"Here, you can have the last one, Everdeen." Johanna Mason crinkled up her pert nose in mock disgust as she held out the cardboard box that contained one misshapen, glazed donut.
Katniss shook her head. "It looks like a bite's been taken from it. I don't want someone's leftovers."
Johanna tossed the cardboard box into the trash before returning to her desk to grab her purse.
Johanna, tall with a short, boyish haircut, and Katniss, short with a longish, dark mane, were secretaries. They sat side-by-side at the entrance to the small branch of Alliance Insurance – the company that promised to "take care of things when the odds weren't in your favor" - located in Panem Tower.
They worked for the two agents in the office. Katniss was assigned to Gale Hawthorne, a married man who shared her same coloring, and was often mistaken as being her relative.
Johanna worked for Cato Ableman, a fair-haired, muscle man who spent his spare time pumping iron. Cato was single and had been pestering Katniss for a date ever since she'd taken the job.
But Katniss had steadfastly refused his advances. She didn't care for Cato. Even if she was single, she wasn't desperate.
"Mellark's is supposed to be opening in the lobby next week," Johanna said as she locked the office door. "Maybe we can start getting our donuts from them."
Katniss smiled. Mellark's was a popular bakery in the suburbs where she'd grown up. She'd been inside a few times with her father when she was young. They must be branching out if they were opening a shop in Panem Tower.
Johanna pushed the button at the elevator repeatedly. "Where is it? I'd like to make it home before my date gets there to pick me up."
"I know Mellark's," Katniss said in an attempt to distract her increasingly frustrated co-worker. "They have the best pastries and…" The loud ding of the elevator cut her off.
"Finally," Johann muttered. "Cato won't spring for anything fancy," she told Katniss as they stepped inside. "I'm surprised he even gets donuts."
Cato, who technically was the head of the office and in charge of the budget, picked up a dozen donuts every morning on his way to work. He set them out on a table next to the seating area so that hungry clients would have something to munch on. But generally everyone in the office ate at least one donut every day. Katniss was fortunate that her metabolism ran fast, otherwise she would have gained a lot of weight.
"He might change his mind when he tastes the stuff from Mellark's," Katniss said as the elevator's doors closed. She remembered warm rolls with cheese inside of them and sighed.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A week later, a chubby blonde walked into their office pushing a silver trolley filled with baked goods. She wheeled her cart up to Katniss' and Johanna's desks.
Katniss surveyed the cart and her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten anything. Cato hadn't come in yet with the donuts; he and Gale were at a meeting on the other side of town.
"Sorry, but no solicitors allowed," Johanna said.
The woman laughed. "Oh, I'm not here to sell anything. I'm Delly Mellark from downstairs. My husband and I are the owners of the Mellark's bakeshop opening in the lobby. We wanted to introduce ourselves to the tenants in the building."
Delly held out a brochure, her diamond engagement and wedding rings sparkling brightly under the florescent lighting. "Would it be possible to talk with the office manager?"
"He's not in yet," Johanna answered.
"Well, let me leave something behind for him to taste. Do you know what he likes?"
"Chocolate," Johanna and Katniss said in unison. For a man obsessed with his physical fitness, Cato sure loved sweets.
Delly took a paper plate from the cart. Using a pair of tongs, she set a chocolate-covered croissant on it.
"Here." She put the plate on the edge of Johanna's desk.
Katniss licked her lips. Maybe she could go downstairs and buy something on her break.
"Have you opened up your shop, then?" Katniss asked Delly.
"Not yet. Peeta's been doing some test batches to check out the new oven. Can I offer you both a sample too?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Johanna reached out her hand to point to a big muffin topped with poppy seeds.
After Delly served Johanna, she turned to Katniss.
"Do you have any of those cheese-filled rolls on your cart?"
"You mean cheese buns?"
Katniss nodded. Her mouth was already salivating; she hadn't tasted one in years.
"No, Peeta hasn't made any yet."
"Oh, okay. I'll have one of those brown rolls then." Katniss pointed to a mini-loaf that looked to be studded with raisins and nuts. At least it would keep her full until lunch.
"This muffin is delicious," Johanna moaned after Delly had left. "So many poppy seeds. I'm feeling high already. Kat, you were so right about this bakery. We have to get Cato to start buying from them."
But afterwards when Johanna perused the brochure Delly left behind, she sighed. "Unless they offer a building discount, we're probably out of luck. Cato's too big of a cheapskate to pay these prices."
"Oh, no," Katniss suddenly remembered. "I forgot to ask for a sample for Gale."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Surprisingly after tasting the chocolate croissant Delly had left behind, Cato was amenable to purchasing baked goods from Mellark's.
"I'd rather sleep a little later," he said. "I'm tired of having to pick up donuts before work every morning."
So arrangements were made for Johanna to pick up a box of pastries – since Mellark's didn't make donuts - and bring it upstairs when she arrived in the morning.
But after a week of walking past the bakeshop, taking the elevator up to their 12th floor office, and then having to go back down to the lobby to pick up the pastries, it was clear that Johanna was completely unreliable.
Katniss offered to take over and bring the box upstairs.
"You just want first shot at that cheese thingy," Johanna smirked.
"Perhaps." Every day the mixed box of pastries had included one cheese bun, one poppy seed muffin, and one chocolate croissant. Since Cato hadn't known Katniss' and Johanna's favorites to ask for them, clearly Delly had remembered what they liked and made sure to include their preferred items in the daily order.
Every morning when Katniss stopped to pick up the baked goods, Delly Mellark greeted her with a warm smile, and kind words.
It was a small shop and Katniss could see Delly's husband in profile as he worked at a long table behind the display counter. He dressed in white, like Delly, and was so focused on his work that he seemed to have a whole world locked away inside him.
After a few days Katniss finally got the chance to meet him. One morning he called out a question to Delly and turned toward the front to await her reply.
Katniss' heart beat a little faster when she took in his handsome appearance. He was stocky with ash-colored hair that fell in waves around his friendly face. But it was his eyes that drew her in. They were bright blue and lively.
After listening to Delly's answer he caught sight of Katniss on the other side of the counter. His eyes seemed to light up as he gave her a broad smile. "You're a regular aren't you?"
She wondered if he was speaking to someone behind her, but there were no other customers.
"She's from Alliance Insurance," Delly said. "They've got that daily order for a mixed dozen."
He dropped the dough from his hands, left the table and stood next to Delly. "I'm Peeta Mellark," he introduced himself.
He rubbed his hands together in an attempt to clean them. Katniss noticed that he wasn't wearing a wedding band; likely he took it off to keep it clean.
"I'd shake your hand, but mine are covered with flour."
"That's okay. I'm Katniss…er .. Everdeen." She paused not knowing how to continue. "My co-workers like your baked goods."
Peeta grinned. "That's good to know. What's your favorite?"
"The cheese buns. My father used to buy them at your main bakery when I was a kid." She knew she was babbling but she couldn't help it. His good looks and laser-like attentiveness had left her flustered.
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a curious look cross Delly's face.
"Okay Peeta; time to get back to work," Delly said, as a customer came up behind Katniss.
Katniss threw the couple a quick smile and left. She rode up the elevator envying Delly. The woman certainly had a handsome husband.
As the mornings grew darker and the weather colder, the tiny Mellark's bakeshop got busier. It seemed that everyone who worked in Panem Tower wanted a pastry and hot drink to begin the day.
But no matter how many customers were waiting at the counter, Peeta stopped his work for a just a moment to say a few words to Katniss when she reached the front of the line.
Their brief conversations were friendly, but the fact that they were occurring every single day made her nervous because Peeta was married. Couldn't Delly see that her husband was paying Katniss too much attention, singling her out from all the other customers? But worse still, she found herself looking forward to their short exchanges, which left her feeling guilty.
And then one morning when she arrived, Peeta was working the front counter. He said Delly had stepped away because she was feeling ill.
"She's expecting."
"Congratulations. You must be so happy." Katniss responded automatically, but her heart twisted. She should be pleased for the couple, but she was jealous. Why had she allowed herself to develop a crush on a married man?
"Yes, my whole family is excited as this will be the first grandchild."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Johanna waved the flyer in her hand. "The management of Panem Tower is holding a holiday party for tenants this Friday at 10 a.m. We have to go."
Katniss looked away from her computer screen. "I'm surprised you want to go. It can't be much of a party if it starts at 10 a.m. Probably just some cookies and eggnog."
Johanna snorted. "You are so brainless sometimes. It's an excuse to get away from our desks. Besides, eggnog can always be spiked."
Katniss frowned. The holidays were her least favorite time. Everything seemed to revolve around families and her only family member was her sister Prim who was in school on the other side of the country. And this year they couldn't afford to get together. Katniss would be spending her Christmas alone. Even Jo, who also lacked a family, had plans to meet up with an old boyfriend to go skiing.
Besides, Katniss hated to socialize. She'd already avoided going to the party Alliance Insurance had held for all its employees at a big hotel the previous weekend. She'd refused Cato's offer to escort her and had been further mortified when Gale had tried to set her up with his brother-in-law Darius as a date.
Feigning prior plans, she'd spent the evening eating ice cream, watching a sappy Hallmark holiday movie, and wishing a meet-cute moment would happen to her too, and soon.
Johanna had told her about the Alliance shindig in detail later, gossiping about which employees had gotten drunk, who had the hottest and ugliest spouse, and who had hooked up afterward.
Katniss enjoyed her friend's bawdy stories, but she was relieved to have stayed away. She wished she could avoid the building party as well, but she doubted she'd be able to, unless Gale had some urgent task for her to do. But that was unlikely. Work was slow at this time of year.
The morning of the party, Cato announced that they'd close the office for an hour so everyone could attend. "I could stay behind and watch the phones," Katniss offered.
"That won't be necessary," Cato said. "You need to live a little Katniss. All work and no play makes for a boring girl." He gave her his usual leering smile and Katniss made a mental note to stay away from Cato at the gathering.
The Panem Tower party was held in a large conference room on the 14th floor. It was quite full when their group arrived. Christmas music was playing in the background, colored lights were strung along the walls, and long tables had been set out filled with a spread of cookies, pastries, and slices of cake.
The four employees of Alliance Insurance headed straight for the food. Katniss thought it all came from Mellark's as she recognized some of the same baked goods that filled their box every morning.
She took a couple of sugar cookies and got some eggnog from a large punchbowl that sat at the end of the table.
"You want something in that eggnog?" Johanna asked her, pulling a tiny bottle of brandy from her purse.
"No," Katniss said.
"You're such a party pooper."
"I'll have some, Jo," Cato said, coming alongside Katniss.
Katniss surveyed the room, searching for someone she recognized from the building to talk to so she could get away from Cato. Gale had already made a friend, a middle-aged woman with gray hair that fell in an unbroken sheet to her shoulders. Katniss expected he'd try to sell her some life insurance.
In the corner, someone dressed as Santa was sitting on a high-backed white chair. A photographer stood nearby and was taking photos of people with him. Katniss walked closer to watch. Most of the people stood next to the man in the red suit. A few women, mostly middle-aged and overweight, chose to perch awkwardly on his knee for their photo.
Katniss smirked at the sight. What kind of guy would allow strange women to sit on his knee?
She eyed Santa curiously. His outfit was decent quality, not like the cheap, garish ones that were the color of tomato soup and sold for $49.99 at the party store. No this one was a deep red and looked to be made of some kind of crushed velvet. The white fur trim looked real too.
It was clear that the white hair and beard were fake though because Santa's face was unlined.
The stout woman on his knee said something to him and he burst out laughing.
Katniss eyes widened. It was Peeta Mellark. She knew that laugh, that smile, those blue eyes hidden behind the gold, wire glasses.
Cato came up behind her, putting his hand on the small of her back. "Gonna have your picture taken with Santa Claus?"
She jumped away. She could smell the liquor on his breath. Clearly Johanna had doused his drink well.
"No," she answered, but then someone from behind pushed her into the photographer.
The man with the camera grabbed at her arm and pushed her in the direction of Santa.
Peeta's eyebrows rose in recognition. She gave him a small smile and came to stand at his side.
"Sit on his lap Katniss," Cato called out.
"Do it," Johanna baited her.
Soon other voices chimed in.
Embarrassed at all the attention she was getting, Katniss gave Peeta an apologetic glance and hovered over his knee to appear as if she were seated.
"Now smile," the photographer said.
It happened so fast she wasn't sure exactly how, but Peeta's hands landed on her waist, causing her to fall down onto his lap. He put his face next to hers, the fake beard itching at her skin.
"Stay around afterwards. I have something I want to ask you," he whispered. His hot breath on her ear sent a shiver down her back.
Ask her something? What? She doubted it was her favorite color.
The photographer's flash blinded her.
Peeta let go of her waist and she flew off him. Maybe the others didn't know that Santa was being played by Peeta Mellark, a married man with a pregnant wife, but she certainly did.
Outraged at his actions, she did the first thing that flew into her mind. She turned around and slapped him across the face.
People around them fell silent, until finally someone muttered something about Katniss getting a lump of coal in her stocking now. Katniss fled from the room, pushing her way past the other guests and headed for the elevator.
She returned to the Alliance office with mixed feelings – anger and disappointment. She liked Peeta, but he'd turned out to be a married man who clearly didn't take his vows very seriously. Poor Delly.
Katniss hoped her actions had taught him a lesson.
Johanna returned alone thirty minutes later. "Well, brainless, I never thought I'd see it, but you really know how to liven up a dull party."
"What happened after I left?" Even thought Katniss was angry with Peeta, she couldn't help but wonder how he had reacted to her assault.
Jo snorted. "Santa has a silver tongue. He fixed his beard and said he was adding your name to his naughty list. Everyone laughed.
"Why in the hell did you slap him?" Johanna continued. "That Santa is hot."
Katniss grimaced. "It's Peeta Mellark from the bakery downstairs."
"I thought he looked familiar. But why did you do it? Did he pinch your butt?"
"Nooo. Didn't you see how he grabbed my waist and whispered into my ear?
"Yeah. So…"
"Jo, he's married. And his wife Delly is pregnant. He asked me to meet up with him after the party." A sudden idea occurred to Katniss. "Oh no, was Delly there to see what happened?" The thought that she'd likely caused pain for Delly by publicly exposing her husband's unfaithfulness made her ill.
Johanna burst out laughing at Katniss impassioned speech. "Married. Who in hell told you that?"
"Delly did. Remember when she came in with that trolley filled with sweets. She told us that she and her husband were opening the bakeshop."
Jo laughed even louder. Tears streamed down her face and she wiped them away. "They did. But Peeta is her brother-in-law. Delly's husband broke his arm a week before they opened, so Peeta stepped in to help."
An icy sensation came over Katniss at the news that Peeta wasn't wed to Delly. Her stomach dropped. "Are you absolutely certain?"
Johanna nodded. "Delly told me everything the first time I picked up the bakery box. That woman never shuts up."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why would I tell you that a hot, blond-haired bachelor is working downstairs? You've already turned down the hot, blond-haired bachelor working in our own office. I thought you went for some other type, maybe gingers."
Katniss rested her head in her hands. Oh, no what had she done?
Jo took the first lunch, leaving Katniss alone to fret. It was clear that she needed to apologize to Peeta. He wasn't a married predator; he was a single guy who had been flirting with her.
She was on the phone when he came into the office. She hardly recognized him because he was wearing a gray Henley, blue jeans and sneakers. She put her hand over the phone. "Just a minute," she said, gesturing him to sit down in one of the chairs in the small lobby.
Once she was done with the call, she put the phone on voice mail. She didn't want to be interrupted.
Peeta walked up to her desk. "Look I'm sorry if I did something wrong…"
"Don't apologize," she cut in. "I shouldn't have slapped you." She noted a faint red mark on his cheek and winced.
"Why did you do it then?"
She scowled. "I thought you were married to Delly."
Peeta bit his lip like he was trying to stop from smiling. "So you thought I was crossing some line that married man should stay far away from."
She couldn't meet his eyes. "Yeah, I did."
"Okay, well I guess that makes some kind of sense. But why would you even think Delly and I were married?"
"She told us that she and her husband had opened the bakeshop. I didn't know about your brother. Jo told me after I …" A thought suddenly occurred. "What did you want to ask me?
Peeta rubbed the back of his neck. "This is my last day working in Panem Tower. My brother got his cast off and will start next week. I'll be going back to work at the main bakery. I wanted to ask you out to lunch."
He wanted to take her out. Her first thought was to refuse. She'd already ruined everything and made a complete fool of herself. But she did like him a lot, especially now that she knew he was single. And he must still be interested in her, despite everything, since he'd bothered to come to her office to find her.
"Okay, I'll allow it.
"Take as long as you like," Johanna said. She had snuck into the office while they were speaking. "In fact take the afternoon off. I just ran into Cato on the street. He's not coming back today. He said Gale is out making calls too and won't be back either."
Johanna winked at her. "Have some fun Katniss."
Maybe she would. Katniss opened the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out her purse. She stood up. "Let's go Peeta."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Three Years Later
"I'm amazed that you can fit into that Santa suit," Katniss said, eyeing her husband.
Peeta had gained nearly twenty pounds when Katniss was pregnant with their daughter Hope. He called it sympathy weight, but Katniss knew it was because he'd eaten right alongside her, cheese bun-for-cheese bun. But he'd cut back on his bad habits since their daughter had been born three months earlier and was already back to his pre-baby figure. Katniss wished she could say the same.
"Well, I have to fit into it. It's my lucky suit." He gave her a silly grin.
Katniss shook her head at Peeta's words. But he was right. The red suit that Peeta's grandmother had so lovingly stitched together for his grandfather to wear to entertain their children, had been lucky. It had been the spark that had set Katniss' and Peeta's relationship on fire and it continued to do so each year.
She had slapped Peeta the first time she saw him in it, but the end result had been a lunch date that lasted 42 hours.
The second year that Peeta had worn the suit, he'd proposed to her in it.
Hope's conception had occurred the last time that Peeta wore it.
And tonight, well who knew what could happen. The evening was still young.
"So Delly's got everything Hope needs," Peeta confirmed.
"Yes." It had taken Katniss a couple of days of planning, but she'd packed up everything a three-month-old baby could possibly want or need, including several bottles of breast milk.
The couple was finally getting an evening out to attend a holiday party at Johanna's and Cato's house. Katniss' former co-workers had dated everyone in Panem until both of them realized that what they were seeking was each other. They'd moved in together a few months earlier.
Katniss hadn't kept in touch with her former co-workers much since she'd transferred to an Alliance branch in the suburbs after her marriage to Peeta. This evening would give her a chance to see them all again. She was looking forward to talking with Gale's wife Madge. She'd only met her once before and Katniss had liked her.
"So do you know why Jo wanted me to wear the suit?" Peeta asked as they drove to the party.
Katniss frowned. She suspected that her former co-worker was up to something. "I don't know. But promise me Peeta you won't let anyone sit on your lap tonight other than me."
Peeta took his eyes off the road for a moment and glanced at Katniss' left hand that bore the rings that united them.
He lifted his head, caught her eye and gave her a knowing smile. "You can count on it."
THE END