Deck the halls (A Hayffie Xmas story)

September (5)

On that evening, she is in her apartment with Portia, and they talk around a cup of plant infusion in their pyjamas. And of course the conversation heads to Haymitch and the girls.

"You changed your mind about him didn't you?" Portia asks her a lascivious look, wriggling her eyebrows. "I didn't know you were into daddy things..."

"Can you take your mind out of the gutter for five minutes?!" she huffs before bursting out laughing.

"I mean it though. You changed your mind about him. You do not rant about how rude and neglected he is anymore."

"Yeah, well. I don't know.. Maybe seeing him in a different light changed some things, yes." she answers thoughtfully. Her mind back to his eyes on her and the feeling of having him close that afternoon. "You should see him when he stops playing the vulgar card, he can actually be quite charming."

"What? Did he make a move on you that you forgot to tell me about?" Portia asks leaning against the counter to inspect her face, frowning and narrowing her eyes. "I know when you lie to me Euphemia."

"No!" she huffs without missing a beat, feeling the heat coming to her cheeks. "Well not really..."

"Not really?..." Portia repeats, skeptical.

"Well, he said I was 'not that bad'." she faces Portia and her lifted eyebrow and sighs. "And that he liked my perfume..." she surrendered. Waiting for the teasing to come. She knew she would never hear the end of it.

"Your perfume? He could smell your perfume?"

"He only came to take Prim from my arms. She was sleeping."

Portia is really fixing her flushed face now and she just wants to hide.

"You really have a crush on him!"

"No I do not!"

"Yes you do!"

"Portia, No!"

"Okay you don't." she gives her the point, lifting her hands in surrender. "I have to confess something too."

"Tell me..." she is intrigued now, and she is ready to jump on any occasion to switch the subject of her love life.

xxx

It's Monday morning and she is on her way to the diner.

Her week-end has been quite eventful, they spent the days with Caesar and Claudius for the interview and the article. They had been adorable with them, but it had been exhausting to follow them and their enthusiasm. And their young friend Cressida who took their picture had made them run all over the city to find the perfect scenery.

All in all she thinks it had gone pretty well, but she is a little afraid to see the result.

And right now, what she truly needs is her morning coffee and the company of someone she appreciate.

She enters in the diner. It's earlier than usual and there are not many people inside. Only Haymitch behind the counter, the girls taking their breakfast, and two other clients she had never seen before. A middle aged man with a thick brown beard, and a thin woman in her late forties with grey hair and grey eyes. She stands straight and serious and seems cold. Effie feels a shiver down her spine when she looks at her with her piercing milky grey gaze.

She turns back toward the counter and sees Haymitch fixing her with an amused smirk.

"Good morning, Euphemia." he greets her, containing a laugh. She sighs as she spots the newspaper on the corner of a table.