The Christmas Bonus

"Come up with a better solution," Nick said. "Unless of course you are just here to criticise the only person who has spoken up so far." Phil's constant eye rolling and the abrasive talk when it came to Stacey was becoming tiresome for Nick. Like it or lump it, she was part of the team, and they needed to all work together regardless of personality clashes.

"I say we have it here. We can decorate accordingly, get caterers and a bar of some description. We could organise it on one of the floors that are not so over populated so as to have room for everyone," once again there were murmurs of assent from around the table.

"One thing in favour of that idea is the constant complaints that people had to travel to far. Or go home and change only to end up back in the city when it's on a Friday night. They can just stay, come as you are casual so to speak," Dom spoke up uncharacteristically. He was a quiet man who sat back and took everything in only offering his input when he had something relevant to say. Like Nick, he was a trouble shooter. Seeing problems before they arose and working a solution to the issues he saw.

"You're in favour of Phil's suggestion?" Nick turned his gaze on Dom.

"People work a lot of Saturday's anyway, so having it here negates the complaints about where it's held and coming on a weekend," he said thoughtfully and leaned back in his chair. "Having said that it would need to be more than the usual after hours style celebrations that go on here from time to time."

"Fine you work with Phil on a proposal, I'll email out the budget and deadline information. Mark you work with Stacey on the island beach theme proposal. Ben give Belinda a call and she if she wants to work with you from home, she can email in her idea's," Nick issued commands as if organising a battle. If he knew Belinda at all she would be going stir crazy at home, work was her life from what he could see.

Since Belinda had become sick the week before, and Nick had come to realise what an integral member of his team she was, she had dogged his thoughts constantly. In an effort to cure himself of thinking about her so much, he had done a little digging into her personnel file. She came from a typical split family, the youngest of three children. She graduated with a high-grade point average just short of the honours role and had taken this job straight out of University.

The CV they had on file was impressive in that she had been a member of various organisations either in a part-time capacity or as a volunteer during her University degree. He could see that she did indeed care about causes like the ones they worked on. As much as he wished he could have found some skeleton lurking in the words there to rid him of his thoughts, he was glad he hadn't. Digging into her HR file had not given him a reason to dismiss her from his thoughts, and now he found himself wondering about her life outside the company even more.

He kept trying to tell himself it was just the novelty of having a woman on his team that was not an airhead that had him wanting to know more about Belinda. The truth was though that he felt her absence from the office and his team quite keenly. He worried about how sick she must have been to have so many days off, when she had shown herself to be such a workaholic up until this point.

Over the following days, Ben had said nothing about whether he had got in contact with Belinda and what they were working on if anything. Frustrated Nick called Ben into his office on Friday afternoon.

"You haven't said if you got hold of Belinda or if you are working on anything for a Christmas party proposal," Nick said as Ben sat down across from his desk.

"Sorry Nick, I've just been swamped, the others are working on their proposals so much that I have been picking up the slack with our other clients. Belinda and I have been emailing, and I went over last night to look at some of the stuff she has been working on for it," he explained. "I guess I have just been doing the Christmas stuff after hours and not pushing it here. Did you need to know the idea?"

"I know what the other two teams are working toward so its only fair," Nick said easily but it rankled him that Ben seemed to have a secret working relationship with Belinda. "How does your girlfriend like you spending so much time with another woman after hours?"

"Ha!" Ben laughed. "She likes Belinda as much as I do. She cooked for us last night at Belinda's place while we worked on our proposal. We're gonna blow everyone's socks off; I hope."

"I see," Nick was somehow irritated by the man sitting across him now. "So blow my socks off," he challenged.

"It won't sound as good coming from me, and I don't want to let her down," Ben hedged. "We were hoping to deliver or proposal in Monday's team meeting, together."

"A general theme is all that is needed at this time," Nick frowned at him, after all that is all he had from the other teams he admitted grudgingly. Surprisingly he found himself not wanting to disappoint Belinda either.

"Think Hollywood blockbuster," Ben said. "Is that enough of a general theme?"

"I guess it will have to be, for now," Nick said good-naturedly but the whole conversation had irked him and knowing that made him even more irritable. "You said she would be back on Monday?"

"Yeah, Pam hid her wallet and keys to make her wait until she was completely better," Ben laughed. "She said that was your instruction from when you took her home." He emphasised the word 'your.'

"I will be anticipating big things Monday then," Nick said. "Go and enjoy your weekend," he dismissed Ben from his office his irritability showing his voice. Ben for his part seemed not to notice.

"Yeah, the girls are getting together to do something for the proposal tomorrow. I have organised to meet up with them at that little place in the West End that Dom keeps telling us about for lunch. His friend's a chef or something." Ben seemed to consider the statement. "It'll be just me and half a dozen beautiful ladies, so I would say my weekend is looking good."

Nick stared at him with an unreadable expression. Ben more than respected Nick. He liked him as a person and could imagine if they had met at a social gathering they would have been friends, so he offered an invitation.

"You are more than welcome to come too, Nick. About one if you have nothing else planned," Ben smiled, "it should be a fun lunch. You can meet my girlfriend if you come."

"I might just do that," Nick nodded but didn't commit himself, "It might ruin your attempt to blow my socks off if I know about your proposal though."

"It might but I doubt it. The invitation is there. Otherwise, have a great weekend," Ben left the office unsure whether asking the boss to join them for lunch was a wise move after all.

*****

Belinda had endured a week of not only being unwell but also her a week of her cousin's company. It wasn't that she didn't like her cousin, Pam. On the contrary she thought of her as a sister, it was more that she liked her in small doses.

Each of their respective parents had helped them buy the duplex in which they lived. It was an older style cottage that Belinda had fallen in love with and when she had discovered that it had been renovated and converted to a duplex with twin small apartments she called her cousin immediately. Pam who had been wanting to move out of home for ages had jumped at the chance. It had been an easy sell after that with the parents coming on board easily now that they had finished their University degrees, and both had decent jobs to pay the mortgage.

They had promised to look out for each other, and their families tended to leave them alone for the most part much to the girl's relief. Both children of divorced and remarried parents their extended family was large and as volatile as it was eccentric. Belinda had grown to love her isolation from the family drama's and the solitude having a place of her own afforded her while having the company of Pam whenever she felt like it. While she was sick though, Pam had not left her alone for more than a few minutes at a time except when she went to work.

Pam was a teacher and having the excuse of a sick relative she had left school with the kids right on two thirty each day rather than attending the usual after school meetings. Belinda found herself with only a few hours each day of peace and quiet. She had become so ill in those first two days that she slept more than she was awake, so she hadn't noticed it. As she regained her strength Pam's constant presence, although well-meaning, had made her grouchier than she might have been otherwise.

Feeling much better, though not recovered, she might have gone to work on Wednesday except for Pam taking her wallet and handbag. When Belinda demanded them back, Pam reminded her that her boss had said not to return until she was fully recovered. She was over the moon when Ben called and told her about the Christmas proposal and threw herself into it as a project she could do at home. She quickly took the reins from Ben sending him emails and inviting him over for dinner, with his girlfriend of course, to discuss what she had done.

Ben was happy to let Belinda run with it and enjoyed seeing her outside of the company in an atmosphere of friendship rather than just business. He had liked her ideas and had agreed wholeheartedly with the theme she finally decided on as they weeded out the weaker and more problematic ideas. He was amazed at how much she had accomplished on her own working from an old and less that optimum laptop. He kept his work going at the company as well as helping out Stacey, which he had promised Belinda he would do.

Having fun with the whole idea, Belinda invited a few friends, Pam and Ben's girlfriend to go Op Shopping with her on Saturday. They would then have a photo shoot at her place on Saturday night to capture some images she could use in her presentation on the Monday. While she had labelled it as work, it was going to be fun. She had been working so hard since making it into one of the prestige teams that she had barely had time for a social life lately.

The women all piled into two cars and raced to the older parts of town to see what they could find. It was close to one when they went to meet up for lunch at a boutique brewery that Ben had suggested, having heard about it through the guys at work.

"You look a bit pale," Pam admonished as they sat at a table and looked over the menu's while waiting for the second group of women.

"I didn't think I would be this exhausted. I guess I am not one hundred percent fit for duty yet," she gave a wan smile.

"How about I drop you home after lunch. Then you can rest while the rest of us finish shopping," Pam encouraged.

"But I..." she stopped as Pam held up her hand.

"We all know the look you're going for. Have a little faith in us. There is no shame in needing a nana nap when you have been so sick all week," she cajoled.

"Let's see how I feel after some food," Belinda said noncommittally.

The rest of the girls arrived, and Belinda got swept up in the excited babble about everyone's discoveries from the out of the way Opportunity Shops they had visited. Ben arrived shortly after and was swept up in the conversation as his girlfriend introduced him to each woman with the tag of the best bargain they had found.

"Fuck!" Ben exclaimed and looked at Belinda apologetically, "I should have told you I invited him."

Belinda looked around, and her jaw dropped open as she saw Nick walking confidently toward them. "Yeah, you should've. Why would you do that?"

"Hey Nick, glad you could make it," Ben stood offering his hand in greeting.

"Thanks, I happened to be free, so I thought, why not?" He said easily taking the proffered hand and surveying the table his eyes landing on Belinda.

"I'd introduce you to everyone, but I don't have all the names straight yet myself," Ben laughed. "This is my girlfriend Angie."

"Nice to meet you," she smiled.

"The pleasure is mine," Nick nodded. He turned his gaze back to Belinda, "Good to see you Belinda. You're feeling better I trust?"

"Yes, much, thank you. And thank you for a lift home the other day I didn't realise how unwell I was at the time," she said quietly. She had never seen Nick in anything aside of the dark suits he wore to work, and she was taken aback by his casual look of jeans and a button up shirt.

"Perhaps you'd like to introduce me to your friends?" Nick gave a half smile.

"Oh, of course," she almost squeaked as if she has been scolded. "This is Penny, Alison, Kelly, Ellen, you've met Pam and Angie, and well, you know Ben," she giggled nervously.

"Nice to meet you all," Nick said looking at the crowded table. "Give me a hand Ben," he said as he pulled a smaller table to the end of their table to make it longer, and people from the end rearranged themselves. "I don't want to sit at the end if that's alright. I do it every day at work. Swap with me, please Penny."

Belinda found in that one move that she would be unable to escape Nick as he came it sit beside her and picked up a menu. "So what looks good," He said conversationally to the table. Nick remained relaxed and easy going keeping up with the conversations around him as they ordered and waited for the drinks to arrive.

"You seem a little tired are you sure you're fully recovered?" Nick asked quietly as the conversation flowed around them.

"I'll be fine once I eat," she smiled. "Shopping with these girls is an extreme sport and I admit I am glad we organised to stop for lunch when we did."

"I was trying to tell her to go home and rest after lunch," Pam chimed in from the other side of Belinda, "That way she will be primed for the fun tonight."

"What prey tell is on the agenda for this evening then?" Nick asked smiling at Pam's enthusiasm.

"Well, we take everything we found today and do a bit of a fashion shoot to the theme of Bindy's work proposal," Her smile was infectious. "It's like dress-up corner for big kids," Pam laughed.

"You'll have to excuse her, she is a kindergarten teacher, she doesn't realise that grown-ups don't usually get excited about dress-ups and finger painting," Belinda said apologetically.

"Not at all, I'm fascinated. Swap seats with me..., Bindy," he asked with a perfectly straight face and stood to move between Pam and Belinda.

"While I'm on my feet, I might go and find the bathrooms," Belinda said quietly and turned her back to Nick scowling at Ben as she did so. She was halfway across the room when Angie caught up with her.

"Ben's really sorry, Bindy. He honestly didn't think Nick would take him up on the invitation to join you guys for lunch," Angie whispered.

"I know," Belinda smiled. She liked Ben and Angie and was happy to call them her friends she just wished she had known that Nick might show up. She would have dressed a little better and made sure her make-up covered the fact that she was still a little worn out. "I just wondered how it came up in conversation and why Ben invited him."

"Apparently Nick's been a little preoccupied at work this week and even a bit grouchy so Ben thought he could use the distraction of doing something fun," Angie said. "Ben thinks Nick is a pretty good guy and would like to know him a bit better I think."

"I get that," Belinda sighed, "I can't blame him for that I guess." They made their way back to the table, and Belinda determined to make the best of things. Formulating something along the lines of what happens outside work, stays outside work, to say to Nick she saw that she needn't have bothered. Alison had filled her place at the table beside and was flirting outrageously with subtle touches on his arm and perfect, soft smiles as she laughed lightly at something he said. Belinda did a double take, feeling like Alison was intruding into her life somehow and took the vacant seat at the table.

"Oh, Bindy your back!" Alison said in mock surprise, "You don't mind swapping seats with me do you?"

"Not at all," Belinda mirrored the other woman's smile, "I am sure Nick would rather not sit next to me, he sees me all week at work." Nick's eyes narrowed briefly as she spoke, but his easy-going demeanour quickly fell back into place.

"I haven't seen her at work at all this week," he said to Alison loud enough for her to hear. "The team will be glad to have her back on Monday."

"Any other good looking guys on the team," once again Alison's hand rest lightly on Nick's arm.

"I am not sure I am the best person to ask," Nick said in a dry tone. "I'm not in the habit of checking out the other guys, maybe Ben has a better eye than I do, but my guess would be that Bindy would be the best judge." For some reason having Nick call her Bindy rather than Belinda or his usual Miss Moore, sounded strange in her ears, like it was wrong, or something and it made her frown slightly.

"Sure they're all gorgeous guys but unavailable I'm afraid," Belinda shook her head sadly.

"Does that include you?" Alison asked in a soft flirtatious voice, "I don't see a wedding ring."

"Ben doesn't wear one either, yet Angie sits right there," Nick answered without answering her question directly. He was enjoying the confusion on her face as she tried to make sense of what he had said. He knew he had made it entirely plausible for her to think that he had a girlfriend at that point even though the last relationship he had ended over eighteen months ago.

Having been deterred Alison lost her fascination with him and while still flirty she seemed to lose the eagerness to engage him in conversation. She had given him the opportunity to declare that he was available, and he hadn't taken it. So she moved on to other topics saving only a few flirtatious glances and gentle touches for him at times where their conversations met to make sure he knew what he was missing.

Belinda giggled to herself. Alison was a hunter of men. She enjoyed the chase and capture but always found some small reason to find fault with them after she had ensnared them and then went on the next hunt. The fact that she was beautiful and very photogenic was an absolute bonus for Belinda and her plans for tonight. Alison's predatory ways had never bothered Belinda much, but seeing her with Nick, her boss, had bothered her more than she cared to admit, and she relaxed seeing Alison back off a little. It could have been messy to have him involved with one of her close friends.

With a full stomach, Belinda found she was more exhausted than she had felt when they arrived and as the meal was ending Belinda swapped seats once again and spoke quietly to Pam. "I'm feeling a bit off-colour, it might be better if I went home and let you girls finish the shopping without me," she whispered trying not to be overheard.

"Sure, I'll let the girls know, and take you home," Pam said with concern. She had thought she would have to fight Belinda on this topic and was glad that she had seen sense.

"Go where?" Nick asked from across the table as he had tried to listen in on their conversation but had only heard the last snippets of what Pam had said.

"I'm going to drop Bindy home to rest, while the rest of the girls finish off the shopping," Pam said despite the kick Belinda gave her under the table.

"I'll take her," Nick offered, "Then you can continue with the shopping tour with the rest of the ladies."

"That'd be great," Pam grimaced as Belinda kicked her again, "But I think I should make sure she gets tucked in."

"I can do that. You go have some fun," he stood up and offered his hand to Belinda, "Shall we go?"

"I guess," Belinda replied and stood not taking his hand. "Just give me a moment to make sure they have my list, please."

"It was very nice to have met you all," Nick announced to the table. "I'll go get the car and meet you out front take your time. I'll be a few minutes."