Ellie smiled hopefully to herself, and the natural reaction to the cold weather gave excuse to the flush of her cheeks. She smiled and waved to the occasional 'Good morning, boss' and 'hello, ma'am.' When he finally reached the NN center, she was still thinking about Bernard.
Oh, Bernard. She though about the way his cheek and nose would flush almost immediately after he walked outside. And how his hair bounced when he spoke. All of the little things. Ellie was the only one who knew it, but she's been absolutely, completely infatuated with Bernard since she first met him about 800 years ago. She was great at keeping secrets. The keeper of the N list had to be. So she was the only one that knew about her almost fainting every time he looked at her, and how she always wondered where he was or what he was doing whenever they weren't together. At least she did, in the back of her mind. She never really acknowledged any of it. She just thought it was normal.
Even if she did realize how completely in love she was with Bernard, she'd keep it a secret anyway. She'd never really talked about her personal life. The list was not absolutely everyone's business. So she had to keep it to a select few.
"Hot chocolate, ma'am?" Judy asked, snapping Ellie out of one of her daydreams. She had been standing in the middle of the NN center, blocking a few screens, for the last few minutes; replaying the conversation in her head.
"Oh. Yes, please." Judy handed her the mug and Ellie took a sip. "Thanks. Your hot chocolate is exactly what I need in the morning."
"Thank you." She smiled.
"Have you done your cocoa run to Santa yet?"
"No ma'am. Why?"
"I need you to deliver this to him for me." Ellie dug into the bag hanging off of her hip and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper.
"The Naughty list?" Judy took the list from the superior elf.
"It's Charlie."
"Ohh boy. This calls for the Brazilian cocoa beans…" she sighed turning to deliver the bad news.
"Oh, and Judy?" she called out. The younger elf turned to listen. "Tell Bernard I said 'Good job.'"
Judy nodded with a smile and headed to prepare the 'bad news chocolate'
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So who isn't in love with Bernard?! Haha. I've honestly had a crush on him since the first time I saw the Santa Clause. I can't even remember when that was, but I've loved Bernard for as long as I can remember. :D He's just so freakin adorable. Anyway; Yeah, Ellie doesn't know she's in love with Bernard yet. She basically thinks she just admires him. Not in a romantic way. So yep. :)
