"Your turn, " I said as I pointed the child towards Santa. "Don't for get to tell him you've been good."
The thin young girl with blonde hair and a runny nose gave me a nervous smile and walked toward Santa, climbed on his lap, and started blabbering away. I could hear true joy in Santa's laugh.
I turned and started to tally the sales for the day, December 23rd. I usually love Christmas and the whole holiday season. But twelve hour days since Thanksgiving were taking a toll. One more day. This day had been the best yet, with parents flooding the store for last minute buys and to get the kids to see Santa. We had sold nearly three hundred photo packages this week.
"Ho, ho, ho," Santa said to me, so close to my ear that I swear I jumped a foot off the ground.
"Do that again, and you'll be working solo for the last day," I said when I finally had a heart rate under one hundred.
"Just trying to spread some cheer. "
"Save it, will you."
"Sounds like we've got a grumpy elf here. A cute elf, but grumpy."
Santa stepped back and his eyes danced across my body. I felt my face blush. The guys who ran Santa's Workshop were regular elves, curly shoes, striped leggings, and green felt shorts and smocks. Nothing attractive about the look at all. Someone in marketing figured that if the girl elves looked sexy, the fathers would stay longer, buy photos and spend more money on the kids. So I was wearing a tight, candy cane body suit, with a micro mini that barely covered my ass and a low cut smock that had my breasts prominently displayed. I think the look explained the personal best one hundred and twenty photo packages that I had sold. The winner was getting a gift card. Also, I tended to "casually" brush my ass against the fathers when extolling the virtues of the photo package.
"Just remember, grumpy elves don't get on the nice list."
I looked at Santa. We had been working together seven days a week, five straight weeks. I don't know if the store couldn't afford to hire more than one guy, or he was like me: out of work and needing the cash and willing to work eighty hours a week at a little more than minimum wage. I was tired. Tired of parents bitching about the line or the toy selection or their kids. I was tired of whining children who slobbered and coughed and fussed the whole time they waited for Santa. I'd put them all on the naughty list and give the old guy an easier gig on Christmas Eve.
Despite all of that, there was still a smile in the old man's eyes. He wasn't really old, but he had to be fifty. He wasn't some twenty year old with a bad wig and a fake beard. It was his hair and his beard. His entire face smiled with his eyes. He smiled naturally. I had to fake it.
"Yeah, the nice elves get the gifts, but the naughty elves have more fun. I'll try to be better tomorrow, Santa. I promise."
No one really wants to work on Christmas Eve, but I got there knowing it was a short day. And the last one. A lot of people want to shop, trying to find that last minute gift. When people have real shopping, there is literally no tomorrow, they tend to leave the kids at home. Santa did not have a lot of visitors that day.
We had an hour to go and the store wouldn't let us close up shop. Who knew, we might sell one more photo package.
"You haven't told Santa what you want," Santa said when we were the only ones left in our area.
We had been together all these weeks and he still referred to himself in the third person. He had never come up to me and said, "I'm Bill or Mike or Ed." No, he was Santa. He didn't wear a goofy name badge like all of the elves; I was named 'Sparkle Toes'. No, he was Santa and played the role from the moment he walked onto the floor.
"Tell me what you want," he said. He threw back his arm, offering me his lap for a place to sit and give him my wish list.
"It's all right; I don't need to tell you."
"But I want to know. Especially about naughty girls having more fun." His eyes smiled again.
I looked at my watch. Thirty minutes. There was no one in line.
"Randi, how am I going to make sure that you get what you want if you don't tell me?"
I stared at him. Hard. I had not told anyone my name. No one really cared anyway, but I was "Sparkle Toes" the elf, not Randi.
"How did you ..."
"Santa knows."
"Yeah, what else does Santa know?"
"Well, I know that you work hard with the children here every day. I know you never complain about the parents, at least not out loud."
"Well, that's not much." I turned and walked away from him and back to the register area.
"I know that Brad left you four months ago."
I stopped and turned. "How did .... I never told .... What are you ...."
"Santa knows. Come over here and tell me more."
I slowly walked back to him and he patted his left thigh. I sat down and he placed his hand on my back. I looked at him, his blue eyes sparkled.
"So, what would you like from Santa this year?"
"A job would be great."
"Hmmm."