Submitted by CATMAN
The economy sucks, and so does my job at the department store at the mall. On top of everything, some screwball genius in the front office, decided to transfer me to the 'Toy Department'. WAS THIS SOME FRINGING JOKE? Everyone knows, the toy department is the worst place to work during the Christmas holiday shopping season. "Black Friday" on Thanksgiving weekend, wore me out with crazed shoppers fighting over sales items! That was just the beginning! We seldom had enough merchandise to meet the demand of our weekly sale advertisements in the newspapers. I was the brunt of irate shoppers who demanded to buy this years' latest stupid kid's crap!
It's not that I dislike kids, but...HELLO WORLD, I AM GAY!!! Some of the little kids are polite and well behaved, but I don't have any tolerance for the little snot nosed little spoiled brats and their snooty demanding mothers! Just to keep my job, I tried my best to deal with the customers. I'm sure there must have been numerous complaints to my supervisor about my "attitude".
As absolutely horrible as my job was, I had to sympathize with the poor sucker that got stuck with being the store's 'Santa Claus' in our department. His hours were longer than mine. With few breaks, he had to deal with the abuse of the kids all day. With his cool demeanor, he always seemed to have everything under control. We never got a chance to get acquainted because of the constant long lines of kids waiting to talk to Santa and the shoppers crowded around my cash register.
Finally, Christmas Eve arrived. The higher ups in the front office decided to keep the store open till 11 p.m. I was totally pissed that they left early, and didn't consider the employees who might want to be home with their families. Hey, I'm gay, but I was just tired and wanted to go home to my empty apartment.
By the time I finally closed out my department, I was one of the last in the store to leave the building. The employee parking lot was now almost empty with just a few random cars left. As I was unlocking my car door, I heard footsteps behind me. Just my luck...DAMN! Was I going to be mugged or car-jacked on Christmas Eve? I swung around with my cell phone in my hand, ready to dial 911.
Approaching me was a hot looking man in his late twenties. He said, "Oh Gee, I'm sorry if I startled you! We've worked together for six weeks and have never met. I just wanted to introduce myself..... I'm Matt, the store Santa!"
i was shocked! I always assumed that "Santa" was some rotund elderly man in that costume. Matt was strikingly handsome, lean and fit, and nothing like anything I expected. We shook hands and he said, "It sure has been crazy these past weeks. For both of us. Now that it's over for me, I guess I'll have to go out and get a regular job. I feel sorry for you, because you just get the one day break till they bring everything back for exchange or refunds. I almost feel lucky to be unemployed! Santa Claus doesn't have a 'complaint department'."
We both shared a laugh, then I said, "I'm just taking a chance here, but would you like to go somewhere for coffee or a drink? I'm trying to wind down from work."
He agreed, so we left his car to retrieve later. I guess because it was Christmas Eve, all of my usual late night spots were closed. Finally, after driving around for a half hour, I suggested, "I've got a nice bottle of cognac and a really good blend of coffee beans, which I grind myself. Let's just go to my apartment."
Once in the door, I didn't bother with lights. I plugged in the lights to my Christmas tree and turned on the gas jets in my fireplace to illuminate the room. It gave a magical look to my dreary apartment. Matt sat on my sofa and it looked like he was mesmerized by my tree lights. He said, "Tim, If you don't mind, the caffeine would just keep me awake, but a little cognac sounds good." I poured the two of us big brandy snifters and joined him on the sofa.
I kicked off my shoes because..."I've been on my feet all day!" He made a joke...."It was'nt any easier to be sitting on my ass all month! We just hurt in different places!" (My first thought was: "if you rub my feet, I will be happy to rub your ass!" , instead, I took the joke a little further.) "Everyone today was a 'pain in the ass!' ". We both had a good laugh but the humor did not last very long.
I was a little melancholy, since I was far away from my family this year for the holidays. Matt was in the same boat. He had been estranged from his family for several years. I guess it was a second round of cognac, and the atmosphere of the Christmas tree lights that loosened us up enough to share some of our Christmas memories. I learned that Matt was GAY when he told me about loosing his male lover five years ago. The relationship had ended tragically on a 'New Year's Eve' with a car crash. A drunk driver t-bowed their car while they were driving home from a party. With a broken leg and cracked ribs, Matt had to bury 'the great love of his life!". There was nothing I could say, his story had 'trumped' all of my bad holiday memories with my dysfunctional family.
As he related the story to me, I saw the pain in his eyes and my heart went out to him. I put an arm around his shoulder, and he collapsed against me, sobbing gently. He nuzzled my neck, as I held him. It had been a long time since I had a man in my arms. Before I knew it, it was 2 am. I convinced him to just stay the night, so that neither of us would be alone on Christmas Eve. In my bedroom, we both checked each other out as we stripped down. Matt had an awesome toned body and was well hung. We crawled under the covers and I turned on my clock radio. "Silent Night" played softly as we met in the middle of the bed and just held each other, till I fell asleep.
I'm not sure how long I slept, but I woke all alone in the bed. I found Matt sitting naked on the floor staring at my Christmas tree. I joined him and asked if he was okay. He just gazed at the tree as he very quietly said, "I'm fine. Sorry that I broke down earlier in front of you. That's the first time I've cried in five years. I feel really embarrassed. I've been sitting here thinking about it, and maybe, it's time for me to move on, and get my life back together again. I like you Tim...a lot!....I hope this doesn't sound too forward... but... Please?.....could we make love here by the tree? It would be a nice Christmas gift....my gift to you...and one that I have wanted for a very long time."
He certainly didn't have to ask twice. The sex, was at once, both passionate and tender. Much more than I could have hoped for. Eventually, we both fell asleep under the branches of the tree and woke in the morning as a 'gift' for each other.. Maybe the true spirit of Christmas is: "just reaching out and sharing ourselves with each other", or maybe the magic of a visit from Santa!
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