Holiday dangers

Chapter 3. Kate

Chapter 3. Kate

After an hour and a half of flight, they landed at the airport in Minneapolis, from which she would catch a cab and drive to her hometown. There were no direct flights to her small town, but the nearest town that had an airport was only three hours' drive away, so it wasn't too far.

After the initial incident with Oliver and his constant talking, the rest of the flight went smoothly and without problems. However, poor Oliver was so embarrassed that he seemed to disappear into his seat. She somehow felt sorry for him. But she kept quiet because she didn't want to be misunderstood again and to give him any false hope.

She even found it a little funny how quickly he gathered his things and ran off from the plane as soon as they landed. The old lady even chuckled when she saw him in a hurry like that.

"Thank you again." Kate said, giving a warm smile to the lady.

"Your welcome sweetie. But you need to learn how to stand up for yourself. They will never learn to read between the lines, so you have to be sharp and clear about what you want or don't want." She gave Kate some advice, probably from experience.

"Thank you." Kate said, chuckling softly. "I will definitely try to be more clear when speaking from now on."

"Bye sweetie, and happy holidays!" The elderly lady greeted her as they went their separate ways at the gate.

"Goodbye." Kate waved to her too. "And happy holidays to you and your grandkids."

She was alone again and off to find a taxi. She could have called her parents to come for her at the airport, but she didn't want to bother them. They were in the middle of preparing their annual pre-Christmas Eve party, which they had held every year ever since she could remember. Her plan was just to drop by and possibly lock herself in her room until the party ended. She never liked those Christmas parties, they were so cringe.

The only good thing at the party was the berry - cinnamon punch. But her parents managed to destroy even that. They made it non-alcoholic, 'because of the children' as they used to say.

Kate didn't see them for years and, despite the fact that they often talked on the phone, Kate mostly managed to leave out the not-so-brightest parts of her life. But in real life she was a terrible liar. She was never able to hide anything from her parents.

And this time she won't survive their endless questions. Especially about Marc. She didn't tell them that they had broken up and, honestly, that was the last thing she wanted to talk about. Except, maybe, the topic of how she was struggling to keep her business going.

If her parents knew she had financial issues, they would make her come back to live in this town, and then they would argue about it, and she didn't want to fight with them now after not seeing them for so long. If it were up to her, they would never know anything about the problems she has.

Catching a cab at this time of the year proved to be difficult. They were all already booked in advance. She waited for almost forty-five minutes for one to get vacant. Standing in the frizzing cold weather wasn't comfortable, so she was very grateful when she entered to warm inside of the said cab. She gave the driver brief instructions and the address and made herself more comfortable in the seat, expecting a long drive due to the crowds.

The taxi driver was a very chatty one, unfortunately for her. Her introverted soul had no luck this time either. First on the plane, now in the cab. Today everyone wanted to talk to her. At least the elderly cab driver didn't try to hit on her.

Even after the years spent in fashion circles, she wasn't totally used to strangers randomly starting conversations with her. Whenever she found herself in such a situation, the question "Why are you talking to me?" would pass through her brain. Within years, she learned to fake it, to blend in, but still, at the end of the day, interacting with other people was taking a toll on her mind. And she would always rather choose to read a book or watch a good movie by herself and to just relax.

All the while, the cab driver kept rambling on about all sorts of things, from how there is too much work these days to how much fuel prices have gone up. She was just nodding her head and murmuring something incomprehensible to make it seem like she was agreeing with him, but in fact she wasn't even listening to him anymore. But the driver didn't seem to care if she was listening or not. He went on with his story regardless of her involvement.

Instead of his voice, Kate focused on the scenery passing by. They spent part of the ride driving on the highway and all she could see around her were fields covered in snow. Everything was white and unsullied by human feet. It seemed as if she had come into the wilderness. Such a sight in a big city, or even near the city, was unimaginable. She liked looking at the untouched beauty of winter nature, but she just didn't like to be out there in the cold. She preferred the coziness of her house and a chair near the burning fireplace while she held a hot cocoa in one hand and a good book in the other.

The view outside the car window constantly changed as they traveled further. Untouched nature was soon replaced by the fields and country houses. And those were replaced by town suburbs and backyards. They slowly entered her hometown, Hibbing, in the federal state of Minnesota.

As they entered the territory of her small town, she noticed a significant change in the atmosphere. Here in this small town, which had only a few thousand inhabitants, all the houses were decorated with holiday decorations. There were festive lights hanging all around that shone in various colors. Every window and every roof was decorated with them. Many houses had sculptures of Santa Claus and reindeers in their yard as well.

It was a significant difference compared to how things were in the big city. There, people were in a non-stop rush because of their work. In that busy atmosphere she used to forget that it was a holiday at all. People there simply didn't have time for such things. While here, everything seemed to stop for the holidays. It's as if life has been put on hold until Christmas is over.

Her parents were also big Christmas enthusiasts. Their house was always the brightest and most decorated in their entire street, and they kept that tradition ever since she could remember. Her mother was extremely proud of it, and Kate was always embarrassed because of it.

And this year was no exception, as she could see for herself when the driver pulled up in her driveway. Her parents' house was, also this year, the most illuminated and most decorated of all the other houses in the street. However, as far as she could see, the neighbors had also upgraded their decorations. People behaved as if it were a competition for the amount of decoration and completely forgot about good taste.

She paid for the cab and took out her suitcase and handbag from the trunk. But she was still standing in the driveway even when the car was long gone. She needed a minute for herself to prepare for entering the house and loud greetings and hugs. Finally, she took a deep breath and crossed the few steps across the driveway to the wooden door and rang the bell.