Right on time…

Zack looked out over the warehouse; he had never seen so much freight. He could only imagine all the Christmas presents that were in all those containers, and a part of him wondered what parents had ordered for their kids. In the last year since starting at the airline he'd seen a lot of freight come through, but he'd never seen it this ridiculous.

"Hey Zack, go help Brett with that shipment going to London," Bill, his Crew Chief said. "It needs to be ready by six."

Zack looked at his watch, it was already five forty-five. "We better hurry, do we have the right equipment for it today?"

"Yeah, we actually do. We definitely don't need another incident like what happened on Saturday." Bill cringed and Zack felt a chill go down his spine at that memory.

Zack got on his forklift and drove over to help Brett load up the freight so they could tie it up and secure it. "Hey Brett, what's left?" he yelled while she was ensuring what was loaded was stable.

"Just those couple stacks over there, Zack. Glad you're here to help me. Not sure I could have made the deadline on my own. Thanks." Zack nodded.

He liked Brett, she was a hard worker, and had been here a couple more years than he had. She had helped show him the ropes when he started, making it not so intimidating. He also found out very quickly that all his best pickup lines had absolutely no effect on her whatsoever. Couldn't believe it, but in the long run it made him like and respect her more than he thought he would.

They got it all built, threw the net over the top, and secured it. Zack got back on his fork and weighed the freight before he lifted it onto the waiting ramp dolly, the trailer they put most of the freight on when it went overseas. He remembered seeing these big pallets being loaded onto the ship when they were in school, but never thought much about it at the time. As he settled the freight, Brett brought around the truck to hook up and pull it to the gate.

Right on time.

"Hey Zack, can you take the weight slip to the Planner so we can make sure it's in the computer?"

"Sure Brett, anything for you, sweetness." He said with a wink. Never stop trying, his motto to live by. Wait what was that? Did she just blush? Nah, she must just be hot from all the work. He knew it was a lost cause.

As Brett drove the freight to the gate with the waiting plane, Zack made sure the planner had the necessary info in the computer, and looking at his watch, he saw it was finally 6:00.

Time to go home.

"Yes!" Zack was sooo ready to go home. It was Christmas Eve after all, and he had to finish putting up the tree and wrapping presents for his mom, dad, and Cody. Cody was supposed to come over and help with the tree, make dinner for them both, and just hang out. He missed seeing him all the time since he left for college, and it looked like he would be there four more years after he graduated in May. Cody was always the smart one, studying to become a lawyer and all, but, Zack was making all the money right now. Yeah, he knew Cody would surpass him by many thousands eventually, but right now all he was doing was raking up loans for his tuition payments.

"Bye Zack, drive safe." Brett hollered over the noise of the warehouse as she drove by. She still had a couple hours to go on her shift. Zack did a double take as he waved; he could have sworn he saw her wink at him as she passed. Something to look into when he came back to work after Christmas. But it put a little smile on his face as he left.

"Hey Codes!" Zack yelled over the festive music playing when his brother walked into the apartment.

Cody looked across the room, trying to find his twin amongst all the colorful paper, ribbons, bows, bags, and empty boxes. And what was that stuck to the ceiling fan? Zack's cat Cocoa was sitting on the back of the couch staring at what looked like a ball of scotch tape, with ribbons hanging off it, stuck to a fan blade, going round and round. He'd be surprised if Cocoa didn't fall off his perch from dizziness. "Hey Zack, where are you?"

"I'm over here," he answered, waving his arm over a surprisingly neat, albeit huge, pile of well wrapped presents.

"Oh there you are, I thought maybe you wrapped yourself again." Cody laughed at the memory of his brother sitting under their tree, Christmas morning, wrapped in Christmas paper, in a cheap attempt at a gift for their Mom when they were fourteen. "You ready for me to start dinner?"

"Yeah, whenever…Hey Cody?" Cody turned to see Zack sitting on the floor with a shockingly serious look on his face, Zack was rarely serious.

"What's wrong Zack?"

"Oh nothings wrong, I'm just confused. You've heard me mention Brett, right?" Ahh so that's it, girl problems. Cody nodded at that; he had definitely heard of Brett.

"Yeah, I think I've heard you mention her a time or two," he smirked. Cody had a secret, and he was very good at keeping secrets, unlike Zack. "What about her?"

"Well, I could have sworn she was, I mean she could've been, it's hard to tell with her, but I think she was flirting with me today before I left to come home."

"Really? I thought she didn't like you that way?" Cody smiled as he scratched Cocoa's head.

"Meow." Cocoa jumped down and went to rub his head contentedly on Zack's knee.

"I thought she didn't either. But you know me, I never stop trying. I really like her Code, she's a really smart, self assured kinda girl, and I never thought I would fall for someone like that…but I think I have." He sat there in the middle of his living room, legs crossed, eyes wide, scratching Cocoa's neck, looking like a lost little boy.

Cody almost broke, opening his mouth for just a second ready to say something.

Nope, can't do it. Gotta surprise him.

Christmas was tomorrow, after all. So, Cody went to work on dinner. Zack would find out soon enough. When the food was almost ready he got a text, his eyes went wide. He didn't know it would be tonight. "Um Zack, I can't stay tonight, I forgot I have a test to turn in tonight before midnight for my online class. I'm going to finish making dinner for you, and go home to get it done."

"Really, homework, on Christmas Eve?" Zack complained, "I can't believe it. Your school is horrible to keep you working on the holidays." This confirmed that his decision not to go to college was the right one. At least being in the work force once he went home no one expected him to work on homework.

"Yeah, I know. I'm so sorry, I completely forgot about it. Hey, let me help you clean up a bit before I go." They picked up all the scraps of leftover Christmas wrappings which wasn't that bad for one of Zack's messes, and Cody made sure things were nice and tidy. He set the table with two place settings, and put the food on the table and left.

Zack looked at the table and got depressed. "Two? Cody, did you set one up for Cocoa? You know I'm all alone since you left. Sheesh, even a bottle of wine?"

Ding Dong

"Cody, you know you don't have to ring the bell. If you forgot something, just come on in."

Ding Dong

"Cody?" Zack got up and went to the door. As he opened it up, Brett stood there, not dressed in her work clothes. Zack liked these better. "Brett?"

"Hi Zack," she blushed. He had no doubt this time. "Cody said you might like some company for dinner."

"He did, did he? How long have you known my brother?" A bit of jealousy shining thru.

"I've only talked to him on the phone a few times, but it was enough to convince me you were a good man, Zack. Can I come in? Is it a bad time?" She asked hesitantly.

"No, this is perfect, please come in. Dinner is on the table, thanks to my brother. And you are right on time."

AN: Tiger, miracles do happen. ?

Gosh, I haven't been on here in what seems like forever. Just trying to sign on was an experience. Well I actually wrote a little short for Christmas. I hope some of y'all remember me. Enjoy!

Wyn