The next morning Steve managed to sleep in until just before 7 but the rest of his family was still asleep having reached full vacation mode from the 4 day weekend. His legs felt heavy and sore from yesterday's exertion but after a few quick stretches he was able to get up and hobble to the kitchen.
Thinking to eat something healthy to offset the sweets he'd been consuming he opted for oatmeal. His mom occasionally made it and like he learned yesterday, he can follow recipes.
A few moments later the water was boiling and he was stirring the oats in thinking to make enough for everyone. Intentionally this time. While waiting for that to cook he tried his hand at the coffee pot, knowing the family would drink it and honestly unsure what he even did yesterday. That going, the thought of some fresh fruit sounded good and before he knew it he was slicing strawberries, apples, peaches and grabbing grapes.
Steve checked on the oatmeal and found the mush unappetizing and needing some pizzaz. Hitting the spice cabinet he smelled the various spices and dumped an amount in that felt right... Before realizing it his simple breakfast became yet another orchestration and before he realized it honey, maple syrup, and brown sugar were in the oatmeal along with rasins, dried cranberries, chunks of apples and optionally nuts...
His third bowl in he realized that it tasted more like an oatmeal cookie than plain oatmeal and he had consumed half the pot of coffee himself. Again Steve felt a sense of concern for losing his identity but didn't know what to do about it.
Again others were starting to move and now 7:30 he needed to prepare for work. A glance in the kitchen and again, he had somehow cleaned everything up after himself without realizing and he shuddered.
Weight was the same despite everything, and a quick glance confirmed no need to shave since he did it yesterday. Steve got to work and began his shift like normal, at noon however he stopped, took off the outfit and went to the food court. It was Sunday and slammed. Steve ordered 3 plates of food unable to settle on just one and devoured it as quickly as he could.
While eating, Steve contemplated his new culinary calling and despite zoning out while doing it, was kind of excited by it. He found he had an untapped skill he never considered and wondered what else he could do if he applied himself. Steve returned after 55 minutes and noticed some employees going to Mr. Wright's office and coming out with paychecks. Steve popped his head in and was pleasantly surprised to be paid weekly and not in arrears.
After lunch Steve was walking the 'runway' and spotted someone in an elf costume, without thinking he immediately cried out, "OH ho ho! Is that my dear, Trixie the Elf?"
"Santa!" The elf cried gleefully, bounding over to her beloved Santa.
"Oh Trixie, we have much to do as our big day draws near very quickly! Tell me, how are our operations running?" Steve questioned. Steve was surprised and relieved to see she was wearing a name tag that happened to say Trixie, he hadn't seen her before so that was a stroke of good luck.
"Right you are Santa! Requests are pouring in from HQ in the North Pole and operations are running at 100%. Our reserve storage of Holiday Cheer and Christmas Magic are still brimming and ready for sharing with the world." the youthful woman was bubbling with exuberance and excitement and her energy was infectious!
"Oh that's wonderful news! Wonderful news! As busy as we are here, we all know the North Pole is swimming with work right now. Do you think this branch can take on any extra work to make sure everything gets done by Christmas?"
"Everyone will pitch in where they can Santa! I'll double the cookies in the breakroom and add more marshmallows for the hot chocolate before I give the word that you're letting them put in extra time to make sure all the children around the world have toys on Christmas. They'll be so excited they'll work straight through next week!" Trixie commented.
"Those are marvelous ideas Trixie! I'm counting on you to keep everyone from overworking themselves. After all, nobody likes a sugar crash." Steve gave a warm hearted chuckle.
"Right-o Santa! I'm on it and you can count on me. I'll call up to HQ and have them send more orders our way!" With that she turned and skipped off to another part of the mall. The banter however drew a crowd and had gotten a few chuckles along the way.
Steve calmly turned to those who were listening and said, "Good news everyone, Christmas is ahead of schedule so far this year and we are already 12% through the naughty and nice list." This was met with chuckles and light applause and a little girl squealed with joy causing another round of laughter.
Steve finished, this time around 8:30 as people were trying to squeeze more into the weekend and holiday house guests have left.