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The steady beat of a long, red, dagger like finger nail falling to the wood top desk was all that could be heard outside of the muffled melody of the string orchestra and the gay laughter of the party goers who mingled just behind the semi-empty office.
A woman, not of a young age but not exactly matronly either, sat at a high back rolling chair and stared out at the city lights that blinking and flickered outside the giant glass pane as the sun began to set over the California skyline.
The thought of joining in the holiday festivities just outside the door made her cringe and she settled for the solitary glass of whiskey on the rocks that sat waiting on the polished counter top.
Wrapping her manicured fingers around the drink she heard the office door opened slowly behind her and she sighed as a familiar voice chirped behind her.
"Hey hey hey there." Ellis eased into the office as the woman continued to stare out the window, not even bothering to turn her chair to face him.
"What did I say about you knocking before coming in here?" the woman inquired dryly as she tapped her polished talon on the glass.
The man grinned and rounded the desk to look at the woman's face, finding her reclined back in the chair with her pale porcelain skin contrasting sharply with the dark green leather cushion.
Her platinum blonde hair was loose, yet styled with care and fell into her jade green eyes slightly until a single slender hand rose to brush the strands behind her ear.
"Thought you might be a little lonely." The man grinned and scratched his beard sheepishly with a single hand behind his back.
"Well you thought wrong." The woman brought the whiskey to her rose colored lips and took a sip calmly and the man rolled his eyes and leaned on her desk.
"Ah, come on Gerry. Don't be like that." He removed his hand from behind his back and waved a thin, rectangular box wrapped in metallic paper by his head. "I got you a little something."
She didn't respond and he sighed, "Come on…" he placed the box on her desk by a silver cigarette case and a match book. "Open it up."
"Ellis, for the last time. I am your boss."
"That didn't stop us the last time" He smirked a little before sighing. "And I just wanted to get you a little something for the holidays." Ellis explained defensively.
The blonde woman turned her chair and eyed him with a gaze that could freeze beer before sighing and picking up the box, knowing he would not leave until she opened the gift.
"Thank you Ellis." She muttered with false politeness and examined the long black box carefully before containing an irritated sigh and flipping open the top.
"As soon as I saw it I knew it was for you." Ellis gloated with a touch of flattery in his voice as the woman thumbed a modest strand of freshwater pearls with a touch of surprise on her face.
"Here, let me put them on for you." The man insisted before she could protest and pulled her to her feet and over to a large, ornate mirror on the wall.
With clumsy fingers he managed to clasp the strand of imperfect white beads around her throat and watched her face for a reaction as she carefully reached up and touched the necklace with the pads of her fingers, allowing them to run over the bumpy pearls.
"Thank you Harry." She repeated in a deeper tone and Ellis watched her a moment before daringly leaning down to kiss the sensitive flesh exposed behind her ear, the prickle of his beard scratching the shell of her ear.
Despite the charm of the first gift, she didn't take quite as well to the second and quickly jerked away from him.
"That wasn't code for…!"
"Sorry, sorry, that was wrong of me." Ellis backed up with his hands by his head, "I just thought, you know… after the first time we…"
"Yeah well." The woman quickly removed the pearls and put them back in the black box. "We all make mistakes."
"Yeah…" Ellis shoved his hands in his pockets and eyed the floor. "Well, I'll leave you be then, Merry Christmas Gerry."
"Merry Christmas Ellis." She returned to her chair and took up the whiskey again as he left reluctantly and she looked out the window.
Geralyn Weiss heaved a deep breath and reached for the cigarette case, clicking it open and pulling one of the long Virginia Slims out of the mix and striking a wooden match quickly.
"Hey." a hesitant voice came from the still open doorway and Geralyn eyed the figure casual. "Can I come in?"
The blonde nodded and took a drag from the smoke as her coworker, Holly Genaro, entered slowly, closing the door behind her.
"You're missing one hell of a party out there." The curly haired business woman told her and Geralyn shrugged.
"Not my scene."
"Well uh, I wanted to come up and thank you." Holly said sheepishly and Geralyn hummed.
"Whatever for?"
"Well, you've been here longer than I have. You trained me and taught me everything I know." Holly grinned a little. "I wouldn't have lasted a month if you hadn't helped me out."
Geralyn smiled a little and sat on her desk, the fabric of her black slacks bunching up slightly as she did.
"It's a depressingly masculine world out there my dear girl…" she informed Holly with a cigarette hanging from her lips, struggling to shrug off her fitted suit coat off of her red silk clad shoulders. "And we ladies have got to stick together if we're going to survive."
"You can say that again." Holly agreed with slight discomfort. "My husband should be dropping by soon." She muttered a reminder and the blonde woman raised a sculpted brow.
"The one who told you that this job was a waste of time?"
"Yep."
"Hm" Geralyn sniffed and took another drag off her cigarette. "Well, I'm sure this is to be a very merry Christmas then. Peace on earth? Good will toward men, and all that?"
Holly smirked bitterly and nodded. "We'll see."
The younger woman declined a cigarette the other offered and looked around, "I would have thought you'd be going back to Germany for the holidays. Don't you have any family to visit?"
"No." the answer was short and almost bitter. But for some reason it didn't ring true.
"Why don't you come down and join the party? I wouldn't feel right having fun with you up here all alone."
Geralyn smirk and picked up her whiskey glass, "you go. I'll catch up."
Holly sighed and nodded before leaving her alone once more, letting her finish off the liquor and slip back on her black suit coat.
She might as well try to have a good time tonight, she figured as she snuffed out the cigarette butt in the cut glass ashtray and made her way down the stairs to the main floor of the party.
The click of her red high heels must have alerted Ellis because he was on her in a second.
"Look Gerry, about what happened upstairs. I know you're still sore over… you know what…but I mean."
"Ellis, it's fine." She cut him off, "go have a drink, mingle…" she slipped away from him as soon as he began to sulk and found her boss, Joseph Takagi by the bar chatting with some employees.
As soon as she was within sight the male associates other than Takagi stopped talking immediately, they eyed the woman with a small amount of hidden distaste and politely bowed out to get away from the notorious "boss lady" of the office.
Oh yes, Geralyn had a bit of a reputation around the building for her infamously high standards and her unwavering ability to make an underling crumble under a withering, patronizing leer and a low voice like liquid velvet.
She ran her department like a totalitarian dictator, with an iron fist and a lipstick smile.
"Ah, Ms. Weiss. How nice of you to join us." The man said cheerfully. "I was wondering if you'd show up at all, you'll work yourself to death at this rate."
"And what better way to go." She replied with a large, fake smile. The boss eyed her and looked around before placing a hand on her lower back and leading her away from the crowd.
"I know it's not my place." He began as they reached the edge of the crowd, "but I'm sorry to hear about your divorce. I understand that it must be very hard for you."
Geralyn felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach as she thinned her lips into a thin red gash across her face.
"Thank you…Mr. Takagi." She said lowly. "But don't worry about me, after all…no good marriage ever ended in divorce."
"Still." The man sighed, "You have plenty of vacation time saved up…should you ever…"
Geralyn whipped around with a large, toothy smile across her face, the kind she used during deals. "It's fine, honestly." She stared into his unconvinced face and let her broad smile fall into an understanding smirk.
"We'd been estranged for over a year, and besides I filed for the divorce. I'm just waiting for him to sign the papers." She took a deep breath and nodded. "Don't you worry, I'm not going to let that bastard ruin my merry Christmas."
Takagi smiled, "I'm sure you won't, why don't you mingle a while?"
She nodded and made directly for the bar, sitting at one of the stools as she called the attention of the bartender. "One Bloody Mary please." She ordered and reached into her pocket as the bartender began to prepare the drink.
She pulled out a simple band of gold from her suit jacket pocket. What to do with this little symbol, she wondered curiously.
Perhaps the son of a bitch would want it back.
She pictured him standing in front of her so she would throw it at his feet. But then frowned as she was faced with the truth of her mind.
She still loved him, in the deepest part of her soul she loved him at least a little bit. Enough to feel the pain as she signed her name across the bottom of the legal documents in the office of some high class Hollywood divorce lawyer.
She could only thank God that there weren't any children to get involved.
"Your Bloody Mary, ma'am."
She took the drink and nodded, stuffing the ring back into her suit jacket pocket.
"Thanks."