Elizaveta crossed her fingers hopefully as the truck jerked to a halt, the wheels grinding as Gilbert unmercifully slammed it into park with his foot barely off the gas. The young woman was used to such reckless driving though, and hopped out as soon as it came to a stop. Pulling the back hatch up, she started unloading the boxes and occasional bag onto the curb. She'd been working with the supply delivery for about six months, and she had to admit that is was a really good job. With her leather gloves jammed carelessly into the back pocket of her teal-blue canvas pants, she worked swiftly, and had the shipment out of the truck in minutes. Leaning casually against the biggest box, she waited for Gilbert to get the invoices initialled. While she didn't mind getting the boxes out on her own, carrying them into the pastry shop was a different matter entirely. It wasn't hard to lift the fifty-five-pound bags of flour, but her boss had warned her that if she did hurt herself carrying them on her own, she wouldn't be covered under the company insurance.

Propping her elbows up, Elizaveta craned her neck to see if she could see the front counter of the shop. There were two reasons why the Topfenstrudel was her favourite stop of the day. One, it always had the heaviest purchases which gave her a chance to prove to Gilbert she was stronger than him, and number two, it had Roderich, junior pastry maker and general clerk of one of the busiest sweet-shops in the city.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the young man she was thinking of walked out the back door. Patches of flour and dough smudged his deep blue apron, and a matching dusting of flour was on his cheek. His smile for her was warm, albeit a bit reserved. He really wasn't the type of person who seemed to show exuberant emotions. Stopping a few feet away, he pulled a cloth from his apron and wiped at his hands.

"Good morning, Eliza. Do you have the closing shift today?"

Blushing faintly, she straightened up and tucked her hair back behind her ear. "Hey Roderich. Yeah, I'm closing this time. What about you? Did you open today?"

Roderich nodded, and firmly gripped one of the flour sacks. "This is my third time opening this week, actually. And your Gilbert is…Chatting up one of our regular customers, so I thought I would help you with these."

"Oh!" Elizaveta's blush increased, and she moved quickly to pick up the other end of the bag. "Thank you."

"It's perfectly fine. I need to get them inside regardless."

Talking amiably, the two of them got everything into the shops storeroom. Collecting the invoices from the back counter, Elizaveta waved goodbye to Roderich, who smiled and waved back before turning his attention to his work. Using the little half-door by the display case to get to the front of the shop, Elizaveta also collected Gilbert, dragging him away from the tall blond man he was flirting with by the collar of his navy-blue coveralls.

The rest of her shift passed slowly, and she tried not to look too happy when she was finally able to sign off and go home. Pulling her jacket from her locker she contemplated it briefly, and shrugged it on. It wasn't cold for October, but her bus didn't come for another fifteen minutes, and the breeze could be a bit chilly. Staring sleepily out the window on her twenty-five minute commute home, Elizaveta had to squash the urge to hug herself with glee. That afternoon had been the first time she'd been able to properly talk with Roderich in weeks. It was difficult to have any sort of conversation when your job consisted of dropping off the boxes and getting to the next destination as soon as possible. And even when she did have time, he was usually too busy dealing with the multitudes of customers who swarmed the shop for its well known selection of European sweets.

The whole situation made being in love unfairly hard.

Not that she really expected him to reciprocate or anything. He just didn't -not- like her, that was all. He was only being nice when he asked about her day or when she was going to be on shift next. After all, guys didn't want girls who were strong and capable and routinely out-muscled their full grown male coworkers. Guys wanted…Womanly women. Not tomboys like her. Unlocking the door of her tiny apartment, Elizaveta considered an idea that lingered at the edge of her moping. Just because she couldn't be girly didn't mean she couldn't be feminine… She could start tomorrow and buy some facial cleansers before her shift even. It wouldn't hurt to start exfoliating, and a nice haircut wouldn't go amiss either. The more she thought about it, the more she began to think that she might have started using 'liking yourself as you are' as an excuse to not care about what she looked liked at all. Well, she was going to fix that. And fix it as soon as possible too.

Over the next few weeks she re-worked her appearance, and though the change was subtle, she felt a whole new confidence in herself. The only thing that was completely obvious was the orange flower barrette she had taken to fastening behind her ear. But even it was unnoticed by many, since her long, light brown hair often concealed it. Still, there was something about wearing it that appealed to her, so she wore it regardless.

November slipped into December, and Elizaveta's initial elation at being comfortably more feminine faded. Her only interactions with Roderich were brief, and usually nothing more than a quick smile and wave. And since he was usually in the back of the shop as she passed, she figured he couldn't be close enough to appreciate her new look. It was extremely disheartening, and as Christmas time drew near, even these quick glimpses ended, due to the overwhelming amount of work they both had to accomplish.

December 24th. Elizaveta glared at her alarm clock and its dim red digits, wishing that it would somehow be possible to fast forward through the day. Because all the stores they delivered to were closed Christmas day, today was guaranteed to be the most disgustingly busy day of the year. Groaning, she half-fell from her bed and staggered to the washroom. They were going to try to have all shipments dropped off by noon, which meant she had to be up at the unholy time of four o'clock in the morning. Her shift only started at five-thirty, but she knew she wouldn't survive the day without a good hot shower and a decent breakfast, and it took a good hour to have both.

Shuffling out her door a few minutes after five, she glanced out the hall window and literally felt her spirits plummet even further. It was snowing. Heavily. Gilbert hated driving in the snow, and she hated unloading in it. It looked like it was going to be a long day.

Her hunch unfortunately proved correct, and by the time eleven o'clock rolled around, she was near tears. Everyone was miserable. Three out of the last four shops they'd delivered to had yelled at her for being late, and neither she nor Gilbert could feel their fingertips from the cold. Seeing that Topfenstrudel was their next stop only caused her melancholy to grow. As much as she wanted to give the small card she'd picked out to Roderich in person, she knew she would have to leave it somewhere, and hope he would find it.

SCFRNNNCH!

The truck stopped with an abrupt crunch, causing Gilbert to swear colourfully. Jumping out, he looked to see what the problem was, and swore again.

"'Liz! 'Liz, you won't believe this! There's a goddamn snowdrift that's taller than the f*cking bumper! I'll park a few feet forward, you'll have to just throw the stuff on the ground and drag it around."

Muttering, the white-haired man adjusted the truck, and helped Elizaveta open the cold-stiffened back doors. "You've got to handle this for me. I told West I'd see him today, and someone like me is too awesome to be made a liar!"

Throat tight with contained temper, she began unloading as fast as she could. As much as she hated being left on her own, she didn't have it in her to deny Gil the chance to see his almost-boyfriend. It had taken a while to get him to admit he was serious about that blond customer he was always flirting with, and she didn't want to spoil what was kind of their first Christmas.

Dragging the four boxes into the back storeroom, Elizaveta dumped them in a corner moodily. All she needed to do now was wait for the manager to give her the signed sheets that Gil brought around the front. Right on cue, she saw an arm reach around the doorframe and shove the slips onto their usual counter. It must be busier than she'd thought if the manager couldn't even spare the time to come through the door entirely. Crossing the storeroom in a few strides, she gathered up the papers and turned to leave.

But as she'd grabbed them, a glint of something bright had caught her eye, and she stopped. A little box was on the counter, festively wrapped in green paper and topped with a gold bow. The tag, tied just below the bow, was flipped the wrong way around. Without even thinking about it, she turned it so it was facing the right way.

For Elizaveta, Merry Christmas.

p.s, keep it in the fridge.

-R

Elizaveta could swear her heart stopped beating for a minute, even as the blood rushed to her cheeks. She couldn't believe it. He'd gotten her a present. Her. Roderich had gotten her a present. Did he get everyone a gift? Or…Or was she special? The sudden blaring of a horn jolted her back to her senses, and she fumbled in her shirt with one hand for the card, and put it on the counter, even as she grabbed her box with the other. She walked back to the truck as quickly as she dared, and clambered into her seat.

"What the hell took you, woman!" snapped Gilbert, glaring at her as he slammed the gearshift into drive.

"None of your business, jerk!" she retorted, glaring right back.

Since the Topfenstrudel had been their last stop, they drove back towards the warehouse, neither of them saying anything. She was too preoccupied with the precious box held protectively on her lap; he was too annoyed at having been made to wait.

Pulling into the loading bay, the truck rumbled as the engine wound down. Elizaveta, in her haste to get out so she could head home, almost fell on her face. Too happy to be embarrassed, she managed to get both feet firmly planted on the ground after a bit of a wobbling. Right before she slammed the door shut, she was stopped by Gilbert leaning over and tugging her hair.

"Have a great Christmas 'Liz!"

Batting his hand away from her hair, she raised her eyebrows at his unexpected solicitude, even as she started walking to the stairs. "Thanks. You too, I guess."

He grinned, and shut the door. "Of course I will," he called through the window after her, "its always great if I'm there!"

Shaking her head, she walked to her bus stop, still gently holding her unexpected gift close to her chest. Elizaveta was looking forward to Christmas morning now, for the first time in many years. Because even if the box turned out to be empty, the thought of it alone ensured that this was going to be the best Christmas ever.