Starry Night

"She really doesn't need to sneak, anyway, it had better glow. The LED batteries topped up? Its dark out there!" she grinned glancing towards the darkness beyond the snow-covered window.

Butterscotch nodded, her hat wobbled on her head "It will, come on Ms Claus, you need to get ready. We will ensure that its only long-distance photos..."

"I am not looking that bad this afternoon, I showered and washed my hair with Jess this morning and even shaved my legs, and well everything." She winked "I will be there in a minute." She sighed, smiled, and placed the filter back between her lips and pulled the burning smoke deep within her rising chest.

***

Jess grinned to herself as she reached over picked up another donut as she passed the tray and with a large bite, started chewing on it as she made her way back to the receiving depot of the large shed before quickly demolishing the next donut in a couple of large bites. After chewing she licked her lips of the scattered sugar before rubbing her hands clean of excess sugar all over her leggings before instantly picking up donut before she made her way down to the boxes.

Eating and smoking had now become a way of life of Jess as it killed time. At the North Pole, she quickly discovered there was plenty of it. The winter nights were long, very, very long they don't see daylight for months. She had cured her vitamin D deficiency, and as she stated her mental health as she had found a sunbed in one of the corners of the building. It had been a present apparently where the wife and husband split up before Christmas and it never got reissued.

She had soon got it moved nearer their quarters, with great consternation from the elves, as she didn't want to walk so far to it on the long winter weekends. It meant she spent a great deal of down time. Some evenings whilst Nicole was busy checking her lists, she had come custom to killing time by spending what might be considered far too much time on the sunbed. Jess just liked her skin to have just a little colour in it. Nicole refused to join her as she had to be whiter than white for her staring winter-based role. She only tanned or in her case burnt to a red crisp in June and July where there was time for her skin to be crystal white for Christmas.

If Jess had thought about it properly, she could have killed time exercising, there was a large indoor 25 metre pool with diving board, and fully equipped gym all there maintained and looked after. As Nick had installed these thinking that his teenage daughter might have used to kill time. But for Nicola it was easier for her to enjoy sitting, eating, drinking, and smoking. Today the fitter elves keep themselves occupied in the pool when not on shift.

In summer there was no nightfall, it was just continuous daylight, so sleeping was nigh on impossible, but as Nicole had a huge libido, most evenings Nicole would demand that Jess spent most of the night occupying her with plethora of sex toys they had on site. Which meant hours of entertainment, but the only rule was Nicole definitely had to come first. Just more recently, she wasn't interested in letting Jess come at all. It was then time to sleep.

Apart from that they sat there eating, drinking, and smoking far too much to solve that problem of time, living here, they had plenty and it, all geared up to the build-up of Christmas, it drove you crazy.

Jess really loved the spirit of Christmas, in her former life the large plastic tree used to go up far too early, and came down far too late, she would have loved for a real one, but the needles would have fallen out before the big day, she hated those cold dark January days when the house no longer had the bright Christmas lights, tinsel and positively, it was just far too depressing. Her friends all joked that it was silly to have her decorations up still in March, but she argued it was better for her mental health, she made up for it by wearing her vast collection of Christmas socks all year around, it had been a joke from her family and friends, so all her socks and tights were Christmas themed, and by the time the clocks changed back, she was back in the attic and the decorations went straight back up on the walls again. Seeing as it was officially not summer anymore, it was Christmas. She had two seasons. Christmas and summer, and it brought brightness into the gloomy dark, cold long days of autumn and winter.

The reason she had been on Christmas Island was her friends had joked that she should go there on holiday during the summer to complete the Christmas loop. With the seed planted, and several hours on Google later, and two years of saving, she had ended up there.

It was explained to ailing Nick Claus's that Jess had been brought up to the North Pole as attempt to help the administration of the site, as especially as Nick was now extremely frail with the onset of dementia. Their last assistant hadn't lasted the previous winter much to Nicole's disappointment. With her memory wiped she had been returned home. For Jess's appointment Nicole had leaned on the fact that Jess had her degree in Business Management and that had been mentioned in several drunken conversations.

There was one problem for Jess, she had not done much management since she arrived, plenty of eating, and drinking but very little paperwork, as the elves did a great job, money really didn't seem to arrive, or disappear but toys got made and despatched on time.

Jess had hoped that she could have helped Nicole with the photographer, but somehow Butterscotch in her clearly cleaned and pressed elf outfit had yet again muscled in on that job. Jess was sure that would have involved sitting down, looking pretty and maybe smoking an odd cigarette. Jess was confident that she could do that job a lot better than Butterscotch the elf ever could.

***

Nicole twisted her pale lipstick closed and rubbed her now subtle pink lips together, she smiled at herself, she studied her growing crow's feet in the corner of her eyes a little closer before smiling at her now rouge cheeks against the whitened foundation covered skin. She didn't need to put makeup on the magic worked a treat, but it made her feel better, until she then looked down and frowned at her empty but blackened red ashtray sitting on her bright glossy green painted dressing table, she pulled the draw open and hid it inside just in case she wanted the photographer to come into her bedroom...she hoped.

There was a polite cough from behind her "Miss Claus, it's now time to get dressed, the Gerard the photographer is here!" Butterscotch announced standing the doorway still holding up Nicole's red baggy trousers and jacket in her arms.

Nicole rolled her eyes in the mirror and then focused on Butterscotch in the reflection "Gerald? I thought it was...anyway, cool, right let's let the fun and the Santa magic begin!" she grinned as she daintily walked in her thick white sock covered feet around the bright green stool in just her pink G-string, so she was now facing Butterscotch.

"Proper knickers and Bra, Miss Claus, its cold out there, and we can't have your large buttocks and booby's bouncing around!" Butterscotch reprimanded as she walked over to the pine chest of drawers, huffed as she pulled open the top drawer and dug around in the clothes as she stood on tiptoes looking in, then threw a plain black elasticated fitted sports bra across the room at Nicole, then found a large matching pair of plain black panties, it was clear the bra had never been worn in exercise driven anger, ever.

They smiled at each other as items momentarily levitated in front of Nicole as then grabbed them, then she got about the business of pulling the panties up her legs. With a cough and a groan, she got the bra over her head. Once finished she shook her head as she finished rearranging herself. Finally, she then bent down and pulled the socks up to her knees. Off the floor she then took the baggy red trousers off then with a groan and moan as she stretched and got her chubby legs through the holes. Nicole smiled as stood and pulled the overly large red trousers up to her waist and then took the padding and filled the gap between her belly and the elastic. The then fought her arms into the equally red large warm comfortable jacket tightening all against her skin as she focused as she wrapped the big black belt across everything and patted her stomach once secure, and then winced as she took the scratchy fake beard off the edge of the bed and put it on.

"Excellent, remember the boots!" clapped Butterscotch before standing by the bed clicking her feet together as the boots wiggled their own way out from under the bed covered in a month of dust and ash. She wiped off in the layer and then coughing her guts up afterwards.

With more huffing, struggling and a brief coughing fit from the dust coming off the boots, Nicole got the large black boots on and had managed to bend down over her pillow stuffed belly to do the laces up. She slowly stood up and put her arms out wide and knowingly smiled at Butterscotch as the room began to spin, there was a mini whirlwind of light and air in the room and lights on the ceiling lights flickered across whole building announcing to everyone that Nicole had transmogrified into a real Santa Claus.

"Ho, Ho, Ho" Nicole gruffly and manly boomed as she now sounded and looked just like her father used to do. She turned and studied her face in the mirror and smiled at her deeper laugher lines around her eyes, and then she ran her hands through the whisps of the natural grey beard that adorned her face and chin. "Ho, Ho, Ho!" she announced again through the whisps of hair around her pink lips.

Butterscotch clapped her hands together at the success of the transformation. "Delightful, it's always wonderful when it happens, excellent, you're done, let's go and find the photographer."

"If we must!" Nicole gruffly boomed as she strode towards the door before pausing briefly to look back at the dressing table with her large make up bag containing her pack of cigarettes securely zipped up, sadly hidden from view deep inside, she hesitated for a second before going through the open door.

Chapter 4

"Miss Claus, you really didn't have be that grumpy with him!" Butterscotch tutted as she exclaimed down the hallway as they trudged back through the door back into the bedroom.

Nicole huffed "I did what was asked, I can't believe how many hours it took, and I haven't drunk so much cola for ages" she paused, put her hand on the wall, opened her mouth and burped loudly for a few seconds and pulled a face "did they not realise how difficult it is for me to go for wee in the suit!" the deep gravelly voice of Santa replied as she marched back to her dressing table, picking up her make up bag before storming and huffing back to the four-poster bed. She sat down with a groan on the end of the bed.

"Well done on remembering to use the gents, one thing also Miss Claus, please remember you can't smoke until you are out of that suit."

Nicole groaned screwed her face up, "Oh Butters... just fuck off, I need to smoke, err like, now, it's been hours!" she exclaimed before dropping the bag on the bed in disgust and bouncing slowly on edge of the mattress, letting another huge, long burp "Bloody cola!" she shook her head as Butterscotch stifled a giggle, before Nicole then groaned louder as she awkwardly bent her fat frame down pull off the boots.

"Don't let me get this fat!" she groaned as she stretched over her fat and pulled the boot off, she shook her head and then tried the other one.

"Just be careful, it takes weeks for the team to clean and dry that suit."

"I know, I know, I am taking it off!" Nicole grizzled as she pulled the second boot off, flinging it across the room towards Butterscotch.

"The photographer, he was lovely though!" Butterscotch continued.

"Yeah, he was taken with you and Rudy wasn't he. Butters, can you remind me to put his foxy blonde assistant on the very good list, even in her layers you could tell she was cute and sexy as?"

"Yes, of course." Butterscotch wryly smiled.

"Her name was...I should remember...Sandy McGloin, yes the McGloin's, they are on the good list, aren't they?"

Butterscotch rolled her eyes as she nodded "I will cross reference later, but that was her, I don't recognise her from the naughty list at any time in her life."

"Good, she should get little something special from me this year, does she have children?" Nicole mused.

"I will put her on the list Miss Claus, and I don't believe so."

"Hmmm. You are good to me, as ever to me, I will definitely do my own research and check her out on Santa Cam later." She smiled, winked, and touched the side of her nose a couple of times to suggest keeping that bit quiet. With a tired groan she stood up and undid the large black belt holding her trousers up and the swirling wind and the lights briefly flickered. Once the world stopped spinning, she slipped her shoulders from the jacket dropping it on the floor and threw her greying white belly pillow at Butterscotch before dropping her red baggy trousers and stepping to the side. "Goodbye until December!" she said kicking the suit with her thick warm knitted white socked foot. "And hello cigarette!" she smiled as she sat back down on the bed in just her black sports bra and large granny cut black knickers, grinning as she hurriedly opened her make up bag and pulled the cigarette out of the pack and placed the filter between her lips.

"Stop Miss Claus" Butterscotch exclaimed as the flame from the lighter hovered near the tip of the cigarette.

Nicole removed her thumb and the flame stopped flickering "What now Butters?" she scowled.

"One minute Miss Claus" Butterscotch interrupted.

"What Butters, I am having my well-deserved ciggy!" she grizzled her fingers clamped around the lighter, thumb in position.

"Hang on, just got to get the suit, and beard to safety. We don't want them alight!" She tutted as she sighed wearily as she stared at the floor and all the parts of the custom gathered together and slowly moved towards her, she grasped them in her hand and then from the doorway, the large red suit overflowing the small elf little arms, she nodded and Nicole's thumb instantly flicked the lighter and with a double pump inhale, Nicole closed her eyes as she held the toxic smoke in her waiting lungs for the count of three before exhaling a seriously depleted and thinned out cloud of smoke into the middle of the room.

"Oh yes, I so needed that!" she said with further whisps of smoke tumbling from her lips from deep within her lungs to the empty room and almost gracefully brought the filter back to her pink lips, tilted her head back and repeated the process again, and then again, pummelling her lungs with desperately needed smoke.

***

Jessica licked her lips of thick fresh custard cream that had splurged from yet another donut as she sat down in Nicole's office, with a sigh "How's my sexy chief model?" She grinned as she reached across and pulled a cigarette from the pack in front of Nicole and placed it between her lips.

"Bloated and very burpee!" she paused stared at Jess with a big grin, then let out large cola and tobacco filled burp, then they both giggled "Jess babes, it was hard, as expected, the photographer wanted Santa from every bloody angle, standing in the snow drinking coke, drinking coke whilst feeding Rudy, drinking coke stroking Rudy, sharing eating carrots with Rudy whilst drinking coke, Santa holding and then throwing a snow ball holding a bottle of coke, then Santa leaning on presents whilst drinking coke. Surprised he didn't want me drinking coke on the toilet the amount I drank, or even this evening in the bath!"

"That sound fun?"

"It was to start with, but my god, by the umpteenth same angle photo, I was desperate for cigarette babes, that last hour was torture. It really was!"

"Oh "Jess nodded along, "Maybe we can do that the bath one together later with a cigarette or two, I am soooo tired, those boxes are so heavy, I am really smelly and sweaty babes from moving them around, but they are now all in!" she grinned, tilted her head back, and faux wiped her forehead and then leaned forwards to pick up the lighter and then finally lit her cigarette.

Nicole's face melted slightly through the cloud of smoke produced from Jess's cigarette "Of course, Jess, some QT with you would be lovely, maybe we should put some rum with the coke left over, having thousands of photos taken was hard slog, his assistant was amazing, she was making sure I looked the best, don't think my beard has had that much attention in years."

"If you asked babes, I would attend it for you...but Nic, she?"

"Oh, yes, don't worry Jess babes, don't she was, err, ugly, but very attentive to the beard and Gerald's needs."

"Oh, was she now?"

"Nothing like that babe." Nicole, flicked her hair out of her face before she reached across for the cigarette pack, spinning back so it faced herself and pulled the filter out between her fingers and placed it between her lips "Oh yeah, babes, actually just been thinking, bottle of wine, and bath together will have to be tomorrow, I am going to see my dad for a bit tonight, give Alabaster a break, and so I just to let him know how today went, and then Ginger has given me a load of papers to deal with for an hour or so, can I meet you in bed later?" She said thoughtfully as she smiled sweetly around the cigarette before flicking the lighter.

Jess rolled her eyes "Yeah of course, Nic, I guess I will see you at bedtime then? I might take a bottle of wine for a soak on my own in the hot tub?" she frowned and lifted her arms to reveal the blackened and darkened stains of sweat on her armpits before swiftly closing them again shivering in disgust at herself and then focusing on bringing the filter back to her lips as pulled on her cigarette.

"Oh, don't tease me babes, sounds amazing, but I need to see my dad, you know that...!" Nicole replied with the fear of missing out ringing in her voice.

Jess's face crumpled in love, fluttered her eyelids, and placed the filter between her red lips and pulled on the cigarette.

Chapter 5

Nicole looked at the polished wooden floor as another large tear rolled from the corner of her eye and down the side of her nose and dripped on to the wooden floor, she sniffed twice, and wiped with the back of her hand and leaned her head back against the wall, and silently nodded to the short grey bearded Elf Alabaster Snowball, he was the oldest elf on site, no know knew how old he was, but he had seen everything and knew everything, and had taken responsibility to look after the obvious- to everyone- the dying Santa Claus, he squeezed Nicole's arm, and then opened and then quietly shut the door, she flipped her blonde platted ponytail over her shoulder and leaned her head hard against the timber wall and exhaled air "Fuck!" she shouted at the snow covered, red painted window frame opposite.

She hurriedly lifted her thick red knitted jumper up fished inside her red skirt and inside her white tights and swore again as she pulled out the pack, the elastic slapping back in position with a thud against her soft skin, she flipped open the pack that she had put there this morning, which with one quick glance was now disappointingly empty, she grizzled as scrunched it up in her hand and threw it in frustration at the window, she chuckled as a lump of snow was dislodged and then watched as the cardboard pack fell off the windowsill and on to the floor. She huffed annoyed at herself and did the dutiful thing and bent down, picked it up and then trudged back down the hallway looking for another pack.

Seeing her dad was always hard. He had now had no idea who she was anymore and was now quickly wasting away. Every day was one step closer to him joining mum, which was good thing, but the world was one day closer to losing its Santa Claus, again.