Fragment #5 - Crowded Christmas

I hate shopping with passion. I never quite understood where was the pleasure in wandering from shops to shops, fighting your way among crowded places in order to buy things, clothes in particular. Then I must concede a point. Shopping during the summer or winter sales is in no fashionable way comparable to the living nightmare I am experiencing in this particular moment. I mean… Who the hell waits for the last hours of the 24th of December to buy their presents? If you had asked me this question hours ago I probably would have laughed and said that nobody would be careless enough as to wait for the last moment, except for people who did not have a choice… like me… But actually… There are TONS of people who probably thought that would be a smart move. This is not Christmas, this is madness! Jeez, don’t they have a turkey to stuff or something?
I always liked Christmas when I was a kid, it sounded magical. I believed in the Father Christmas tale until I was six. It was a schoolmate who taught me the unconceivable and sordid truth. I could have killed him. Actually, considering how bad he treated me at the time, I probably should have. I wonder if it was any different from the way Christmas is handled now. We probably watched less TV than nowadays’ children. How can they still believe in the fat red guy? We’ve been in the city centre for an hour, and we already crossed three different Santa Claus tossing candies and flyers, and a fourth one who sat in front of a pub, drinking a beer, his false beard around his neck. Not to mention we also passed by a Mother Christmas on rollerblades whose skirt was so short that the men glaring at her were redder than her low-cut tunic.
A faint smile twists my mouth when I recall how my parents used to make me write the famous Christmas letter. These were happy times, before all that happened… Maybe I should call them. No way! If they wanted to wish me a merry Christmas, they would already have called me for my birthday. I hold Melaine’s hand tighter, while chasing the thought out of my head. She gives me a smile and drags me toward the book shelves. But right now I cannot stand it any longer.
“Melaine, I need to get out of here. I need some fresh air to fill my lungs. I’ll have myself a drink at the bar in front of the shop. Find me there when you’re done.”
She releases her grip and let go of me with a grin. I fight my way back to the entrance of the Chapitre and push the door with a sigh of relieve. The night has almost fallen upon the city, and the Christmas lamps are flashing all over the streets. I walk in direction of the bar and get into it. I glance over the place in order to find an empty spot, and as I’m on my way to a vacant table, I sense a firm hand gripping my shoulder. Then I hear Stephane’s inimitable French accent.
“Ethan, buddy! I recognized your two left hands the moment I saw them!”
“If you’re referring to the pass I missed on Saturday, I may feel compelled to remind you of the spike you wasted in the net while I had carried away every single blocker of the opposing team.”
“Meh… They jumped in order to prevent you from falling. Haven’t you finished your presents yet?”
“Of course I have! Weeks ago! But Melaine insisted on waiting until tonight to buy hers. I can’t think of a weirder idea…”
“Same thing here. Wanna have a beer?”
I order two beers with my best French and follow him to his table.
“I’m glad you and Melaine got back together, he finally confesses. You match yourselves so well. And to be honest, you played a lot better this weekend than when your mind was all screwed up with this crap.”
Stephane has always been very honest with me. And once more, he is right. Things are a lot better between the two of us. We overcame the crisis. I even think that we may not have been happier. I love her, and she is the one. I can feel it.
Well… Actually, the fact that she was the one insisting upon our presence here in this very day and hour really casts doubt on the rationality of my feelings for her. But I am confident enough in my leniency to know I will find a way to forgive her… Or to make her pay… I already have some very creative ideas on the matter. The night will be long.