Two weeks had passed since that day at Veronica's apartment. Alissa had texted her every day since, making sure she was okay. Veronica was still shaken up in the beginning but was starting to grow confident and move on from the whole ordeal. Alissa and Sarah had spent the previous weekend with Veronica at Sarah's apartment watching movies and napping the day away.

"So, I finally have a date to this dumb Christmas party," Hwan said.

Alissa turned around in her desk chair to face Hwan who was leaning over the cubicle wall.

"Who?"

The Christmas party was only a week away now, and it had taken Hwan forever to decide on who to ask. His fear of commitment seemed to apply to small commitments as well.

"You know Grace from Legal Advising?"

"Grace?" Sarah exclaimed, also turning around in her swivel desk chair. "Why her? She's so... stuffy."

Alissa smirked as she looked back at Hwan, awaiting his response.

"Well, we actually had lunch together the other day, and she's pretty." Hwan crossed his arms over his navy vested chest.

Hwan was always nicely dressed, no matter the occasion. He could be going out to buy groceries and he'd be put-together. The man had style; more so than Alissa, that was for sure.

Sarah shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be fun once she gets a few drinks in her." Alissa winked.

Hwan chuckled.

"Do you think Gerald and Samantha are going together?" Sarah asked.

"Geez, Sarah! He has a wife," Hwan huffed.

"Doesn't seem to have stopped them before," Sarah murmured.

Alissa choked, "Give it a rest... before they overhear!" She peered over the gray cubicle wall. Gerald's office door down the hall from their team was closed shut.

"Yeah, okay." Sarah gave a pregnant pause. "I just can't stand it! In the office, no less," she exclaimed.

Alissa shook her head while Hwan ignored Sarah and sat back down at his desk.

She was now the last one in her team to not have a date to the party. She looked over to the other cubicle teams in the large office. The only other coworker she couldn't remember saying they already had a date was Perry. But Perry was... well, Perry. He was awkward and breathed heavily, all the time, even when he was just sitting down. He wasn't a creep, but he was not date material either.

She wondered if dog-crazed Chris was available.

~~~

"What do you mean you 'hate Christmas?'"

Alissa had called Chris when she arrived home from work that day. The Christmas party was the highlight of the year at Elixir's Marketing Firm. It was really the only event Elixir held during the year. The rest of the year, each team held their own small celebrations and sometimes invited other teams to join in the festivities.

"I can't stand Christmas. The propaganda and advertising behind it just takes away the religious meaning of Christmas, and makes it into a gift-giving holiday and nothing else," Chris said over the phone.

"We're not exchanging gifts at the party, though. It's just celebrating the holiday season. Other people who don't even celebrate Christmas will be there. It's more like a holiday party than a Christmas party. I know some people who are Jewish and Muslim at my firm, and they're even going to the party."

"It's all propaganda. I'm sorry, Alissa. Thank you for thinking of me, but I will not be attending this," he paused, "party."

Alissa sighed as she sat down on her creamed couch. She stared at the television as the ABC news weatherman began to tell her this week's temperatures. More windchill and possible snow showers on Friday.

"Okay, well..." She didn't know what else to say. This guy was being ridiculous!

She heard barking in the background. "No, Kelsie! Bad doggie."

"You sound like you got your hands full. I'm gonna let you go now. Bye, Chris."

"Yeah, okay. Bye."

Well, that couldn't have gone any better, she thought.

What was she going to do for a date, now? She couldn't show up dateless... could she?

~~~

A/N: Oh, hell yeah, she can! ;)