An Office (Grinch) Romance by Sharon Cummin

I’d started at the company nine months earlier, and I loved my job. It was the best one I’d ever had, and I knew I could happily work there forever, if not for one thing.
I couldn’t stand it, hadn’t had a single thing to do with it since I was ten. That was when my world turned upside down, and it was all because of one thing.
Christmas!
I didn’t bake cookies, buy presents, or put up a single decoration, and I certainly didn’t celebrate it. To me, the day didn’t exist. I wanted nothing to do with it.
Oh, I’d been warned when I took the job. They hadn’t hidden it in the least. The owner loved the holiday, and so did his employees.
I knew it was coming. I’d had time to prepare, but before I knew it, the time had come. They didn’t just celebrate the day either. No, not them. They celebrated the entire holiday season. I’d told myself I could handle it. How bad could it really be, I’d thought?
I was wrong.
Before I knew what hit me, the entire place looked like The North Pole. Seriously! It was as if Santa’s elves had thrown up all over the place. There were lights everywhere, and the tree they’d put up was huge. Then there was the music, which played loudly the entire time we were at the office. Add in all the positive cheer, and I knew I was screwed.
As if that wasn’t enough to get me, my boss decided we were doing Twelve Days of Giving. He gave us money each day, but I had to buy a gift, bring it in the next day, and put it under the huge, overly decorated tree. Then I had to explain why I’d chosen the gift I had.
When Mike, the guy that sat at the cubicle in front of mine, said I could shop with him, I jumped at the chance. He was quiet, which was perfect, so I knew he wouldn’t get all merry and bright on me. We’d get in, he’d find our gifts, we’d get out, and before I knew it, my Christmas filled nightmare would be over.
That was my plan, anyway, but I quickly realized that Mike’s plan was not the same.