“It’s really coming down, huh?”

It made a rather cozy picture: the city streets blanketed in snow, the faint glow of streetlights beyond the frosted office windows. But the blizzard had swept in unexpectedly, which meant that any unfortunate souls not at home were now snowed in for the evening.

Which, of course, included yourself and your poor secretary.

As company CEO, you’d given your employees the holiday off. You weren’t a monster. But a holiday didn’t mean the world magically stopped spinning. Accounts needed to be paid, contracts reviewed and reviewed again. You even had a few meetings scheduled with some more scrupulous executives who refused to even acknowledge the holiday. They were the type whose only families didn’t recognize them on the rare occasion they did go home. You weren’t like that. At least you hoped you weren’t.

In a way, it didn’t matter. You were in the same spot as them. Head down at your desk, wrist flicking the cursor between the tab with your spreadsheets and the tab with your email inbox on Christmas Eve.

It was a few weeks ago when your secretary, Reid, was reviewing your schedule as usual. He frowned to himself before double, then triple, checking the date. He chewed on his lip nervously as he got up to knock on your office door.

It was a soft whisper of a knock, he knew you were on a phone call only a few minutes ago, but he was hoping it had ended, that he could steal a moment of your time. Reid wiped his palms on his slacks as he waited. Damn his nerves.

When the doorknob turned, the lock clicked open, and your face appeared, Reid’s posture slumped slightly. He was always so intimidated by the idea of you as his boss and company CEO that he sometimes forgot you weren’t really all that scary. At least not to him. Reid cleared his throat, realizing you’d crossed your arms over your chest and looking at him expectantly.

“You’re working on the 24th.” He sounded more like an exasperated parent than your employee. “Why didn’t you tell me? You shouldn’t be here alone on Christmas Eve.”

His insistence wore you down quicker than you would’ve liked. No other secretary would’ve ever dared to question you, or make demands about their work schedule. In fact, most of them would have been overjoyed to have two days away from you and your unrelenting work ethic.

But Reid wasn’t like your other secretaries. He’d stayed the longest. He brought you coffee before you even had to ask, and made the executive decision whether it needed to be decaf or not. Sometimes it seemed he knew you better than you knew yourself.

Now, you glanced up from your computer for a moment to see Reid frowning down at his phone, scratching his stubble idly. You wondered if he’d had plans tonight, before your working habits and a blizzard had forced him to be here with you.

When Reid noticed your gaze, he quickly shoved his phone in his pocket. He stretched his arms back and above his head, spinning around in an office chair as he regarded the variable snow globe you found yourselves in.

“I would say we’re well and truly stuck here for the night. So what do you say? Christmas movie marathon on the projector in the boardroom? I keep hot cocoa packets in my desk drawer, you know. In case of emergencies.” Reid said, flashing a sympathetic smile.