AUTHOR'S NOTE: I DON'T OWN HSM, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, OR ANY OF THE DEPARTMENT STORES MENTIONED IN THIS STORY.

AUTHOR'S NOTE #2: I'VE ORIGINALLY STARTED ON THIS STORY LAST YEAR, BUT IT DIDN'T WORK OUT THE WAY I LIKED & I LOST MY MUSE. EVER SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON, I'VE HAD THIS STORY DANCING INSIDE MY HEAD & I HOPE THAT I HAVE MUCH BETTER LUCK & ACTUALLY FINISH IT (IDEALLY BY CHRISTMAS BUT IF NOT THEN DEFINITELY FINISH IT). I HOPE YOU ENJOY!

Chapter One: CHRISTMAS IS OVERRATED!

Christmastime was the busiest time of the year for SharKessie, a very popular high-end department store in New York City. Business was going above & beyond, as usual. Despite the recent Recession & everything else around it, SharKessie kept hitting record numbers all across the board. All thanks in large part to its CEO Taylor Ebony McKessie.

"Let's go, everybody! These guests aren't going to spend their money if we don't deliver what they want!" Taylor yells out to her associates. "You all know that! I can't believe I have to tell you subservients this every year!" With today being Christmas Eve, Taylor made sure her associates were on their A-game at all times with their guests on this busy season. It's always been like this ever since the beginning of SharKessie.

Taylor Ebony McKessie was the co- founder & current CEO of SharKessie. It was a high-end department store she founded with her late business partner, Sharpay Marlie Evans. The two women started the company from scratch selling barely used clothes & handmade jewelry from their college dorm at NYU. Within 5 years, they opened their store SharKessie in the heart of Times Square. They were the most powerful female CEOs in NYC until Sharpay passed away in a car crash on Christmas Eve in '04. But instead of letting the company fold under, Taylor took control and made the company 10x stronger & more successful than ever. She knew her old business partner would be very proud of her. In time, Taylor became as cold & cruel as ever. Her employees are constantly scolded on a daily basis & it becomes even worse during Christmastime.

"She's always like this, Shirley. Every year, she gets worse." A female associate in the jewelry department whispered to another co-worker while Taylor walked by.

"She pretends to care about the customers & she acts like it in the commercials. In reality, all she cares about are sales & money! Even a blind person can see that, Elisha. " the second woman said as well hoping her boss wouldn't hear her. Unfortunately, she did. Taylor turned her designer heels and marched towards them.

"Elisha! Shirley!" Taylor snapped at both women. "Since you both like to talk so much about me INSIDE my store, maybe you two should continue that conversation OUTSIDE my store. YOU'RE BOTH FIRED!" Startled, the two women hung their heads down low as they left the department in tears. The rest of the jewelry department was shocked at what they just saw, but that was short-lived when Taylor lifted her head and stared at the group with a death stare.

"If you don't want to end up like those two expendable 'beings', get your asses back to work!" She snapped at them before she turned around to head back to her office.

"Hi, Taylor." Her secretary Gabriella Montez-Bolton greeted with a smile on her face. Not only did Taylor not reply back at her, she didn't even look at her.

"Gabriella! Did you get me what I ordered from the coffee shop?" Taylor said as soon as she entered her office.

"Yes, Taylor."

"It's 'yes, Ms. McKessie!' You are not allowed to call me by my first name; nobody in this company is. I'm your boss, not your friend. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Ms. McKessie." Gabriella replied as she handed Taylor her coffee. Taking a small sip, Taylor quickly spat out the cold drink in distaste.

"WHAT THE HELL? This God-awful crap called a coffee is cold as ice! Did you tell them EXACTLY what I ordered, Gabriella?"

"Yes, Tay- I mean, Ms. McKessie."

"You must've said something wrong because this is NOT the kind of coffee I drink! And you know how I like MY coffee!"

"Yes, Ms. McKessie." Gabriella timidly said in a low voice.

"Get in my office now, Bolton!" Gabriella got up out of her chair and followed her boss into her office. "Sit down."

"Yes, Ms. McKessie." Gabriella nodded as she sat down in front of her employer.

"Gabriella, I've noticed how poorly you've done your job recently. You don't do as I say, when I say it. You called me by my first name within the first minute of me walking inside my office. You can't even get my coffee order right. Even a retard can follow a simple coffee order better than you."

"I'm sorry, Ms. McKessie." Gabriella apologized but Taylor shook her head at her.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Gabriella. This is not the first time I've gotten on you about these simple things. If I have to get on you for this one more time, you'll be spending another Christmas working with me."

Gabriella's eyes grew as she heard Taylor say that. "But, Ms. McKessie, what about my family? My youngest son is getting sicker, and my husband and I don't even have enough money to pay for his medical bills. We barely have enough to keep a roof over our seven heads."

"Not my problem."

"But my family is all that I have. This is time of year where you get to spend time with your family & to love and cherish one another. And I've missed doing that for the past eight Christmases."

"There are 364 other days out of the year that you can do the same thing. 365 if it's a leap year. What makes Christmas Day so special to do just that?"

"Because Christmas is about giving & sharing & loving one another."

"That's what you subservients want to believe. The only good thing about this stupid holiday is that people get to spend their money on meaningless stuff. Ironically, I own and run a department store that makes millions every year and over half of those millions comes from the Christmas season. As long as it makes me money, then I'm fine. Money is the only thing that matters to me."

"How come you have such a negative view on Christmas, Ms. McKessie?"Annoyed by her question, Taylor became very irate.

"I've never liked Christmas as a child, and I don't like it now. For as long as I live, I will never like Christmas. Christmas is overrated." Taylor stated with authority and force. "You will never ask me such a quesion ever again. Now, get out of my office & get back to work."

"Yes, Ms. McKessie." Gabriella quietly said before she walked out of Taylor's office. Just before she can close the door, Taylor stopped her for one more message.

"Oh, and one more thing, Gabriella."

"Yes, Ms. McKessie?"

"Be ready to work first thing Christmas morning. If you don't show up by 8:00am SHARP, you'll be fired on the spot. Is that understood?"

At this point, Gabriella realized that it was best not to argue with her boss again over working on Christmas Day for a 9th straight year. Sighing lowly, she nodded her head and said, "Yes, Ms. McKessie" and closed the door.

As soon as she walked back to her desk, Gabriella sat down in her chair and placed her face in her hand and started to cry. She knew she was lucky to have a job especially in the bad shape the economy has been in the past few years, but didn't know how much more she could take. Her husband of 16 years Troy Bolton had received unemployment since he got laid off from his construction job five months ago. She picks up a picture on her desk that had her & Troy and their children Sophia, Victoria, Dianna, & twins Troy Jr. & Timothy (whom everyone calls 'Lil Tim). How was she going to break it to them that she won't spend another Christmas day with her family because of work?

I KNOW THE FIRST CHAPTER MIGHT NEED SOME MORE WORK, BUT SHOULD I CONTINUE OR STOP? PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE! YOUR REVIEWS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME & ATTENTION!