Joy to the Office (eBook)

A Soul Searching Romance

Aunna Schroeder, Nicole Schroeder (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
171 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-8975-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Joy Bell loves working remotely, especially during Christmas. She was always busy throughout the day; when she wasn't working on the project, she might choose to shop for presents for family and friends, volunteer at her local church, unwind with her best friend while watching Christmas movies, or perhaps satisfy her creative side by baking delicious cookies. This Christmas, she unfortunately had to forgo her plans and return to the office full-time in order to finish a demanding project that had an inflexible deadline. She wasn't the only one with Christmas plans,many others also had plans, which resulted in a lot of sad faces being present throughout the office. This inspired her to think beyond herself and bring a little joy into the office. Returning to the office full time, Nicholas Rudolf had one objective! Complete the project so he could get home for Christmas. He did not want to connect with his coworkers, especially Joy. With her baked goods, ugly Christmas sweaters, and store bought Christmas cheer, she represented everything that was wrong with Christmas. He couldn't have someone like her in his life; he needed someone who understood that Jesus was the center of their joy, not cookies and milk.  Yet, there was a spark between them and a shared history, thanks to his family's Christmas tree farm. Is it possible that a union between them could be a part of God's plan this Christmas?   Nicholas Rudolf

Aunna Schroeder is an award-winning author. She won first place in the 2023 and 2024 Alabama Youth Ministries' Fine Arts Festival, in the Book Chapter category. She is also a contributing author on Nicole C Schroeder's Gifted series. Aunna is a senior in high school who is thankful for the gift God has given her.

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Joy Bell loves working remotely, especially during Christmas. She was always busy throughout the day; when she wasn't working on the project, she might choose to shop for presents for family and friends, volunteer at her local church, unwind with her best friend while watching Christmas movies, or perhaps satisfy her creative side by baking delicious cookies. This Christmas, she unfortunately had to forgo her plans and return to the office full-time in order to finish a demanding project that had an inflexible deadline. She wasn't the only one with Christmas plans,many others also had plans, which resulted in a lot of sad faces being present throughout the office. This inspired her to think beyond herself and bring a little joy into the office. She baked cookies, ordered food, and created a space for everyone to commune during their breaks. Returning to the office full time, Nicholas Rudolf had one objective! Complete the project so he could get home for Christmas. He did not want to connect with his coworkers, especially Joy. With her baked goods, ugly Christmas sweaters, and store bought Christmas cheer, she represented everything that was wrong with Christmas. He couldn't have someone like her in his life; he needed someone who understood that Jesus was the center of their joy, not cookies and milk. Yet, there was a spark between them and a shared history, thanks to his family's Christmas tree farm. Is it possible that a union between them could be a part of God's plan this Christmas?

Textauszug

Chapter One

Friday, November 29

 

Black Friday shopping was a time-honored tradition in Joy Bell’s family. Every year, their alarm clock would sound off at the crack of dawn, literally and figuratively. As Christmas carols filled the air, her mother, Dawn Bell, would run around the house barking orders like a drill sergeant.

Her father, Albert Bell, or Al as her mother called him, sat at the kitchen table. He’d sip his coffee while he watched what he believed to be the best show of the Christmas season.

“Hurry girls! I just received an alert on my Black Friday app! One hundred and fifty people are already in line!” Her panicked voice cut through the Christmas carols like a knife.

“What happened to long lines being a thing of the past on Black Friday?” Joy’s younger sister, Patience asked, as she strolled into the kitchen, and poured herself a cup of coffee.

She was named after their great-grandmother; however, their father jokingly said the name Patience was selected as a constant reminder for her to exercise patience with her boisterous high maintenance mother and older sister.

“Patience, I don’t know what happened. According to an article I read, people were planning to stay home and shop online.”

Joy ran into the kitchen. “We have to go. They’re only giving away two hundred gift cards this year. I’m on a budget. If I don’t get a card, I don’t think I’ll be able to purchase a nice gift for the Christmas toy drive at church.” Joy said as she tossed a few candy canes and granola bars in her bag.

It never fails! Someone’s stomach always growls halfway through the shopping trip, breaking their mother’s concentration. Suddenly, her motherly instincts would kick back in, and she would insist on cutting their shopping trip short so they could meet Noelle and her mother, Virginia, at Betty’s Best Bakes for a late breakfast. Joy refused to miss out on a great deal this year. She was on a mission. She needed clothes because t-shirts and yoga pants were unprofessional.

“Oh, Joy! It’s only ten dollars—”

“For each of us, Patience! That’s thirty dollars. We could purchase at least three gifts for the children’s toy drive this year at church.”

“Well, we won’t purchase anything if we don’t get going, girls. Come on.” Dawn said, as she grabbed her purse and headed toward the door. “Don’t forget the ornaments, Al! They won’t get themselves out of the attic. Mr. Rudolf will be here with our trees soon. Don’t forget to give him the tin of cookies on the counter for his wife and tell him I’ll see him on the fourteenth when he brings our second order of trees to the park.”

“Anything else?” He asked, dryly.

“No. I don’t want to give you too much to do this morning. I want you to enjoy yourself, dear. We’ll see you a little later. I love you.”

“I love you too, dear.”

“Bye dad.”

“Bye, Joy!”

Patience took a deep breath. “Bye, dad. Pray for me.”

“I do it every year, honey. I do it every year.”

***

When they arrived, the line was wrapped around the building. Noelle and her mother, Virginia, were somewhere in the middle. As soon as Joy spotted them in line, she hurried toward them.

“Joy, what are you doing? We can’t cut in line.” Patience whispered.

“What are you talking about? We’re not cutting in line. We’re saying hello to Noelle and Ms. Virginia. You don’t want to be rude.”

“Of course, not—”

“Well, come on.”

Dawn hurried past them. She greeted Noelle and Virginia with hugs and flattery. They were both annoyingly beautiful and well dressed.

“I don’t know how you do it. You two always look so cute first thing in the morning.”

Noelle was wearing a cream sweater, a pair of dark denim jeans, and a comfortable pair of cream and tan boots. Virginia was wearing a winter blue sweater, a long flowy blue jean skirt, and a pair of blue and white tennis shoes.

As they turned to look at each other, Noelle and Virginia smiled brightly. Their resemblance was uncanny, even for mothers and daughters.

Before long, the line was moving, and the sales associate was handing out the gift cards.

“This is so exciting. She’s getting closer to us,” Joy said, as she looked toward the woman behind them.

She was on the phone, so she didn’t seem to mind their presence in line until they received the last three gift cards. Her speaker phone was activated, so they could hear her entire conversation.

“I swear! I could run them over with a buggy full of designer boots right now, Nicholas. I can’t believe they got the last three gift cards. I’ve been standing here for two hours. It’s not fair. I’m so mad that I might need a lawyer after this—”

Patience nudged Joy, but she was completely oblivious. She just kept going on and on about how blessed they were to receive one of the gift cards.

A few seconds later, Patience looked at Noelle. She was just as embarrassed as she was. Her face was as red as her hair and her eyes were twice their normal size.

Once the line started moving and they could get inside, they sprinted toward their favorite stores and tried to forget that whole uncomfortable scene.

For the next three hours, they walked through the mall being weighed down by the bags hanging on their arms. At one point, Joy even had a small jewelry bag clenched between her teeth while she fished her wallet out of her bag.

“Noelle, what do you think about this tie? Do you think my dad would like this?” Joy asked, as she reached around a woman to grab a candy cane necktie off the shelf.

Taken aback, the woman said, “I was looking at that. I wanted to buy it for my brother as a joke.”

“A joke? This is a great tie!”

Noelle recognized the woman from the line. “Joy, why don’t you let her have it? Your dad has tons of Christmas ties—”

“He doesn’t have this one, and—”

The woman pointed at Noelle accusingly. “Wait. You were in front of me in line… you let those people take my gift card.”

Noelle’s eyes widened as the woman stormed off.

Joy shrugged. “What’s her problem? I’m taking it. Dad will love it.”

Noelle didn’t even bother to explain. She just continued to enjoy their shopping trip. They purchased everything from designer suits to not-so-ugly Christmas sweaters.

Their last stop was the toy store. Joy saw a beautiful African American ballerina doll in the window with a ten-dollar sales sign beside it. Suddenly, she remembered the gift card in her purse. A woman was admiring the doll when she walked over and snatched it out of her reach.

“Ma’am, I was looking at that.”

“How wonderful! I hope there’s more just like it in the back. I’m donating this one to the church. Merry Christmas.” Joy said, as she waved to her.

The woman stood there, her mouth hanging open in shock.

Joy didn’t even look back. She clutched the doll in her arms and hurried toward her mother. She was standing in the next aisle, admiring a train on the shelf.

“Joy, what do you think? It’s always hard for me to choose the right gift for little boys.”

“I think it’s seven dollars. Let’s—”

A man put his hand on the train box and Joy snatched it out of his grasp so fast that he didn’t even know what happened. “Sorry. This is being donated to the toy drive at church. Come on mom. Let’s find Patience.”

Dawn turned and wished the man a very Merry Christmas.

He mumbled something a little less than merry as he hurried toward the manager.

Patience had a fluffy white teddy bear in her arms, with a ten-dollar price tag hanging on it.

“What do you think? There’s an additional ten percent off.”

“You had me at an additional ten percent off. Let’s get it.”

After they paid for their items with the gift cards, the remaining balance was seventy-five cents, so each one of them paid a quarter.

“I don’t know about you, but it really did my heart good to get those gifts. Let’s drop them off at the church on our way home,” Joy said, as her stomach growled.

“That’s it! We’re going to Betty’s Best Bakes after this. We just have to wait for Noelle and Virginia. They went back to the ornament store. They have new gingerbread themed ornaments this year.”

“Mom! It’s fine. I have granola bars.”

“Don’t be silly. You need to eat more than that.”

A few minutes later, they met Noelle and Virginia near the mall Santa Claus. He had a small...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 24.12.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-8975-5 / 9798350989755