Read Holiday Delights: Volume One - The Escape for Free Online

~Volume One – The
Escape~
    Kelsey Truman shook her
wet raincoat as she walked through the double glass doors of the
Vanderbilt building and headed to the elevators. “Damn rain!” she
exclaimed, pressing the button for the 17 th floor furiously. The
elevator gave that familiar “ding” sound and Kelsey stepped into
the empty elevator.
    On this dreary Monday morning, Kelsey was
late. She always arrived at the office at least 30 minutes before
everyone else, but today was a fluke. She woke up late – after her
fiancé, Carl, cancelled their date because of a cold, she decided
to go out late with her best friend, Alex, who was leaving the next
day another one of her long trips. Normally, Kelsey hated staying
out late, but it might be months before she saw Alex again. They
stayed out late and she stumbled home at 3 am after a night of
Jaeger bombs and karaoke in Chinatown.
    Normally, she could make it to work in no
time if she took a cab. However, a freak rainstorm appeared out of
nowhere, surprising thousands of New Yorkers, causing traffic jams
and lines for the buses and subways. She checked her watch – 10:31
am.
    “ Misfortune always comes
in threes…”, she muttered to no one in particular. At least that’s
what her dad always said. Or perhaps it’s time to buy a lottery
ticket, she thought. At least that’s what her mom said – if you’re
having a series of bad luck, then it should turn around for the
better and there’s nothing like winning millions of dollars to make
even the worst days turn great. Unfortunately, Kelsey’s mom never
won the lottery, but her dad always made sure to guard himself
against the other two misfortunes he knew were coming his
way.
    Kelsey’s thoughts were
interrupted by the opening of the doors to the
16 th floor, occupied by her company, Synergy Hedge Funds. Kelsey
worked her way from executive assistant to Senior Analyst in a mere
3 years, and the youngest at 25 years old. She simply was a whiz
with numbers and always made the company money. Four years later,
she was in charge of their charitable trust accounts, managing the
money of some of New York’s elite. Kelsey walked sheepishly to her
office, ignoring the stares and looks from people around her. As
she approached her assistant, Julia, she tried to put on a smile,
but it did not reach her light blue eyes.
    “ Julia!” she said to the
young girl. “Could you have the Devonshire account reports to my
office, please?” She had been working for months on trying to
acquire Devonshire Trusts and Foundation and she had a feeling she
was about to land it.
    Julie stared at her, wanting to say
something else. “But…but…”
    “ Thanks!” she yanked the
door to her office open, saying a silent prayer of thanks that no
one else noticed she was late. She walked in, but stopped at the
site that greeted her. “What the – “
    There were boxes everywhere and two security
guards with their arms crossed on either side of her desk as her
supervisor, Martin Finklestein, rummaged through her drawers.
    “ What are you doing,
Marty?” she asked.
    Marty looked up at her with a smug look.
    “ Well, well, you’re
finally here.”
    Kelsey’s eyebrows shot up.
    “ Marty…What is going on
here?”
    “ Harummph!” he answered,
sat down on her chair and put his feet up on her beautiful, oak
table. “I regret to inform you, Kelsey, that your services are no
longer needed here at Synergy.”
    “ What?!” she exclaimed,
“that’s…that’s…!” she was too timid, too shocked to get her words
out. “What is the meaning of this? I’ll call Frank-“
    “ Frank was let go of the
board too, Kelsey,” he said somberly. “They had an emergency
meeting over the weekend and decided he’s no longer fit to run this
company.”
    Kelsey couldn’t believe it. Frank Langer,
her mentor and CEO of Synergy, was…fired?
    “ That’s preposterous! Yes,
things haven’t been going well, but that’s the economy!”
    “ Well, try