THE CHRISTMAS TREE IS READY,
THE CANDLES ALL AGLOW.

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

"Olga?"

That's Olga?!

Telling by Austin's face, this won't end very well. Hugo sneaks his arm around the tall blonde, pulling her in by her waist, and I turn back to Austin to see him clenching his jaw tightly.

"Austin." Olga, with the voice of a fairy, raises a brow, before turning to nod at me. "And you must be Ottilie." She stretches her arm out for me to shake.

A brief second passes, a second of me contemplating, but I bring my hand to shake, she's my brother's girlfriend at the end of the day. "I prefer Ottie." I say.

Olga nods, "Ottie. Nice to meet you."

She wears white jeans, a white puffer jacket, white ear muffs, and white Moonboots, completely matching the thick layer of snow outside. She's tall, very tall. Hugo always used to say he'd never date anyone taller than himself, I guess he really is head over heels.

Austin clears his throat, and I turn to him once again. He doesn't take his eyes off of her. "You two are—"

"Dating." Olga nods, smirking with her nude lips.

A vein appears in Austin's neck, and his teeth graze. I can't help but wonder if he's bothered. He shoves his hands into the pockets of his black dress pants, chewing on the inside of his cheek while looking everywhere but my desperate face.

"I wanted you to meet her." Hugo smiles at me, leaning against the counter while waiting for me to strike up a conversation with his beautiful, gorgeous, prettier-than-me girlfriend. Of course Austin's dated her, she's right up his street, not to mention, in his league.

I nod, "Yeah! Great! I'm so glad to have finally met you, Olga. Hugo's been mentioning you a lot lately!"

"Oh is that so?"

Even the way she talks reminds me of Austin.

Austin clears his throat and turns to me, sniffling, "I just stopped by to let you know that the AC still doesn't work in my room."

I give him a nervous smile, "Uhm— my shift's over!" suddenly I exclaim, after seeing the clock through the corner of my eye. "I'll tell Oliver about the AC, Mister Butler." As I'm gathering my things, I put my coat on, eagerly wanting to get out of this tense energy. "And again, it was so nice meeting you Olga! We should hang out some time!" I tell her, give Hugo a kiss on his head and leave the three behind in Andromeda's gloomy reception hall. Behind in all the Christmas lights galore.

—

I barely slept last night. My head is aching, and I only now understand Austin's frequent need of painkillers. As I'm swallowing one, the elevator doors open to reveal Kevin walking out with a soft grin.

I immediately smile, "Goodmorning Kevin! Your dad must've arrived after my shift ended, where's he now?"

Kevin looks up over the counter, "He was out early for another meeting, you must've missed him."

"Oh," I hum, "I guess so. Where are you off to?"

"To the toy store."

"On your own?" I lean closer, frowning.

Kevin shakes his head, "Ma'am, I'm only eight years old, do you really expect me to be alone on the streets of New York?" He tilts his head to the side, as if calling me stupid.

"Well then," I shrug, "who are you with?"

"Our chauffeur, he's waiting outside for me."

"Do you want me to walk you out?" I ask as I'm getting ready to lead him out, though Kevin quickly holds out his hands in front of himself.

"No!" He exclaims, "Thank you very much, ma'am, but I can walk on my own, I don't need my hand held."

Just then, the elevator doors open once again. This time it's the face I shouldn't, but definitely will melt over. He walks out and I can tell he has a headache.

He approaches the counter and stands tall next to Kevin, who has to almost break his neck inorder to look up at the tall man standing beside him. "Goodmorning."

Austin turns to him with a frown, "Oh, goodmorning." He replies. "You're the kid from last night. Where's your dad?"

"At a meeting."

"Again?" Austin questions.

Kevin nods, "See ya." And leaves Andromeda.

I feel tense again. Now I have to look him in the eyes. The lights inside the Christmas tree behind him surround his sillhouette gracefully, making him glow more than he usually does in my eyes.

"Ottie." He groans while rubbing his temples.

I gulp, "Mister Butler."

A deep sigh leaves his mouth, "Ottie please. Just— tell me what's wrong..."

I too, sigh deeply, though not as lazily, or drunk as him. "Nothing's wrong. I'm only doing my job."

Austin chuckles and shakes his head. "Your job is to please your customers, and you're not doing that."

"What would you like me to do, Mister Butler?"

"I'd like you to call me Austin." He says.

"Austin—" another voice erupts from the stairs. Once I look over Austin's shoulder, I see the infamous Julian. "how's that? You like it?"

Suddenly, Austin seems tense. His jaw clenches, so do his fists. He shuts his eyes tight and breathes in, but Julian doesn't stop talking.

"Ottie, goodmorning!" He greets me with a grin reaching from one ear to the other.

I nod, "Goodmorning."

Making Austin snap to me with dark eyes. He cracks his neck and turns back to Julian, "What the fuck are you doing here, still?"

"What? I can't stay here?" Julian opens his arms wide, shrugging cockily while invading Austin's personal bubble.

"I will literally—"

"Uhm," I cut Austin off by reaching across the reception counter and putting my arms between the two, "please guys, let's all calm down."

Swiftly, Austin pushes Julian by the shoulder before grabbing my wrist. He leads me to get out from behind the counter before dragging me to the elevator. Julian watches us with his brows tied together.

Once the elevator doors close, "Why are you talking to him?"

I frown, looking up at him with my entire face scrunched. "Excuse me?"

"Why. Are. You. Talking. To. Him?" Austin emphasizes each word with a strong step towards me, eventually trapping me behind the elevator wall and his own body. "Do you need me to spell it out for you?"

I scorn, "I'm a receptionist, and he's a customer." I tell him with a poignant, stern, and hopefully stable tone. "Just like you are, Mister Butler."

Austin turns to the side, a chuckle mixed with an irritated sigh, before turning back to me. There's something in his eyes, something that manages to bring back the butterflies I haven't been feeling in a while. They fly around in my stomach, tearing my flesh, flapping their wings for friction. "Jesus fucking christ, Ottie. Just tell me what your problem is."

"My problem?!" I widen my eyes, and my hand flies to my agape mouth. "My problem?!"

He nods, nodding again when I repeat the question over and over. "Yes! Your problem!" His face so close, I practically swallow his words. "It's like— it's like we had sex and you immediately cut me out after!"

"What?!" I gawk and click my tongue, and the elevator dings before the doors open. I shove his hands away and walk out. Austin follows after me with quick steps, quicker than me, managing to get a hold of my arm. "Let me go!" I snap at him, attempting to free myself.

But to no avail, Austin sighs and drags me to his room. 225. We stand in front of the door while he draws out his keycard, and before I know it, we're inside and I'm pressed strongly against the door. I can already feel his breathing on my face, waving through all the peach fuzz around my cheeks.

"Listen. I'm so fucking tired of you ignoring me. If there's one thing in this fucking world I cannot stand, it's not being able to see your face, so tell me. What's. Wrong?"

There it is.

Everything he said in a single breath, enough to squeeze out all the blood in my heart. His hands hold my waist in place, close to his, trapped between him and the door. That goddamn door. Those words strangle me, drown me, shred me to pieces, kill me. They do everything but let me live.

"You wanna know what's wrong?" I whisper after a long minute of nothing but our heartbeats colliding.

"Yes, please." He whispers back, his lips barely touching the skin of my neck. The warm, coarse breath escaping his mouth, and immediately sizzling on my flesh.

"I can't be friends with someone I love." I say, and my body freezes. It waits for his response, and deep down my heart, I'm wishing to hear it back, but all I get it silence. I want to scream: 'All I want for Christmas is you!' But I can't, because Austin doesn't fucking talk.

Pressing my lips together, I push him back silently. I don't even dare to look him in his surprised face. My feet somehow lead me to the opposite way my heart wants to go in. Out the door. Out of 225. Away from Austin.

—

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

I scold myself in my head. Why do I always have to make a fool of myself? I pace back and forth, making everyone in the employee's room wonder if I've lost the plot. Holly holds Priscilla on her hip, cooing her while they watch me with wide eyes.

"Would you stop doing that!" Maria finally exclaims. She presses onto my shoulders and sits me down on the chair beside the door. "Ottilie pie," she then leans down to hold my chin softly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I brush it all under the rug, like I do with all of my problems. Fell in love with Austin Butler? Brush it under the rug. Had sex with Austin Butler? Brush it under the rug. Told Austin Butler that I love him? Brush it under the rug. Unfortunately, no dust stays under the rug forever. It all eventually builds up, and explodes into the atmosphere at the worst times.

"Are you sure?" Oliver question from the corner, behind Holly and Priscilla.

I nod. "Just, forget about me, guys. Any news about who the father might be?"

All three of them shake their heads hopelessly.

"It looks like this little girl will spend Christmas with us." Oliver holds Priscilla's little hand, and cooes with a baby voice.

I scoff playfully, "You two don't seem too sad about it." Glaring at Holly and him. They smile, but I don't. They're attached to her, and will be even sadder when we do find her father. It's going to be bad.

"What's that smell?" Maria then frowns. She sniffles, "Ugh, my nose is stuffed but I can still smell it!" She says and nearly throws up over it.

Lifting Priscilla to sniff, "Oh!" Holly chuckles. "Babygirl just did a massive poo! Didn't you baby!" She, as well, puts on her best baby voice to entertain Priscilla before getting ready to change her diaper.

Though it doesn't go to plan. Out of nowhere, Priscilla starts screaming like it's her insides being changed. Maria and I panic, while Holly and Oliver try to silence her, but she starts crying even louder.

"Fuck!" I exclaim, "Quick! Shut her up before Damian hears!"

"We're trying!" Oliver whisper yells, his voice cracking.

Looking around in panic, "Where are the baby wipes?!" Holly questions.

"They're in the bag!" Oliver replies.

"No they're not!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Maria interveres, and searches with them. They look inside ever nook and cranny, but fail to find the wipes.

We argue over Priscilla's loud wheeping, "Ollie I thought you packed them?!" Holly yells.

"I-I d-did!!" Oliver yells back, pulling at his hair in a state of panic. The small employee's room has never felt this hot, chaotic, and foul-smelling before.

I sigh, "Guys, come on! Just, find 'em!" I tell them, but none of the three find the wipes.

Prisicilla continues to cry even louder, she must feel uncomfortable with the poo drying between her buttocks.

Eventually, I let go of the door handle and help them find the baby wipes when—

"What's going on?"

A red- faced and freezing Kevin holding a bag of toys, opens the door to the employee's room.

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

➦ IN THE NEXT CHAPTER

Ottie believes Austin is the father,
and tells the others about it.

Kevin has to keep quiet about Priscilla.

Damian and Maria have news!

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