I helped drag the suitcase into the house while Ella settled with the taxi driver. Mrs. Karter tiredly sat down on the pouf in the hallway and took off her sandals. There was no one at home, so I assumed the boys had gone to the beach.
“Shall we cook something while they’re away?” Elizabeth eagerly suggested, dragging the pink luggage up the stairs.
“What exactly?” I asked her. But the girl didn’t respond right away. I heard her open the bedroom door and shove the suitcase inside, and then race back to us.
“How about your favorite lasagna? We have everything,” she assured me.
“And asparagus,” Laura added. “For some reason, I really want Italian asparagus.”
“Well, okay, and we’ll make asparagus too,” Ella agreed and clapped her hands in satisfaction.
“But let’s change first,” I said, calming her excitement a bit and trudged to my room.
When I came down again, both blondes were ready for battle.
“What’s everyone going to do?” I pulled out the minced meat from the fridge and began seasoning it.
“I’ll take the asparagus,” Laura volunteered. “After all, I suggested it.”
“And I’ll handle the sauce,” Elizabeth agreed. I nodded in agreement and continued my manipulations with the meat.
“So tell me about them,” I hadn’t even turned on the frying pan when Laura was already trying to extract something from us. Honestly, I didn't mind her interrogations. It even amused me. The way she cared for us while trying not to invade our personal space. I respected her for that. Respected and loved her.
“You’d better ask them yourself,” I laughed.
“I wanted to hear from you first, and then from them,” the woman reassured me, “but I must admit, you’ve read me well.”
“What do you want to know?” Elizabeth suddenly asked, pouring milk into a pot.
“Everything,” Laura admitted a bit surprised and glanced at me for support. I looked at her with the same surprise, and the woman seemed to calm down.
“Their names are Nicola and Leonardo,” Ella began, and I felt a bit uncomfortable for some reason, “they’re both French businessmen, not much older than us.”
“Let me guess,” her mother interrupted. “Nicola is your favorite, and Leonardo is Adeline’s.”
“How?” Ella turned to her.
“You absolutely can’t control your voice, and from your intonations, you can find out anything you want. And Adeline’s eyes lit up at the mention of Leonardo," the woman laughed. In a second, Elizabeth turned back to her sauce and, lovingly stirring it, started telling everything about Nick.
The lasagna turned out surprisingly delicious, even though the sauce nearly curdled due to Ella’s inattention, and I slightly oversalted the mince. We sat surrounded by the chatter of our voices. Laura tried to make common ground with Nick and Leo, despite her lacking some knowledge of English, so Ella, who in turn was talking to me and Dam, tried to help her mother out with that.
“What are we going to do with the Christmas tree tomorrow?” asked Jennari. I stared at him wide-eyed and replied:
“Where do you expect to get a Christmas tree, let alone decorations? And why, if there’s nowhere to put it after the holiday?”
“I don’t know, I just asked, that’s all,” Dam shrugged and turned away.
“…and then I realized they were no longer around - they had already disappeared somewhere,” I focused on Laura, who was telling some story about us with Ella.
Stores were already overwhelmed with people. We stood in a long line at the checkout, trying not to lose our minds from the waiting. Elizabeth tiredly leaned on our cart, full of groceries, while Laura examined some juice, trying to understand its ingredients, and I was just about to collapse under the weight of the gift bags I was holding.
“I’m going to die if I stand here for at least another ten minutes,” Ella declared, sighing like a swan about to die.
“And you’re telling me this,” I tossed the bags on top of the groceries to catch my breath a bit.
But our suffering didn’t end there, as each of us still had unfinished items on our shopping lists, so we scattered through the mall looking for the necessary items.
“My Christmas promise – never to buy gifts for Christmas, especially the day before Christmas,” Elizabeth complained to me on the way home.
“I agree,” I declared and weakly shook my friend's hand.
As soon as we stumbled into the house, I froze immediately. Christmas decorations hung everywhere: paper stars, garlands, and baubles.
“Surprise!” Nicola leaped out from behind the corner and spread his arms wide. It was absurdly funny to see him in shorts, a T-shirt, and a Santa hat.
Laura couldn’t hold it in and laughed first:
“What have you all done here?” she asked.
“We decided to give you a surprise and bought an artificial Christmas tree,” Leo shouted from the living room.
“You’re all crazy,” we walked into the room where a decorated green tree stood.
“Perhaps just a little,” Dam patted me on the shoulder and hugged Ella, who stood there even more surprised than I was.
There weren’t that many dishes on the table, but it was enough for us. Christmas music and the twinkling lights reminded us why we had gathered here. While I contentedly finished what I had on my plate, conversations swirled around us. At some point, unexpectedly for me, Nick turned to Leo and quietly asked:
“Écoute, qu'est-ce qui se passe entre toi et Adeline?” I quickly averted my eyes, trying to remain unnoticed. I was curious to hear Leo’s answer.
“Je ne comprends pas vraiment non plus. Elle est proche puis s'éloigne. Comme si elle me laisse approcher, puis se retire,” in an effort to act natural, I just froze, breathing haltingly. But the boys, thankfully, didn’t notice me and continued their conversation:
“Tu n'as pas essayé de lui parler?”
“Non, je ne parle de ça qu'avec toi parce qu'elle ne comprend pas de quoi on parle,” De Vil observed, and at that, I could no longer hold it together.
“En fait, je parle assez bien français,” the boys whipped around to me and looked comically shocked. I, on the other hand, surely appeared more than bold.
“I...” Leo began, but Laura interrupted him. “Thank you, just in time,” I thought.
“It’s time,” the woman noted. “In five minutes, it’s Christmas!”
Dam stood up to bring more champagne, Ella lit the candles, and I turned up the volume of the music on the TV. We sat in almost absolute silence, only the fizzing in our glasses and the quiet ticking of the clock on the wall could be heard. No one dared to move: everyone was making Christmas wishes or praying. I, too, while recalling the events of this year, tried to formulate my biggest dream for the future and made an effort not to look at the blonde sitting across from me. Though I knew he was already looking at me.
“Merry Christmas!” A chorus of voices rang out, the clock finally struck twelve, and we all rushed to hug each other. The clinking of glasses rang, and the garlands shone.
“Now, gifts,” Ella was the first to shout.