THE CHRISTMAS SEARCH

THE MEETING

Ten a.m. the next morning, Cecilia was already at my place, I was ready for departure. Cecilia insisted we called Owen to confirm if he would still be coming. I dialed his number and he took longer to answer this time. "Amelia's still holding you in bed?" I spoke.

"Nah, she never even came." He replied.

"Should we still wait for you, boy? We are running late." Cecilia said. The phone was on loudspeaker.

"It's just past ten. Why are we going this early?" He responded.

"Are you still in bed, Owen?" I asked.

"I called in sick at the office, remember? I have to act sick."

"Look who we are waiting for, Cecilia, still lying on his bed." I was disgusted. "Let's go girl, this man isn't ready." I dropped my phone on the sofa and went in to get my bag.
Cecilia picked the phone up and spoke, "Owen, you remember we promised Mike we would be there this morning. Sarah could be there already; we wouldn't want to keep her waiting so it doesn't look like we aren't serious. You know how important this is to Naomi, to her mother, to the three of us. Christmas is in two days' time, let's get this over with quickly and go spend Christmas with our families. Get your ass off that bed and be here in the next five minutes!"

"What a pep talk! I never knew you could be this motivating, Cecilia." Owen began laughing.

"Why are you laughing? What's so funny in what she said?" I spoke as I walked out. Instantly, we heard the sound of a car's horn outside my apartment. "I am outside, losers." Owen said and laughed. Cecilia went to the door and opened it; he was indeed parked outside. Cecilia and I glanced at each other and shook both our heads as we walked out. I collected my phone from Cecilia and hung up the call. Cecilia got to the car first as I stayed back to lock the door. "You are such an idiot, Owen." She spoke as she opened the passenger's seat's door at the back and got in.

"Hey!" I hollered at Cecilia. "I am not sitting beside that loser. Please move to the front."

"Neither am I." Cecilia responded.

"We'll both sit at the back, then." I said.

"No way. I am not your taxi or Uber driver. Both of you can't sit at the back, one of you has to sit at the front."

"Sadly, the one outside has to take that decision." Cecilia said.

"You know what?" Owen spoke as he alighted from the car. "Cecilia, you are driving today. I am tired of driving you two all the time."
"Great, I'll sit at the front with her. Enjoy it at the back, bro." I remarked. Cecilia alighted and moved to the front, sitting behind the steering wheel. I sat beside her. Owen had taught Ceclia how to drive since we were exiting teenage.

We began our journey to Mike's place; Cecilia and I sang along to pop song playing on the car's stereo. We both loved it. Owen was more of a countryside guy, so he just stared at us as we sang. We got to Mike's place few minutes to twelve p.m., this time, we parked outside his apartment. We met him mowing the lawn, we alighted and bid our greetings each. "Mike! My man." Cecilia was first to speak to him, she moved closer and hugged him. "Cecilia darling." He responded.

"Hey, Mike." Owen spoke afterwards.

"Hi." I spoke, too. He waved at us both.

"You know why we are here, right?" Cecilia asked.

Mike nodded his head. "Let's go inside." Cecilia had her arm around his shoulder, he had his own hand around her waist as they walked towards the door. Owen and I gazed at each other, then smiled. He tried wrapping his hand around my waist, "I would hit heaven into you if you dare." I said, shooting him a mean look. He smiled.
We got inside the house and sat on the chair; I and Owen sat on one, Cecilia sat opposite us, Mike was the only one standing. His house had a spooky decoration; a hunter gun hanging in a frame on the wall, the head of a deer and a bear also hanging, I guessed they were figures. He had no television nor radio. The room was not bright enough; he had covered the windows with curtains, a bulb, suspending from the ceiling, was the only light inside. "Are you a hunter?" Owen asked.
"Used to be. I am retired now." Mike responded. "What would you guys care for?"