The Christmas Bonus

Jessica laughed at this, covering her mouth shyly.

"The thing I love about you, Joshua, is that you seem restless in your dedication to show what a hollow and facile stereotype it is that Jews are naturally funny," Alex replied

"Speaking of, Josh, should you even be out tonight?" Joanna interrupted, smiling slightly at the banter she was now long since used to.

"What do you mean?"

"Well isn't it one of the nights of Chanukah?"

"It might be" Josh said surprised, "Am I not allowed to drink during the festival of lights?"

"I don't know," Joanna shrugged, "I thought you would."

"If it is Chanukah, I think it's alright," Josh said, picking up his burger and taking a bite, "and it means I'll be getting a sweet fifty dollar check from my Bubby any day now."

"I always wanted to know, what is Chanukah anyway?" Jessica asked honestly, Joanna and Alex also turned towards him for the response. Josh put down his burger and thought for a second before responding in hushed, revered tones.

"You want to know the story of Chanukah?" Josh asked the three.

"Sure," Alex nodded before both women nodded as well. Josh looked from side to side, almost as if checking for eavesdroppers, and then leaned in towards them.

"Well, a long time ago in ancient Jerusalem, there were these two brothers that had to move away from their neighbourhood because the evil Romans wanted to build a park where they lived. Needing money to stop the construction, one of the brothers found the map to the treasure of the famous pirate, One-Eyed Willy. Assembling his truest friends, the two brothers set out to find the lost gold to save their house. But the evil Mama Fratelli and her three sons, including the ferocious, disfigured Sloth stood in their way and...

"Yeah, Josh, I'm going to go ahead and stop you" Joanna said shaking her head, "Because that's the plot to The Goonies."

Jessica laughed at the news while Alex rolled his eyes, regretting being taken in even for a moment.

"What do you want from me?" Josh said with a shrug, "I don't know, something about oil and not enough of it but god intervened and then there was enough oil. Do things need big stories anyway? Can't it be about fun and Latkes and presents?"

"You're not really that devout, are you?" Alex asked as he scratched his head.

"The bacon cheeseburger I'm eating you didn't tip you off?" Josh said, taking another bite of a decidedly non-kosher meal. As he did the waitress returned, setting down the drinks that Alex and Joanna had ordered.

"But you take the holidays off," Joanna said, sipping her drink

"I'm not seeing the contradiction," Josh laughed "You don't show up on Christmas despite not being especially high on Jesus. My Jewish identity is just something I've seized upon to distinguish myself from you white devils."

The conversation continued like that, back and forth, for most of the night. Old stories were told and Jessica added some of her own stories to the group. She was in her very last semester at college, not needing any credits to graduate and was relieved to be finished with it even if she was not entirely certain as to what she'd be doing with her life afterwards. She gave as good as she got when the jokes started flying and it struck Joanna that the gorgeous Blonde seemed as though she'd been one of their crowd for years, rather than hours. Joanna and Jessica both found themselves drinking lightly while Josh and Alex seemed to be enjoying themselves to slightly greater capacity. As the night wore down, both of the men seemed well in their cups.

"Josh, you've slept with our waitress, haven't you?" Alex asked, pouring himself a glass of the very expensive whisky he'd been drinking. He'd long since simply asked for the bottle.

"I have," Josh nodded, motioning for Alex to pour an equal measure for himself. Despite his giving Alex a hard time about it he'd had to admit it was a very nice drink, "Her name is Marie, she's got a place over on Miller Road and she's putting herself through nursing school."

"Admirable." Alex nodded, "It is admirable indeed to put oneself through the rigours of higher educations with the hard earned money from a physically and emotionally taxing job. And then to devote herself to the care of others? A fine woman who would make a goodly wife."

"Agreed." Josh said appreciatively, "And lest you think she's all dull virtue and godliness, you will note that on the most recent cocktail napkin served to me, she's entreated upon me to return with her to her humble abode on Miller Road and please her sexually in a way that only I, and several men in the pornographic film industry, can."

Josh held up a cocktail napkin to Alex that did appear to have something written on it. Alex took it from him and examined it closely.

"My respect for our amber haired server only grows with each passing minute," Alex said, slurring his words slightly, "A heart as pure and an aim as true as she has combined with a lust for passionate coupling and a mouth on her filthy enough to make even a hardened New Englander such as myself blush a deep crimson? Why the man who wins her affections is a lucky one. My hat is off to you sir."

"While, I make no claims to desiring her hand in marriage just yet I can't argue with your assessment of her," Josh nodded, "And in appreciation of her fine spirit, I will spend the night endeavouring to deliver unto her the most phenomenal examples of that too rare treasure that is the female orgasm."

Across the table, Jessica looked at the two strangely while Joanna simply sipped at the last remaining bits of her drink, ignoring them.

"Are they always like this?" Jessica asked, amused by the silliness.

"More or less." Joanna conceded, embarrassed that she'd actually slept with one of them. If either man heard them, they gave no indication of it. The waitress they spoke of did return with the bill for the tab they'd run for the evening and handed it face down to them.

"You guys have fun?" she asked with a smile

"We did, Marie." Alex smiled as he looked up at her from his seat, "It was an evening of the purest seasonal cheer marked by good food, fine company and exquisite service. What is the biggest tip you've gotten this week?"

"Are they both this drunk?" Marie ignored his question and asked one of her own to Joanna and Jessica, "Because Josh is only of any use to me if he's not totally soaked."

"You're on your own," Joanna shrugged, pulling out her purse, before being waved away by Alex and his credit card.

"You two barely made a dent in this bill," he said, putting his card down on the small tray, "Now Marie, I want you to think of the biggest tip you've gotten this month, no, this year. Then double it. Then double it again. Then add it to the total as your gratuity."

"Is he serious?" Marie kept talking to the girls, "I don't want to take advantage of him if he's drunk."

"But you'll take advantage of me while I'm drunk?" Josh asked indignantly

"His name is Alex Morrison. As in Morrison St. and The Morrison Building downtown and the Alexander E. Morrison Opera House and ninety percent of the rest of this city," Joanna informed her, "So if you don't take his old family money it's just going to get older."

"Alright," Marie laughed uneasily, "I just don't want him calling and complaining in the morning that he tipped me six hundred dollars on a two hundred dollar tab,"

"Marie, my dear, I will only ever call on you for another evening of such merriment or, when your studying is done, to tend to me in my sickness." Alex said warmly, "Call this your Christmas bonus."

"Ok, thanks I guess," Marie said, taking Josh by the hand and leading him up to his feet, "Now lets get a cup of coffee in you, Big Fella and get you in some semblance of working order."

"Bye guys." Josh waved to them as he unsteadily followed Marie to the bar.

Marie returned a little while later with the receipt for Alex to sign. He did so, wishing he'd thought to tip her even more, before getting to his own feet somewhat unsteadily. He promised the girls he'd call a cab rather than drive himself home and then it was just Jessica and Joanna left at their table. Joanna looked over to Jessica with a nervous smile and got one back in return. They both sipped on what remained of their drinks. Joanna ran through her mind for any measure of questions to ask, really only particularly interested in finding out if Jessica was straight or gay or somewhere in the middle. Nothing had come up in the earlier conversation and she couldn't think of how to ask that without sounding terrible. She did, however, have something stick out to her. Something she'd often wondered about. Something Jessica may know the answer to.

"Do you know why your Dad hates Alex?" was the question Joanna had thought to ask,

"Kinda," Jessica nodded, "My dad just hates people who have things given to them. Who come from money and never really have to work to get anywhere."

"But Alex works really, really hard even though he doesn't have to. And he's obviously very generous." Joanna argued for him

"I didn't say it made sense," Jessica shook her head, "Or that it wasn't annoying. God, I mean, I only took this job because my graduation present was a pat on the back and I really want to take a trip next year."

"Where to?" Joanna asked the younger girl.

Jessica explained that she'd majored in Art History and that she desperately wanted to see Rome or Greece or something along those lines. Joanna eagerly nodded along, she'd taken an art history course or two and it was something she'd always been fascinated by. Joanna asked her questions about her particular areas of interest and both agreed on several places that were absolute necessities. They talked about clothes and their shared love for several designers, Joanna lamenting how much of her meagre paycheck went on over-priced fashions and Jessica wishing she even had that opportunity. Throughout the entire conversation, Joanna pulled nearly everything from her seductive bag of tricks. She asked questions about Jessica's past, made innocent excuses to gently touch Jessica's hands or shoulders and even brought out the big guns, pulling the chopsticks from her bun and letting the dark, luxurious, silky down her back with a shake of her head.

"God, you are just gorgeous." Jessica said appreciatively. Joanna still couldn't tell if there was any attraction behind it or if it was just girl talk.

"Stop, I'm a straight from work mess," Joanna said with a little forced modesty. She did look good and knew it.

"Are you kidding? You look like you should be modelling in a, or at least editing a fashion mag," Jessica said appreciatively,

Joanna smiled at the compliment.

"Last call!" came the loud call of the barman, coming over the now relatively quiet chatter of the last few remaining drinkers. Joanna tipped back the last bit of her drink, letting the sweetness rest on her tongue before letting her last drink of the night slide down her throat.

"Hey, can I ask something?" Jessica said, as she gathered her things

"You can," Joanna smiled as she began doing up her coat.

"I don't want to go all the way back to my folks' place tonight, you said your place is nearby, right?"

"Yeah,"

"Maybe I can crash there tonight?" Jessica asked hopefully, "Have another drink?"

Joanna looked at the beautiful girl for a second, looked into those blue eyes and knew two things instantly. The first was that, if she wanted to, she absolutely could have taken Jessica back to her apartment and have gotten her into bed. She didn't think Jessica was coming on to her exactly but she could see the spark of the possibility that she'd seen dozens of times before. The second thing she knew was that the guilt she'd been feeling earlier in the day was reaching a boiling point and, because of the circumstances of why she'd been trying to make her move, she knew that she needed to turn her down.

"Wish I could, Jess," Joanna lied while thinking of a plausible reason to turn her down, "But my place is being fumigated so I'm crashing with a friend myself,"

"Oh," Jessica replied while doing her best to hide some disappointment. Joanna gave her a thin smile even as she felt her heart race. Even as she said it, she wished she could take it back. Every brief, fleeting glimpse at the beautiful blonde girl weakened Joanna's resolve to do the decent thing. It took Joanna every last bit of moral fortitude to complete the walk out of the Union Hall, past a necking Josh and Marie at the bar, and into the cold December night.

Chapter Four.

The following Monday was a cold, wet one and Joanna was not eager to get out of bed. She hit the snooze alarm two or three times more often than she should before waking one final time and, upon seeing the time, frantically rushing through her morning routine. Her car still hadn't been ready and she knew she must have been the world's most annoying taxicab passenger as she grumbled and groaned at every red light and momentary delay. She couldn't help it though. The ticking clock was a drain on her already taxed bank account. The trip to Gigake's campus was completed after an interminable to Joanna but fairly standard twenty five minutes and, after paying the cabbie with the exact amount of her fare, she raced into the beautifully designed glass front building as quickly as she could. She dashed up the stairwell rather than waiting for the elevator and tore through the lobby, shooting a quick smile and glance over at Jessica which was more than enough time to take in the breathtaking sight of Jessica in a scoop-neck blouse, and using her ID card to open the door to her work place. A quick sprint to the four-person work space took every last drop of energy she had. She arrived at the open, four-person work space completely out of breath, all three of her teammates were already there, working away.

"What does the clock on your computer read, Mr. Letowski?" Alex said, not turning to acknowledge Joanna's presence and continuing to type away.

"It reads nine-twenty seven, Mr. Morrison," Josh answered, also not turning around.

Joanna grimaced as she rested her hands on her knees.

"That would be a contribution of fifty-four dollars to the Christmas Bonus, wouldn't it?" Alex continued

"A little sensitivity for your fellow employee, Mr. Morrison" Josh replied. Joanna thought for a brief second he was referring to not holding fast to the rules of the game with her car in the shop but that was quickly dash, "It's a fifty-four dollar contribution to the Winter Holiday Bonus."

"A thousand apologies, friend."

"Hey Jo," Phil did turn around to her, "Crawford hasn't been by yet so you're more or less safe."

Joanna smiled weakly at that. Between car-repairs and the holidays she was so concerned about the fifty-four dollars that any actual repercussions in the work-place had completely slipped her mind. She sat down and called up her online banking profile. She cringed when she saw her account's balance but completed the familiar process of transferring money into the interest bearing account that held the year's take.

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be having a Big Mac for Christmas Dinner." Joanna sighed as she opened her own e-mail account to start working on the requests she'd gotten.

"You're welcome to come by," Phil offered warmly, "After enough badgering Carrie finally convinced both of our folks see us rather than making us flip a coin. All the trimmings." "I may just have to take you up on that," Joanna said. She'd been wondering what she would actually be doing for Christmas ever since Joanna's mother had informed her that coming home would not be an option as she'd be on a cruise with her new boyfriend.

"Josh? Alex? More the merrier." Phil continued

"I usually do Chinese food and a movie," Josh offered as he turned towards them, "But yeah, sounds nice. Provided you won't make me swear allegiance to Jesus or anything."

"Alex?"

"I would give my left arm to be there Phil," Alex did not turn around as he answered. He continued to still be so swamped under that he couldn't stop working for a second. "But the live re-enactment of Brideshead Revisited every year around the Morrison family Christmas table is not to be missed by any serious fan of overwrought emotional turmoil."

Joanna had really only gotten settled in for a few minutes of work before Mr. Crawford had come by for the morning briefing.

"How're things progressing people?" he asked

"Everything's right on schedule, sir." Phil answered quickly

"Good, good." Crawford said with the smallest hint of a smile, "Listen up, I need one of you to do something for me."

"Oh?"

"Nothing major. But the Banquet place lost track of which of the divisions had which rooms so we're going to need to call them and confirm things for the Holiday party." Crawford said before adding what all four knew would be coming, "You can handle that, can't you Morrison?"

Alex, who still hadn't stopped working, didn't miss a beat.

"Absolutely, sir. You leave it to me."

"What I thought." Crawford nodded before smiling at the rest of them, "I hope you're looking forward to it. Because there just may be a few surprises this year."

This earned nods and polite smiles from the team before their boss excused himself to continue his rounds.

"Does dressing up as Santa for the third year in a row still count as a surprise?" Josh wondered, breaking the silence.

"I can handle that Alex, if you like." Phil offered helpfully

"No, no, I'm fine." Alex assured him, his fingers still flying furiously at his keyboard, "You are going to close the deal on Jessica, right Jo?"

"Alex..." Joanna didn't entirely know how to break it to him that she had no real intention of doing so.

"It's fine if you don't," Alex shrugged, "Because if you don't and I win then I will win the Christmas Pool. And I will buy a brand new set of Williams Polesitter Irons with the graphite shafts that I've had my eye on."

"I can't say I'm surprised but I didn't even know you golfed, Alex." Josh said

"I've never played a round in my life. But I saw them the other day and they struck me as a particularly exquisite choice for a murder weapon."

This brought a bit of a laugh from the other three who turned around and got back to the day's requests.

Chapter Five.

The Gigake Media Relations Division Winter Holiday party was, as far as these things go, actually a fairly nice event. The banquet hall was an old, turn of the century church that had been renovated and converted into one of the pricier corporate gathering places in the city.. There had clearly been an effort made to make the room warm and comfortable, even if none of the decorations gave even the slightest hint of any particular religious faith's holiday. There was an open bar, several food stations and even a large table full of elegantly wrapped presents. Josh, Alex, Phil, Phil's wife Carrie and Joanna were all seated around a table near the front of the room. A prime seat that they'd won by again being named the most productive team in the division. The party was in full swing around them, with appropriate seasonal music being piped in and the sound of restrained merriment coming from all of the packed tables.

"I still can't believe that none of you brought dates." Carrie said, looking at the three single members of the team. All three of them had, indeed, come to the party alone. Even by their usual standards, Alex and Joanna had dressed well, with Joanna in the little Versace dress that had been another of her unexpected financial mis-steps and Alex in french cuffs and his typical suited extravagance.

"They're not really the dating sort, hon." Phil said as he kissed his pretty Blonde wife. Phil had dressed down for the event. A Christmas sweater vest and khakis.