Promptings from Valhalla - 20. Elven Wishes

December Prompt

Character: a department store Santa who’s an employee in a fast food restaurant

Story words: what was left behind, woods

Elven Wishes

“Son of a bitch!” Jim kicked at a pile of debris on the floor, scattering its contents in a swirl of dust.

“Hey! I just swept that!” Annie scowled and moved to redo the task she had just finished. “And Santa doesn’t swear.”

“Well this Santa does. Especially when his dickhole friend leaves him behind!”

“Would you shut up?” she hissed. “There’s kids around! You’re a role model, you know.”

Jim rolled his eyes. He was hardly a role model. “I need to get to the mall or I’m going to lose my job. I really need the money.”

“Yeah… who cares about scores of disappointed children.”

“Scores? How old are you?”

“Just go, would ya? Since you’re so concerned about being late. And I don’t believe for one moment that you’re only in this for the money. You love kids.”

“Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow!” Jim hiked his backpack onto his shoulder and headed toward the door. A family with three small children in tow entered the fast food restaurant as Jim reached the door.

“Santa! Santa!” They screamed in unison and ran over to Jim. He stared in consternation as all three of them attached themselves to his legs.

“I want a pony for Christmas! But mommy says I can’t have one,” a little girl said sadly.

“I want an iPad!” a little boy shouted.

“Where’s your beard? You don’t look like Santa. Santa’s old and fat,” a different little boy stated.

Jim bent down after disentangling himself from the tiny trio. “One at a time! Sweetie, ponies need a lot of space and it’s a lot of work to take care of them. Maybe you’ll get a toy pony and you can pretend.” He looked out of the corner of his eye at the parents and saw the mother nod her head in approval. “As for iPads… well, you’ll just have to see. They’re in high demand this year, so if we run out, we’ll make sure you get something else on your list.” He looked at the third little boy. “You’re right. I’m not Santa. I’m one of his helpers. There’s too much to do this time of year for one person. So he has lots of helpers that let him know what children want.”

The boy screwed up his face in thought, then grinned. “Tell him I want a toy truck and a dinosaur!”

Jim smiled and patted the kid’s head. “You got it.”

“Do you get presents for helping Santa?” the little girl asked.

“Santa saves all his presents for good kids, but I get presents from my friends and family,” Jim responded.

“What do you want for Christmas?” Her brown eyes stared at him in wide innocence.

Jim’s biggest wish was to have someone to spend the holiday with, but he didn’t want to unload his personal problems on a little kid. “Oh just boring grown-up stuff like clothes. Now I have to go. There’s lots of other kids waiting for me. Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” They yelled after him.

The smug smile on Annie’s face as he exited through the door didn’t escape his notice. He sighed. No doubt she’d lord this over him later.

Jim bent his head against the blowing snow and cursed. The trek to the mall was taking much longer than he thought it would. He hadn’t counted on trudging through several inches of heavy, wet snow into a headwind. His boss was not going to be happy.

He jumped when a car horn sounded right next to him. He was on the sidewalk for fuck’s sake! Where did this prick want him to go? The silver sedan slowed and kept pace with him as he continued his journey. He scowled. What the hell was this guy’s problem?

The car honked again, then the passenger side window rolled down. “Hey! You headed to the mall?”

“What’s it to you?” Jim responded. He didn’t have time for this.

“Jack sent me to pick you up. I stopped at the restaurant, but someone named Annie said you’d already left.”

Jim stopped and stared into the vehicle. The driver was dressed in a green elf outfit, complete with a pointed hat with a bell hanging off the end. Sandy blond hair hung down past the elf’s ears and just over his sky blue eyes. His cheeks were flushed from the cold and his cherry-red lips looked like they’d been freshly kissed. Kissed? Jim mentally facepalmed. He was projecting his fantasy onto the adorable man. He wondered if he was wearing tights and how much they revealed. The corner of the elf’s mouth upturned into an amused smile.

“You gonna get in or just stare at me all day? There’s a line of kids a mile long already and they’re not happy about waiting.”

Jim was glad he could blame the cold for the bright red his face had turned. He did his best imitation of a dog shaking off the snow that had accumulated on him and slid into the car, settling his backpack at his feet. “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.”

“No problem. So you were really gonna walk that whole way in this crap?”

“I had no choice. Brandon was going to give me a ride, but he took off while I was changing. I can’t afford a cab, so the only way to get to the mall was to walk. I know I’m late, but I figured that’s better than not showing up at all.”

“I’m Chris, by the way. Chris Taylor.” He held out his hand.

“Jim. Jim Woods.” Jim shook the elf’s hand. He smiled when the beautiful man held his hand slightly longer than was socially acceptable.

The elf laughed. “James Woods? Are you shitting me? Your name is really James Woods?”

Jim groaned. That was why he always introduced himself as ‘Jim’ and not ‘James’. Most people didn’t pick up on the coincidence when he used ‘Jim’. “Yeah, it’s really my name.”

Chris looked him up and down and winked. “Well you’re a lot cuter than your namesake.”

Jim raised an eyebrow. Was the hot elf seriously flirting with him? “Thanks.”

The snow intensified, followed by a strong gust of wind. Chris focused his attention on the road, giving Jim a chance to check him out surreptitiously. Ever since he’d seen The Lord of the Rings movies and fallen in love with Legolas, he’d had a thing for elves. Even though Chris was dressed as a different kind of elf, in Jim’s mind, it only made him hotter. And he was wearing tights. He was also grinning at Jim, whose ogling wasn’t as surreptitious as he thought.

Jim’s face turned an even brighter shade of red and he looked down. “Sorry. I have a thing for elves,” he muttered.

“Legolas?”

Jim looked up and into bright blue eyes that twinkled with what he hoped was interest. He nodded. “I think he’s pretty much the standard for hot elves.”

Chris laughed. “I happen to agree with you, but I think most guys would say that Galadriel is the standard.” He turned into the mall’s parking lot. “I’ll drop you off at the entrance, then look for a parking spot. I think it’s going to take me a while to find one.”

The parking lot was full of cars, despite the weather.

“Awesome. Thanks. I really appreciate the ride.”

Chris pulled up next to the entrance and stopped the car. “Hey… before you get out… um… I… uh, don’t usually do this, but—”

“I’d love to go out with you.”

Chris pumped his fist and grinned. “Yes!”

“And I don’t usually do this.” Jim leaned over and entwined his hand through Chris’s sandy locks and ran his thumb across the hot elf’s cheek. He kissed him and the other man responded eagerly. Although Jim wanted to savor the moment for as long as possible, he broke away, trailing his hand down the elf’s shoulder and arm. “See you inside.”

Jim exited the car, leaving the flushed elf staring after him. He grinned as he strutted into the mall. Maybe Christmas wishes really did come true.