Christmas time had to be the one time of the year that Holly hated the most. It was sad for an elf to do so, but this particular one could not help it. Once in her life, it used to be her favorite. She loved the idea of family and love, baking and gift-giving.
However, that was when she had a family to celebrate with. Ever since her parents died years ago, when Holly was little, the holiday was never the same. She hated the smell, revolted at the sight of lights, tree and presents.
The one thing Holly could do, and did ever since she became an orphan, was drown herself in her work. Hardly ever coming home, where everything was the ghost of Christmas past.
That was the reason she was pacing Trouble's office, steamed. A look of annoyance flitted across her features as she gripped a piece of paper in her hand so tight, the elf's knuckles were white. As soon as the door of the Commander's office, Holly shouted, "What the hell is this?!"
Her narrowed eyes quickly went wide as she met fearful dark green ones instead of purple pupils. "Lili-" she started, but the blonde just turned and ran out sobbing. Holly sighed, rolling her eyes and running after her.
Running down the hallways after her, she didn't care if other officers stared at them from their offices or cubicles. This was too important.
The elf had to admit, even though she always thought that Lili Frond did not belong in the LEP from the start, the bimbo could run fast. Even Holly was almost out of breath by the time she caught up to the assistant. She grabbed Lili by the arm and stopped her, almost knocking the other elf out of balance. Lili spun around by force, her breathing erratic as she looked at Holly with wide, alarmed, tearful eyes. Holly rolled her eyes internally at the bimbo. "Wha...What do you want?" Frond breathed.
"Sorry about yelling and scaring you. I was expecting Tro-" Captain Short cleared her throat, remembering that it was a professional setting. "Commander Kelp."
Lili nodded quickly, wiping her eyes with the back of her manicured hand when Holly let go of her. "He's out today. Some kind of guy party at Verbil's house."
The redhead groaned internally, "Do you know when he's coming back?" She prayed it was later today.
However, Lili shrugged. "I don't think so. You know what kind of parties Chix has." Even she shuddered at the thought. Although, there was a bit of envy in the lining of her voice. Holly rolled her eyes, not being able to hold it back this time. Of course she would want to go. "I don't expect him to be back until tomorrow or the next day. Even then, he'll either still be drunk or hungover."
Holly sighed, bowing her head. "Okay. Thanks, Corporal. I better head over there." She turned around and walked back down the hallway.
"Merry Christmas!" Lili called down at her. Even at the mention, Holly winced, but she didn't face the Corporal or even say anything as she walked out of the building.
Holly kept a scowl on her face the entire way to Chix's house. The elf had only been there once, and she never wanted to ever go there unless it was by absolute force. Even though the flirtatious sprite was a lowly LEP officer, his parents were big business tycoons for Haven. Chix was a full grown sprite running around in a teenagers body. A hormonal teenage body.
Even though the visit was years before, Holly knew exactly where Verbil's house was. Besides it being one of the biggest mansion in Haven, it was always the loudest one as well. Sometimes, Holly wondered if it was so loud humans could hear from the surface hundreds of miles above.
To say that it was crowded was an understatement. Rows of hover cars and limos scattered the area in front of the house. Holly didn't know how she didn't know about it. Thinking though, she supposed it might have come up when she was tuning out Chix one of the many days he tried to flirt with her.
Loud music blared from speakers that seemed to be everywhere and the smell of alcohol was clearly evident in the air as she walked into the huge house. The lights were strobing dimly and chatter almost cancelled out the music from all the people who were there.
Holly scowled around, squinting as she tried to find her Commander in this unprofessional setting. She felt claustrophobic, trying to push through all the fairies. Women wore scandalous clothing and males ran about like horny teenage boys, as almost all of Chix's parties were. Holly definitely felt out of place there, in her LEP uniform, compared to the skimpy and short stitches of clothing the other females were wearing.
30 minutes passed as Holly searched the crowded mansion. She was about to give up hope when an arm wrapped around her. "Hey, babe. Thought you weren't going to show up."
The elf whirled around to face Chix, a drink in the hand that wasn't holding her waist. His hair was in a disarray, but his eyes were alight with a deep fire. "Glad you could make it."
Holly almost choked on the alcohol emitting from his breath. She tried to push away, but the sprite just held her tighter. Rolling her eyes, she stopped struggling from him and tried to not break his arm. It would just be faster if she let him hold her. Anyway, he was too drunk to comprehend what she was trying to do. "Where's Commander Kelp?" She yelled over the loud music.
Half-lidded eyes looked her over. "Why are you wearing your uniform?" He slurred. "Oh well, I suppose we could fix that…"
The elf groaned, starting to get ticked off. She lightly slapped his face to get his attention. "Focus, Verbil. Where is Trouble?"
It took a moment for Chix to answer, as he shook his head from processing the question. "Umm…" Another minute passed and he let out a drunken hiccup before responding. "Probably in the bedroom on the third floor. Better watch out though, he had a girl with him." He blinked, a frown appearing on his face as he shook his head. "Why are you worried about Trouble when you can hangout with me?"
"D'Arvit." Holly cursed as he started to pull her even closer. She pushed harder against him, finally getting out of the sprite's grip. She sighed, looking at the dejected look on Verbil's face. "I'm here on business, Chix."
Chix scoffed, "I get it. You're more into big bad mud people like Artemis Fowl than little ol me."
"What?" Holly started, but Verbil turned around and left anyways, hunting down another woman. The elf rolled her eyes, remembering that she wasn't here to appease Chix's stupid little thoughts. She was here to find Trouble.
It didn't take long to find Kelp, as he was exactly where Chix told her he would be. Holly's only mistake was barging into the room instead of knocking.
The elf could only thank Frond that the lights were dim enough that she could only see the silhouettes of Trouble and the woman he was with. She could hear a loud moan and giggle that was soon softened and the sheets rumpling with every movement.
"Commander?" Holly really didn't have the patience to wait for decency anymore. Nevermind leaving the room and waiting for them to finish.
The movements and sounds stopped abruptly as Trouble sat up. "Holly?" He called out. More movement and a zipper being pulled up before he turned on the bedside lamp. "What the hell are you doing here?"
The elf put her hands on her hips, her hands still clutching the folded piece of paper from before, which was now crumpled from weaving through the people at this enormous party. She scowled at her Commander, half naked in only wrinkled jeans, and the strange female with wide eyes covering herself with the sheets on the bed. "I need to talk to you. It's urgent."
Trouble squinted and could make out the paper in her hand. He rolled his eyes and groaned, bowing his head. Of course she would track me down. "Alright." He stood up, giving one glance to the woman he was making out with only moments before. "This will only take a second." He walked over to the Captain. "What?"
Holly glanced at the other female elf in the room and gave Trouble a look. He sighed "Fine." And looked around, clicking his tongue. He took hold of her arm and dragged her to the closet attached to the room, pushing her inside and gave the strange elf an apologetic look before closing the door behind him. The cramped space came into full view as Holly pulled onto the light cord, illuminating the storage space.
"What is this?" Holly huffed, shoving the document into her Commander's bare chest. Trouble took the piece of paper, but didn't open it as he already knew what it said. He wrote it himself.
"It's called a mandatory vacation, Holly. A continued pay one. You need to get some rest over the holidays." He handed it back to her, "You are working yourself to the bone."
Holly thanked the Gods that Trouble wasn't drunk. Well, he still had the nasty smell of alcohol on his breath, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as Chix was. "I don't need a vacation. I have too much work to get done." She argued.
"Which is why I am personally taking responsibility of your paperwork, cases, and anything else you signed yourself up for to stay busy for Christmas." He exhaled deeply. "It's time you got over your fear and faced it."
Holly's scowl deepened. "You need to stay to stay out of my business. Being a therapist is not your job-"
"But it is my job to make sure that my officers can operate correctly. And to take care of them." He handed the paper back to her. "It is mandatory or I will have to suspend you. I'm sorry, Captain."
Holly's shoulders dropped, knowing that she had lost the battle and the war. "So either way, I have to stay home for the holidays." She rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She shifted to the door and put her hand on the knob to open it and leave, but Trouble stopped her by putting his over it. Holly looked back to see the deep desire that now etched his features. "Trouble...No."
"Why not?" His voice was low, almost a husky whisper. His hooded eyes looked her over from top to bottom. His breathing had gone ragged as he grabbed her waist with his free hand.
Suddenly, the closed space closet didn't seem like such a safe, secluded place to talk anymore. "Well, for one, you're drunk." Holly could feel his hand slipping down to her ass. "Two, it would be extremely unprofessional, and three-" She pushed him away, watching the elf tumble into a pile of folded clothes on the floor of the closet and snarled. "You already have a woman in bed waiting for you." Gods, men are pigs. The elf thought as she pushed the door open and exited the room.
Hours later, when Holly's full hearing returned, she found herself circling her block with her hover car. It seemed as though her face was permanently turned in a scowl. She soon snapped out of her coma of disgustedness. She had other problems to deal with than the stupid and rude audacity of her male co-workers.
She sighed, parking her car in her usual spot and walking as slow as she possibly could on the driveway to her flat. The elf looked around the empty neighborhood, the abandoned streets and lonely streetlamps her only comfort as she squeezed her eyes shut and opened her front door.
Holly set her keys and work bag on the kitchen table after locking the door behind her. She made a pot of strong coffee and found a good book to read. The elf grabbed the first cup she found in her cabinets and poured half the kettle in it, settling down on her couch and opening her book.
Fifteen minutes passed before the quietness of her flat rang in her ears, making it seem like there was more noise. It bothered her enough to form a headache in the poor elf's head, causing Holly to put down her book and pour the cup of coffee, along with the rest of the pot, down her sink.
Walking to her bedroom, Holly stopped halfway. She looked up to her ceiling, where her attic trap door and stairs were just waiting to be open for the first time in almost 30 years. Even though the elf tried to keep walking, she just found herself back at the pull cord, the stairs unfolding themselves to the floor, and Holly climbing them up to the top.
Huge boxes stacked on top of each other in the spacey attic. Most of them were either marked Mom, Dad, or Christmas Decorations. The air smelled of cardboard and old leather, along with a few scents of incense and peppermint. A lump formed in Holly's throat as she went to open the first box to her right, already knowing by heart that there would be homemade ornaments from her childhood filling it to the brim.
However, just when she touched the old, worn out box, the communicator on her ring finger rang. Holly jumped, her breathing speeding up as she acted as though she was a little kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She brushed her hair back and took a few deep breaths before answering it. "Hel-..." She cleared her shaky and raspy voice. "Hello?"
"Hello, Holly. It's Artemis." The elf started climbing back down the attic stairs, letting the trap door bang close.
"Hi, Artemis. Is everything ok?" Holly knew better than to believe this was just a social call. She knew the Mud Man better than anybody.
"Of course. Why wouldn't it be? I was just going over some plans and found myself some free time. Butler suggested that it would be nice for you to be here over the holidays." Of course, at the time, Artemis knew the ulterior motive underneath what he was saying. The truth, the be specific, that he needed her to be there...For certain reasons.
Of course, as said before, Holly knew better. She rolled her eyes, "Fowl, you always have some kind of trick up your sleeve. Now, what is it?"
Artemis smirked on the other end on the line, knowing that his elf friends, out of everyone he knew, would pull this relentlessly. "Well, if I did, would you come up top then?"
Holly sighed, "Artemis...I can't just drop everything and leave Haven for your every need. Tell me what you want from me and maybe then I'll consider the slight possibility of going topside."
The genius could hear the edge in her voice, the desperation and slight sadness in her voice. That told him that she was on the fence about going or not. He could also tell that she needed just a bit more convincing. "Why don't you come up here and find out then?"
There was a long pause from Holly's end. She did want to go see Artemis, she truly did, but she knew he had something sneaky in mind as well. However, that was when her eyes roamed to the piece of folded paper from before. Her vacation letter that she left on the table with her other things when she got home. She sucked her teeth, shaking her head before answering. "Okay. I'll take the next shuttle up."
A deep sigh of relief came from the other end, one that Artemis internally cursed himself for. "Alright. I suppose I will see you in the morning then?"
Holly nodded, even though she knew the genius could not see her. "Yeah...Bye."
"Goodbye."