Chaos At Christmas – Episode 24
Chaos At Christmas by Ewan Smith
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- 1. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 24
When Ferelith eventually sat back down at the computer, it immediately made the new sound again – twice. She looked at the screen and her eyes widened. Apparently, both Kim AND Kanye were staying at the hotel. That was going to make life very interesting.
The Queenie pub was heaving with people. Christmas music could be heard racketing out above the chatter and laughter and there was a cheerful, festive spirit in the air. Everyone was having a good time.
In one corner, half a dozen members of the kitchen staff from the Manor were crammed round a little table. They had dropped by the Queenie after their shift had ended. They had only intended to have a quick drink but, somehow, one drink had led to another. Then another. After all, it was Christmas. A burst of laughter went round the table.
Well you seem like a merry bunch.
They looked round. Standing there was a very striking woman with a wide smile, a party hat and a cocktail glass complete with umbrella.
“We are a merry bunch,” retorted Kenny, one of the commis chefs. “We’ve finished work for the day so now we have nothing to do but to enjoy ourselves.”
The woman threw out her arms, some of her cocktail spilling over the side of the glass. A sort of awed silence fell over the group; they had all noticed how the movement pulled her slinky red dress even more tightly against her gorgeous body. “If only I was with you,” she groaned. “I’m here with my work Christmas party and it is – SO – BORING.
Can you believe it, they’re actually doing a quiz at the moment? A quiz – at a Christmas party! I couldn’t bear it any longer. I must have the dreariest workmates in the world.”
There was a clamour of voices. “Why don’t you join us?”
She tried to focus on them all at the same time, her voice slurring slightly. “Would you mind?”
“Of course not,” came a volley of replies.
They hurriedly made space for her but, rather to the disappointment of the others, she squeezed herself onto the bench between Kenny and the wall. She wriggled her bottom to settle herself and grinned. “This is cosy.” Tossing back the remains of her drink, she held up her empty glass. “More drink, we need more drink! Someone get another round in and this one’s on me!”
A cheer went up and the next round was ordered. She looked at them blearily. “So what do you lovely guys all do?”
“Guess,” said Kenny, his mind being sent into a whirl by her heady perfume. Her bottom was pressing against his. He could feel the warmth of her thigh. He wasn’t at all sure what was happening but the situation was making him feel very happy.
She looked at him, her eyes swaying slightly, and he gulped. He had never been this close to such a bombshell before. “Do you work in a restaurant?”
He blinked in surprise. “How did you know?”
Her eyes narrowed. “It’s a burger joint, isn’t it? I can smell it on your clothes.”
There were howls of protest round the table. “A burger joint?” someone cried. “We work in the kitchen at Fosbury Manor! We’re all chefs there.”
Her eyes widened. “That posh hotel? I don’t believe it. That’s an amazing place.” She gazed at Kenny. “You must be really good at what you do.”
Kenny felt himself blushing at the compliment. “There’s a lot of competition to get jobs there.”
She was looking at him in open admiration. “I would love to work in a place like that. It must be fantastic.”
He laughed. “I could tell you some stories. You wouldn’t believe some of the things that are going on there at the moment.”
She leant towards him. He could see flecks of purple amongst the blue of her pupils. His mind whirled some more. “Tell me,” she murmured. “What’s it like?”
But then a gruff voice sounded from across the table. “Now then, Kenny. We don’t talk about work on our nights out.” It was an older man and his voice held a hint of warning.
Just for an instant, it seemed to Kenny that a flash of annoyance crossed the woman’s face. But it was gone almost before it was there. She looked at him. “Is that your name? Kenny?” He nodded. With a grin, she stood up and held out a hand. “Well I’m Layanna, Kenny, and I’m pleased to meet you.
Now let’s go and dance!
The pub’s small dance floor was packed with revellers. Layanna and Kenny squeezed their way into the middle and made themselves some space. ‘Feliz Navidad’ was playing and Layanna began singing along with the song at the top of her voice while wriggling and swaying as much as was possible in the circumstances, her arms waving about.
They kept being pressed together by the dancers around them which Layanna didn’t seem to mind at all. It left Kenny feeling rather breathless; her dress really did leave very little to the imagination.
The song came to an end and ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ began to play instead. The slow seductive music left Kenny in a tizz of uncertainty as to how they should dance to it. But before he had time to come to a decision, Layanna had slipped into his arms. She pulled him close, her lips moving against his ear as she sang along, the two of them swaying together.
“So what’s it like working at the Manor?” she murmured after a while. “Is it really as brilliant there as people say?”
Kenny dragged his mind away from the glorious scent of her hair. “We’re not really allowed to discuss our work.”
There was a sad “Oh,” in his ear. To his horror, Layanna moved a little away from him. He felt a rush of disappointment. Holding this extraordinary woman was such a wonderful sensation; it was surely what he had been put on Earth to experience? “There must be something you can tell me. Is it true that Lyle Cranford is staying there?”
“Well…” Leroy said uncertainly.
Then Layanna was pressing up against him again. He felt a wave of dizzying excitement. Nothing about what was happening seemed possible. Now she was so close that their two bodies felt as if they were merging into one. An idea began dancing about in his head.
If he carried on talking then perhaps she would carry on clinging to him. He tested the theory tentatively. “It was the weirdest thing; Lyle Cranford took over the whole hotel for his family and friends…” Her arms tightened. It was working, he thought. Keep talking!
Quite a time passed before Layanna and Kenny returned to the little table. “I’m parched,” Layanna groaned. “Another round of drinks. I’m paying!”
“I think I’ve had enough,” the older man smiled.
But Layanna just hooted at him.
No party poopers here!
she cried and the others joined in.
The drinks arrived and she kept trying to steer the conversation onto the topic of the hotel. “So what was going on with those penguins?” she asked. “That was the strangest story.”
“You must have lots of famous people staying there. What are they like?”
“I’d love to see what it’s like inside the hotel. Do you have any photos?”
But despite the fact that everyone round the table was relaxed and pleasantly drunk, they weren’t at all forthcoming. Staff at the Manor seemed to have it ingrained in them not to talk about their work at hotel.
What she had discovered from Kenny on the dancefloor seemed to be about as much as she was going to get. She decided to change tack.
