Holiday dangers

Chapter 13. Kate

Chapter 13. Kate

When she came down, she re-lived a Déjà vu. Standing by the front door was no one other than Andrew, smiling shyly at her.

He wore a short gray winter coat and dark blue jeans. He didn't even have a shawl or cap on himself, she noticed. His long hair was a little damp from the snow that was slowly starting to fall. Kate thought that he must be feeling cold right now. Winters in this area were sharp and quite chilly.

"Hey." He waved at her.

"Hey?" Her greeting came out more like a question. There was a puzzled expression on her face, and the wheels in her head were spinning like crazy. She wasn't expecting to see him today. It was too soon.

Maybe he came to tell her that he wanted nothing to do with her after all, and that she should not fool herself for nothing. Maybe he was married after all, or worse. All sorts of dark thoughts were running through her mind in that brief moment as she approached him. That was her major flaw. She would usually overthink things and make up all kinds of bad scenarios, which later turned out to be mostly incorrect.

"I hope I am not disturbing you?" He began. "But I really wanted to talk to you. Do you have a few minutes to spare?" He asked.

"Umm, of course." She replied, still confused. "Do you want to come in or...?"

"No need, I will be quick." He told her, still staying on the outer part of the threshold.

"Okay." She was ready to listen to everything that he had to say. She braced her heart for anything that he could tell her.

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" He blurted out, leaving her speechless.

Her mouth almost fell agape when she heard his words. At first, she thought that she didn't hear him well. Maybe her brain was playing tricks on her, making her hear what she wanted to. Her mind was still processing the information it had received, and she couldn't reply. That was a question she did not expect.

"It is okay if you don't want it." He added quickly. "I just wanted to tell you that." He was ready to leave and she sensed it.

"No. I mean yes." She fumbled with words, feeling embarrassed. "I mean I would love to go out with you." She finally composed herself enough to reply coherently. But as she said these words, a soft pink blush adorned her cheeks.

His face lit up in a second and a genuine smile spread across his lips. "Okay. Great." He looked like he was at a loss for words, as if he didn't expect her to agree to go out with him at all. "Umm, then I shall pick you up the day after tomorrow, around 7 pm. If that is okay?"

"I will free up my busy schedule then." She joked with a warm smile. It was funny how silly he looked. She had never seen Andrew like this. For the most part, he was always composed and kept himself upright and serious. But Andrew in this edition was simply just too adorable.

"Okay then." He said, looking her in the eyes, but his nervousness was shown with the hand that he kept running through his hair.

"Okay." She replied, returning to his look and admiring his eyes. She didn't know what else to say, but she would gladly stay like that forever.

None of them wanted to move from that spot, none of them wanted to be separated again. As if the other would disappear if they moved from this small spot on the front porch.

But their reluctance to move away from each other was interrupted by the voice of Kate's mother, coming from inside the house. "You two don't just stand outside, you are bringing cold into the house! Andrew, come inside. I am just finishing with dinner preparations. Come eat with us." She yelled.

Andrew looked like he was searching for some excuse not to go in after all, but before he could come up with anything, Natalie appeared at the front door and almost pulled him into the house.

"Come on in, you must be cold. Kate, what kind of host are you! Why didn't you invite the poor guy to come inside." Natalie was bombarded with comments, not giving any time for reply. "Come on," she ushered. "At least take his coat and give him some house slippers. His socks must be damp by now." She motioned to Kate to hurry up. "I need to go back into the kitchen, meat will burn in the oven." She reprimanded Kate and left, back to her meal prepping in the kitchen.

Kate and Andrew exchanged looks and burst out laughing. Natalie was like a tornado. She would come, arrange things to her liking and then disappear as swiftly as she came. That is one thing that didn't change, no matter if they were kids or adults. Kate's mother didn't take no for an answer.

Kate sheepishly glanced at Andrew. There was still a smile attached to his lips. Looking up, he noticed her eyes were on him, so he winked at her, which made her blush again.

"Come on in." She invited, giving him the slippers dedicated to the male guests.

As he took off his shoes, she couldn't help but admire his legs that bulked as he crouched down to untie his shoelaces. As he got up again, she noticed that his height was towering over her because they were standing so close. Before, she didn't really comprehend how tall he was grown. Yesterday she was wearing high heels and they contributed to her height significantly. Even then, he was taller than her, but she didn't fully understand how big the difference really was. Andrew was taller than her by a head, if not more.

She needed to really crook her neck so she could look him in the eyes because of their proximity. But standing so close to him, she felt quite conscious. Finally, averting her gaze from his, she took his winter coat and hanged it on the rack.

She caressed the gray fabric, admiring the quality of the wool used to make it. There were still a few droplets of melted snow on top of the soft woolen fabric of a coat, but they will disappear soon, because thick wool will not allow such small drops to soak it. The workmanship that was done on the coat was second to none, every stitch was in its place and durable. You could see that a lot of effort and care had gone into making that coat. Kate couldn't help but admire such craftsmanship. And the coat itself smelled wonderful. It was probably Andrew's perfume. The smell was not too strong to pinch your nose, but just enough to draw you in. Kate would definitely turn around on the street following such a scent.

"Do you like it?" Andrew's voice startled her. "The coat, I mean." He said, pointing at it seeing her puzzled expression.

"Oh, yes." She felt relieved when she figured out that she hadn't been caught smelling his clothes. "The craftsmanship is simply amazing. Where did you buy it?"

He chuckled. "A friend made it for me. I knew that you would appreciate her work."

A pang of unjustified jealousy sting Kate's heart at the mention of a female friend. But she erased that moment of weakness from her face immediately.

"Well, it is really good work, I can't deny that. I am not sure if I could pull out such a skilled piece with my current set of skills." She admitted.

"Maybe I could introduce you two on one occasion. Perhaps she will show you how she did it." He offered.

"Yeah, that would be a good opportunity." She said reluctantly. She didn't know what to think about the possibility of meeting his female friend, or maybe even a former lover. But meeting someone with such skills to make this wonderful coat would definitely be worth it.

"Why are you two still standing in the hallway?" Kate's father startled them. "Let's go inside."

"Yeah, let us go inside to the living room." Kate added, embarrassed. She would never be a good host if she kept guests standing in the hallway all the time.

"Ladies first." Andrew joked, making a hand gesture to let her go first.

Kate curtsied in response to his gesture. "What a gentleman." She chuckled, and walked past him into the room.

They were just about to settle down on the couch next to the big Christmas tree when the sound of opening the door could be heard again. This time it was David. He came home from work.

Kate wondered how Andrew had managed to arrive so long before her brother when they worked at the same company. But that question was not that important. Maybe the man just had a day off.

"Hello family!" David announced, entering the room theatrically. But he stopped when he noticed Andrew there. "And hello to you too, my friend."

There was a silent exchange of glances between David and Andrew. Kate assumed that at that moment there was an inaudible conversation happening between them that no one else could comprehend. Though it wouldn't surprise her if the two had indeed developed some kind of telepathic connection over the years, considering they were inseparable.

But the moment passed, and the telepathic connection broke, and they were back in reality with the rest of us, and David continued to talk. "Am I on time for dinner? I didn't miss anything, right?" He was always the most talkative of them all. He probably inherited that trait from his mother, but he amplified it over the years. Kate never understood how a geek like him could be so extroverted.

"You are right on time hunny." Their mother chirped, exiting the kitchen. In her hands was a large, steaming pot that looked very heavy. And all three men jumped off the couch to run to her aid. But she refused. "No need guys. Besides, it is hot and only I have kitchen mittens. Let's go into the dining room to eat. I am quite famished."

After that, no one waited for another invitation. The food smelled wonderful and everyone's stomachs rumbled. So they moved into the dining room and sat down at a large wooden table.