Mandy moved quickly to clean off her desk, setting the pens back into the organizer, gathering the papers into a neat pile. She must have been the last one left in the office. It was quiet, almost eerily so, and she rushed to get out of there as well. It was creepy being in the office alone.
She shut down her computer and pulled the hat and scarf out of the sleeve of her coat. She was all bundled up, her purse on her shoulder when she headed towards the elevator.
"Oh, God, you scared me," she stopped a few desks ahead, her hand shooting to clap against her chest, spotting Asher in his cubicle. He turned to look at her, a small smile spreading over his face. His eyes seemed to twinkle in her direction.
"How did I do that? I was just sitting here," he was relaxed, his hands clasped over his tight abs.
"I... umm... didn't realize you were still here." She bit her lip, her face heating both from being bundled up and from embarrassment. "Why are you still here?"
"Don't have anywhere else to be," he shrugged, his smile fading slightly. "Thought I'd try to work out this bug in the Silver project before leaving for the weekend." He half-turned back to his dual monitors.
"It's Christmas Eve," Mandy's eyes widened. She suddenly felt a rush of pity for Asher, hanging around at work alone on this night instead of being with family and friends. He looked back at her, a fresh smirk lifting the left side of his lips.
"I'm Jewish," he replied. Mandy let out a sigh. She didn't consider that. She and Asher had a friendly workplace relationship, they sat down to lunch together sometimes, walked to the train together on occasion, but for some reason, this never came up in their conversation.
Or maybe it had come up and she was just too googly-eyed to have paid attention. She hadn't admitted this to anyone out loud, but she definitely had a major crush on Asher. He was tall and broad and had a full beard that she found incredibly sexy. It was thick but neatly trimmed and she had, on occasion, fantasized what it would feel like against her skin. There were moments that she felt as if they slipped into some sort of flirty banter, but she always doubted it was mutual. He probably didn't mean anything by it.
She felt herself blushing again, or was it still? Had she stopped blushing since she started this conversation with Asher?
"I didn't realize," she told him, her voice soft. "So you don't do anything at all on Christmas Eve?" He shook his head.
"Nope. The plan was to figure out this dumpster fire," he pointed a thumb back towards his monitors. "And then get some Chinese take-out on my way home."
"Come to Christmas Eve dinner with me." The words tumbled out of her mouth without a second thought. "It's just me and my sister and my mom and there's always plenty of food. You should totally come." Asher cocked his head, staring back at her for a moment. His chocolate brown eyes crinkled at the sides, giving his face a kind and wise appearance.
"Are you sure?" He narrowed his eyes. Mandy's heart hammered in her chest at the thought that he might actually come.
"Yeah, absolutely. They won't mind at all. It will be a good time," she assured him at a rapid pace. "My mom makes a whole roast chicken and it's just the three of us and there are like at least 4 sides and," she was rambling, she needed to slow it down. She loosened her scarf a bit, feeling the heat rushing over her body. "there are a ton of Christmas cookies for dessert."
"That sounds really good actually," Asher straightened up in his chair, sitting forward. "I think I will take you up on that offer." His eyes drilled into hers assessing her reaction.
Mandy breathed out heavily. Asher was going to come to her mom's house with her. He was going to sit down and have dinner with her family. That was...
"Ok, why don't you get your stuff and I am just going to text my mom real quick to let her know." She pulled her phone out of her pocket.
***
A few minutes later, they were walking down a nearly deserted street towards the train station. Mandy filled him in on her family dynamics as they walked. Her dad had passed away a few years ago when she was already in her 20s and living on her own. He had a short but intense battle with pancreatic cancer. Her sister still lived at home with their mom, she had only graduated from college this past Spring. Mandy's apartment was just five blocks away from where her mom and sister lived, she told him. They were close, she said, they had a great relationship.
He shared about his family too, while they were riding the train into Brooklyn. His parents still lived in the Philly suburbs, in the same house where he grew up. His brother and sister were both older and had their own families, also out in Pennsylvania. If it weren't for the 4 grandchildren that his parents already had, he expected there would be a lot more pressure on him to get a move on it too. But as it was, they just conceded to the fact that he was the baby of the family and hadn't yet gotten married at the age of 32.
It felt like a strangely intimate conversation for them to be having on the train. There weren't a lot of other passengers in their car though as they rode further and further into the outer borough. They got off the train somewhere that looked almost suburban. He hadn't been paying attention to exactly where they had ended up. There were a lot of private houses and occasional small, brick buildings as they walked from the elevated train tracks towards Mandy's mom's house. She turned into the gate of a two-family house. She let herself in and was greeted immediately by her giddily smiling sister.
"Sissy!" her sister exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Mandy's neck. There was a definite family resemblance, but her sister had slightly sharper, more angular features than the soft, endearing countenance that Mandy had, that he found appealing.
"Hey! Asher, this is my sister Lucy. Lucy, that's Asher, we work together," she introduced them. He extended his hand out, but as Lucy disengaged from around her sister's neck, she came over to pull him into a hug as well.
"Gah, how come you get to work with all the hot boys and I'm stuck in an office full of middle-aged ladies?" Lucy addressed Mandy as they took off their coats. The question put an embarrassed grin on Asher's face. Him? Hot? Mandy seemed to blush at the question, leaving it unanswered.
