Chapter Text
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“Ahh, December!” Daniel wondered aloud, standing behind the timber desk of the chalet’s lobby. “The busiest month of the year.”
“Man, what are you on about?” Max grumbled, looking up from the computer at the desk. “Why are you talking like you’re narrating a voiceover in a cheesy Christmas movie?”
“Because, my delightful Dutch brother,” Daniel continued, quipping a typical ‘Daniel nickname’. “I choose to live my life with joy and whimsy, like the lead character in a Hallmark movie; it is the only way.”
“Suit yourself,” Max mumbled, rolling his eyes and looking back to the computer, which was open to an Excel spreadsheet showing the day's check-ins and check-outs.
“You should try it some day,” Daniel laughed, playfully slapping Max across the shoulder. “It’d do you some good.”
At that moment, a young man with curly hair appeared, pushing a large cleaning cart laden with mops, buckets and brightly-coloured bottles.
“Whoa!” Daniel called out, stepping in the direction of the cleaning cart, grabbing a precariously wobbling pile of bedsheets before they fell over. “Almost had a catastrophe there, didn’t we, Gabsters?”
The young man, Gabi, quickly took the pile of bedsheets and hastily began rearranging the cart so it’s less likely to collapse.
“Yes, sorry, Danny,” he apologised profusely. “It won't happen again.”
“Not to fret, my Brazilian amigo,” Daniel laughed. “Now, why are we in such a rush? Is Alex giving you a hard time?”
“Oh, no, not Alex,” Gabi mumbled. “Mr. Stroll, the VIP in the mountain view suite, is being a little particular.”
“Big Stroll or Little Stroll?”
“Big Stroll, of course.”
“Ahh, I thought so. I’ll have a little conversation with him tonight, over a glass of whisky, of course, can’t have my VIP guests thinking they’re the boss of my staff,” Daniel said, patting Gabi on the back, who began to wheel the trolley across the lobby in the direction of the staff-only corridor leading to the laundry room.
Daniel turned, facing back towards Max, who was now on the phone, muttering something about deliveries.
“Oh, never mind,” Daniel mumbled. “I’ll go annoy Georgie instead.”
Daniel threw Max a cheeky wink, to which the Dutchman rolled his eyes and continued talking into the phone.
❆❆❆
George was, of course, in the office. Poring over a stack of papers, he flicked through them, looking between them and a laptop, which was open to a rather hideous-looking spreadsheet tracking the chalet’s expenses. As Daniel entered the room, George paid little attention to the Australian, keeping his attention firmly on the work laid out in front of him.
“Ahh, George,” Daniel said, collapsing onto the sofa in the corner of the room. “How are things in the mysterious land that is the back office going today?”
“Good,” George said curtly, not looking up from the papers in front of him. “We’re looking good. I’m projecting that profits this Christmas season are going to be higher than last year.”
“Excellent,” Daniel said. “Especially given I’ve got 19 little compadres on the payroll this year. How’s the day looking?”
“Good, the weather is calm, so there will be lots of activity on the slopes. Both Fernando and Jack are already out, and Liam is preparing the shuttle for the first tour at ten. Carlos is taking a group up to the summit of Mount Louda. We’ve got three new parties arriving today, the Wolff package is checking in at three, the Vowles’ at three-thirty and then this evening, Charles’ family and friends are arriving. I’ve asked Alex to get housekeeping to give the spa a full clean over today, and-”
“Whoa, easy tiger,” Daniel said, his eyebrows raised. “This is supposed to be a relaxing winter retreat, not the navy, no need to micromanage everything down to the shape of the snowflakes!”
George let out a quick sigh.
“Sorry, boss,” he said. “I’m getting carried away again, aren’t I?”
“Yes, my beautiful British bauble, you are,” Daniel laughed. “Though it’s no wonder how we’ve been able to become the top chalet this side of the Alps, all thanks to you and your Georgeness.”
“Thank you?” George responded, not quite sure whether to take Daniel’s comment as a compliment or not.
At that moment, the door popped open, and a curly-haired man wearing an elf hat popped his head in.
“Ahh, Lando, what’s up?” Daniel asked, clocking the slightly flustered look on Lando’s face. “How are things over on Kids’ Island?”
“Not good…” Lando mumbled, looking at the floor. “One of the kiddos has spewed all over the place; it doesn’t smell good, then another spewed as well, and the ball pit is now a no-go zone.”
George let out a groan.
“I’ll ask Alex to send someone down. In the meantime, try to keep things in some semblance of normality, okay?”
“Rightyo, no fires!” Lando giggled, popping his head behind the door and madly dashing away.
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Meanwhile, in the kitchens, the kitchen staff were clearing away after breakfast and preparing for the next load of work - lunch.
Yuki, the head chef, was already busy with a skillet, cooking up a fancy dish for the VIP guests, a craft he took incredibly seriously. His subordinates, Kimi and Isack, were considerably less busy, scraping and cleaning up a pile of dirty plates and bowls. As Kimi loaded items into a large industrial dishwasher, Isack sprayed them with the large hose-like sink (and, of course, threw the occasional spray in Kimi’s direction).
The other side of the kitchen was a much quieter and calmer zone, where Ollie was hard at work icing cakes. As the chalet’s baker, it was his responsibility for all things bread, cake and cookie.
An oven alarm began to beep loudly, which spooked Kimi and Isack, who ended up creating a total mess, Kimi accidentally kicking over a bin and Isack spraying water all over the place like an out-of-control cartoon fireman’s hose. Ollie laughed, checking some cookies in the oven, then turned his attention back to the cakes, which he decorated with small snowflakes and green pine trees.
“They’re sick,” Kimi commented as he passed, looking at the cakes over Ollie’s shoulder.
“Oh, thanks,” Ollie responded, quickly blushing a shade of red that matched that of his Christmas-themed apron. “They’re not my best work.”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” the Italian blabbered with a feverish smile. “They look brilliant, and I’ll bet they taste just as good as they look!”
“Oh, you’re too kind,” Ollie responded back, a giddy grin on his face.
At that point, Yuki appeared behind them, as if he’d teleported over.
“Ehem,” Yuki loudly interrupted, spooking both Ollie and Kimi. “You are being pad to work, not chit-chat!”
Both Ollie and Kimi giggled and then quickly fumbled about, trying to get back to work as quickly as possible, while Yuki walked away muttering to himself.
“You still good for tonight?” Kimi asked, trying his very best to look inconspicuous (he was failing).
“Yes, meet me in the restaurant after we finish,” Ollie whispered back, smiling as he looked to the floor earnestly.
“Of course,” Kimi responded. “I’ll be there at nine-thirty, on the dot.”
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In the lobby, Max was bored, waiting for the next party of arrivals to appear. Looking over the spreadsheet on the computer screen, he noted that the next arrival was a Mr. Wolff, an Austrian businessman and his wife, who were here for a luxury Christmas retreat. To be perfectly honest, Max didn’t get the whole deal of Christmas; he never liked it. Though that was in part because of his childhood, and the less said about that, the better.
So, Max let his mind wander, taking in the soft twinkle of ambient piano music coming from across the lobby. Daniel had decided, like all luxury mountainside ski lodges should, that his lodge would have a grand piano in the lobby. And, of course, that meant that he needed someone to play said piano. The person for that job turned out to be none other than Charles Leclerc, a Monegasque musical prodigy whom seemed perfectly content to simply sit and play the piano all day as people toed and froed around him, perhaps carrying out skis and snowboards for an exciting day on the slopes. Max would be perfectly fine to listen to the music all day, it certainly beat out listening to the radio, which was now firmly into the time of the year where they played the same six Christmas songs on a loop.
“Enjoying the view, are we?” came a voice from behind, almost causing Max to jump out of his skin. Turning around, he found that the voice was Daniel, because of course it was.
“Huh?” Max honked, maybe a little too loudly, which attracted the attention of a passing guest, who eyed them suspiciously as she dragged a pair of skates towards the front door.
“I said, enjoying the view?” Daniel repeated himself, smirking.
“I don’t get what you’re talking about, man,” Max huffed, trying to make himself look busy in the hopes Daniel would go away.
“Love is a funny thing, don’t you think?” Daniel whispered, mysteriously. ‘Great,’ Max thought to himself. ‘He’s being all… Daniel today.’
“Daniel, what are you on about?” Max shot back.
“You know, I hear that musicians are all the rage nowadays, which is lucky since you might have noticed we have a beautiful, young, talented and rather dashing pianist here with us.”
“Daniel, for the last time! I… I do not… ugh, just go away!” Max responded, his ears flushing red.
“Okay,” Daniel responded with a cheeky grin. “But just remember, the longer you wait for love, the more likely it is that Charles will move on. Which would be a shame, given how he clearly has the hots for you…”
Daniel began to sneak away, leaving a spluttering Max mumbling to himself.
“Daniel… that’s ridiculous, Charles doesn’t… I don’t…” Max spluttered, words failing him, much like how they did when Charles looked at him.
Oh, what was the point in lying to himself anymore?
❆❆❆
“So, how did it go?” Isack pressed Kimi, conveniently entering the large walk-in pantry while Kimi was retrieving a sack of flour.
“Heh, wha?” Kimi spluttered.
“You know, the date?” Isack continued, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“It was good,” Kimi mumbled. “Though I’m not sure it was really a date, we just had a meal together.”
“And then you went for a romantic walk together, and he gave you flowers! Mate, that’s a date if I’ve ever seen one!”
“I know, I know,” Kimi responded. “But we, you know, never said it was a date, like properly, I don’t want to rush it or anything, what if he gets scared off?”
“Kimi, relax!” Isack said, shaking Kimi. “Ollie’s, like, actually in love with you! He gets all giddy when you’re around, it’s so adorable.”
Kimi smiled.
“I guess he does. You know, it’s quite cute when he does that.”
Damn. He was down bad for the cute baker boy.
❆❆❆
That evening, as the snow outside began to fall heavier and heavier, Charles began to pace in circles around the lobby, anxiously looking up at the clock every few seconds.
Eventually, Max had had enough. He quite missed Charles’ piano, and it was quite distracting to have Charles pacing round and round in his peripheral vision.
“You okay, man?” The Dutchman asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” Charles immediately responded, not at all convincingly.
“You sure, ‘cause you don’t look like it.”
“It’s just, my mother, and Arthur… they should have been here almost an hour ago, and it’s getting so bad out there, I just can’t stop thinking, what if something bad’s happened? What if they’ve-”
“Everything will be fine, Charles,” Max said, getting up from his chair and placing a hand on Charles’s shoulder, which seemed to soothe him a little. “They’re probably held up in traffic. I can’t imagine how bad it must be out there.”
Max steered Charles in the direction of one of the sofas, encouraging his… friend to sit down.
“Relax,” Max said. “There’s no point worrying, it won't do anyone any good.”
“You’re a really good friend, Max,” the Monegasque smiled at Max, his eyes sparkling.
As Max looked into Charles’s eyes, he couldn’t escape a nagging feeling that Daniel was right. No, scratch that, he was right, of course, Max was absolutely mad for Charles.
It was at that moment that the sound of wind whipped around the room in an icy chill as the doors to the chalet swung open, and four very cold-looking people scarpered in, slamming the door shut behind them.
“Maman!” Charles cried, jumping up and rushing over to the eldest of the four, his mother. He threw his arms around her tightly before turning to a tall man next to him. “Arthur, so good to see you… And Logan, oh, we’ve missed you!”
A man with blonde hair, who had his arm around Arthur, smiled and raised a fist, encouraging Charles to bump him.
“It’s good to be back in the madhouse,” he quipped, in an American accent.
The final person, a young man with neatly combed brown hair, stood aside, not trying to make a fuss, not that Charles would be having any of it.
“Ahh,” Charles said, turning to the mystery guest. “You must be Oscar, you’re Logan’s friend, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yeah, I am,” Oscar replied, nervously. “I must say, it’s very lovely here, Pascale. I can’t thank you enough for inviting me here this Christmas.”
“Oh, nonsense, as soon as I heard you’d be spending Christmas alone, I knew that I wouldn’t let that happen,” she responded, to which both Arthur and Logan nodded very feverishly.
At that moment, Lando entered the lobby, having heard the commotion from down the corridor.
“Oh, Mrs. Leclerc, lovely to see you!” Lando giddily shouted across the room before pausing upon sighting the newcomer. “Oh, hey, I haven’t met you before. Are you a friend of Charles’s?”
“I’m a friend of Logan’s, but Pascale very kindly invited me here with the family for Christmas.”
“Sweet, I’m Lando! I run the daycare here, and by night, I’m DJ Norris, on the ‘tunes.”
“Sounds fun, I’m Oscar, by the way.”
Lando smiled. Oscar smiled back. Meanwhile, everyone else exchanged glances. They had an idea where this was going…
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