His Secret Santa
His Secret Santa
Stella Ferris
Published by Stella Ferris, 2019.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
HIS SECRET SANTA
First edition. November 19, 2019.
Copyright © 2019 Stella Ferris.
Written by Stella Ferris.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Epilogue
this is for the little girl who dreamed of being an author. You did it.
1
Devyn’s door opened across the room, letting in a cool breeze from the hallway. She shivered as the air rolled over her uncovered skin, and Devyn forced herself to pull her eyes away from the crisp printer paper she had been going over for the next day’s meeting.
Pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose, she watched as Penelope, her office assistant, pushed the door, struggling to shut it behind her. The stack of papers in her arms towered over her tiny frame. She managed to get close enough to Devyn’s desk to let them fall with a thud.
Penelope let out a loud sigh, using the back of her hand to wipe off the sweat forming on her brow. Her eyes brightened when she saw Devyn across from her and she chirped, “Hey boss.”
“Hey.” Devyn eyed the stack of different colored paper and point at it, “What’s this?”
“Oh yeah.” Her office assistant dropped into the chair in front of Devyn’s desk. “This is stuff that was sent over today for you.”
“Let me guess.” Devyn leaned back in her office chair, folding her arms over her chest, “More stuff for tomorrow’s meeting?”
Penelope nodded, leaning over onto Devyn’s desk. She ran a cherry fingernail across the stack of pages.
“Anything of importance?” Devyn raised her eyebrows.
“Honestly, I just got the papers off the printer in the mail room. I haven’t even looked at the first page. All I know is what was said before being told to bring them to you.”
The mountain of paperwork in front of Devyn was more than she could get through in one night. It was more than she had been able to get through in her first week as manager of their small store.
“Great. Thank you for being such a help,” Devyn’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Listen boss, you hired me to fetch your papers and coffee because I’m your little sister’s best friend. I know my place here. If you want me to read through all of that to brief you on what the hell your boss is sending you, I’m going to need a raise.” Penelope batted her lashes.
“Language,” Devyn shot back. “I didn’t hire you to fetch papers and get me coffee, but now that you mention it, a coffee would be really nice right now.”
A smirk crept onto Penelope’s face.
It was true. Penelope was her little sister’s best friend, but Devyn was her best friend, too. Devyn and her sister were only 14 months apart, so her sister’s friends were typically her own.
“If you would decide whether or not you’re staying in Seattle, then we could talk about more money. I could use someone in sales. I heard our intern is spending most days on her phone.”
Penelope huffed, “Oh yeah, like I’d be any better. I don’t graduate until next Spring. It’s not like I don’t have time.”
“Whatever you say, Pen,” Devyn said, sitting upright in her chair. “Okay, so was there another message you were suppose to give me when you got this paperwork?”
Penelope’s smile faded. “About that.”
“Jesus Christ, what is it this time?” Devyn’s face fell.
“Mrs. Girdler, wants Jamie Ray,” Penelope said, “and she isn’t taking no for an answer. She said if she doesn't have at least one store stocked with Jamie Ray Cosmetics before the end of the week, it won’t be pretty. Basically, she wants us running higher production than normal. I overheard the sales department saying she wants the company grossing a million this month.”
“How are we going to gross a million when we don’t even have a product that will sell that much?”
“She said we have to get Jamie Ray. That’s all I know. She was going on about it when the customer service department had her on the phone. She doesn’t want to accept we can’t order the product because it was sold out.” Penelope leaned onto the desk, resting her elbow on the faux marble top.
Devyn plucked the cover sheet off the stack eyeing the red lettering.
“I’ve already told her, Jamie Ray Cosmetics sold out of everything. We can’t stock more than they make,” Devyn shook her head in disbelief. “How am I supposed to get more units if there aren’t anymore?”
Maxi’s had been trying to get Jamie Ray Cosmetics in their stores since the company’s initial launch the year before. The company wanted to start small, but then a beauty ambassador got ahold of the products and raved about them on her platform.
The cosmetics sold out in seconds.
Jamie Ray Cosmetics announced their Christmas line in late fall, and Devyn had been trying to get it in the store since then. The company wanted a maintainable stock of product, but it wasn’t enough for the amount of people lusting after it. Maxi’s was able to get one shipment from the standard line, but everything else had sold out within minutes.
Devyn assumed her boss was banking on getting the holiday line in their stores because she opened ten more boutiques across the west coast.
And that’s the story of how Devyn got her job.
“Jamie Ray wants to be a small company. There are no holiday collections left. There is no way we can stock these,” Devyn said, finally beginning to let her frustrations show.
“I know,” Penelope said staring down at the paperwork. “There is one more thing.”
Devyn gave her a look. “What else?”
Penelope looked at her lap, staring at her hands as they worked against each other.
“We’re drawing names for the company Christmas party. It’s going to be the 23rd this year,” she said, pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes and behind her ear.
Devyn’s heart dropped and a low groan passed through
