A Kimsicle Christmas
The snow was fresh on the ground and the lights and sounds of the holiday season were buzzing all over Denver. It was 3 days before Christmas and the Denver Main Branch was decorated for the occasion, with lights and garland. The Christmas music was quietly playing over the intercom and everyone had a little extra pep-in-their-step. The entire division was busily running around, trying to get those final cards and packages delivered before they could begin preparing for their own celebration, the annual Postal Ball.
Shane, Oliver, Rita and Norman had been working hard all month to make sure that no letter to Santa went undelivered. With the last letter in hand Shane and Oliver walked out of the D.L.O. to make their final delivery. As they opened the door to the sorting floor they immediately ran into Lester Kimsicle. "Well hello, Shane!" Lester proclaimed, looking her up and down. Shane, trying to remind herself that it was nearly Christmas, the season of kindness and giving, nodded politely and said, "Merry Christmas, Lester." Oliver rolled his eyes, put his arm around Shane's back and tried to move them out of Lester's perimeter as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it was not quick enough and Lester hollered down the hall at them, "It will be a very merry Christmas, Shane, I'm giving you the gift of dancing with me at the Postal Ball tonight!" Shane, still trying to remain filled with the spirit of the holiday, which was proving to be more difficult by the second, quickly turned back toward Lester, took Oliver by the hand and said, "While I appreciate you thinking of me Lester, my dance card is full for the evening." Lester replied with a giant smile and said, "I look forward to it! Happy to do it!" Frustrated, Shane shakes her head in disbelief, "It's like he's not listening at all!" Seeing how flustered Shane was, Oliver responded with a giant grin, "It's just good to see it's no longer difficult for you to decline an invitation from Lester Kimsicle, Ms. McInerney." Oliver began to laugh, to which, Shane quickly punched him in the shoulder. Trying to hold back a smile, she bit her lip and shook her head. "Shall we?" Oliver offered her his arm and Shane happily accepted.
The Postal Ball
Oliver and Shane arrived together at the Postal Ball. This was the first year they were attending as a couple and it felt wonderful. Immensely different from years past when Oliver was unable to verbally claim Shane as "his turf." This year, the most beautiful woman in the room was there on his arm and that filled him with pride.
Shane and Oliver scoped the room for their comrades. They found Norman and Rita already sitting at a table, appearing cornered by Lester. He was dressed in the most ostentatious Christmas suit the world had ever seen, it was bright red and covered in snowmen and reindeer. Santa himself would have been taken aback. He had, no doubt uninvitedly, joined Rita and Norman for dinner. Rita and Shane locked eyes and Rita gave Shane a 'please come save us' look. Shane, now faced with Lester for the second time in one day, took a deep breath and prepared herself to kindly embrace all that is Lester Kimsicle, once more. Shane and Oliver walked over to their table. Upon seeing them, Lester excitedly proclaimed, "Good news! You get to have dinner with me tonight, blondie." Oliver squeezed Shane's hand to remind her that it wasn't worth the breath it would take to respond to him. Knowing he wouldn't listen anyway, Shane, took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and smiled. "It's a Christmas miracle!" Oliver, looking for an out, asks, "Would anyone like some punch? Lester?" Norman happily jumped to his feet and awkwardly shouted, "Oh! I should help, Oliver!" The gentleman motion for their ladies to accompany them to the bar and they quickly and happily obliged.
When they returned with food and drinks, Lester was still there, happily awaiting his coworkers return. They made polite conversation, discussing how crazy work had been in the weeks leading up to Christmas and what everyone was doing for the holidays. Norman and Rita would be leaving the next day to spend Christmas with Rita's family in Albuquerque. Shane and Oliver would be spending Christmas in Denver, together. They couldn't help but beam with excitement as they thought about what it would be like to spend the holidays as a couple, their bubble, however, was quickly popped, when Lester proclaimed, "Oh great! Now that I know you're going to be in town. I uh, told my parents that I'd be bringing my good friends to their Christmas party tomorrow night. Congratulations, O'Toole, you and the beautiful blonde filly there, get to meet the whole family." Oliver, totally disquieted at the idea of spending an entire evening surrounded by Kimsicles, cleared his throat and prepared to tell Lester exactly how he felt about this invitation. Seeing that Oliver was less than thrilled with the idea and was about to say something he may potentially regret, Shane, grabbed his hand under the table causing him to look her way before speaking. She looked at him and then at Lester, who obviously had no one else to take if they were who he invited," and mouthed to Oliver, 'It's Christmas.' Being reminded of his responsibilities as a gentleman Oliver calmed his thoughts and begrudgingly, but, politely agreed to attend. "Well great, don't forget to bring a nice bottle of wine- Mom hates the cheap stuff!" Oliver immediately regretted his decision. Shane saw the look of exasperation on Oliver's face and hastily stood up, offered her hand and said, "Oliver, shall we dance?"
Meet the Kimsicles
When Oliver and Shane arrived at the Kimsicle estate they were in awe of the colossal manor before them. They had never imagined that Lester had come from such a lavish background. In that moment, they both realized that they knew very little about their coworker. They had never really bothered to dig any deeper than the very superficial conversations that had ensued around the office. Even at the late, for business purposes only, lunch at Montaldo's, Shane had never bothered to ask Lester any personal questions. Shane began to wonder how one could spend so much time around someone else and have no idea of who they really are? Both Shane and Oliver began to feel slightly bad about their gross oversight of Lester, that is, until Lester walked up behind them and said, "Shane, looking good!" Shane rolled her eyes and Oliver briskly knocked on to door.
The door opened slowly and they were quietly greeted by a butler. He was an older gentleman, dressed in a tux. He looked at the three of them and said, "The Kimsicles are welcoming the guests in the parlor. This way, please." It was as though he didn't recognize that Lester, a Kimsicle himself, was standing right there with them. He took their coats and led them down long hallway that was adorned with paintings that one could only assume were of Lester's ancestors. They finally made their way to a palatial parlor. The space was decorated for Christmas. Candles, poinsettia and a few large Christmas trees were around the room, but, something was missing. One could see Christmas in the room, but, it couldn't be felt. There was no warmth. The room was filled with very well-dressed people all engrossed in quiet conversations. Lester led them over to a group of people at the end of the room. They approached a very poised and beautifully dressed woman and a stately looking gentleman. "Hi mother, father. Merry Christmas. These are my….." Neither of them stopped speaking to their friends to acknowledge that their son had arrived. After awkwardly standing there for a moment, Lester's mother finally turned towards them and aloofly said "Hello, Lester." It was as if she were greeting an acquaintance and not her only child. After a brief introduction to Shane and Oliver, Lester's mother turned around and continued the conversation she had been having with her friends, obviously more delighted to spend her energy there then bonding with her son. Shane and Oliver looked at each other, both filled with sadness for how Lester had been treated. As the night went on it became apparent that this was just normal behavior in the Kimsicle home. They watched as Lester attempted numerous times to share moments with his parents. At dinner, Lester turned to his father and started a story about work, "Father, we recently worked with local law enforcement to retrie…." And, again, his father cut him off to ask someone to pass the butter. After an extremely uncomfortable dinner and dessert, Shane and Oliver excused themselves to go home, both reeling from what they had just witnessed. They had seen Lester in a totally different light.
The Long Drive Home
"Oliver, what kind of family treats their own son like that?!" Shane proclaimed, as soon as they were safely in the car and out of earshot. "Those were the most pretentious, uncaring.." Oliver took her hand, kissed it and said, "I know, Shane, I know. That was unbearable to watch." Shane, starting to tear up at this point, said "No wonder, Lester is the way he is. He must have had to act out and make a spectacle of himself to get any type of attention in that house. I can only imagine what that does to a child." Oliver and Shane could both relate to the pain that lingers from scars that are inflicted during childhood. After a long drive home, filled with quiet reflection they arrived at Shane's house. Oliver exited the car and walked around to open the door for a still distraught Shane. "We have to do better, Oliver. We must be more patient with Lester and show him that one can have friends and build a family, like we did in the D.L.O. He has to know, he doesn't have to be alone and he doesn't have to be so obtrusive to get our attention." Oliver agreed. He took her hand and led her up the stairs to her door where he gently kissed her goodnight and held her in a long embrace before making sure she made it safely inside. Oliver then drove home, contemplating how they all could have been so amiss about Lester and what step to take next.
Christmas Eve
The next morning Shane woke up determined to make this the best Christmas that Lester Kimsicle had ever experienced. Given that Christmas was only one day away, she had to act fast. She called Oliver and told him that she wanted to invite Lester to join them for Christmas dinner. Oliver quickly agreed. His feelings of animosity towards Lester had disappeared overnight and he was ready to embrace him, as a friend, letting go of all past frustrations. This whole situation had reminded Oliver and Shane that one should never be quick to jump to conclusions about why people act the way they do. That everyone has a past and baggage that comes along with it. Most importantly they were renewed in the belief that patience and forgiveness are virtues not to be forgotten.
Shane tasked Oliver with extending the invitation to Lester. She would take care of the rest. Oliver, realizing that he didn't have Lester's phone number, drove to the DLO to retrieve it from the company directory. When he arrived at the office he noticed there was a car in the parking lot. This was Christmas eve, certainly no one was working. Upon further inspection, Oliver realized the car belonged to Lester. Why would Lester be here, on Christmas eve, Oliver thought? He found his way into the office and looked around for him. He found Lester, in the office of investigations, sitting at his desk, alone. Lester jumped when saw Oliver enter his office, he had been there all morning. He had nowhere else to go other than to an empty house and the office always felt more like home to him then his own house did anyway. Oliver had caught him off guard, he didn't expect to see anyone there on Christmas eve.
"Hi, mind if I join you?" Oliver said. Lester didn't seem like his usual self. He was quiet and seemed slightly embarrassed. Lester nodded and extended a hand toward the seat in front of him. Oliver removed his coat and sat down. Lester sighed and said, "What brings you here, O'Toole? Don't you realize it's Christmas eve? " Oliver smiled and said, "Of course. I'm actually here for you."
At this Lester perked up a bit and Oliver could see a little glint of happiness come across his face. "For me? How did you know I was here? After last night, I assumed I would just have to avoid the DLO completely." "On the contrary, Lester, after last night I realized how good of a man you are and came here to retrieve your phone number to invite you to join Shane and I for dinner tomorrow," Oliver replied. "But, tomorrow is Christmas?" Lester questioned Oliver's mental clarity.
Oliver laughed, "I'm aware. Lester, Christmas is a time to spend with friends and family, remembering the gifts that God has given us. Which is precisely why, my friend, Shane and I would love it if you would join us for Christmas dinner."
At this Lester stood up and reached out to Shake Oliver's hand, "You're alright, O'Toole, you're alright!"
Oliver shook his friends hand, smiled and said, "Please, call me Oliver."
Merry Christmas
Lester arrived at right on time. He quickly realized that the feel of Oliver's home was quite different from that of his parent's house. It was welcoming and warm even before he stepped in out of the snow. Nervously, he knocked, half expecting that they may have changed their minds about wanting his company.
Shane opened the door with a huge smile, "Hi, Lester! Merry Christmas!"
"Hi, Blon- I mean Shane. It is a Merry Christmas, indeed!"
Shane took his coat and pointed him towards the kitchen where Oliver was busily cooking Christmas dinner with all the fixings. Oliver looked up from the turkey to greet his friend. "Merry Christmas, Lester! Welcome!"
Lester smiled, "Merry Christmas, Oliver, Merry Christmas."
Shane and Lester began to set the table when there was another knock at the door. Lester looked up, confused. "Are we expecting someone else?" Shane smiled and opened the door. "Lester, I believe you know Hazel."