Christmas at Tiffany's by Marianne Evans Page A

into multi-floor space in a large and less than updated office building near Battery Park.
    He turned toward his office, intending to prep for an upcoming interview. At that exact moment, Tiffany noticed him, and a smile curved into life so quickly, with such unguarded sweetness Mitch froze for an instant. He answered the gesture promptly with a nod and smile of his own. Enticed, he ambled toward her station and came up with a perfectly valid work-centric reason to connect.
    “Hey.”
    “Hey, Mitch.”
    “I wanted to catch you up on the status of the Shelter Helper program for Pets Finding Home.”
    A spontaneous, happy light struck her features.
    “We have a full slate of volunteers for the event.”
    “Already?”
    Mitch nodded, savoring the taste of her enthusiasm.
    “My word, that’s amazing. To be honest, I was afraid we’d struggle to find many people who’d be able to step up so quickly; it’s such a busy time of year.”
    “I thought that might be a possibility as well, but it’s the holidays, and it seems homeless animals tug at the heart, which is as it should be.”
    Her smile deepened a pair of soft dimples at the corners of long, tempting lips… “Spoken like a fur-parent. You should consider adopting a shelter animal when you return to Los Angeles.” Her eyes went slightly narrow and speculative.
    There was a leading edge to that comment, an underlying question that Mitch had to side-step in deference to office protocol. Nonetheless, he found himself wishing he could share his thoughts with her. He was three-fourths of the way through the interview process and nothing much about his replacement prospects lit a match to his ambition to move away from his current post. “By the way, you were, indeed, the first one to sign up. I came in second. I hate coming in second.”
    She laughed at the tease; surprise and delight warmed away the questions in her eyes and moved matters away from a sticky set of office circumstances.
    Mitch gave her a wink before forcing himself to conclude their conversation and attend to the upcoming interview. “Before I leave, I have to tell you one last thing. The pitch to Webber IT was a success. We landed the account.”
    “Mitch, that’s awesome!”
    Her smile ignited his senses like sparklers being lit, like fireworks bursting with color, sound and sensation stretching across an ink-black sky…
    Moments later, JR joined him in the conference room with Brandon Gillette, replacement candidate number four. Mitch bore down on the responsibilities at hand. He needed to stick to plan. He needed to find his way back home…to California and everything that waited for him there.
    Brandon was the final scheduled prospect, and he hoped for a good result, because the three applicants they had screened thus far were promising, sure, but none of them jumped forward as game changers. Until now, until the idea of moving away, and forward, Mitch hadn’t realized the level of value and protection he placed on his accomplishments in New York.
    Above all that, though, came a sudden and shocking rush of…connection…to Tiffany Zelling. What did it mean to almost literally stumble upon a woman like her, and question so many of his emotions, when he was making ready to leave? What could possibly be the purpose?
    Eyes on the prize, Alexander, he coached himself ruthlessly. Eyes on the prize.
    ~*~
    “Oh, Melody…look at this one.”
    It was Friday night, and Melody had arrived in town yesterday. Hot on a mission to find suitable social occasion attire for the InfoTraxion Christmas party, Tiffany stopped in her tracks, dead center of the dress selections at Macy’s. She nearly caused a collision with her sister who brought up the rear. The object of Tiffany’s affection was a strapless dress of purple velvet with a sweetheart neckline.
    Ever practical, her sister tucked next to her and flipped over the price tag. Wide eyes and a subtle choke-cough told Tiffany everything she needed to