Chapter 32: St. Nicholas, Part 1

As Corey led Serendipity through the town square, everyone they met greeted him by name, with a cheerful smile, and a welcoming nod to his newest recruit, though most of them had no idea who she was at this juncture. Serendipity would have liked to stop and speak to each of them--every elf, toymaker, child, even those she couldn't quite name (perhaps they were fairies or gnomes?)猘s they crossed her path, but Corey insisted they would have time later to chat with the current residents, and he continued to draw her along the snow-covered path, her arm still locked securely through his.
Approaching the large structure Serendipity had marveled at from the air, she took a deep breath and stopped in her tracks, attempting to take it all in. Corey let go of her arm and stood a few steps in front, waiting for her to recover. "Is this Santa's Workshop?" she asked, her hands clasped together in front of her face.
"Yes, of course," Corey nodded, gesturing toward the large carved wooden sign that hung across most of the length of the building atop the span of two sets of double doors. It read, in big block print, "Santa's Workshop."
"Right," Serendipity nodded, realizing that if she could read, she would have known that.?Her face lost a bit of the glimmer from before, but she still stared in awe. "How amazing!" she whispered, looking up at several stories of glass windows and the brightly dressed elves scurrying about with various toys, different patterns of wrapping paper, and other items essential to making and finishing off Christmas presents.
Corey hadn't considered the fact that Serendipity was not capable of reading the sign until after he had pointed it out to her, a deed that left him shaking his head at his own insensitivity once again. Rather than attempting an apology, and the possibility of embarrassing her further still, he decided to act as if he had forgotten her illiteracy, with a note to himself to be more aware in the future. After several moments of watching her stare up at the building with a childish gleam in her eye and a wide smile on her face, he finally asked, "Are you ready to go inside then?"
"Oh, yes," Serendipity nodded, tearing her eyes away from the structure at last and smiling into those familiar green ones.?
As Corey led her inside, they were instantly greeted by dozens of working elves, each of whom called out, "Merry Christmas!" which Serendipity would have found rather odd considering Christmas was over months ago were she not standing in Santa's Workshop at the North Pole. Instead, she answered with a jolly, "Merry Christmas!" in return. She noticed, and found it rather odd, that though Corey always acknowledged the speaker, he only chose to say, "Hello," or "Good evening," in response, never "Merry Christmas."
Once they had crossed through what Serendipity could only describe as several work rooms, all with obvious purposes, such as stuffed bear assembly, wooden block carving, or her favorite, doll dressing, they came to a tall red door encased in a gold frame with two circular windows so low to the ground Serendipity would have had to stoop to look through. "Are these peepholes for the elves?" she asked as Corey opened the door without checking to see if anyone else was coming out.
"Yes," he replied. "Safety first."
Serendipity raised both eyebrows and followed him through, wondering how he knew no one was coming, and found herself standing in a long, dark hallway. Though the gray stone that made up the floor and the walls, even the ceiling, gleamed in the dim light that reached through the windows in the door, the ambiance seemed to have changed. "Where are we?" she asked quietly.
"This is a shortcut to our destination, though this hall is used primarily for the elves to transport finished product to the storage rooms, which are off of this hallway," he explained, gesturing toward a hall that circled off to their left. "There are other ways to reach the main offices, but this is the most direct path."
"I see. And are we in a hurry?" Serendipity asked, stepping more quickly to keep up with him.
Corey slowed his pace a bit. "Forgive me. I am almost always in a hurry."
Serendipity bowed her head in acceptance and said quietly, "I should think if anyone were to be in a hurry, it should be me. I am, after all, the one who came here solely to collect my friend and then head home."
"Indeed," Corey agreed, saying nothing more. They walked on in silence for a few more moments before the hallway curved and finished at another set of doors, this one exactly the same as the last save there were no peepholes this time. Corey pushed the door on the right open and held it for Serendipity to pass through, which led her to the bottom of a very tall, very red staircase with a sparkling golden banister rail.
"Oh, my," Serendipity muttered under her breath. Corey offered her his arm again, which she accepted, and placing her right hand on the railing, she began her ascent, wondering if her idle lungs would be up to such a challenge.
About halfway up, Corey paused and asked, "Do you need to stop for a rest?"
"No, I'm fine," Serendipity insisted, though she noticed she was beginning to puff a bit.?"How in the world does St. Nicholas climb this staircase so many times a day?" she asked, wondering if he was not as jolly as Mr. Clement C. Moore had made him out to be.
Corey laughed. "If you have magic, as St. Nicholas does, there's no need to climb the stairs."
"Oh, right," Serendipity nodded.?"So, do you generally just magic your way to the top?"
"Yes," Corey replied. "Or use the elevator, which is on the other side of the building."