Holiday dangers

Chapter 12. Kate

Chapter 12. Kate

Because she stayed up all night, tossing and turning over the bed, she got up quite late. David was already at work and his parents were sitting in the living room watching some corny Christmas movie.

She hated them, they were all the same, as much as she could tell. The story line was cliché, it was always either the girl or the guy going to some small snowy town for the holidays and falling in love with a handsome stranger or rekindling the old flame and living happily ever after. Or at least until next Christmas.

She stopped believing in the 'happily ever after' a long time ago. Now she just wanted to relax for the holidays and then go back to her work. But the thoughts of last night did not give her peace.

She liked Andrew for years when they were younger. And they even kissed before, although it was only a light peck during the game of truth and dare. It was not even close to the passionate kiss they shared last night. Her legs still felt weak even from just remembering that event.

Yet, after moving away from this town, she thought that she had got over that childish crush. She moved on with her life, had a long-term boyfriend and everything. But it was enough that Andrew just appeared in front of her and all those years apart disappeared easily and the old emotions she had for him returned.

Yet despite the fact that he returned her kiss so passionately, he behaved like it was not a big deal at all. Maybe for him, it is not, after all, with his looks. He must have plenty of women throwing themselves at him constantly.

The thought angered her. Was she not good enough for him? But after that thought had passed through her mind, she instantly felt guilt eating her. She forced herself onto him like all those shameless women did. It wasn't his fault if he didn't want her.

Ugh... Wallowing would not take her anywhere. She should take her mind of these thoughts.

She muttered good morning to her parents and headed straight for the kitchen, dragging her legs as she walked. Her father and mother chirped something in response, but she didn't have the strength to answer them yet. First coffee and then socialization.

She went into the kitchen to make herself some coffee. It would help her wake up and maybe chase those thoughts away. The bitter brownish liquid was the source of her salvation every morning for many, many years. In truth, she wasn't really a morning person, she preferred to stay in bed longer.

"Oh hunny, how did you sleep last night?" Natalie asked, after Kate finished her coffee.

"I didn't sleep much." She admitted. "But you folks certainly learned how to party! Did you all stay up until the morning?!" She said admiringly.

Her mother laughed, proudly swaying her hair. "Well we are not for the garbage yet. But you younglings nowadays tire so easily. Why did you retire to your room so early last night, did something happened?" Tone of her mother's voice suddenly became worried.

"No," Kate replied, "I was just tired. I don't have the strength to party all night like you do."

"You can practice." Her mother winked at her and left to set the table for Kate to have some breakfast. David left for work early and Jon and Natalie had already had breakfast. They thought about waking Kate up so she could eat with them, but they decided to let her sleep a bit longer. She traveled yesterday after all.

"What is for breakfast?" Kate asked excitedly. Today was Christmas Eve and her mother would always arrange the food left from the party in some interesting combinations. That tradition was set long ago when David was just a baby. He was picky with his goods, so his mother made him an interesting figure to make eating more fun. It was always exciting to see what she came up with this year. That was the only fun part of Christmas that Kate liked when she was a child.

This year the food was arranged in the shape of a bunny. With pieces of the meatloaf making the ears and the breadsticks were arranged as legs. In the center, her mother put various foods that she combined so that the flavors go together. She even filled the boiled eggs with leftover salad. Her mother had always been good in the kitchen, a trait Kate had not inherited from her, although she had been working on improving her skills lately.

"It is a bunny this year!" Kate exclaimed. "It looks so good! I would feel bad if I ruined it. I just don't want to eat it," She complimented.

Her mother laughed. "Every year the same story. Maybe I should stop making those things?" She joked. It was their shenanigans every year when Kate was younger. Kate wouldn't want to ruin the piece that her mother made, and her mother joked that she would stop making it next year. They would go on like that until David or Jon would dig in and destroy the sculpture.

But this year David was already at work and their parents had already finished eating. So this year's work of art was waiting for her to tear it apart and eat delicious food. Which Kate eventually did with a heavy heart. But the food was top notch as always. She didn't get to try any last night because she was preoccupied with other things. Molly's meatloaf was indeed famous for a reason. But her mother's peanut salad was heavenly, and Kate purred from pleasure that she felt on her taste buds.

"I am glad you like it." Her mother chuckled. "So what are your plans for today?" She asked Kate.

"I down have pwans." Kate answered with a full mouth. She chewed all the food she had shoved into her mouth and swallowed carefully before answering again. "I don't have any plans for today? Why?"

"No reason. I just thought that you might arrange something with Andrew. You would always follow him around when you were younger." Her mother recalled with a smile.

"No, we didn't plan anything. Maybe if he comes by some other day, but I don't think he would. He has his own life after all." Replied Kate, seemingly uninterested. The thoughts about the kiss she and Andrew shared last night came back to her mind.

"Okay, but it is a pity that you two didn't stay in touch. He is a fine young man." Her mother stated.

"Yes he is." Kate said longingly, but soon shook away those thoughts. "But we are just friends, we live too different lives to be more than that. And he is David's best friend. That would be weird."

"Fine, since you don't have what to do, why don't you help your father clean the house while I deal with tonight's dinner." Natalie ushered her out of the kitchen as soon as Kate swallowed the last bite of her food.

"Okay, okay." Kate gave up, lifting her hands up in surrender. "I will go help dad."

Furthermore, her day was spent hanging out with a broom and a mop. She and dad divided the tasks among themselves. He would take over the lower floor, and she would take over the upper floor. That arrangement suited her because it was always wisest to avoid the living room and the kitchen while her mother was cooking. That's when Natalie was always the most irritated and put on her best general attitude. Anyone who would even breathe too loudly would be given extra work.

She was currently cleaning her room, sorting through her old stuff from the closet. While she was trying to climb up to reach the highest shelf, a large box fell on her head. Fortunately, the box was not too heavy, so she did not get injured, but the contents of the box were scattered all over the room. So much for tidying up.

She took it to see what fell out of the box. It turned out that the box contained old memories and pictures. And now they were all over the floor of her bedroom. She planned to clean them quickly and move on with her work, but some photos caught her eye.

The pictures were mostly of her, Andrew and David when they were children. At one, they were in the pool and two boys lifted her onto their shoulders. On another, she threw a snowball at Andrew after they made a snow castle. Everyone was smiling and looking happy. She wished she could repeat these times with them.

The bell on the door pulled her from the thoughts about past times, about some happier moments. She looked at her phone to see what time it was, and it turned out that it was already 6 pm, and she had spent more than an hour lost in old memories.

"I will get it!" Her mother's voice echoed from the first floor.

She could hear voices from downstairs talking. One belonged to her mother and the other one sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite connect it with a person. The voices were too quiet for her to hear what they were talking about.

But after a few moments, her mother's voice broke through again. "Kate! It's for you!" She shouted.

"Who could it be in this hour?" She mumbled into her chin, wondering. Tonight was Christmas Eve and most of the people she knew would stay home with their families. Maybe one of her old friends from high school found out she was here for the holidays and stopped by to say hello on the way home. Many of them lived in the neighborhood.

But when she came down she re-lived a Déjà vu. At the door was no one other than Andrew, smiling shyly at her.