In the Christmas Cards
Chapter One
"There is no way in Hell that he's paying us enough to do this." Mike Cannon grumbled as he and Danny McCoy carried a big blue spruce tree onto the main floor of the Montecito Resort and Casino. The bald, black man shrugged as he noticed his co-worker glaring at him.
"Would you quit your bitching?" a weary Danny requested as the two men finally set the tree down in a waiting stand. Sighing, the former Marine ran a slow hand through his short, brown hair. "You heard Ed and Casey. They want these things up by the end of the day."
"Okay," Mike nodded, accepting that fact. "So, where in the hell is our maintenance crew?"
"I'm going to guess that they're all off doing one of the other billion tasks we have to do around here." Danny shrugged, "Now, do you want to tighten or do you want to hold?"
"I'll tighten." Mike replied, dropping the floor and crawling under the tree in an instant. Danny was about to question why when their employer, Ed Deline, strolled up.
"What the hell are you two monkeys doing?" the blue-eyed, stern, older man demanded, stopping right in front of Danny. "I set you guys on tree duty an hour ago."
"There's snow up in Tahoe." Mike offered from where he lay on the floor. "The truck didn't get here until just now."
"Well, okay," an accepting Ed nodded, causing an anxious Danny to breath a sigh of relief. However, the next time Ed spoke, the usual anger was back in his voice. "Then, what the hell have you two gentleman been doing for the past hour?"
"Uh…" Danny stammered, unsure of what to say.
"Um…" an equally nervous Mike chipped in. "You boys better come up with a quick excuse," Ed advised, smiling at the power he held over his employees. "Because I'd hate to believe that it was actually you two, and not your evil twins, gawking at the ladies this whole time."
"Damn cameras." Mike whispered to himself.
"What was that, Michael?" a curious Ed asked, looking down at the black man's feet, which were sticking out from the tree.
"Nothing, Mr. D." Mike reassured with a smile.
"Better not have been." Ed sighed, rubbing his forehead wearily. He wondered what it was about dealing with Danny and/or Mike that nearly always made him feel like he needed a drink of alcohol.
"Hi, Daddy." the cheerful voice of Delinda Deline greeted as Ed's blonde-haired, perky daughter walked up. "Hey, guys."
"Delinda." Danny and Mike both greeted cordially.
"Hey, sweetheart." Ed smiled, leaning in and giving the woman a kiss on the cheek. Suddenly, he noticed a trio of white, sealed envelopes in the woman's hands. "What are those?"
"The names for Secret Santa." Delinda grinned, handing each of the men an envelope. "Mom drew names for everyone this morning." She held up a finger. "Remember, guys, no telling anyone who you have until the Christmas party."
"We know." Danny nodded, speaking for Ed and Mike.
"Okay, then." a still-grinning Delinda said as she whirled around. "Happy shopping!"
"I don't know about you guys," Mike remarked as he crawled out from under the now-tightened tree. "But I'm tearing this bad boy open."
"Might as well." an agreeing Ed shrugged, looking at Danny.
"Yeah." Danny agreed, tearing his envelope open and taking out the thin strip of paper waiting inside. The name "Sam" stared back at him in firm, black letters, causing the tall man to wince. The only thing that he really knew about Samantha Jane Marquez was that she loved to make his life miserable and that she could probably tell a kid that there was no Santa Claus with a straight face. Still, something about the raven-haired casino hostess appealed to him, which is probably why they had had a romantic relationship in the past.
Still standing next to Danny, Ed sighed deeply as he pulled the name "Mary" out of his envelope. While he didn't have the hatred that McCoy had for Marquez, he was equally as baffled as his protégé. Of all of his employees, the graying man probably knew the least about what Connell would even remotely want for Christmas. Deciding that he would just have to get his wife, Jillian's help on the matter, Deline sighed and stuffed his strip of paper into his pocket.
"You guys don't look too happy." Mike commented, looking at the two other men. A look of relief had been present on the African American man's face ever since he had seen the name Delinda Deline on his strip of paper. He felt that he had a pretty good idea of what to get Ed's bubbly daughter. "Not get the names you wanted?"
"You could say that." an honest Danny replied, wishing that he had drawn either Mary or Delinda's names.
"All right." a commanding Ed said, switching subjects. "You two, just get these trees up on the double, all right? I'm not paying you to just stand around and look at the girls all day."
"But, Ed," Danny smiled smugly, "technically, you don't pay us. Casey does."
Saying nothing, Ed just glared at his protégé with a look of possible murder gleaming in his narrow, blue eyes. Catching sight of it, Danny gulped nervously and quickly regretted his last statement.
"Come on, Mikey." he urged, shoving his co-worker along. "Let's get those trees up."
"No! No! No!" the shrill voice of Sam Marquez screamed, getting the attention of everyone in Mystique, the Montecito's premiere restaurant and nightclub. Smiling apologetically at the people around them, the faces of Sam's tablemates, Mary Connell and Delinda Deline, quickly turned red at their cohort's outburst. The raven-haired woman, however, was too focused on the white strip of paper in her hand. "Ed! How in the hell could I have drawn Ed?"
"Sam!" a firm Delinda scolded, "You weren't supposed to tell us who you got!" The blonde-haired woman shook her head. "That's the whole point of it being Secret Santa!"
"Yeah, I don't think that she cares about that." Mary commented, looking at Sam, who was still focused on the strip of paper in her hands. The red-haired woman felt fortunate that Mike's name had been inside her envelope, as she could always wheedle out of Danny, one of his closest friends and her best, what to get him.
"This is a nightmare!" Sam groaned, leaning back in her seat and dejectedly resting her arm over her eyes. A moment later, she suddenly dropped her arm, revealing a grin on her face. "Delinda sweetie…"
"Oh, no." Delinda shook her head, knowing that Sam wanted to switch.
"But you already have to get him something!" Sam pointed out with the rare sound of pleading in her voice. "Come on, Dee. Please?"
"No, Sam." Delinda replied firmly, shaking her head again. The blonde-haired woman was quite content with her name, Danny, and wasn't about to shop for two presents for her father. "What fun would it be if I had Daddy's name?"
"I suppose you have a point." a reluctant Sam admitted before turning towards Mary with a smile.
"Don't even try it." Mary warned, setting down her glass after taking a drink. She put her index finger up towards Sam. "It's not going to work."
"You two suck, you know that." Sam growled, putting her head down on the table. "You really, really suck."
To be continued...