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Mia stopped walking and looked up, before entering the Grossberg’s Law Offices. Christmas lights hung above the entrance to the building, but they were turned off. It was daylight, so there was no point in turning them on. Lights would be barely visible.
"Looks like Marvin is already in the holiday spirit," Mia thought. Christmas was getting closer, though Mia already saw the first Christmas ads in October.
Mia looked at the lights, wondering what they would look like. She'd seen lights on other buildings before. They were beautiful, and the decorated buildings made a big impression on her.
For most people, this was probably the normal sight, but in the Kurain village, Mia never had the chance to celebrate the holidays. This was something new to her. Mia was curious about the lighting that Grossberg had chosen. But for that, she had to wait until dark.
Mia pushed the door open and stepped inside. It was significantly warmer inside the office than outside. While the winter weather in Los Angeles wasn't that harsh, Mia still preferred the warmth.
She still remembered the harsh winters she'd endured during her time in the Kurain village. Fortunately, Mia no longer had to worry about the lack of heating and hot water. Unplowed roads were no longer a problem either, although Mia almost slipped as she left her home.
Entering the reception desk, Mia greeted the secretary and headed down the hall toward the office that she shared with Diego. On the way, Mia also passed Grossberg's office and stopped for a moment to say hello. Greeting her closest colleagues had become a daily routine for her. Mia wanted to get along with everyone.
"Good morning, Mr. Grossberg," she said after peeking inside his office.
"Ms. Fey, hello. Good to see you," Marvin greeted her.
Mia then left Grossberg and continued on her way. Next to Grossberg's office was another room—Hammond's office. Mia never liked him since her very first day at Grossberg's Law Offices. But it would have been good etiquette to simply say hello, even though Mia expected his standard response. The door to his office was open, so Mia simply peeked in.
"Good morning, Mr. Hammond," Mia said in her most neutral tone, forcing a polite smile on her lips.
"Whether good remains to be seen..." Robert muttered glumly. He didn't even bother to look at her, instead he was focused on some papers on his desk.
Mia moved on without comment. Typical Hammond. Hearing a kind word from him was like winning the lottery. Mia was lucky to have been assigned to work with Diego from the start, though Marvin himself was also fine. However, she couldn't imagine working under Hammond's supervision.
But Mia didn't let his reaction ruin her morning and the rest of her day. Mia smiled, happy to finally see her favorite man. Little did she know, a little surprise awaited her in their shared office.
"Hi, Diego..." Mia said upon entering the office. Her voice trailed off in surprise when she saw the Christmas tree standing in the corner. It had lights already put on, but the tree wasn't fully decorated yet. Diego stood next to the tree, and open boxes of decorations were scattered on the floor.
“Hey, Mia,” Diego said, turning to face her. A smile spread across his lips as he saw Mia. “Do you like the tree?”
“Yes, but you didn’t mention anything about the tree yesterday,” Mia replied, stepping closer to the tree.
Diego bent down to one of the boxes and pulled out another ornament. “I thought, I’ll make a little surprise,” Diego said. In his hands he held a cat shaped ornament, which he then hung on one of the tree branches.
Watching him put up the Christmas decorations, Mia realized she had never celebrated Christmas when she lived in Kurain Village. Morgan had always told everyone that Christmas was blasphemous and belonged to the rotten culture of the outside world. She had spent her first Christmas when she moved to Los Angeles and went to law school.
"Don't just stand there and help me decorate the tree, kitten," Diego said, giving her an encouraging smile.
Mia had never decorated a Christmas tree. She'd seen beautifully decorated trees but hadn't had the chance to decorate one herself yet. Although, watching Diego do it, Mia guessed it looked very nice.
"Maya would probably like this," Mia thought of her sister. She hoped Morgan would at least let her come to visit her for the holidays. Mia missed her and would love to take her to the city with her, but she decided not to worry about that for now.
Mia leaned over and opened the box of ornaments. It was a set of six baubles—round ornaments made from glass, for hanging on the tree. Each bauble also had a small landscape or snowmen painted on it. On the floor was a box with another set of baubles. However, they were different. The baubles were small and solid colored with simple patterns. Mia felt like she had seen decorations like this somewhere before.
Mia decided to start by hanging the large ornaments first. She pulled out the ornament with a snow-covered cottage on it and walked over to the tree. After hanging the ornament, Mia walked away to see if it looked good or if she should hang it somewhere else.
"It looks perfect to me, kitten," Diego commented.
Mia smiled. She couldn't help it. For some reason, it made her very happy. "Where did you get those ornaments? They look beautiful," Mia asked, and grabbed another ornament. This time, it was a smaller red bauble with a snowflake pattern, from the second set she'd seen earlier.
"Lana gave me these two sets few years ago. She has a friend in Europe who sent her the ornaments," Diego replied, looking at the set of baubles. "These things are quite popular there."
And that explained everything. Mia had seen decorations like this when she spent Christmas with Lana. This year, she had been invited over for the holidays too, but Mia would have preferred to bring Maya along.
Mia hung the ornament she was holding. She looked at her hands and noticed them sparkling with glitter. She realized that the ornaments were covered in glitter, but Mia didn't care about that and focused on decorating the tree. She would wash her hands later.
"By the way, are you coming to the office party on Christmas Eve? I heard Marv is organizing something," Diego asked.
"Here?" Mia said with a little surprise.
Diego nodded. "Even Scrooge himself will be come."
"Scrooge?" Mia raised her eyebrows, unsure who he meant.
Diego chuckled. "Hammond."
"Him? Seriously?" Mia snorted.
"Maybe it's Christmas magic, who knows. Miracles happen," Diego said, making Mia laugh. Their cozy and pleasant atmosphere was interrupted by a familiar, sharp voice.
"Maybe instead of gossiping, you should get to work."
Mia and Diego stopped decorating the tree and turned toward the door. They saw Hammond leaning against the doorframe, with an annoyed expression on his face.
"You should chill out, Robert," Diego said, smirking. He then took a heart-shaped ornament with the words "Merry Christmas" on it, and hung the ornament on the tree, which only made Robert more annoyed.
"AHEM!" A loud clearing of throat drew everyone's attention to a sulking Marvin. He glared at Hammond and said, "Robert, my boy, how much longer do I have to wait for the paperwork from the last case? I want everything to be done before Christmas."
Robert huffed angrily and muttered before returning to his own office. "It'll be done today."
“Youth these days...” Marvin commented and shook his head in frustration, watching Robert returning to his office. When he finally left them alone, Grossberg turned to Mia and Diego.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but our Rob has been a bit slack lately," Marvin said. His voice was much calmer now. He had no reason to be angry at them, and he didn't want Mia and Diego to think he held a grudge against them either.
“By the way, nice Christmas tree,” Marvin commented and left their office, leaving Mia and Diego alone.
“So... where did we end up?” Mia asked.
“We were talking about Christmas Eve. I hope you can come,” Diego replied with a faint smile, looking into her eyes.
Mia didn't have any other plans, so spending time with her coworkers was a better option than staying home alone. Especially if Diego was there too. A smirk appeared on her lips, and she replied.
"If you're coming, then yes."
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear!" Diego said contentedly. His face seemed to light up with a smile. Diego walked over to his desk and picked up a mug of coffee.
"One more thing," he began, taking a sip from his mug. "Remember about a gift for me. I hope you already thought about something."
"A-a gift?" Mia repeated. It was something she forgot and hadn't considered.
"I already have something for you," Diego said mysteriously. He opened a shelf in his desk and pulled out a gift bag with a note attached that read, "For Mia :)".
"Good job, Mia. He even already thought about a gift," Mia thought. Her cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment, though she was also curious about what Diego had bought for her. But Mia couldn't let him know that she didn't have a gift for him yet.
"I might have been planning to buy something for you too," Mia said with a grin. She was bluffing; it was easier said than done. Because what kind of gift could she buy for a coffee addict apart from another coffee or mug?
"Just remember, time's running out," Diego teased her, glancing at the hanging calendar. It was open on December month and had a picture—a Siberian cat against a winter backdrop. Each month had a different picture of a cat, appropriate for the season.
Hammond had once said that such calendars were childish, but Mia thought otherwise. She found Diego's love of cats quite adorable, though she wouldn't admit it. Mia didn't want to accidentally embarrass him.
This also made her think of Maya. Mia wondered if her sister would also like such calendars, though Maya would probably prefer a calendar with a Steel Samurai motif.
"It's almost Christmas," Diego added after marking the date.
OBJECTION!
Mia exclaimed jokingly, pointing at the calendar.
"Almost Christmas, mean it's not Christmas yet! I still have a few days," Mia said, giggling.
"Easy, kitten. You're not in the court," Diego commented on her "objection," starting to laugh as well.