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Bernard blew on his fingers.
His warm breath chased away the chill in the tips of his fingers.
Frosty mornings weren’t anything new at the North Pole. They were, in fact, part of the norm for any elf living up there. Bernard enjoyed how the mornings always greeted him this way when he left his home before heading towards Santa’s workshop and his office. The frosty mornings greeting him was the one thing Bernard could also depend upon to go right, though if these mornings suddenly became something more or something less than a frosty morning, Bernard would also know something was terribly wrong at the North Pole.
Early morning at the shop was honestly the best, with only a few other elves around. Many were ones in charge of their divisions or ones who helped in running said divisions. That in turn meant they kept busy, yet mornings were a time frame when things normally didn’t go wrong.
Unless, of course, Curtis decided to wake up promptly and somehow managed to get to the workshop in the morning.
That, often led to trouble, profound trouble. As such, Bernard never lectured Curtis for being late, as Curtis not showing up on time meant less work for Bernard that day. He arrived at the main office and found Curtis’ desk empty. There were other empty desks, though these were empty as long had it been since there were other elves in administration, something Santa was becoming concerned about.
“You’ll work yourself to the bone, Bernard if you’re not careful.”
“I’ll be fine,” Bernard said. He’d been fine since elves his age and older started leaving for other opportunities, never to be heard from again, or practically so. He stepped into his office and stopped, his eyes focused on the overstuffed chair in front of his desk, realizing someone was there. He took a deep breath, expecting Curtis to be there, wondering what the younger elf was up to.
He stepped around the chair, knowing he would need to double-check his paperwork for the day. Bernard stopped moving when he realized the person wasn’t Curtis.
“Patty?”
“Hi.”
Bernard’s mouth twisted into a frown, watching the young female elf sitting across from him. Young might not be the right word though, at least at the North Pole, for Patty was the same age as him and would have graduated from the elf academy under the Christmas division if it hadn’t been for—well, the incidents with his teleportation magic going awry.
She was one of the elves who left. “You’re not pleased to see me?”
“Uh…” Bernard stood there, unsure of how to react to her presence. Eventually, he decided on what to say. “It’s more of I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“Oh. Good. I was a little worried you didn’t want to see me given the fact I’d left as I did.” Blond curls cascaded down around her shoulders while her eyes twinkled.
“Wait.” Bernard didn’t think that sounded right. “Didn’t I do something wrong to make you leave? Shouldn’t you be the one not happy to see me?”
A laugh escaped from her mouth, light and airy. “Good to see you haven’t changed.”
He stared—and he stared. Then, he said, “I don’t follow.”
“Oh, Bernie—Bernard. That’s what I love about you.”
“I’m still not following.” Bernard looked at her. His eyes then blinked. “Let me rephrase that. I’m still not understanding why you’re here.”
“Because I’d like to transfer back.”
He stared, still feeling confused.
Patty’s bright smile faltered. “You’re not happy about that?”
“No. That’s not—“ Bernard frowned. “Are you sure I didn’t do anything wrong? To make you go away.”
She smiled then. “Oh. That—I was expecting you to be mad at me for leaving without giving a reason. I never thought you’d blame yourself.”
“Why did you leave?”
“To become better at my job. To gain new skills.”
“Oh. You could have told me that.”
“There was--” She smiled at him. “A bit more than that. Maybe we should take a walk?”
“I’m kind of busy. Christmas is around the corner, and we’ve got a new set of recruits coming in soon.”
“That’s kind of what I want to talk to you about. That new set of recruits.”
Bernard carefully took in the look on her face, and finally, it registered in his head the look on her face was one of worry. “Is there something you’re worried about?”
“You in particular. And, I’m sure Santa won’t mind if we take a walk. I’m sure he’d be glad you’re getting more help.”
“Not all Santa are that way,” Bernard said. “Something you know all too well about.” A thought crossed his mind. “Wait. Scott didn’t ask you to come back, did he?”
“Scott? Is he the new Santa?” Patty leaned forward. “You must really like the new Santa to refer to him by his first name.”
“Sometimes. Not often. He’s a great Santa,” Bernard said.
“And no. He didn’t tell me. I saw that there’s only one desk out there with a nameplate.”
“Ah. Curtis.”
“And that it’s Curtis.” She watched him, then laughed. “You’re wondering how I know about Curtis, aren’t you.”
“Definitely.”
“I’m actually going to be transferring from doing administration for the Christmas Division at the academy.”
“Oh.” Bernard’s interest was perked. “ That’s what you meant by getting more experience. You’re wanting to talk to me about this year’s recruits, but also transferring back?”
“Yes? So, can we take a walk?”
“Sure. Why not.” He left the offices than with Patty. A few more elves were about, yet they were for some strange reason staring. They headed outside, for a breath of fresh air and where other elves wouldn’t hear them, though he didn’t understand why she wanted to take him on a walk as she did rather than simply telling him in the office. When they got far enough away, he said with his hands jammed into his pockets, “So?”
“Mindy graduates this year.”
The positive feeling Bernard felt, which was for some reason growing suddenly sank. “Mindy.”
“As in Mindy Elfbright, your younger sister.”
He took a deep breath.
“How do you feel?”
“Not too great,” Bernard muttered. “She doesn’t like me.”
“She also doesn’t know you’re head elf. None of your family does, because you stopped coming home for After Mas.”
“After Mas,” Bernard muttered, referring to the celebration the elves had after Santa’s deliveries were all done. “They hate me, so--”
“You thought there was no point in coming back?”
“Well. Yeah. It isn’t as if anybody missed me.” He let out a deep breath, his breath coming out as puffy frost. It was still early.
“I missed you.”
“What?” Bernard felt slightly confused, given the fact Patty left. He watched her glance around and when she thought nobody was looking…
He’d not expected the kiss. He didn’t know how to react. She pulled back, smiling. “As I said. I missed you.”
“Wait. I’m confused.” Bernard muttered. “I thought this was about Mindy.”
Patty leaned forward, whispering into his ear. “I left because you couldn’t.”
Things started setting in as she pulled away, yet he felt a heat in his cheeks almost making him think that the frosty morning was no longer a frosty morning. The sudden oohing of younger elves made him turn to glare at a few of the young elves passing by, which in turn resulted in them hurrying off screaming, though not screams of fright as laughter mingled with the screams. “Great. They’re going to get the wrong idea.”
“Or exactly the right one.”
Bernard felt his face heat up even faster then, but he was completely outside of his comfort zone.