Chelsea's Twelve Days of Christmas

"Okay, but I would like a little guidance," she said feeling a little intimidated. "I can't imagine you wanting me to purchase a holiday for instance."

"Not for me, no, but it could make a decent gift for someone else," he shrugged. "I rarely keep any of the auction items I bid on, so if something appeals to you then bid on it." He saw anxiety creep into her expression and considered the topic. "We will be attending Christmas Eve at Eric and Ashley's house, so that means we will need a gift for that. They are a power couple, so weekends away are fine but no big holidays. He's into sports memorabilia, and she's into cooking I think. Christmas morning, we are going to Zander and Alyson's to see my godson. They have two other children as well, so family holidays are good, romantic weekends away for two are even better because it makes them have a time out from their busy lives. Christmas afternoon we will spend with my Uncle and his family. Booze is always good there, wine or spirits. Whatever we need after the events this week Trent can pick up on Friday."

"Right so, booze and holidays are good, sports memorabilia a maybe. I'll steer clear of the cooking until I know Ashley better. Ages and sex of children?" she asked feeling better about spending his money now.

"Two boys and a girl and they're smallish," he said making her laugh. "Trent has all of that information on file, call him if you need more information. Feel better now?"

"I do, thank you," she stepped forward to hug him. She knew that their Christmas had been scheduled in by Trent, but she had assumed they were large events, much like they had attended for the last ten days. She was surprised that they would be spending time with family and friends on Christmas day and was grateful she would be able to talk to Trent about it before the holidays.

"Good, I will walk you out before I become so distracted that I do something very inappropriate in my place of work," he kissed her and groaned softly.

"I won't tell if you don't," she giggled. "I'm sure it doesn't count if I'm not employed here."

"Bad behaviour results in punishment, no matter where we are," he growled and smacked her ass lightly.

"I was counting on that," she teased making him smile despite trying to maintain a serious expression.

"We'll discuss your inappropriate workplace behaviour tonight," he said taking her hand and leading her from his office before his self-restraint failed him. "I'm walking Miss Gillian down to the lobby," he said as he passed his assistants. He noted that the murmur followed her once again as she walked through the office to the elevators with him. She was young and beautiful, and he felt a sense of pride that she garnered so much attention, even from the women who worked for him.

He walked her through the lobby, to where Thomas waited with the car and bent his head to kiss her, before helping her in and wishing her luck at the lunch. He'd accepted the invitation to send a representative to the ladies only event before he knew of her past and he worried slightly about how she would cope. She had seemed so confident and daring this morning, though, and he tried to put it from his mind as he turned to go back inside the building.

*****

Chelsea had gone into the heart of the city early to organise the gift she had decided on for Harry before attending the event. She's found a small business who could do it for her and have a courier deliver it to the house the following day after Harry had left for work. She arrived at the event in plenty of time to receive her bidding number and take her time going through all of the items open to the silent bidding. She wrote her number on three of them, even with a platinum card she was unsure of the credit limit, and she didn't want to make any mistakes that could cause Harry or herself the embarrassment of going over her limit.

"Should I leave my card details with someone in case I win one of the auctions?" Chelsea asked one of the attendants who stood within the prize room.

"No ma'am, these auctions are open to online bidders who couldn't make it to the event as well. The winners will be billed to the ticket holders billing address. Only the small items up for grabs today during the event will need to be paid for today," he said explaining the two different types of events. "Can I help you with the auctions inside if you are done here?" he asked.

"I must seem so silly, but I haven't been to one of these events without my partner, and he usually handles all the bids for me," she smiled shyly.

"We're here to help. Why don't you give me the numbers of the auctions you are interested in out here and I can let you know how they are going throughout the lunch to save you checking and then I will help you with how the inside event is run," he said matching her smile.

Inside the event was run much like cent auctions she had seen at fairs and fundraisers in the past except that rather than a cent a ticket the sheets of twenty-five tickets cost a lot more than twenty-five cents. She bought two sheets and tried not to blanch as five thousand dollars was charged to her card. Then taking the glass of champagne offered she wandered around the large room placing tickets into the boxes that stood before each prize. With the idea of gifts in mind, she placed her tickets in the barrels for items she could match to one of the staff or one of the people Trent had listed when she spoke to him, after leaving Harry's office. When she was finally done she found her seat at a table that already seemed full.

"No, dear, that seats reserved," a platinum blond woman of middle years tapped the place card that held her name.

"Yes, that's my name," Chelsea responded feeling uneasy.

"Well you aren't what I expected at all," the woman's eyes widened in surprise as Chelsea sat in the only open chair.

"You were expecting me?" Chelsea was confused. Harry had said he didn't think anyone she may have met over the events of the last ten days would be there today and she certainly didn't recognise the woman.

"Well not you per se, but someone from Drake Holdings and Harry usually sends a blonde to these things. His tastes are rather singular," she said haughtily using the familiar version of his name as if she was a close friend. "I expect you work with him then?"

"No," Chelsea said uncomfortably. "I don't work with him." She looked at the card in front of the woman and read the name, Julia Crenshaw. This couldn't be the Julia, Harry had told her about, could it? He would have told her if he knew she was going to be here and seated beside her. Or at least told Julia about her.

"A cousin perhaps? He doesn't have any sisters," Julia continued to interrogate her.

"I'm sorry but how do you know Mr Drake?" Chelsea asked frowning at the woman.

"I'm a family friend. I used to attend this lunch as his representative every year up until his engagement last year when his fiancé attended instead. I enjoy supporting this charity so much that this year I bought my own ticket, so I didn't miss out again," she explained. "I guess after all the years I represented Harry they just assumed we would want to sit together."

"I see," Chelsea said evenly wondering why Julia would want to be seated beside her.

"So no ring and as I said his tastes are very singular, so you're a cousin or relative of some kind?" she resumed her interrogation.

"We are seeing each other, you could say I was his girlfriend," Chelsea said warily.

"Interesting," the woman pursed her lips. "Harry doesn't do the girlfriend thing as a rule. He's an all or nothing man usually."

"Are you trying to be rude and upset the girl, because you're doing an awfully good job," one of the other women at the table said, coming to Chelsea's rescue. "This is a white ribbon event, perhaps you should leave her alone now she has told you why she is here."

"Oh, I'm sorry Chelsea, was I being rude?" she asked innocently. "I didn't mean to be. I was just surprised by your appearance. We're going to be friends. I just know it." She smiled widely showing perfect teeth and stopped her interrogation even though she desperately wanted more answers from this supposed girlfriend. All of Harry's girlfriends had always looked like her, and she refused to believe that he had ceased his obsession with her that flowed into his choice of a partner.

"Thank you," Chelsea said to the lady who had intervened. "I'm sure we will all be friends by the time this lunch is over," she smiled at each of the eight ladies at their table including Julia.

During the lunch, no matter how many times the ladies at her table tried to change the subject, Julia always seemed to bring it back to Harry. She was quite vocal in her disapproval and dismissiveness that Chelsea had called herself Harry's girlfriend, to the point where one of the other ladies offered to swap seats with Chelsea so she could talk to another lady who had done the same degree as her but at a different University.

Despite the move, Julia continued to focus on Chelsea and every dig she made about her relationship with Harry, was done with a smile and sickly sweet tone. Chelsea gave up trying to pretend it wasn't affecting her and attempted to ignore the woman who seemed hell bent on proving that Chelsea was lying about her relationship with Harry. She knew that if she heard the phrase, singular tastes, once more she would scream, she excused herself from the table and went in search of the bathrooms.

When Chelsea returned, Julia was unusually subdued, and she looked around the table to find the cause. One of the ladies put her hand up to her ear in a sign like a telephone but other than that no one said anything and the rest of the event became quite enjoyable. Chelsea won three of the inside auctions and one of the larger prizes after a last-minute bid that the assistant had helped her with. The same assistant came to help her to take her prizes to the car when she was ready to leave. She smiled at Thomas who walked around to open the trunk of the car for the assistant when Julia appeared beside her and grabbed her arm roughly with a taloned claw.

"You shouldn't have been so rude, goading me into bad behaviour and ignoring me all afternoon. I could have been a strong ally to you, but you have made a powerful enemy instead. I have far more influence over that boy than you could possibly know. Trust me your gold-digging dreams with Harry are over," she hissed. "He chooses women like me because he loves me and you could never even come close to filling my place in his life. You should go home and start packing because whatever you think you have with Harry is over. I guarantee it," Julia snarled in a voice just above a whisper. Then she turned and walked away leaving Chelsea stunned and close to tears. She didn't wait for Thomas to open her door instead reefing it open herself and scrambling into the cool darkness and anonymity the car offered.

"There is one more parcel, Miss Gillian," Thomas had opened his door and leant in to speak to her. "It will only be a few moments." He shut the door again and cursed. The assistant rapidly tracked down two of the ladies that had been sitting at the table with Chelsea and Thomas spoke to them quietly about why she was so upset.

The minutes had seemed to drag on as Chelsea sat in the car feeling the tears she was trying to hold back escape down her cheeks. The woman hadn't even given her a chance. She didn't understand why she had been so viciously mean throughout the whole afternoon and then accused her of bad behaviour. She dashed the tears away as Thomas returned and they drove home in silence.

She took a deep, steadying breath as they pulled up at the house. She smiled awkwardly as Thomas opened her door and she emerged from the car. "I'm sorry it's been a long day and only going to get longer. Could you put the gift baskets on the dining room table for me please, I need to start getting ready for tonight."

"Yes, Miss Gillian," he answered tightly hiding his concern for her.

Once she had entered the bedroom, she tried to call Harry, but it went straight to voicemail. She left a message that she was feeling anxious and upset then asked him to call her back if he had time before he came home. Then she went to start getting ready for the evening ahead, not feeling like going out and meeting more people at all. She had showered and was in her underwear when her phone finally rang and she practically leapt on it.

"Harry?" she almost cried into the phone.

"Chelsea," came his stony reply making her sit up anxiously. "I heard you had an altercation with Julia today. I am more than disappointed. What you did was beneath you," his voice was hard-edged as he spoke.

"What I did?" she asked in total bewilderment.

"I've had Julia in my office for the last hour in tears and having what seems to be a total breakdown, and I heard from Thomas that the women you had lunch with said your behaviour was cruel and uncalled for." He accused. "I find it difficult to believe you would act like that."

"I didn't do it," she said woodenly. The helplessness and impossibility of the situation bringing up all of the ghosts of her past.

"Tell me what happened then," he demanded in a cold tone.

She blinked tears from her eyes and hung up the phone. How could Thomas have said that about her? She didn't understand any of it, and she had no words to convince a man who had already condemned her that she was innocent. Julia had been right. She had far more influence over Harry than she had thought possible, for him just to accuse her like that seemed so wrong. Her phone continued to ring, and she turned it off. Slipping on a casual dress, she packed a small bag and retrieved the phone she had brought with her from Innamorata. Then she called a cab and feeling numb she went downstairs to wait for it to pick her up.

"Miss Gillian?" Mrs Thomas said gently coming into the foyer to see Chelsea with a bag in her hand.

"Thank you for being so kind to me during my stay here," Chelsea said politely. "I am sorry Mr Thomas now thinks so badly of me now."

"He does no such thing," she clicked her tongue.

"I'm afraid he told Mr Drake otherwise, and now it's time for me to leave. I hope you don't mind packing up the rest of my things and sending them back to Madame Isabella for me," she said woodenly. The cab pulled up, and she started down the stairs.

"There must be a misunderstanding," Mrs Thomas walked after her. "Stay so we can sort it out. Don't go like his, speak to Mr Drake first."

"I just spoke to Mr Drake, that's why I must go now," she said unemotionally. "Fate has a funny way of making sure you know your place in the scheme of life," she said cryptically. "The gift baskets on the dining room table are for you and Mrs Baker. I bought them for you today." She opened the door and climbed into the cab giving a random suburb as a destination.

Chelsea didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do, all she could think of was the last place she felt free and totally independent. She got out at the university paying for the fare with the only cash she had on her and she went and sat under the Morton Bay Fig tree she had loved for years. This is where she had always come to sit and wallow in self-pity over the harshness of her life.

Julia had destroyed the only thing she had of any value, her reputation at Innamorata. She couldn't recover from something like this. She lay on the bench seat numb with shock. She'd let herself believe that she could trust Harry and in time love him the way couples were meant to; worse she'd let herself believe that he could love her.

She felt the tears start again and a replay of all the horrible life altering moments of betrayal and loss played through her head. She had very little money of her own although she was unsure if the fee for this two weeks had been paid to her by Isabella or not, it would have to be returned now, she expected. So, travelling anywhere was probably out of the question, she had a platinum card and a passport, though, a new life in a new country where all her demons could be forgotten sounded so good right then.

She had nothing and nobody to get her through this latest in a long line of betrayals. Even her degree was worthless without any experience over the last two years. It almost seemed like the universe was trying to tell her to give up the struggle of living.

*****

Thomas had cursed loudly throwing his phone to the passenger's seat and parking his car. He had raced into the building and stormed into Harry office still cursing as the man looked at him in anger.

"Sack me if you want, but you will listen to me properly this time. Julia's behaviour was abominable. Julia was cruel and mean and offended everyone at their table by the way she spoke to Chelsea. Julia threatened Chelsea, not the other way around. Read my fucking text properly you bastard, then when you realise what a fucking bitch that one is and how she manipulated you, you can cry in your beer tonight knowing that sweet girl has walked out on you," he said belligerently.

"It's not true, Harry," Julia cried. "I would never do that. You know I wouldn't."

"Sit down and shut the fuck up. You have just fucked up what was probably the love of his life, which you would have realised if you had ever seen them together," Thomas wheeled all of his anger onto Julia. "I spoke to two of the women who sat at your table, Julia. With so many witnesses what were you going to do when he finally found out the truth?"

Harry stared at his phone, "Julia was at the lunch event, and there was trouble with Chelsea. The reports are that she was particularly cruel and mean spirited. You will need to sort this out." He reasoned that the second line could have referred to either woman but with Julia sitting in his office sobbing about being ignored and verbally brutalised he had jumped to the wrong conclusion and had been furious with Chelsea. When he had called her back, he had just pronounced her guilty and scolded her before giving her the opportunity to tell him what happened. He understood now why she had hung up on him.

He felt sick knowing he had betrayed her trust in the worst way. He didn't blame her for walking out. He deserved it. He'd been the bastard Thomas had called him and ruined the vision he had of his perfect future life. Julia had known exactly what to say and how to push his buttons, in order to get him to react the way he had. Coupled with the text which he had mistakenly read in favour of Julia, he had called her back in a dark and uncompromising mood. He hadn't wanted to believe Chelsea could have acted like that, but rather than asking her what happened first, he had made the accusations.

"Are you going to let him talk to me like that?" Julia was now screeching because he hadn't answered the first time she asked.

"I don't care," he said deceptively mildly. "He's right; I fucked up badly because of your lies," he said picking up a few items from his desk. "Stay or go, do what you want, you always do anyway," he said sadly. He saw Julia about to start screeching at him again, and he held up his hand. "If you make a further scene here in my place of work, I will have you arrested for harassment."

He followed Thomas from the office leaving her staring at him unbelievingly. He called Isabella on the way down in the elevator and told her he was on his way over and that if Chelsea arrived to keep her there. He was concerned that she hadn't gone straight back to Innamorata, her home, and he called the only other person he thought she might go to for comfort and support.

"Riley I fucked up badly with Chelsea, and she walked out," he said as soon as she answered the phone. "Where do I start looking?"