Chapter 2

Christmas Day

I woke with a start! 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!' I shot upright in my office cot and looked around to see all the staff surrounding me in Christmas sweaters and comical party hats. 'Wakey wakey sleepy head, yer can't be over sleepin on Christmas ma dear boy!' Martha yelled. 'Just 5 more minutes' I mumbled and plopped back down, half alarmed but still groggy. 'Oh no you don't!' said Jeffrey our gardener, and he then proceeded to jump on me. 'Oof, alright alright Jeff I’m up.' I came down still in my pyjamas while everyone gathered in the living room by the Christmas tree and fireplace. Martha had a cake baked and breakfast already on the table with some champagne and orange juice. Wilburt, who was our grey haired and ever the gentleman butler picked up a glass of champagne 'Merry Christmas everybody!' and everyone toasted, me with my orange juice.

We all enjoyed Martha's breakfast and cake while telling stories and laughing all around. After breakfast it was time for presents. Jeffrey gave me a Bonsai 'I've had this growing for 2 years for you Cam, it's a Chinese Maple. Green in the Summer and red in the Autumn.' Martha had made me a red hand knitted sweater with a reindeer on the front. That was Martha. Wilburt gifted me with a white glove as a joke. It was a house joke because I would occasionally go around after Wilburt and re-clean the surfaces, I was a little OCD about things like that. Everyone laughed when I opened it. 'Our present is for a bit later' Mike said, his beautiful fiancée Nadine beside him. 'But for now' Nadine said 'Why don't we take a picture with everyone'. We all gathered by the Christmas tree, Nadine set the timer, then rushed to huddle up next to Mike and in a flash the picture was taken.

'Well I got you guys a few things as well if you want to open them' I said. Martha interjected 'Now you know sure well yer don need to get us anythin Camy'. 'Yes i know Martha but I wanted to. They are under the tree there, go ahead and open them'. Jeffrey loved cars, so I had organized for him to take a few laps around Silverstone Raceway in a Ferrari 458 Italia. Martha got a spa weekend at the famous De le Chateu Spa, she deserved it. Wilburt loved to fish and got a deep sea getaway fishing trip. For Mike and Nadine though, I had something special. 'I know you guys have been trying to decide on your honeymoon and I hope it's not an imposition, but if you want it I would love to send you both to Mauritius for your honeymoon. A cabin on the ocean, spa treatments, restaurants and snorkelling. All expenses paid. That's of course if you want it, otherwise we can organize something else'. Mike and Nadine looked at me in silence. Mike spoke first 'I, I don know what te say Cam. That's more than we could have ever expected'. 'Well is that something you would like?' I asked. Nadine spoke tenderly 'It's lovely Cam, but we couldn't accept something like that'. 'Well if you like it then just say yes. Mike is like family to us, which means you are like family too. It's the least I could do, so hopefully you guys will enjoy it.' 'Thank you Cam, this means a lot to us...' Mike replied and they both drew me in for a hug. 'Aw come on then' Jeffrey said and it somehow turned into a big group hug.

The rest of the day was spent listening to Christmas carols, enjoying Martha and Wilburt's Christmas lunch and sharing old stories. At some point in the evening I stopped and looked around. Most of the people in that room had been with me for the better part of my life. And even though my parents weren't there to celebrate Christmas, I was still with family.

The day became evening and as the laughter started winding down I quietly broke away to check my work and emails. I lumbered up the stairs to the office, switched the TV's to Bloomburg and CNBC and started with my usual check of emails, stocks and balance sheets. Unknown to the outside world I had been managing our family’s investment portfolio for years, so there was never a day off. I was in the middle of replying to an email from a restaurant manager when all of a sudden every screen in the room went black. Hmm, this was unusual. I tried tapping some keys and fiddled with some of the touch screens - nothing. The lights were still on, it was just the screens that had gone off. I reached down so I could unplug the system and restart it when I heard something in the room. An unfamiliar voice.