I yanked open the closet door and glared at the suit.
Could I just burn it, perhaps?
Christmas was at the same time every year - every single, fucking year - and yet I was always unprepared and always behind schedule. I took another swig of J.D.
Maybe I could lose it... Feed it to a reindeer, or something. Would anyone believe Santa's suit getting eaten by a reindeer? My old man was so good at this job and all I do is screw it up. The elves hate me, I know it. I know they talk about me when I'm not around, the little fuckers. If it wasn't for that fucking union... And for the fact that I couldn't make a billion toys on my own, I guess. Fuck.
I threw back another mouthful of my pick-me-up. Further charitable thoughts were interrupted by a chorus of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" suddenly erupting from my trouser pocket.
Memo to self: new ring tone.
"Yeah?" I inquired, tight-lipped.
"Kris, it's Teddy. We--"
"Teddy! How's it hangin', buddy?" I hammed it up shamelessly: Teddy was the most anal of the production managers.
"Just fine, sir. We have a problem with one of the new toys. Please come over right away."
"Teddy," I said, swirling the last dregs of my drink around the bottom of my glass and wondering where I'd left the bottle, "I'm kind of busy right now. Perhaps you could come to the house?"
"I, too, am rather busy at the moment, sir, it being 'The Night Before...' and all. I'll send one of the staff over to discuss this with you."
"Great." I slipped my mobile into my pocket and wandered back to the lounge room.
The bottle of J.D. was on the table next to the lamp. So was my stash of weed.
Hmm.
I checked my watch.
---
I had dimmed the room slightly and was settling nicely into my pipe when there was a knock at the door. I blew an impressively large cloud towards the ceiling. Well, I was impressed, anyway.
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Come on in."
The door creaked open to reveal one of the newer employees nervously clutching a box. Shit, but she was all right for an elf. Around five feet tall; mid-twenties I'd guess, like a thirty-five year old human; long blonde hair with a slight greenish tinge. Nice tits – quite large for an elf. Cute nose. Beautiful, big eyes – whitish-blue, like polar ice.
"I'm sorry..." She trailed off. I watched her eyes move from the bottle on the floor to the pipe in my hand.
"Oh," she said, slightly embarrassed. She cocked her head to one side.
"Your father played the lute," she said, somewhat unexpectedly.
I tried to make sense of this. I couldn't.
"What?" I said, eventually.
"To de-stress. Before the delivery," she elaborated.