Office Christmas Party - Ch. 3 (Dec. 2024)

The community fridge upstairs was so stuffed with food that Zach almost wasn’t able to fit the three 2L bottles of Coke he bought. It wasn’t until he angled a vegetable tray sideways that he was able to finally fit everything.

            He sighed as he walked towards his cubicle within the maze. The party wasn’t going to start until 5PM but people clearly didn’t have work on their minds as they were chatting over each other’s cubicles and talking about upcoming vacations. Alas, adult work life didn’t have a winter break like the old days of school. Realistically though, lots of people took off the week of Christmas, and some even the week after. Zach himself took days off next week, so it still felt like the last day before a “winter break”.

            The cubicle behind Zach was occupied by an older guy who never talked to him. Big, hulking, and nerdy with glasses and bald, Ryan didn’t look like he was interested in the office party and was typing away over his keyboard.

            The woman who worked in front of Zach was an older woman, Ellen, extremely slim with a kind face and pointed features. She typically asked Zach about this and that but Zach could obviously never relate to her about his generation. She sounded like she used to have a wild youth though. She never said anything, but somehow Zach could tell that she was one of the cool ones when she was his age. She wasn’t afraid to badmouth the company and the industry as a whole.

            “Ready for party time, Zach?” Ellen said, suddenly appearing over his cubicle. Her voice sounded raspy like Taylor’s, but in a way that told him she probably smoked.

            “Uh, yeah.”

            She patted his shoulder. Old people always did that shit – touching without asking. “Aw come on, you can do better than that!”

            Ellen then looked around to check if anyone was listening. She leaned in closer and said, “Some people go out by the loading bay to…you know…” She imitated smoking a joint with her hands and mouth. “In case you’re interested.”

            Zach snickered. Ellen definitely used to be a wild child when she was young.

            “I dunno if you kids still do that, do you?”

            “Yeah. I just don’t.”

            “You drink?”

            “Yeah.”

            She nodded affirmingly. “’Atta boy. Kids these days don’t seem to liven up. It’s the strangest thing. They’re more wound up than my generation! Who woulda thunk?”

            Zach cringed wondering if this was going to lead into a political conversation, but thankfully she left it at that and returned to her work.

            Mitch was right about the parties though – already Zach could feel a certain vibe across the workplace. People were ready to get loose. Some actually talked about meeting up at a local bar elsewhere to continue the fun instead of on site. A few people actually ubered or carpooled to work.

            Zach only had a small bite to eat for lunch knowing that the rest of the night would include lots of more food. He had a PB&J sandwich with some goldfish. Jeanine didn’t show up and he didn’t want to sneak around to see if she was in his office in fear of someone else watching him creep.

            In an effort to actually get work done before the holidays, he remained at his cubicle until 5PM started to roll around. Ryan left to go home but Ellen leaned over his cubicle wall again to remind him that everyone was going down to the cafeteria.

            The cafeteria had several large tables and reminded Zach of the atrium with potted plants and a vibe of early ‘90’s/late ‘80’s style. He had never seen so many people congregated from the company in one space before.

            The analysts were still wrapping up work for the day. It was possible that they wouldn’t be free until close to 6PM, but the party would still be very young. Most of the older folk were around laughing and drinking. Zach realized he forgot to bring down the Coke but thought it be better to keep it a secret anyway. Jeanine was nowhere to be seen in the sea of people.

            Purvi was the first from his department to enter the cafeteria. She wore a striking tight-fitting black dress that accentuated her ass. Purvi made him feel awkward because she was a jovial married mother who had three kids. She was womanly and always joked about letting loose and hating the company. A lot of people hated the company, now that he thought about it.

            She was a vegetarian, so she filled her plate with mostly Indian food that she made. She spotted Zach and rushed over excitedly.

            “Pretty cool, right? I’m so glad they are doing this again. I missed when they did this.” She stabbed at her fork in a peculiar manner. She then added in a low voice, “And I want to get fucking drunk.”

            That made Zach nervous. He felt the heat rising under his collar. He laughed awkwardly and Purvi took it to mean that she said too much information. She patted his shoulder and said, “I’m just kidding! Kidding. I mean. Maybe. We’ll see. Ahaha!”

            “No, I mean…they allow that?”

            Purvi waved her hand dismissively. “Melissa doesn’t care. Nobody cares. We’re one of the oldest sites here with people who were still working from the old company. Things were so lax. Like yeah we have to listen to the new policies and stuff but…nobody really enforces them here, you know? Plus…” Purvi made extra sure nobody was listening. She closed in on Zach’s ear. “I heard they’re going to close us down!”

            Zach’s eyes widened. The world seemed to stop with a record-scratch.

“What?” he half-shouted.

            Several people glanced at him. Purvi hissed, “Sssh! It’s just a rumor. No idea for sure. But there have been hints over a loooong time. Don’t say anything to anybody!”

            A woman from quality control distracted her and they engaged in conversation. Zach stood there frozen.

            The first thing on his mind was actually not worrying about finding another job if they were going to be shut down, but about not seeing Jeanine again, or any of the other hot girls for that matter.

            He gulped. He had to make a move tonight. Somebody. Anybody. Even if it wasn’t Jeanine. He may never experience a party like this again, may never get such an open opportunity.

            He went over to the cooler where someone had brought beer. Sneha had grabbed a Budweiser and waved at him after she sat down at one of the tables. Zach always found himself stealing glances at her tight waistline, especially when she wore jeans like she did now. Her jeans always looked so tight, like the button was about to pop off. She was a shortstack filled up in all the right places.

            “Hey Zach,” she said cheerfully. “Sitting down somewhere? You can sit down here.”

            He did so, having filled his plate with empanadas and rice that the janitors made.

            “Selina and the others should be here soon,” she added. “Is this your first Christmas party?”

            Zach nodded. He filled her in on his previous boring experiences at his old job. She laughed, and figured that was a good start.

            Soon, all the lab analysts arrived, along with the tox department, and the party felt like it was really starting. The cafeteria was now loud enough with chatter that Zach had to lean over to hear what Sneha and the others were saying. His attention drifted as he scanned the crowd to find Jeanine. No sight of her. He frowned, and tried to make light of the conversation with the other hot girls at his table. But he couldn’t resist this nagging in the back of his head that he was settling.

            He had to find her.

            Zach excused himself and went upstairs. The facility had become eerily quiet on the way there, with some hallways darkened. The maze of cubicles was still lit up, though it was dead silent. He heard keyboard typing in the distance and thought it came from Ryan, but he had left already.

            The typing emanated from Jeanine’s office. She was there with her headphones on in a call. She looked stressed and tired trying to calm down a client. The zoom meeting had a number of people, judging by the computer screen displaying a bunch of names.

            Jeanine noticed him while she was on the call and raised her finger, indicating that she would talk to him in a moment. He smiled thinly and just nodded.

            He eyed Jeanine up-and-down quickly. She was wearing a black pencil skirt with a tight white blouse with ruffles down the center and on her cuffs. It looked Christmas-y while also professional at the same time. The tight pencil skirt made him feel things. Urges. He bit his lip and looked away.

            Zach waited for another minute longer until he decided it might be better to go back down. But once he turned around, she muted herself and said, “Hey! What’s up?”

            “Oh. Uh. Nothing. Just noticed you were still up here.”

            Jeanine grimaced. “Yeaaaah. Unfortunately I’m still working. Don’t know when this meeting will be done…”

            “All the food is down there.”

            Jeanine checked the time. “Damn.” She tapped her fingers and then said, “Do you think you can bring me some food?”

            Zach’s heart leaped. He gulped. “Y-yeah. What do you want?”

            “What do they have?”

            He described everything and halfway through she said, “Mmmm, just get me one of everything. Sounds so good!”

            “Alright.” Then he smirked. “We also got the Coke. Coke good?”

            “Yeah, thanks!”

            Zach nearly tripped over himself on the way back down to the cafeteria. He nudged through the crowd, took a couple plates, and started filling them up. Without speaking to anyone, he hurried back upstairs. Jeanine was still busy but looked at her plate with wide eyes, mouthing a thank you to him.

            Zach went over to the fridge near the atrium and brought out the 2L bottle of Coke. He squealed on the inside. This was going perfectly.

            Jeanine got off the call by the time he returned. She sat back and sighed.

            “Finally done?” he asked.

            She pouted. “No. I have to send a couple emails.”

            “Ah. Okay.”

            “Thanks so much for the food though.”

            He ate some of his food standing idly there, wanting to say something else, wanting to not seem awkward but the longer he stood there the more he must have come off as awkward. Jeanine didn’t seem to mind though. She typed away and then glanced at him.

            “Everyone’s down there already?” she asked.

            “Yeah.”

            “I haven’t been to one of those in a loooong time. I was still a lead scientist when I went to the last Christmas before. Before they…you know…”

            Zach played stupid. “Before they what?”

            She made a face. “Before things got a little weird, hehehe.”

            “Oh?”

            Jeanine typed away some more before sighing. “Yeaaaah. You know when people are young and do crazy things. Some techs from the tox department did some crazy things here.”

            “I see. Say no more.”

            “Do they have alcohol down there?”

            “Yeah.”

            Jeanine’s eyes widened. “Really? Hmmm. Thought Melissa would have known better.” After finishing her email she said, “Then again…maybe it’s because it’s rumored they are going to close this place.”

            “What?” Zach said, feigning surprise.

            Jeanine cursed. “Oops. Don’t tell anyone I said that. It’s been trickling down from upper management. If that’s true, then we might close before September next year. So that means, well, this would be the last Christmas party ever.”

            “Why would they close us on such short notice?”

            “It’s a corporation. They can do anything they want. How long have you been here?”

            “Just a year.”

            “Where were you before that?”

            Zach went into a detailed history of his previous work life. She was surprised that he actually came from the lab. Most study coordinators were people who knew how to write but didn’t necessarily study lab work. Zach straightened his back; he felt a rush of pride when they were able to connect about what it was like to work in a lab.

            “Well,” she began, “corporate jobs don’t care about you. Even if you’re secure, always know they can drop you in a second if it benefits them. This site never performed well compared to the others. We are the furthest away while all the others are Midwest. Takes a lot more money to ship things here and there. With recent layoffs, honestly the writing has been on the wall.”

            Zach watched as she ate hungrily, stabbing some baked ziti and eating an entire empanada in one go. She noticed he was staring and she started chuckling with her mouth full. She covered her mouth with a hand and mumbled, “Oh my God. So sorry. I must look like a pig. I didn’t have lunch.”

            “N-no, it’s okay.”

            “Come, let’s go downstairs!”

            Walking next to her made him weak to the core. She was indeed slightly taller than him, and he imagined her falling on top of him, staring him down with those gorgeous dark eyes. Conversely, he imagined bumping into her with his face smushed between her breasts. God, everything about her drove him crazy.

            When they entered the cafeteria, she waved to several people she knew and immediately drew herself to them, leaving him alone.

            Well…that’s the end of that…I guess…

            He had no idea where to go from there. She was talking to a bunch of higher-ups, older people he had never met. The only one he recognized was Melissa.

            “Hey, Zach, where were you?” Sneha said, walking by. “Come sit with us!”

            The table was now filled with everyone from his department, chatting, eating, and drinking. He relaxed and figured maybe it was best to just focus on the now, instead of what could happen.

            “Where’s Mitch?” he asked, realizing he was not among them.

            Selina shrugged. “No idea. He was still wrapping up a batch in the lab when I left. But Taylor didn’t see him.”

            Purvi said, “He probably went home. He doesn’t do this thing anymore ever since he got engaged.”

            Selina raised a brow, suspicious. “I dunno…you sure?”

            From out of nowhere, Taylor belched. It made Zach jump and everyone else in the table laughed except for Purvi, who was grossed out. Taylor’s burp had been one loud deep explosion, cartoonish in its sound. She patted her chest and went, “Augh.”

            Selina cackled. “Jesus Christ!”

            Taylor smirked dumbly and didn’t say anything.

            Purvi complained. “My God, stop being so gross. I almost want to throw up. I’m EATING for God’s sake.”

            Taylor suddenly looked as though she was worried about seriously pissing her off. She murmured, “Sorry. Just couldn’t hold it in.”

Purvi went on. “You do that in the lab ALL the time. I can hear you from my office, you know. Do you have a condition or something?”

            Taylor said earnestly, “N-no! It’s just…I dunno. It happens and I can’t hold it in. It just hurts if I do!”

            Zach felt flustered. Taylor was very attractive. Although he felt a deep yearning in the pit of his stomach to talk to Jeanine again. Jeanine had him in his hold. Everything about her was breathtaking. He glanced over his shoulder to find her – she was still talking to the higher ups. She had finished her plate and was drinking a beer.

            A group of people were leaving through a back door, and that caught his attention. Sneha got up and said, “I’ll be right back,” and headed for the group. Purvi noticed Zach was curious, and then she leaned over and whispered, “They’re starting to smoke out back.”

            “Ahhh.”

            So it’s starting to get like that now…

            Zach cradled his one beer for a long time, just sitting there listening to the rest of his department chat away. They all got up for seconds and desert. Purvi regretted eat a lot, and kept adjusting her belt right next to him. He got a little hot and bothered by that. But Purvi’s stuck-up nature turned him off immensely. However, he suspected that she had a certain drive in her to let loose, even if she didn’t admit it. That sudden outburst earlier about wanting to get drunk certainly drew his attention and made him more curious. But Purvi was married already with kids. It wasn’t a good idea to get into that…would be messy.

            Still, the fact that she let out a deep closed-mouth burp rattled his hormones. He could smell the alcohol in her breath despite her trying to hold everything back with a fist. She didn’t apologize either. She must not have noticed how he was still able to hear and smell it.

            This is becoming more of a burping gold mine than I thought…

            The party dragged on but Jeanine disappeared from his view. He didn’t know where she went and he got worried that she maybe left already. He wondered if she went back to work, as she did seem stressed about everything, so he walked back upstairs. By that time, everyone was so into their conversations that they didn’t notice him leave.

            Several people had scattered about hanging out in rooms and cubicles. He heard a group of people playing Uno somewhere near his cubicle.

            Sadly, Jeanine wasn’t in her office.

            Zach looked down either side of the hallway. He stepped into her office and knew he was being a little creepy but was just curious…

            Her stationary consisted of cute little anime animals, from her post-it notes to her pens and pencils. While everyone had a default screensaver of the company logo on their computer, she had floating bubbles bouncing around. Her messenger bag looked expensive, very sleek in black with a shiny gold lock.

            Zach turned around to leave when he bumped into her. He was mortified, while simultaneously excited to see her again.

            But Jeanine coughed aloud. She looked a little disheveled and her eyes were shot. She held another plate of food too. But what Zach sensed first was that she reeked of…

            “Oh, shit, sorry,” Jeanine said, voice low. She then did a double-take. “Wait, why are you in my office?”

            “Looking for you.”

            “Oh. Um.” She coughed some more. Her tone was evasive, if not a little mischievous. “Uh. Yeah. Sorry, I was away.”

            She reeked of weed. She had been smoking. She coughed again and cleared her throat. “Unfortunately, I have to get back to work. I might be here a while.”

            Zach grinned. “I see you…well…rather I smell that you took something to get the edge off.”

            Jeanine shifted her eyes. “Mmmmaybe. I dunno what you’re talking about.”

            “Ellen told me that people go out back to smoke.”

            “Yeah, she was back there. That woman is like almost 70 and she smokes like a chimney. I’m surprised she’s so healthy.”

            “Are you really going to be working during the party?”

            Jeanine sighed as she logged onto her computer again. She typed away for a few seconds before saying, “I fucking hate this job.”

            Zach scoffed. He felt way more at ease now that she was being so honest.

            “Why’s that? I mean, it can be pretty obvious but also everyone has their own personal complaints.”

            “Even when I work remotely, there’s not a moment I can have to myself. There’s always something on fire because the company has us stretched thin.” She leaned forward to whisper, albeit wobbly. “And they have us so stretched thin because they’re going to close us down. Did I tell you that?”

            “Yeah. You said it was a rumor.”

            Jeanine made a face. “Oh. Shit. Welp. It’s true. Sorry. I lied.”

            “Damn. That sucks.”

            “Yup. I’m not even supposed to know. I only know because my supervisor Elizabeth told me, who heard it from—doesn’t matter. I’m just cursed with this knowledge now.”

            “Daaang.”

            “It’ll be crunch time soon, so be on the lookout. We’re gonna have to close out all these studies, even ones that haven’t been touched in ages. That stuff is gonna fall on people like you. So be ready. Or leave. But then you probably won’t get severance.” She shrugged. “Up to you.” She narrowed her eyes. “How old are you? 25?”

            “31.”

            Jeanine reeled; eyes open. “No way. What?”

            “Yeah. Why?”

            “You look so…” Jeanine eyed him up and down. That made him feel both nervous and proud at the same time; it all depended on what word she was going to choose. “I mean. Not to be weird about it or anything.”

            “No, it’s okay. How old are you?”

            “29.”

            Dang, she’s so fine, so mature-looking, and she’s a couple years younger than me?

             “Hey, where did the Coke go?”

            Zach nearly forgot he left it in the fridge up there. His heart throbbed wildly as he rushed to get it for her.

            “Need to sober up a bit.”

            “How are you going to get back home?”

            Jeanine sighed. “I dunno…if anything I’ll just pass out here and leave tomorrow morning. Maybe one of the animal techs brought an extra sleeping bag.”

            Zach had brought some cups and was about to pour her one when she took the bottle and started casually drinking from it. This absolutely floored him. He froze in place watching her chug a good ten seconds before setting it down. She used a napkin to dab her mouth, ever so demure.

            Jeanine prompted him to sit down if he was going to hang out. She told him all the bullshit she had to deal with over the years, pretty much airing her grievances. They talked for what felt like hours, all the while Jeanine gobbled up her second plate of food. In the middle of eating more baked ziti, she muttered, “God, I get so hungry when I’m high…”

            Zach chuckled nervously. He crossed his legs to hide his boner. It might have been his imagination but her waistline seemed tighter…He tried hard not to focus too much on it.

            He realized that in all this time they talked, Jeanine hadn’t belched. She drank and ate so much but didn’t even let out a single “urp”.

            “Food’s good,” Zach said, idle tone.

            “I’m going to miss it. Whenever we have any kind of potluck, Amy and Rosa make the best food.” Amy and Rosa being two of the janitors. “I need to ask them what the recipe is.”

            When she finished her plate, she set it down and sat back, groaning. The buttons on her blouse around her stomach looked ready to pop, the skirt looked tighter than ever.

            “Ooof,” she murmured, patting her chest. The discomfort was growing worse, judging by how she kept fidgeting and patting her chest. She leaned forward as if she were going to throw up. Zach stood up ready to help.

            “What’s wrong?” he asked.

            “Ohhhhh. I don’t feel good.”

            He scratched his chin, wondering if he should get help.

            “Are you gonna throw up?”

            “N-no. I just feel nauseous. Ohhhhh. I think I overdid it.”

            She then pointed to her back. “Can you…can you pat my back?”

            Zach nearly squealed. The request shook him. He gripped his nerves as best he could and approached her, hesitantly reaching out with his flat hand. “L-like a baby?”

            “Yeah. Burp me.”

            Zach nearly creamed his pants when she said that. He breathed slowly, and then gently patted her back a couple times.

            “L-like that?”

            “Harder!” she pleaded.

            He smacked her on the back a couple times, waited a second to see how she responded, and when nothing came out he smacked her repeatedly.

            He stopped when he heard the loudest gurgle ever.

            Jeanine sat up straight as an arrow with wide eyes. She opened her mouth and out came the grossest eructation Zach had ever heard in real life. He only thought such sounds were possible in cartoons. It sounded like all the gas that had been building up for the past couple hours was finally being released. She sounded like a demon had possessed her, a long, loud, gross and droning belch with her mouth wide open.

            The belch ended with a guttural sound. Zach again nearly creamed himself when she sighed and groaned in satisfaction. After a moment of silence passed between them, she looked up at him and put a hand to his mouth as she broke into laughter.

            “Oh GOD, that was HORRENDOUS!”

            Something about her word choice made Zach really start to fall in love with her. She was really a balance of class and crass. Her laugh was beautiful and silly, her face turning red. He knew then and there that he wanted her really badly. It made him shake all over.

            “I’m SO sorry. God.”

            “That was amazing, actually,” Zach said. He didn’t want to hide anything and just said what was on his mind. He took the leap, and openly said, “A woman who can belch like that is really cool, honestly.”

            Jeanine’s laughter dissipated into a chuckle. “If only my exes felt that way.”

            “So you’re single, I take it?”

            “Yeah. Unfortunately.”

            “Cool.” Zach zoned out for a moment, realizing how awkward it was to leave it on that note. “I mean. Not cool. For you. Obviously. Not cool also for your exes. Shame for them, really.”

            Jeanine batted her eyes at him. “Why, thank you.”

            He gripped the back of her seat as he wondered where to go from there. The silence was deafening, until…

            They heard something in the distance, muffled between walls. They blinked twice at it and looked around, then checked their phones. Something definitely sounded strange, almost familiar, but they couldn’t put a finger on it.

            “Is that someone…crying?” she asked.

            “I dunno.”

            Zach stepped out of her office and looked around. The halls were mostly dark by then, and the thought of waltzing down nearly frightened him. Towards the employee entrance, only the red light from the exit sign illuminated the hallway. He stepped forward a little more trying to discern where the sound was coming from – somewhere in the maze of cubicles.

            Jeanine followed him and they realized the sound was definitely a voice, a sort of…huffing.

            There were several offices along the wall across the cubicles. At the very corner of the hallway was a conference room – the only room that was left slightly ajar, though no light came from it.

            As they approached the door, they both blushed and turned away.

            When they were out of earshot, Jeanine hissed with shock, “Someone’s having sex in there!”