Ashley

My boss leaves the room and I sigh, shaking my head. I already work nine hours, Monday through Friday, and now they want me to work on Christmas Eve? I glance over at the calendar pinned on the wall of my cubicle. It was a present from Sam, featuring puppies frolicking in the snow. Freaking hippie. On today's square (December 23) it says "revise article, lunch meeting, decorate apartment." On tomorrow's square, all it says is "party with peeps!"

Another sigh as I take the red sharpie in hand and draw a straight line through tomorrow's plans, as well as making today with an" X." I prepare to leave, gathering my papers, turning off the ancient DELL computer on my cheap IKEA desk. Honestly, you'd think a newspaper company would have better offices. Then again, I'm still pretty low on the food chain.

I get out of my chair and grab my coat, fixing my knitted barett as I do. As I reach under my desk to grab my purse, I can't help but look up at the photos of my friends decorating my cork board, surrounding various lists, memos, and other documents. There's Sam trying to teach Josh, Hannah, Matt, Mike, and I how to rock climb. That was a…memorable experience. There's Emily and I after we won first and second place at the school Geography Bee. There's Jess, Beth, Emily, and I before prom and the whole group at the beach. There's Matt and Sam after a workout, Chris and Josh with ice cream, and Hannah after she got her tattoo. But the photos that scream out and grab my attention, are the various ones of Chris and I. Making duck faces in a photo booth, throwing snowballs at each other, sitting and looking up at the stars.

Most of the photos of us were taken by the weirdos I call friends. I used to be embarrassed by the paparazzi quality they all seem to have in common. But now, the photos remind me of extremely happy and simpler times. Before graduating and being thrown into the world of hellish office jobs that suck up all free time. My two favorite photos are the ones in the right-hand corner of the cork board.

The first is of me and Chris, right after he graduated high school. He's got one arm around me, and I'm wearing his graduation cap on top of one of my beanie hats. We look so young and carefree… I cringe at my exaggerated bangs and Chris' super short (almost buzz cut short) hair. His Joven-hawk haircut suits him much, much better.

The second photo was taken earlier this year, when Chris and I graduated from college. After high school, Chris took a gap year to work and make some money. It turns out, I got a scholarship to the same school he was planning on going to and we were like "Hell yeah!" It was great, my professor was just the coolest and Chris and I our third year in, decided to go overseas. We went to Italy which was, to say the least, fantastic! Lots of free time to wander around Florence, various small Tuscany towns, and to write. In the end, Chris graduated with two degrees, one in computer science and the other in electrical engineering. I (somehow) graduated cum laude with a degree in creative writing and minoring in Italian. In the photo, Chris is wearing both of our caps, trying to balance them on his head. The photographer (probably dad) caught me mid-laugh, eyes closed.

I smile at the memory, taking the thumb tack off the photo and gripping the picture in my right hand. Carefully, I pull To Kill a Mockingbird from my bag and flip to the page I'm on. I pull out my bookmark and stuff the photo in the pages, safe from harm. Without another glance at the room, I put the book back into my bag, turn off the lights, and exit my cramped home away from home.

One short bus ride later, I'm back at my apartment. It's actually really close to where I work, so theoretically I could walk home. But it's way too cold and I lost my mittens last week.

I kick off my uggs and hang my heavy coat on a hook in the front entryway. I hurry to the kitchen, not bothering to take off my hat (my ears are cold, okay?!) and begin making some hot chocolate. I wish Chris were in town, he makes the most heavenly hot chocolate in the world. But that dingbat never lets me help him make it, he always makes me go sit in another room. Sadly, Chris is in Texas with his family over the holidays, so my concoction of cocoa powder and lukewarm milk with have to do for now.

That reminds me…

I run to my bedroom and grab my laptop, bringing it back into the kitchen with me. I pop it open and type my password, skimping my drink as I do. A Google document pops up, still there from last night. I minimize it and tap the Skype icon, listening to the app's whoosh loading sound. I find Chris' alias (Señor Sp00ks-a lot. His choice, not mine) and click "call." It rings for a few seconds, until Chris' (somewhat grainy) face appears.

"Heyyyy gurlll…" he say, his voice dripping fake sass. He looks very festive in his bright red Christmas jumper and Santa hat. I can hear voices in the background, most likely his family.

"Heyyy Chris," I say reply, my day instantly better. "What's up?"

He shrugs, a corny smile on his face. "Nothing much, we ju-"

His voice is cut off by the joking voice of a relative. "Oh really Christopher? We're nothing much? Hand over that computer!"

I hear Chris sigh, and I experience a couple moments of shaky camera movement as Chris turns the computer around to face his family. Apparently, he's in the living room as there's a fireplace and about fifteen people including what looks like cousins, aunts and uncles, his mom and dad, and grandma just lying around. They're all wearing Santa hats and holding hot drinks. As Chris himself moves back into the frame, I can't help but notice an exchange going on between two cousins.

"I told you," the girl, who looks about fifteen, says to the boy next to her. "I told you he was talking to a girl!" I blush as the boy sighs, passing her a small wad of money. So Chris' family thinks we're together, huh? Sadly no, I'm still too shy to give Chris a kiss, much less ask him out. I blush a deeper color and Chris fiddles with a stray thread on his jumper. The woman next the cousins shakes her head.

"Honestly, you two bet on your cousin? That's low, even for the likes of you." She smiles back at the camera, and I can't help but feel like I'm actually in the house with them, sitting by the fire and making small talk. The festive and light atmosphere is oozing from my monitor. "You must be Ashley! Chris has told us so much about you."

I somehow blush even deeper. "He has?"

Chris looks flabbergasted. "I have?"

The (I'm guessing aunt) nods her head. "Yes Chris, isn't this the girl you were talking about at dinner the other night? The pretty redhead who you li-"

The boy cousin from earlier quickly leans across the girl cousin and puts his hand over the aunt's mouth, cutting off her sentence. Chris looks ready to throw himself out the window behind him. I'm just staring at my screen, my mouth agape. What?! The girl cousin quickly changes the subject.

"So Ashley, what are you doing for Christmas?" I see Chris send her a "thank you" glance and she subtly nods her head.

"Oh, uhh… Well I actually have to work tomorrow."

The entire room looks shell shocked. "What?!" The girl nearly screams. "You have to work on Christmas Eve? Where's the holiday spirit?!"

Chris looks pretty annoyed. "I thought you were going to go spend Christmas with Sam and the Washingtons. How could they make you work? Is the boss-man Jewish or something?"

The room and I chuckle a bit. He wasn't even trying to be funny, but it still made us laugh a bit. "No, he's an atheist I think. But he mentioned before that his wife is Catholic, so he celebrates Christmas. But the news never stops, so a lot of us on my floor have to come back. But as long as we get everything done, we'll be off 'till a couple days after New Years."

One of the uncles in the corner (who has a fantastic beard I must say) pipes up. "What job do you do? Where do you work?

"I work with this newspaper company as a researcher and editor. One day, I want to become a journalist and write the stories myself, though my own creative writing is more centered around fiction."

The entire room looks impressed. "So you write outside of work too?" Asks a young boy, probably eight or nine.

"Yep," I respond, puffing my chest out a bit. "Mostly short stories, but lately I've been working on a major project. But that's need-to-know, so keep it secret for me, okay?"

The boy looks very happy that he now knows a secret and has been trusted to keep it. There's another cousin next to him, probably a senior in highschool. "You're very pretty," she says, a smile on her face. "I see why Chris likes you."

At this, I blush, the entire room starts laughing, and Chris actually does throw himself out the window. I hear a small thump as he lands, and the entire room and I just fall apart. A few minutes later, he sulks back into the room, leaves sticking to his back. We all only laugh harder. He grabs a cookie from a tray on the coffee table and sits down in the corner, nibbling on the treat. A girl about fifteen wearing headphones plops down on the floor next to him.

"I have a question Ashley: how did you two meet, and how long have you known each other?

I ponder for a moment. "Let's see, we met at the end of eighth grade when we were at our mutual friend's house. So about eight years. And how we met… Our mutual friend was having a "graduating eighth-grade" party and we met when he pushed us in the pool."

The entire room laughs while the girl just stares, mouth agape, at me. "Seriously? The two of you met after being pushed in a pool?"

Chris and I start laughing. "It's true," he says, shaking his head. "My bestie Josh was throwing his first real party and invited practically the whole grade. I was chilling with my Coke by the pool when suddenly wham!" Chris pushes the girl for dramatic effect. "The next thing I knew, I was in the pool. I looked up when I heard a scream, only to find this redhead being throw on top of me." Chris mimics an explosion with his hands, sending me into a fit. "She was wearing a blue beanie hat and a matching hoodie. I couldn't see her face though because when I "fell" into the water, I lost my glasses! I said to her, 'Hi my name is Chris I would love to talk but I can't really see at the moment.'" He pauses while the room chuckles at the sheer awkwardness of our first meeting. After a moment, Chris continues. "She got the memo and dived back under water (not before handing me her beanie hat.) When she emerged, she had my glasses in her hand. And I had her hat on my head. She smirked and put my glasses back on my face, whisking the beanie off my head as she did so. She shoved the wet beanie on her wet hair and said, 'Hi I'm Ashley and I would love to talk now that you have your eyesight back.' And we did…talk, I mean. In the pool, in our clothes, just...talked. And the rest is history."

A couple of "awwws" find their way to Chris' computer's speakers. The girl with the headphones sighs and stares at him. "The most ridiculous thing about that story is the fact you referred to Josh as your 'bestie.' Cause let's be real here, I'm obviously you bestie."

More laughter. It seems Chris' family is completely made up of comedians. A clock in my hallway chimes eight, and I suddenly realize how late it's getting. I'm going out with Sam and Josh for dinner tonight a nine, and I haven't even showered. Crap.

"Hey Chris, and Chris' family, I would love to keep chatting but I have to go out to eat and then get a good night's sleep for work tomorrow."

A couple of disappointed moans. Chris scoots right up in the camera's face, filling my entire screen. He looks disappointed. "Okay Ash, we'll talk soon, yeah?"

I nod, "yeah, real soon." Chris scoots to the side so I can wave to his folks.

"Bye…" They call out, as we disconnect the call. Suddenly my quiet apartment feels lonelier than ever.

Chris

I shut my laptop screen and turn to face my family. They're all sporting huge grins on their faces as they watch me blush. Finally, my aunt Betty pipes up. "She's really something, Chris. Don't you dare let her go."

Good ole aunt Betty. The best advice I have ever received. I blush and nod my head and the room fills with a small buzz of talk. I grab another cookie, leaves falling from my sleeves. I have no idea why I jumped out the window, there's a door about four feet away. I guess I needed a quick escape from the awkward conversation and thought that the window was the best answer.

I wasn't. I landed on a prickly bush, then rolled onto a pile of leaves. There's no snow in Texas, an engineering flaw if you ask me, God. Piper (wearing her headphones like always) is sitting next to me and also eating a cookie.

"So how long have you had a thing for her?"

The question is so far out of left field, a begin to choke on my cookie. She and uncle Frederick thump on my back as I attempt to breathe again. After a couple of minutes and about a gallon of water, I feel almost normal again. Almost.

Of course everyone had heard Piper ask me that question, and are all expecting an answer. "Ummm…" I very intelligently say, pushing my glasses up my nose. "Probably the moment I first put on my glasses in that pool and clearly saw her face."

All of my aunts and girl cousins (except Piper) go "awwww," causing me to blush deeper. Piper just shakes her head, slightly smiling. "It's a shame she has to work on Christmas Eve, though."

I sigh, shaking my head. "Yeah… It pretty much sucks."

"Do you know what her Christmas Day plans are?"

"Nothing. Her parents are in London and most if not all of our friends will be out of town by then."

Piper looks shocked. "She's going to be alone? On Christmas?! Chris, no one deserves to be alone on Christmas!"

All of my family members are nodding their heads, even little Bryce knows that Christmas is meant to be shared with people, and he's only four! I stare at the wall, an idea forming in my mind. They'll never say yes, it's crazy. But I clear my throat anyway, drawing the attention of the room back onto me.

"Okay," I say slowly, "I have an idea."

Okay... I'm sorry. I know most of you reading this are like "where the fluffin hell is more Out of the Frying Pan?!"

I have no excuses. Except exams. And two broken fingers. And the flu. But yeah, no excuses.

OFP is fun to write, but at the moment it's super heavy. And I honestly am in a really festive mood right now. So... Merry Chris-mas you guys! I needed a way to get rid of excess Chrashley that's kinda been building up inside me, so here we go! I originally wanted this to be a one shot... but ideas kept flowing and flowing. So now, it'll probably be a few chapters. No more than seven though. This is alternate universe (why don't you people read the blurbs?) and I hope it is to your likings. Damn, I sound like Sebastian!

I personally come from a mixed up family, so we celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. This is not meant to offend any person's opinions, religions, or beliefs. It is just meant to be cute fluff.

Love you all, peace on earth, goodwill towards men, and I will see you guys on the flip side.