Chapter 1

ELISE

As I sat waiting for the intro meeting to begin, I looked around the room at all the other 'elves' who had volunteered or, like me, had been volunteered to help Santa during his rounds of the three local hospitals. Most of them were on the younger side, maybe college kids looking to earn a little extra cash around the holidays. One gal, in particular, caught my eye. She was taller than all the others, had coffee-colored skin and long, straight black hair. 'Looks South Asian,' I thought, 'Wonder what her story is.' I let my eyes wonder further and saw no one else who came close to being as interesting. While she was sitting almost opposite me, my eyes kept going back to her time and time again. 'Does Santa even go to India? And isn't she kinda tall to be an elf?'

Eventually, a woman named Suzanne came into the room, introduced herself and began telling us about the program. It seems a lot of people end up hospitalized around the holidays and the program was designed to help entertain the patients, or at least help the time speed by a little faster.

"This is particularly true for the kids. Mercy and County both have a lot of them and they can get pretty despondent. We have found that Santa plus a couple of elves can go a long way to bring a smile to their faces. Some of the poor kiddos are dealing with chemotherapy or have severe and even life-threatening conditions. You may even see some who will never celebrate another Christmas again, so it is doubly important to help bring a little cheer into their lives."

I had had no idea how bad things could be, but I was bound and determined to gut this thing out, besides, what choice did I have? Doing this was part of the community service I was ordered to do by Judge Johnson, a shrew-faced old bitch if I ever saw one. Long story short, I was in a large department store with my girlfriend, no, not a lover, just a friend, when I was caught with some new perfume in my purse as I went to leave. I swear I didn't shoplift it and when I look back on it, I think Jenny, my now ex-friend, slipped it into my purse. I got caught and she walked! What a pisser. Anyway, my legal aid mouthpiece was able to show on the store's video feeds that I was never seen putting the bottle into my purse and planted enough doubt that the judge had to let me off. She let me walk OK, but she still nailed me with a hundred hours of service. And I didn't even steal anything!

But I was glad I didn't have to do any time and my record would stay clean after I completed this volunteer work. Fortunately, my real job as an electrician is fairly slow during the holidays when construction is impacted by the weather. I told my boss I needed some time for 'volunteer' stuff and he bought it.

"Moving on," said Suzanne, "You will work in pairs with a Santa. I've looked through your files and have decided rather than have some random process, I'd do the choosing, OK?"

Everyone nodded before she resumed, "I'll call out the two and I want you to spend a few minutes getting to know each other. Also, I want you to pick an elf name for yourselves before coming back here for the rest of the instructions. Grab a couple of chairs and pick a corner of the room. First off, Amanda and Leesa. Next, Jolene and Tiffany."

She went on with a few more pairings until it was just me and the tall gal. "Elise and Nisha." So that was her name. I liked it; sounded kinda exotic. Nisha came over to me, we grabbed two chairs and sat down along the far wall of the conference room.

"I'm Nisha, but you know that already."

"Yeah, cool name and I'm Elise. Uh, why are you here, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm going to school at Paffington and my major is child psychology."

"You can get a degree in that?"

"Yeah, cool, huh? I love kids. They're sponges absorbing all that the world throws at them. I want to work with them and study them, you know, like, maybe do some research on them."

"So, this isn't just a way to get your 'Mrs.' degree?" I laughed.

"No, and it kinda pisses me off when people assume that."

"Oh, sorry, I hope you don't get pissed at me 'cause we have to work together."

"No, I knew you were teasing, but that's not always the case. What about you?"

"Me? Uh, well, I'm embarrassed to say I'm just an electrician," I answered.

"Wow, neat. How'd you get into that?"

"Finished high school, was tired of book learning and decided to do something with my hands. My high school counselor pointed me to City Tech where I interviewed and they suggested I do an apprenticeship. They had openings for a plumber and an electrician, which I chose because I didn't want to spend my time mucking around in crawl spaces and dealing with clogged toilets.

"What I didn't realize," I went on, "Was how tough the apprenticeship would be. Lots of class work including some physics, tons of on-the-job training and a big state exam before I could move on."

"How long have you been doing it?"

"Six years. I'm twenty-four and am a full journeyman, or journeywoman, I should say. You?"

"Twenty-one. I'm a junior. Uh, why are you doing this volunteer gig, anyway?"

"I have to confess, I have to do this. It's a long story, but the quick and dirty is I was accused of shoplifting, though I didn't do it, and part of the deal to avoid a record was to do community service."

"Huh. What do you mean you didn't do it?"

I told Nisha the whole story of the perfume in the purse and the court hearing and she seemed to buy it. "That sucks, really sucks. You got burned for what she did."

"Yeah, I know, but, hey, this gig won't be that bad and my partner loves little kids, so I'll get to coast," I laughed.

"Oh, no, you won't! They'll make us dress up and I bet the kids will be all over you. You're so cute like an elf with your blonde hair and blue eyes. They won't even look at me, I'm sure."

That was weird. Nisha had complimented me on my looks when at the same time, I thought she looked beautifully exotic. Before even thinking about it, I blurted out, "But you, you're beautiful."

"Thank you, I guess, but I'm thinking about the elf thing. Who has ever seen an elf taller than most Santas?"

"I'm sure if you act the part, they'll never think about it."

"I hope not. I guess we need elf names. Hmm… Elise… How about Elsa?" asked Nisha.

"Elsa?"

"Yeah, kinda Nordic, you know."

"OK, I'll go with it. Now, for you, maybe we can make Nisha turn into a, uh, into a Nikka!"

"Hmm. Nikka? Nikka. That'll work. I like the name. Thank you."

"Sure. So, when can you do shifts?" I asked.

"I'm totally free. I have only two more classes to finish and I'm doing them remotely. You?"

"My master, sounds kinda kinky, doesn't it?" I laughed before going on, "My boss, who's a master electrician, let me have all the time off I need until after January the first. Then I'll work on some smaller jobs until a big construction project begins."

"OK, well, it looks like most of the others are finished. Let's see what she has lined up for us."

—–

NISHA

I liked her, Elise, that is. She was unassuming, did real hands-on work, but didn't appear to be stupid or intimidated by working with a college girl. And like I had said, she was cute. She'd be a great elf; I was sure of it. I bet the kids would flock to her and I'd be relegated to stand in the corner and talk with the parents, or something. I know Elise had said I was beautiful and, in a way, I get it. I've always wished I had bigger boobs like she did, though I admit I've never lacked for male attention. My skin is coffee-colored and my hair is jet black, straight and hangs to my waist.

This is all courtesy of my Indian mother, who fell in love with my all-American dad when she was at college here in the states. There was some pushback from both families at first, but they're still married and still crazy about each other. Once I was born, I apparently helped all the grandparents accept Mom and Dad being together. Nothing like grandkids to help with that, right? Daadee Maa, my grandmother, and Daada, my grandfather, get along great now with Gramps and Nana and even stay with them several weeks a year while they're visiting.

We went back to sit with Suzanne and hear more about our work. She spent another half hour or so telling us about our duties, what we needed to wear and what we might expect from the kids. Although Santa was the 'star' of the show, she told us we were responsible for how the visits played out, keeping us on time and things like that. All the old, fat and lazy Santa had to do was talk with the kids.

"One final thing," Suzanne went on, "I need to tell you about some of the fathers. They can be, uh, inappropriate. We've had complaints in the past about tushes being groped and in one case, an elf was cornered and kissed against her will."

"What did she do?" asked one of the other volunteers.

"She did what I thought at the time was a bit too much, but now I realize it was the right thing; she kneed him in the groin. He went down and never bothered another elf again."

'Good for her,' I thought before asking, "Did she get in trouble for it?"

"No, but we hope you can diffuse any such bad behavior without maiming the boys. Now, I have the schedule here and I need you all to sign up for shifts. Remember, both of you need to be there at the same time."

There was a mad scramble as some of the teams had limited availability. Elise and I hung back and let the others get their shifts selected and when we went to the sign-up sheet, we were pleased that we both could easily take the shifts which were still vacant.

After we signed up, I turned to her and surprised myself by asking, "Uh, want to go get a drink or at least a coffee?"

"Yeah," she answered, "That'd be nice. I took a gig ride here, so maybe I can go in your car?"

"Sure. Come on. I'm right around the corner."

Once we got to my car, I asked Elise, "Have you done anything like this before?"

"Uh, no," she answered, "I'm not into the kid thing like you are."

"I bet you'll be once we're done. They're so cute and if they're sick, well then, I promise you, you'll fall in love with some of them."

Elise looked at me with skepticism in her eyes. "I can't see that happening."

"Bet you a latte you will," I answered.

"You're on. Remember, I'm an electrician and not a child psych freak."

"But you're human. Anyway, coffee or alcohol?" I asked.

"How about both? I'd like an Irish Coffee."

"Sounds good," I answered as I put the car into gear. Once we got to the little restaurant, we were escorted to our table near the door and the waitress took our order. Both of us wanted a decaf Irish Coffee. The drinks were superb and once we were nearly finished, our talk turned back to the volunteer work. We were both a little unsure about how we were to handle ourselves and Elise came up with an interesting idea.

"Maybe we can practice a little, you know, have pretend situations and see how we would respond."

I was surprised. Happy, but surprised. Yes! Elise wanted to do this right.

"OK, so how are we going to do that?"

"You, with your childhood learning, should come up with some scenarios. We can discuss how we might approach each one and also set up a plan for any major crisis or meltdown."

'Jesus, what a brilliant idea,' I thought before I answered her, "Yeah, sounds great. Could we get together soon?"

"I'm open tomorrow. I've got a small apartment over on Lexington Avenue and we could practice there."

"Deal. Say, two?"

—–

ELISE

I was really warming up to Nisha, who was friendly and a neat gal overall. I don't know what it was about her but I wanted to at least look like I had my life in order when she came over. I spent two hours cleaning my little apartment before I crashed into bed. The next day, I peeled some cucumbers and carrots for a veggie platter and plopped a carton of eggnog mix in the fridge while I nervously waited for her.

Nisha arrived promptly at two and gave me a small bouquet of flowers at the door.

"These are nice. Thank you, but why did you get them for me?"

"Because you were so nice to volunteer your place for our practicing. But if you want the real truth, I've been brainwashed by my mom to always bring a small gift when I'm invited over. It's an Indian tradition, I guess."

"Well, that's sweet. Thanks. Now, you're the childhood expert," I said, "So, what are we going to practice?"

"I think we need to dream up a few scenarios of how things might go crossways, you know, like a kid barfing on us or crying 'cause they're scared. Then we need to have an idea of how we might simply deal with it. Once we have a few plans, we'll probably be able to adjust them on the fly to meet any surprises."

"Wow, you've really thought about this, haven't you?"

"Yeah, kinda, but remember, this is my area of interest."

"Well, if a kid sticks a bobby pin into a socket, I'll at least know how to turn the power back on," I laughed, "But that's the extent of what I know."

"You know a lot more than you think. You strike me as a friendly gal and the kids would probably look to you like a big sister."

"Or not so big, since I'm so small."

"Not to them, you aren't," she reassured me.

"Here, have some veggies and dip while we work on our little plans. Drink?"

"Plain water's fine by me," Nisha replied before going on, "Now, Elsa, let's come up with some ideas."

"Elsa?"

"Yeah, we should get into the habit of using our stage names, don't you think?"

"OK. Sure thing, Nikka," I chuckled in response.

As we munched on our veggies, Nisha came up with several possible 'problems' we might run into. I was pleased that she wanted my input and that she didn't use her college learning to run the whole show. Each of us kicked in potential problems and we came up with resolutions together. At one point, Nisha even said she thought one of my ideas was 'super great' and had nothing more to add. Made me feel pretty damn good, honestly.

"OK," Nisha said in wrapping things up, "We are agreed that with a barfing kid the one closer to the door will summon the nurse and the one with the kid will grab a wet washcloth and wipe their forehead until the nurse shows up, right?"

"Yup, right. And with any emergency, the one with the kid stays there while the other gets help."

"And we have plans for handsy dads and bitchy moms."

"So, Nisha, uh, Nikka, what are your plans for after Christmas and before you head back to school?"

"Well, Elsa, " she laughed, "I'm going to kick back and relax. A full week with no stress, no job, no school. I might pull out my guitar and brush up on it. We'll see. You?"

"Nobody wants to work that week, so my boss has given us the whole time off. Maybe we could get together for fun and not worry about the kids."

"Yeah, that'd be fun. Look, I should get out of your hair."

"You're not in my hair at all. This has actually been fun for me."

"Better watch out! We might make you into a child behavior specialist yet."

—–

NISHA

I had fun at Elise's place. I had been worried that she might let me do all the planning, but she joined right in and made some good recommendations. At first, she was clearly embarrassed about her lack of childhood knowledge, but it was soon clear she had a decent head on her shoulders. And decent heads can come up with good, basic ideas, more often than not.

I liked Elise inviting me to do something with her after Christmas. Although I had grown up in the community, most of my close friends were not going to be around for a visit or anything. I liked them, but some were way too wealthy and felt they deserved a trip to the Alps or, failing that, Vail for skiing. And one guy I had secretly been interested in while I was still in high school was away on his junior year abroad. So maybe Elise and I would do something fun together. At least I hoped so.

In the meantime, though, we had to start our work as Santa's elves. Our first gig was at County and their orthopedic ward. Most of the kids were there for one, sometimes two, nights after basic surgery, you know, putting a rod or a pin in some fracture. But there were some more complex post-op kids, kids who had had major spine surgery or little kids with congenital bone deformities who needed prolonged post-op care and therapy. It was these kids we decided to concentrate our attention on.

Carter, our Santa, was a no-nonsense guy in his mid-thirties who volunteered to do this work ever since his daughter had died from leukemia five or six years earlier. We had a coffee together in the nurses' lounge to get to know each other and to make little plans about how we would introduce ourselves and things like that.

Our first kid was a cutie. Amanda had just had some reconstructive surgery done on both legs and had a weird cast which went up both legs and somehow up to her waist. I'm sure they left some holes for you know what, but she had a dress-like thing on that covered her cast down to her knees.

After we 'introduced' her to Santa, we stepped aside while he sat next to her bed and did the Santa thing. I ended up talking to the father while Elise dealt with Mom. From what I could tell, Mom seemed like a decent person but the father gave me the creeps. He kept leering at Elise and barely paid any attention to his daughter and her interaction with Santa. Fortunately, Carter and Elise wrapped things up before I left in disgust.

In the hallway, we had a little pow-wow about how things had gone. When I mentioned my issue with the dad, Elise had a suggestion: "I know we kind of agreed to let me be the first elf with you as backup today, but let's alternate with each kid."

I agreed that sounded like a reasonable plan, so I took charge with the next kid. Dustin was a challenge, pure and simple. He had destroyed his tibia, the big bone below the knee, and required extensive reconstruction. He was obviously in pain and didn't seem too happy to see Santa.

"What are you doing here in the hospital?"

Carter replied, "I'm checking on the good boys and girls and making sure they are on the list for Christmas."

"You didn't get me what I wanted last year."

"I know and I'm sorry, but the elves can't do everything for every boy and girl, isn't that right, Nikka?"

"Yeah, we're swamped this time of year."

"So, it's your fault, then?"

"It's no one's fault, it's just what it is."

"You can't do the work 'cause you're not a real elf."

Elise chimed in, "Dustin, she is too a real elf. We work together all the time."

"But she's too tall and look at her; she don't look like any elf to me."

That shook me. I'm usually pretty good about deflecting comments about my looks and my dark skin, but somehow this hit home.