with that cup, and it had been probably pacing with those spindly legs around that little circle of space on her desk the whole time she’d been working.
Andnow, all she could think about was how that little stealthy, moving, vial of poison with its shiny or hairy—either was gross—abdomen and its eight beady eyes were right there in that cup, just waiting for its chance to escape and come after her. “Someonekill it!”Herhand was on her chest like she could manually stop her heart from beating so fast and hard.
“Don’tworry,”Valeriasaid, “I’vegot you.”Shegrabbed a notepad and held it level withKelli’sdesk right at the edge, then slid the cup onto the notepad.Thenshe flipped it over and, in a move that madeKelli’sheart shudder,Valerialifted the notepad off and looked inside the cup.Sheput the hand holding the notepad on her hip and tipped the cup towardKelli. “There’snothing in it.”
Kelli’sfirst thought was that it had escaped and could possibly be on her, but in a flash, she knew there had never been a spider.Thiswas a prank.Shelooked over the top of her cubicle to the crowd of people that had gathered to see what her scream was about, and she sawParkerBrockbankgiving a sly smile big enough to bring out that adorable dimple in his right cheek, a mischievous gleam in his eye.But, at least he had the decency to look contrite before ducking away.
“Ifyou’re ever having a sluggish morning where coffee isn’t doing the trick,”Kellisaid to all the coworkers gathered around her cubicle, “and you need a good old-fashioned scream to get the heart pumping, you know where to find me.”
Theyall chuckled as they headed back to their desks, and thenKelliturned toLiz. “Iam so sorry.Imight have a slight fear of spiders.Um, here are the mock-ups.Letme know what changes you’d like or if you want to meet to discuss.”Shetried to make her voice sound extra professional to combat the dose of unprofessionalism she had just shown.
“Thankyou.Iwill.”
