Grey's Big Xmas Party

It's Martha, everybody. Well, I made the figgy pudding. People ate it. Or at least the pan emptied out by the end of the night. I guess that means folks liked it. I didn't have anyone come up to me complaining so...there you have it.

The caroling was a bit more exhaustive than we had wanted it to be because the elevator broke down. Kept breaking down is actually a more exact description. In between SUB3 and SUB4, we sat for twenty minutes gradually losing layers of Dickens-style clothing. There were no elevators in Victorians times, apparently. Or were there? I don't know and I'm not sure I care.

Mr. Grey and his family were there. Although, the first sign that something strange was happening came when Mr. Grey was not dressed as Kris Kringle. He was in a very smart business suit and, alongside his kids, he had three lawyers. Hey, we thought, lawyers like to have fun too!

It was fun. Until, the rumors started to spread. (Well, the third time the elevator stuck underground, nine stories underground, was possibly when the fun began to wear out a little. Close harmonies become tougher to do when you start to become afraid for your life.) The first rumor was that one of the lawyers was actually a pinata filled with summer sausage. That rumor didn't last long.

The second rumor involved no gifts for anyone this year. This rumor was not true because we were all given brand new shoelaces. Color of our choice. I went for maroon. Arthur got a lovely beige lace. So, Mr. Grey didn't back off of that.

Rumor three involved Guam. A company trip to Guam. Not true.

Rumor four was that something rotten was about to happen. This is the one that spread fastest and touched all corners of the room. It affected everyone, except Alyssa. She left early. No team spirit, that girl. If she was in packaging, I'd give her one heck of a talking to. The something rotten involved everyone getting fired and the factory being shut down all the way to some sort of Mad Cow-esque plague infesting all of us. We would be burned to prevent spreading. The strangest rumor involved something about Mr. Grey's youngest one, Goldman. Something about the child possibly being sick or doing something...That one I never quite sussed out. But...

Mr. Grey stood up at at quarter-past nine and made his announcement: "I am selling the Plant. There shouldn't be any layoffs but if there are you can still keep your job by moving to Guam." There was the Guam rumor made true in a disturbing way.

Well, as you might imagine, that was the end of the party. People tried to keep dancing but it didn't work. By quarter to ten, Arthur and I were home. Here I am now, writing this.

Frankly, this is not the way we wanted to spend our Christmas. Things feel odd over here at Casa Yurvis.

To top that off, we've just spoken with Mrs. Patrick. Tim is still missing. I'll get back to you when I get an update on the plant or on Tim.

We're going to sleep now.