She tries to stay hidden, but isn't in the best spot for it

"Mackenzie?" Walt's voice carried through the village from maybe 30 feet away.

"SHIT!" she hissed to herself.

This was the absolute worst time Walt could have picked to come check up on her. Mackenzie was currently standing halfway up the ladder, completely topless, and with no easy way to quickly remedy that clothing status. Panicking, she froze, genuinely unsure what to do. Her only bit of good luck, at least, was that she was on the far side of the tree. Or at least, relative to where her boss's voice had come from. If he didn't walk too far around the tree in either direction, she might just remain undetected by the man...

"Mackenzie?" Walt asked, looking around the area where Mackenzie had been working. "Where are you?"

The redhead held perfectly still, not even daring to breathe.

Go away, go away, go away! she silently prayed. I'm not here, I'm not here at all! Clearly!! I could not be ANY more Not Here!

"Oh please don't tell me she bailed on me too," he said, with what sounded like genuine worry in his voice. "Maybe she went back to the staff hut..."

Mackenzie allowed herself a small exhalation as she heard her boss's steps rapidly heading in the opposite direction. But those steps quickly came to a halt. And Mackenzie's pulse rocketed back up when her boss called out again.

"Mackenzie! I found your shoes! I know you're still around here!"

Walt had found her heels from where she'd discarded them earlier. Panic instantly surged back into the elf's mind, especially as she heard her boss making his way back to the large Christmas tree.

Why couldn't you just leave?! she screamed in her own head.

As the footsteps slowed, Mackenzie could hear Walt approaching the opposite side of the tree. If he went to the right, he might not see her behind the branches and the fence. But, as she heard her boss take another step, it let her know that Walt was indeed coming around the left side of the tree. Now, if she descended the ladder at all, she would likely put herself directly into his line of sight!

With virtually no other option, Mackenzie did the only thing she could to stay out of view, even if only for a few more seconds. She climbed up another step on the big ladder. It helped her move laterally around the tree, if only a little bit, at the cost of rising another foot or so higher.

"Mackenzie, really, I don't care if you were slacking off or whatever," Walt said, sounding like he meant it. "We've got much bigger problems to deal with right now, so just come out from wherever you're hiding!"

Walt was walking slowly, liking looking around in all directions. But he was still advancing towards Mackenzie's position.

If only it were that easy! Mackenzie thought. But she was dead set on not letting her boss see her practically naked, no matter what reassurances he offered.

So, instead, Mackenzie climbed another step up the ladder. There was only one higher step remaining on the stepladder, and it wasn't even designed to actually be stepped on. The redhead's balance was already getting a bit more tenuous than it had felt on the lower steps. She tried to use the tree branches to help steady herself, but if she moved them too much she was sure Walt would hear or see them moving.

A much more pressing concern for Mackenzie was the fact that she was now certainly higher than the fence separating her from the rest of the mall. She chanced a quick glance back over her shoulder and didn't like what she saw. She was now about a foot and a half higher than the fence. She could see any shoppers that were at least ten feet or so away from the fence. And that meant... they could see her. At least theoretically. She didn't notice anyone actually looking up at the fence of Santa's village in her quick glance. Everyone seemed much more focused on getting their shopping done, or even just making their way through the semi-crowded mall unscathed. But she had no guarantee things would stay that way...

Mackenzie turned back to face the tree, praying that no one in the mall would notice her. Her elf-capped head, red locks, bare shoulders, and most of her pale back were all visible to anyone lucky enough to notice them.

"Mackenzie?" Walt called again, though he sounded less sure now. "Is she even still here?"

Yet again, the redhead silently hope Walt would leave. If he left, she could get down from the ladder, form some sort of tinsel dress, and maybe, maybe salvage this nightmare of a situation. But instead, she heard her boss take another step around the tree.

Mackenzie tentatively took another step to match, standing up on the tippy top of the stepladder. As she did so, though, she felt a tugging sensation from around her hips. As silently as she could, Mackenzie glanced down, and she didn't like what she saw. The prickly branches had ensnared the edge of her black panties, right around her left hip, in the process of her final ascension. Even now, the branch was trying to tug the panties down and to the left. They slipped an inch lower on her hips.

Oh, come ON! she cried internally.

She desperately wanted to tug the underwear back into place, but she didn't dare move. By now, Mackenzie could practically make out Walt's outline through the tree branches. He was likely close enough to even see the base of the ladder from where he was! And Mackenzie had literally nowhere else to go. If he kept advancing, then she was screwed. Not to mention, she had just made herself even more noticeable for the mall behind her. But she couldn't afford to think about that, so Mackenzie simply focused on Walt. He wasn't moving or speaking, and Mackenzie wasn't even entirely sure if he hadn't noticed her up in the tree.

"Maybe she went back without her shoes," he said, after an agonizing 30 seconds of silence. "She did complain about the heels a lot, huh..."

To Mackenzie's utter relief, she heard Walt turn around and begin rapidly retreating from the Christmas tree. She still didn't dare move yet, even as the branch tugged her panties another inch lower on her body.

The redhead remained still for a few more seconds, until she was absolutely sure Walt was completely out of earshot. Then, she exhaled a long-held breath. Now all she had to do was carefully get herself down from the ladder without anyone behind her noticing the topless elf up on the tree. No one had shouted anything from behind her yet, so Mackenzie assumed she was still unnoticed by the mall-goers. But the panties tugged down around her thighs were going to make stepping down the ladder more than a little tricky.