Angelica tapped her perfectly manicured nails against her desk impatiently.
"Well, yes, I completely understand," she said into her headset. "Yes. Yes, absolutely."
A tiny, delicate looking woman with a bob of dirty blond hair peeked in. Angelica waved her into the office.
"I assure you, that won't be the case. I'll be there, as soon as possible. I'm leaving in the morning. I'll be ready for the presentation."
She suppressed a sigh and tapped her nails against the desk once more. "Alright. Great! We'll be in touch tomorrow." Angelica ended the call and pulled her headset off. She looked up. "Annette, did you finish that memo?"
Her assistant stood up straight, still only standing a bit above five feet. She ran her fingers through her hair nervously.
"Yes, Ms. Pickles. And I ensured that everyone received the message loud and clear—if anyone clocks in more than five minutes late, they lose half an hour of paid time off."
Angelica finished browsing her inbox and then began shutting her desktop down. "Hmm, maybe we should make it an hour...Go ahead and update that memo."
"Oh, I...well, Ms. Pickles, I was kind of hoping—well, it's just that-"
Angelica rolled her eyes. "God, Annette, just spit it out!"
"Well, it's Christmas Eve and it's already almost six, I was just wondering if I could update the memo on Thursday."
Angelica finished touching up her lipstick and threw the tube and compact into her clutch. "So why do I pay you a salary then? So you can skimp on your responsibilities just because it's past five?"
Annette gave a defeated look and started to retreat, but Angelica held up a hand. "No, just go. Go home. You can handle it when you get back to the office."
Annette left in a hurry, bumping into a man on the way out of the office. She squeaked out a sorry and Tommy Pickles gave her a big grin. "Hey, no problem. Merry Christmas!"
Annette smiled and nodded. "Merry Christmas!" she said back, as she sprinted towards the elevators.
Tommy knocked on the glass door of the office, but didn't wait to be invited in. Angelica looked up from her phone and scowled.
Tommy just grinned. "Cousin, Dear!"
"Tommy. What are you doing here?"
"I was downtown, buying a last minute gift for the twins. Thought I'd stop in and say hello. Are you coming to Mom's tomorrow?"
Angelica rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not. When's the last time that I've come home for Christmas?"
"It's been a few years," admitted Tommy. "But I was hoping you'd come. Oh, well. If you're not down for the whole big family thing, at least come over tonight. Lil and I are having a little get-together. Drinks, food, games, all that good stuff. It'll be like old times...remember?"
"Only vaguely...Well," she said, starting to gather her things, "In any case, Thomas, I couldn't come to your little party even if I actually wanted to. I'm leaving very early in the morning for a business trip. I have an 8 a.m. flight to Shanghai."
Tommy's grin finally faded a little. He seemed to realize that there was no moving her. It had been a long time since she had been part of the gang. And after everything that happened with her and Chuck...and everything that happened after, how could she ever really be their friend again? Some part of him knew that. But he still tried every Christmas.
"Alright, Ang...Merry Christmas."
Angelica motioned for him to leave the office. She followed him and locked the door behind them. They rode the elevator to the ground floor together in silence. When they got to the bustling city street, she gave him a little nod in parting, and that was that.
It was already cold and dark, very dark, but that was winter for you. Angelica scowled, which was pretty much her permanent facial expression these days. Thank God for botox, or she'd have permanent lines on her face. She wrapped her scarf and coat tighter around her as she stopped in front of the dazzling display of the nearby jewelry store. She smiled as she saw her reflection. Long, golden tresses, clear blue eyes, flawless skin (thanks to bi-weekly facials), Hermes scarf, Dolce and Gabbana coat, Yves Saint Laurent Le Rouge lipstick. Absolutely perfect. Her smile grew as she spotted the diamond earrings she'd been eyeing for the past couple of weeks in the window. She'd buy them for herself after her trip, as a reward for closing the deal. It'd be a Christmas present to herself. And Tommy didn't think she had any Christmas spirit!
Feeling much better, she made her way to the garage where her Mercedes was parked.