Another Short Christmas Story

Part 5

Natalia pressed the phone to her ear, not really hearing what was being said.  All she could do was watch Cole as he walked out of her little shop, taking the warmth with him.  She could have yelled out to him, asked him to stay, but she wouldn’t.  She already knew that they wouldn’t work.  He was a great man, hell, an amazing man, but they were too different.  He probably mixed his macaroni and corn together, while she made sure none of her food touched.

“Natalia,” the voice on the other end of the line snapped, making her close her eyes in frustration.

“Sorry, Mom.”

The woman on the other end cleared her throat.  “Really Natalia, what did I tell you about that word?”

“Sorry,” she mumbled while turning her back towards the door of her shop, turned away from Cole’s departing form.  “What was it that you needed, Kristen?”

Her mother hummed her pleasure at Nat’s words before she seemed to realize she was asked a question.  “I was wondering if you were visiting us for Christmas.  Your sister is already here.”

The disapproval in her mom’s voice was apparent, and for the third time since they started speaking, Natalia apologized.  “Sorry, but I have the shop to tend to.  You know that.  Plus, I was going to visit a friend’s on Christmas.  They made me promise months ago that I’d show up.”

“Natalia,” her mother said with a sigh of disappointment.  “Why must you always rebel?  I thought that you had matured since you took over your grandfather’s shop, but I guess that was a mistake on my part.”  Her mother paused once more, obviously waiting for Natalia to start an argument, but Nat didn’t feel like starting one, not when the cold from outside her shop was beginning to seep in, making her long for her large and fluffy black coat.  “You will show up to our Christmas party.”  Her mother’s tone was strict, but for the first time, Natalia didn’t instantly follow her mother’s orders.

“You have appearances to keep up?”

She didn’t know why she let the words slip from her mind and out of her mouth, but when her mother’s loud gasp echoed over the line, Natalia knew that this conversation wouldn’t be a short one.  Luckily for her, her phone beeped, signaling another call.  “Look,” Natalia said in the same direct tone her mother had used.  “I’ll show on Christmas, but not for long.  I have another call coming in, Kristen.  I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

Pulling the phone away from her ear, she didn’t wait to hear what her mother had to say before she switched lines.  “Hello?”

“What’s wrong?”

The fierce words sent a smile to Natalia’s face.  “One day, you’ll learn the proper way to greet someone on the phone.”

Faith snorted on the other side of the line.  “I know when you’re trying to change the subject, Nat, and it won’t work.  Why do you sound like you’re about to cry?”

To Natalia’s complete mortification, she felt tears fill her eyes as she sniffed as quietly as she could.  Obviously, it wasn’t quiet enough because Faith cursed on the other line.  “Nick,” she called out, “can you take care of things around here?”  Faith must have gotten her answer because she said, “I’ll be there in four minutes,” before hanging up.

Natalia stared at her phone, wondering what was wrong with her.  She had thought that her mother’s antics didn’t bother her anymore, that her mother no longer had a hold on her.  Maybe it wasn’t just her mother that had her mood dropping quickly; maybe it was the fact that she already missed Cole.  After only knowing him for a couple of hours, she already knew what kind of person he was.  The way he smiled at the children when they told him what they wanted, the way he seemed to purposely mess things up in her shop just to see how long it’d take her to run over and fix it; all of those things made her wish that he was still there, wish that he was trying to yank the wreath off her door and duck tape it in front of her register.  She knew it wasn’t that either though.  It was Faith, it was knowing that someone actually cared about her, actually wanted to know why she upset.