Loving With A Heavy Heart 52 The Holiday Rush 1

Elle opened her bank information and stared in shock at how many digits were in the deposited amount. It was agreed upon in the contract, but now that the event had come and gone she no longer felt like she deserved it. That night didn't feel like work. Feeling uneasy, Elle gave Adam a call.

He picked up quickly, "Is something wrong?" He asked as he answered the call.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just that the amount deposited…" Elle trailed off.

"Is it not enough?" Adam asked lightly.

"No, no, no," Elle said quickly, "I just feel wrong accepting it."

"Why?"

"You've done so much for me. To me that night was a gift, it feels wrong for me to accept pay for it."

Adam chuckled. "Keep it, you've earned it. Besides, I've seen the media reactions; it's been a week and you're still in the top five trending topics."

"That's because of the necklace. It was such a gorgeous piece, it's only natural that people are still talking about it." Elle deflected.

"That's not true, they're talking about you. Everyday MK receives inquisitions asking who our mystery model was that night. You captivated everyone, not the necklace. You did well."

On the other side of the phone Elle blushed as she heard Adam's compliment. "Thank you." She mumbled.

Elle heard the sound of a door open on through the phone, and then a third person's m.u.f.fled voice.

"Ah, I have to go." Adam said suddenly. "I'm being called into a meeting, but if you require anything further just let me know."

"Okay." Elle said softly. "Thank you."

Once she hung up the call Elle went back to her work as well. There was just one more week before Tae would be launching their perfume for the holiday's. It wasn't going to be a large elaborate event like MK's jewellery launch, but as the marketing director Elle still had a lot of preparations to complete for the launch.

By the time Elle finished her work for the day and packed up to go home it was already pitch black outside. Elle bundled up and then headed outside to realize that it was snowing heavily. It had already snowed once or twice so far, but this was the first time the snow had begun to pile up on the ground. Elle had to trudge through the snow to get to her car.

Most people didn't appreciate the snow, and Elle could imagine what a pain it would be to shovel the next morning, but she couldn't help but enjoy it as she drove home. The big, fluffy, pieces were floating down gently. It was late and hardly anyone was outside. In that moment the world seemed peaceful and quite, just how Elle liked it.

The snow also reminded Elle that Christmas was coming, which reminded her that she hadn't done any of her holiday shopping yet. So when the weekend finally arrived Elle woke up early and headed to the mall to get her shopping done.

The mall had only just opened when Elle arrived. She was able to shop in peace for a few hours before the place started getting crowded. Two hours later Elle was exhausted, and taking a break in a coffee shop. She sat at one side of a table and her bags sat in a chair on the other side of it as she enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate.

One of her bags was fully to the brim with boxes of chocolates that Elle found particularly tempting, but she restrained herself somehow, settling for the hot chocolate instead.

In addition to the chocolates she had gotten gifts for the members of her department as well as a few of the higher-ups, and a few other mandatory gifts, like ones for her aunts and uncles.

Elle only had two more people left on her list – her father and Abby.

After much thought Elle decided to buy Abby one of the necklaces from the retail line of MK's recent jewellery launch. Abby had always been interested in entertainment related news, even back in high school. She was currently still obsessed with MK's event, even one week later. Elle knew that Abby would never purchase such an expensive item for herself, so she decided to get it for her.

For her father Elle had been undecided for a long time. At first she wasn't sure if she would get him anything at all, after all, things had been so strained between them recently. Elle deliberated for a few days, and for a while she was determined to not get him anything simply out of spite, but after another day or two she finally decided to get him something.

It was true that things between them were complicated right now, but for the past twenty-four years of her life Elle had thought fondly of him. It was hard to erase all the love she had felt for him, even though sometimes she really wanted to. So in the end she decided to buy some herbal teas for him. It was the cold season after all.

Elle still had to get the two gifts so after she finished her drink Elle collected all her bags and went back out to the crowded mall.