Chapter 8: Sophie’s Scheme
997 Words
The Chalet Inn’s cozy café hummed with morning activity. Sophie leaned against the counter, stirring her peppermint mocha with a candy cane while observing Claire, who was buried in a stack of festival schedules.
Claire muttered to herself, crossing out a line on her clipboard. “Why does everything have to go wrong at the same time? I swear, this town is testing me. ”
“You need help,” Sophie declared, taking a sip of her drink.
“I don’t need help,” Claire replied without looking up.
“Yes, you do,” Sophie insisted. “And lucky for you, I’m a genius at delegating. ”
Claire shot her a skeptical look. “What are you scheming now?”
Sophie grinned, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “I’m just thinking about how much smoother things would go if you had... oh, I don’t know, a partner to help you. ”
“Absolutely not,” Claire said, her voice firm.
“You don’t even know who I’m talking about,” Sophie protested.
“It’s Adrian, isn’t it?” Claire said, narrowing her eyes.
Sophie held up her hands in mock innocence. “Hey, I’m just trying to make your life easier. ”
“My life would be easier if Adrian stayed out of it,” Claire muttered, turning back to her clipboard.
Sophie leaned closer. “But he’s good at fixing things, right? And he’s not bad to look at. Seems like a win, win to me. ”
“Sophie,” Claire warned.
“Fine, fine,” Sophie said, waving her hand dismissively. “But don’t blame me when you’re buried in garlands and cocoa machines. ”
A few hours later, Claire found herself in the town square, overseeing the setup for the festival’s charity auction. Sophie had assigned her to organize the displays and conveniently assigned Adrian to help her.
“You’re kidding me,” Claire said, glaring at Sophie, who was happily sipping another mocha nearby.
“Teamwork makes the dream work!” Sophie called, flashing a thumbs up before retreating to a safer distance.
Claire turned to Adrian, who was leaning against a stack of crates with his usual smirk.
“Well, this is awkward,” he said.
“You don’t say,” Claire replied, crossing her arms.
Adrian straightened, his grin widening. “Look, I get it. You’re not thrilled to be working with me. But since we’re stuck together, how about we try to make it fun?”
Claire raised an eyebrow. “Your idea of fun probably involves setting something on fire. ”
“Only if it’s an accident,” Adrian said with a wink.
Claire groaned. “Let’s just get this over with. ”
Their first task was setting up the auction display tables, which quickly turned into a comedy of errors.
“Can you hand me that garland?” Claire asked, pointing to a sparkly green strand on the ground.
Adrian picked it up and dangled it in front of her. “You mean this?”
“Yes, that,” Claire said, reaching for it.
Adrian pulled it back at the last second, grinning. “Say please .”
Claire glared at him. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Adrian said, his grin unrelenting.
“Fine,” Claire snapped. “Please. ”
Adrian handed her the garland, looking far too pleased with himself.
“See? That wasn’t so hard,” he said.
“You’re insufferable,” Claire muttered, draping the garland across the table.
Adrian shrugged. “And yet, you keep working with me. ”
As they moved on to hanging lights, the situation didn’t improve.
“You’re tying it too loose,” Claire said, watching as Adrian secured a strand of twinkling lights to a wooden post.
“It’s fine,” Adrian replied.
“It’s not fine. It’s going to fall,” Claire insisted.
“Then you do it,” Adrian said, stepping back and crossing his arms.
Claire huffed, grabbing the lights and retying them.
“See? Perfect,” she said, stepping back to admire her work.
At that exact moment, the lights slipped from the post and landed in a tangled heap on the ground.
Adrian raised an eyebrow. “You were saying?”
Claire groaned. “I hate you. ”
“No, you don’t,” Adrian said, picking up the lights and starting over.
After what felt like hours of bickering and mishaps, they finally finished setting up the auction area. Claire collapsed onto a nearby bench, her energy completely drained.
Adrian sat beside her, handing her a bottle of water. “Truce?”
Claire took the bottle reluctantly. “Fine. But only because I’m too tired to argue. ”
They sat in silence for a moment, watching as the sun dipped below the horizon and the town square began to glow with holiday lights.
“You know,” Adrian said, breaking the silence, “you’re not as bad at this as you think. ”
Claire glanced at him, surprised. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re doing a good job,” Adrian said simply.
Claire frowned, unsure how to respond. “Thanks, I guess .”
Adrian leaned back, his expression softening. “You’re welcome. ”
For a moment, Claire allowed herself to relax. Maybe working with Adrian wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
Later that evening, Claire returned to the inn, where Sophie was waiting in the lobby with a knowing grin.
“So, how’d it go?” Sophie asked, her tone dripping with faux innocence.
Claire dropped onto the couch with a groan. “You’re the worst. ”
“I’ll take that as a success,” Sophie said, sitting beside her.
Claire glared at her. “You’re lucky I’m too tired to strangle you .”
Sophie laughed, patting her on the shoulder. “See? Teamwork makes the dream work .”
Claire rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the small smile tugging at her lips.
- Writer
