“Hey man, what’s up?” Tyrique said as he opened the door to Tommy’s office and walked in.

“Hey Tyrique,” Tommy said without looking up from the papers on his desk. “Give me a second, here.”

“Yeh, sure,” Tyrique replied. “But your marriage is at stake.”

“What?” Tommy asked without looking up from his desk.

“No, no,” Tyrique said as he sat down in a chair across from Tommy. “You finish what you’re doing.”

Tommy quickly stood up and walk around the desk in order to glare down at Tyrique.

“Why is my marriage at stake?” Tommy asked.

“Really,” Tyrique said, enjoying torturing Tommy just a little too much. “It can wait.”

“TYRIQUE!” Tommy’s voice boomed as he planted his hands firmly on the armrests of the chair, his face only inches away from Tyrique’s.

“Ok, alright,” Tyrique said as Tommy backed off. “Santa went over to your apartment this morning after I left for work.”

“And that’s a problem because…” Tommy said, letting his voice trail off.

“She mentioned she’d invited a strange man to join them,” Tyrique said. “And when I asked who it was she kissed me and told me to have a good day.”

“A strange man?” Tommy asked.

“Her words,” Tyrique told him. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

Tommy practically flew around his desk and back into his chair before grabbing his phone and hitting the speed dial for his apartment.

“Good afternoon, the happiest place on earth, Santa speaking! How many I help you?” came the reply from the other end of the line.

“Santa?” Tommy asked, confused.

“Hey Tommy!” Santa said her smile almost visible through the phone. “What’s up?”

“Is there a strange man at my house?” Tommy asked.

“There most certainly is and he is amazing!” Santa said, dropping her voice lower for the last word.

“Why?” Tommy asked.

There was no need for an answer. As soon as Tommy had asked the question he heard a moan come out someone he was positive was Kristin that he did not like. Not at all.

Tommy hung up the phone, dashed out of his office, ran down more flights of stairs then he cared to count and sprinted toward Tyrique’s bike which was locked up just outside the building.

Just as Tommy was riding away at breakneck speed Tyrique burst out the front door of the building.

“If you hurt Pamela I’ll kill you!” he called out after him.

Tommy had no time to worry about Tyrique’s precious bicycle when his marriage was on the line. How could Santa do this to him? How could Kristin do this to him?

He didn’t think it was possible to get from his office to his apartment as fast as he did but he managed and, remembering Tyrique’s warning, hauled the bicycle through the front doors and into the elevator with him.

“I’ll kill him,” Tommy mumbled to nobody as the elevator ascended to his floor.

He could hear people laughing before he even got the door open and if this was a cartoon instead of real life his face would be red and steam would be pouring from his ears. This had to end, now.

“Kristin I swear to God I’ll—” Tommy began before stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of only Santa and Kristin sitting on the couch watching Jenilea making funny faces.

Santa and Kristin burst out laughing as they turned to look at Tommy. He must have been quite a sight standing there in his suit holding onto a bicycle after riding as far as he did.

“You do know they have taxis in New York,” Kristin informed him.

“Isn’t that Tyrique’s bike?” Santa asked.

“Yes,” Tommy began. “I am aware that they have taxis in New York and yes, this is Tyrique’s bike.”

“Why do you have it?” Santa asked.

“I had to get over here quickly,” Tommy told her.

“Why?” Kristin asked. “I didn’t call you.”

“I heard you on the phone,” Tommy told her. “Where’s the mystery man.”

Kristin and Santa looked at each other for a second as they put together the pieces of the puzzle in their minds. They looked back at Tommy and then dissolved into laughter once more.

“You thought,” Kristin said between gasps for breath. “You thought—”

This was wonderful. Kristin was laughing so hard she couldn’t even speak to him. There was something about the situation that he was not understanding.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded, frustrated.

“I hired someone to come over and give us massages,” Santa said as she attempted to stop giggling.

“What did you think was going on here?” Kristin said through her tears of laughter.

“I…I…” Tommy stammered. “I don’t know.”

“Poor muffin,” Kristin said as she went over and stood on tiptoes to kiss Tommy’s cheek.

“Don’t call me that,” Tommy told her.

This was brilliant. He had embarrassed himself in front of his wife and her best friend, who also happened to work for him, and now he was being patronized.

“You are aware that Tyrique is going to kill you for stealing Pamela,” Santa informed him.

“You know the name of this thing?” Kristin asked as she turned to face her.

“When you’re married to a man,” Santa said. “You know if there’s another woman.”

Kristin laughed as she sat back down on the couch and glanced at Jenilea to make sure she was still ok.

“If either of you breathes a word of this to anybody I’ll have you both locked up in a dungeon,” Tommy told them as he opened the door and wheeled the bicycle into the hallway.

“I’m too cute for that,” Kristin said batting her eyelashes at him.

“As far as anyone is concerned,” Tommy told them with his hand ready to shut the door. “I walked in on you making passionate love to a six foot eight Italian mob man whom I beat up before throwing out the window into a dumpster.”