I'll Be Home For Hanukkah: The Girls In Apartment 5G, #1

By KK Hendin

Shayna Adler has never watched a single Hallmark Christmas movie, but she has a sinking feeling she has found herself in one.
 

• A Big City Girl visiting a Charming Small Town full of Christmas cheer? Last-minute business trip to North Pole, Alaska, of all places. 
• Attractive Small Town Single Men, Probably With Dramatic And Secret-Filled Pasts, All Wearing Flannel? A strange plethora. 
• Santa Claus? The World's Largest. 
• Suspiciously Placed Mistletoe? Repeatedly.
• The Sinking Feeling She's Perhaps Falling For Her New Coworker While The Spirit of Christmas Or Whatever Is Trying To Have Her Learn Lessons About Life And Love, Which Is Odd Considering Shayna Is Jewish And Honestly Has No Idea What's Going On? Check. 

 

Wait.

 

Is that not how Hallmark Christmas movies go?

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: KK Hendin
• Release date: Dec 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393292005

Book preview

I’ll Be Home For Hanukkah

I’ll Be Home For Hanukkah

The Girls In Apartment 5G

KK Hendin

KK Hendin

Copyright © 2020 by KK Hendin

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review.

Trademarked names appear throughout this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.

The information in this book is distributed on an as is basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design by Sarah Kil Creative Studio

Editing by Amy Duli at Duli Noted

I’ll Be Home For Hanukkah

Shayna Adler has never watched a single Hallmark Christmas movie, but she has a sinking feeling she has found herself in one.

---

• A Big City Girl visiting a Charming Small Town full of Christmas cheer? Last-minute business trip to North Pole, Alaska, of all places. 

• Attractive Small Town Single Men, Probably With Dramatic And Secret-Filled Pasts, All Wearing Flannel? A strange plethora. 

• Santa Claus? The World’s Largest.

• Suspiciously Placed Mistletoe? Repeatedly.

• The Sinking Feeling She’s Perhaps Falling For Her New Coworker While The Spirit of Christmas Or Whatever Is Trying To Have Her Learn Lessons About Life And Love, Which Is Odd Considering Shayna Is Jewish And Honestly Has No Idea What’s Going On? Check. 

---

Wait.

Is that not how Hallmark Christmas movies go?

Contents

I’ll Be Home For Hanukkah

DATING THE OTHER DANIEL COHEN

A Few Notes From The Author

Acknowledgments

Also by KK Hendin

About the Author

To those of you who also wonder what partridges and pear trees have to do with Jesus being born. 

---

A freilichen lichtigen Chanukah.

WhatsApp:

FOUR GIRLS IN 5G

SHAYNA: Welp it’s not even 9 and I already have a Christmas song stuck in my head.

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ABBI: HAAAAAAAAAAA I CALLED IT. I would like a prize now.

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SHAYNA: But I haven’t even gotten into work yet. There’s train traffic ahead so I’m still sweating in the subway.

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SHAYNA: Can’t even blame this on Shannon. Some dude plastered up against me has been humming Jingle Bells for the past four stops and I am ready to commit an act of violence.

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SHIRA: LOL I had to do an x-ray in post-op and the patient is just lying there singing Christmas songs, much to the amusement of my coworkers.

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ABBI: aww that’s cute. You’re working Christmas this year, Shira?

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SHIRA: obvs. Erev Christmas and Christmas.

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RIVA: Erev Christmas? I’m DONE. (laughing emoji)

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SHIRA: Well it *is*. But I am working a double shift so technically it’s Erev Christmas into Christmas Eve and then regular Christmas.

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ABBI: Ugh, Christmas being on a Friday feels like a waste. Motzai Shabbos for the official Christmas festivities?

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SHIRA: Yes please. Don’t worry, I’ll still fall asleep halfway through whatever movie we end up watching.

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SHAYNA: The only thing that got me out of bed today was the thought of peppermint mocha creamer. Going back to work after a four-day weekend is the worst.

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ABBI: Shay I love you but you have a coffee problem

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SHAYNA: Abs I love you too but the fact that you don’t need caffeine for daily functioning is concerning to me

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SHAYNA: Someone please get a different song stuck in my head. I cannot be singing Jingle Bells all day. I don’t even know the words.

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ABBI: Do you want me to send you a nice holiday mash-up?

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SHAYNA: …probably not?

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ABBI: But then you could have Cardi B stuck in your head instead. Much better than Jingle Bells.

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SHAYNA: Not if I’m at work!! I have to pretend to be professional and I think the façade may vanish if I’m humming Cardi B.

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SHIRA: If anyone asks you about it, you can just say you appreciate local artists.

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RIVA: PEPPERMINT MOCHA!!! Also we should probably restock the hot cocoa stash. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow.

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RIVA changed the subject from FOUR GIRLS IN 5G to THE PEPPERMINT MOCHA FANCLUB

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ABBI: eewwww it’s too early for snow

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SHAYNA: Abs you think it’s always too early for snow

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ABBI: It can snow on Christmas. That makes people happy, right? Having white Christmases?

The train finally pulled into the station, and Shayna Adler picked her way through the crowds coming and going and made her way up the stairs and out onto the street.

The first Monday back from Thanksgiving was the most annoying Monday of the year.

Not just because coming back from a four-day weekend was always a bummer, not just because everyone else was coming back from a four-day weekend and cranky, but because Shannon would transform from just one of Shayna’s coworkers to the bane of her existence.

It was because she hadn’t caffeinated yet, Shayna told herself. That was the only reason she was being whiney about Shannon.

Shannon loved Christmas.

Okay, that was an understatement.

Shannon lived for Christmas. Shannon should have been the star of every Hallmark Christmas movie that had ever been made where the cheerful small-town girl teaches the grumpy but attractive man home for the holidays about the true meaning of Christmas while elves danced and Santa made toys or whatever actually happened.

Shayna had never watched a Hallmark Christmas movie, but that sounded about right.

It also sounded like Shannon, except Shannon lived in Chelsea and had a girlfriend, and Shayna wasn’t sure Shannon had ever been to a small town for anything other than Instagram photoshoots.

But Shayna knew that the moment she walked into the office that morning, it would be all Christmas all the time until January 2nd, when the decor finally made its way down.

It wasn’t like it wasn’t pretty, all the lights and evergreens and all.

It was just... a lot.

And she was definitely sure that she had heard Shannon call her the Grinch at least once, which, honestly, she probably deserved.

But the good part about December was the office coffee creamer leveled up, going from only French Vanilla and Hazelnut to adding Peppermint Mocha and Gingerbread.

Shayna dodged another group of tourists, these ones loudly discussing whether or not they should go see the Macy’s windows now or after brunch, and made her way into the building.

The lights were up, the garlands and wreaths were out, and, as usual, there were a few enormous Christmas trees covered in lights and ornaments.

And then, on the receptionist’s desk, was the electric menorah.

Shayna waved at Yolanda, who was manning the desk that morning, before heading to the elevator banks.

Desk, coffee, avoid Shannon, check email, she told herself as she walked into the elevator and pressed fifteen. She would be a human in the afternoon.

When Shayna walked into the office, it did in fact look like Santa Claus threw up everywhere.

Good morning, Shannon trilled.

Shayna managed a smile and a good morning before she headed to get her coffee. There was, she saw with a sigh of relief, peppermint mocha creamer. Today was going to be a lot, but she would be able to get through it. She had her creamer. She had her coffee. And she was pretty sure Shannon had a bunch of meetings that day, which meant she wouldn't be around to ask Shayna about helping her set up the office Secret Santa and what she was doing for Christmas.

It seemed that Shannon conveniently forgot that Shayna did not in fact celebrate Christmas, or maybe she did remember and she just didn't fully believe that she didn't. Regardless, Shayna had better things to do than spend time worrying about Shannon's thoughts and feelings about Christmas. It was going to be a busy day. Post-Thanksgiving meant they were sliding toward the end of the year, and combining that with the holiday season, it meant she had a lot more work she was going to have to juggle over the next few weeks before the offices closed for the holidays.

She settled herself at her desk, pulling on her oversized office cardigan and taking a life-affirming sip of her coffee while she waited for her computer to boot up. She logged in, opened her email, and while she waited for it to load, pulled open the interoffice chat so she could message Laura.

Laura Ramírez was Shayna's first friend in the office. They had started working for the company on the same day and had gone through a week of on-site HR training together, a ridiculous experience which cemented their friendship. While they worked on some of the same accounts, Laura handled execution of social media campaigns, and Shayna worked in project management, and they didn't have as many professional excuses to hang out as they once did.

LAURA RAMÍREZ: Hiiiiiiii. I have some good good news for you.

SHAYNA ADLER: I shudder to think.

The last time Laura had 'good good news' for Shayna, it had started off semi-innocent and devolved into a night of chaos that involved Laura being serenaded by fifteen frat guys in a gin bar in Midtown.

LAURA RAMÍREZ: Don't be a baby. It's actually good news.

SHAYNA ADLER: Okay. I'm down for the good news. But then after you have to tell me about your Thanksgiving.

LAURA RAMÍREZ: Absolutely. LOL It was a fun little disaster.

SHAYNA ADLER: Oh boy.

SHAYNA ADLER: At least there was pie?

LAURA RAMÍREZ: There was, in fact, pie.

SHAYNA ADLER: