The Fairy's Christmas Fairytale.

Chapter 4

Iridessa

After I walked into my office, I went to my desk. I set my cocoa down and set the basket of candy canes off to the side, and then sat down. Gizmo stayed on my shoulder and wouldn't move. He has a perch in my office and out in the reception. Come to think of it, he has perches everywhere in the building.

While I was waiting for Lavender to get here with Mr Clausen, I sat and worked on paperwork. I had to type up my new recipe and then had some other paperwork to get done as well. I knew that if I didn't get it done now, then I'd forget about it. And I wanted the recipe down soon so that I wouldn't forget it.

I just finished inputting the last of the recipe when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," I yelled. "Ms Lark, there is a Mr Clausen here to see you," Lavender said. "Thank you, Lavender. Let him in, please. And then deliver those candy canes and the papers that go along with them, please. We forgot about the NDA when we talked about it earlier. I dont need anyone trying to steal my recipes. And I think that there are a couple of new people wanting to try them this time. If you need more, I have more of them," I told her.

"I grabbed the NDA when I grabbed the papers for them to fill out after they try it. I'll make sure that they sign the NDA now and know that they need to have the paper back tomorrow," she said. "If they want, they can make cocoa and use them in it as well. There's not much alcohol in them, so they can use them either way today if they want. Thank you, Lavender," I said.

She nodded at me and then let Mr Clausen in. I sat back in my chair and waited for him to step into the room. When he did, I wasn't prepared for this guy to come in here. He was tall, and if I had to guess, I'd say that he was around six feet five and close to two hundred pounds. He had brown hair and brown eyes.

I stood up as he walked to the desk. "Mr Clausen, I presume. I'm Miss Lark. How can I help you today? I dont remember having a meeting set up with you," I said as I offered him a seat. "Miss Lark, I apologise for just dropping in. I was in town and thought that I'd drop by. I've heard a lot about your candy and figured that I'd check out the competition. For a small company that's not been in business for long, you've risen pretty high in the ranks pretty fast. I've been told that my company needs to watch out because you just may pass us by. I even had someone tell me that I needed to find the one in charge of making your candy and offer them more money to come and work for me. I wouldn't do that, of course. But it made me curious what kind of place this just is," he said.

"Well, Mr Clausen, I can tell you. This company is my company and mine alone. I have employees who work for me. And the recipes that they use are mine and mine alone. So I'm afraid that even if you wanted to steal my candy maker away, it wouldn't work. I'm not leaving my own company. This company is my dream. I have always loved to cook and come up with different kinds of candies and cookies. So that's just what I did. And I'm not trying to compete with anyone. There's enough of a market for candy that we'll both do just fine. But the way that I see it, the bigger my company ends up, the better. I have been able to bring more jobs to this little Christmas town. I have become a part of this little town, and I love it. These people have families to support and need jobs. I'm giving them work and taking care of them to the best of my ability," I told him.

"You really come up with all of the candy and cookie recipes on your own? I also heard that you're about to open a new branch of your company that is for adults only. Is that true?" he asked me.

"Yes, it's all true. On the other side of this wall is my kitchen. The only things up here are my office, my secretary's office, the small waiting room, a small breakroom, a bathroom, and my kitchen. Granted, my office and my secretary's offices both have full bathrooms as well. But most of this floor is my personal kitchen. It's where I experiment and come up with new recipes. My company is my life, and I work my ass off for it," I said.

Right before he had stepped into my office, Gizmo jumped onto the back of my chair and hadn't moved. When I was done talking, he picked that time to speak up. "Mom's a badass. And her candy rocks. Love the cookies," he said.

Mr Clausen looked up, startled, and just gawked at Gizmo. I looked back at him and said, "Since you're sticking your nose in, would you like to introduce yourself?" "Hi, i'm Gizmo. Mom loves me most," he said.

"Wow. Is that a McCaw? He's so talkative. I've never seen one talk too much. And I grew up around a lot of them," he said. That kind of started me some. I knew that there were a lot of McCaws and other birds in the fairy world. Fairies are very good with different animals.

"I did as well, but Gizmo has always been very talkative. At least around me. He's my best friend and keeps me entertained," I said. "I can see that. I have to admit, I'm kind of intrigued about this line of adult-only candy. Myself, I cant produce something like that. I guess you could say that it would go against my family's values. But I'd like to get in on it with you if you would allow me to. I have a few ideas of my own. Would you mind going to dinner with me just to talk about it?" he asked me.

I sat and thought about it for a minute before I finally agreed with him. Ok dinner. But to talk only. I'm not agreeing with anything yet. But I'll hear what you have to say. I'll meet you tonight at the bistro on the main street. Give me your number, and I'll text you directions. For now, though, I need to get back to work," I said.

He agreed with me and gave me his number. After seeing him out of my office, Lavender was back at her desk and took him back downstairs. And I got back to work. I have to admit that I was curious to see what his ideas were and if I thought it was worth my time. Let's just hope tonight is worth it.