The waves

Chapther three

THEN

DECEMBER 2012
The last days till Christmas have always been busy. Shops, children and minds. So, busy. The children literally go mad, especially when they've been behaving very bad for the past year. Shops go all about Christmas, the things you can buy. As if anyone wants to buy all of those Christmas themed toothbrushes. Besides the fuss, the gifts. The gifts have to be perfect.
Woman, give her jewellery. They'd said. Then you find out, jewellery consist in lots and lots of forms.
Somehow you end up with a too expensive piece of metal, but you had it. They would love it.
Today, I wake up next to Katie. She lays so sweet, her hand are up against her stomach and her legs slightly bend. Her hair somehow lays as normal. It is flat.
She looks like snow white with bangs. So beautiful. I sit up straight and leave the bed as quiet as I can, I do not want to wake her in such peace.

"Good morning." She whispers in my ear while rubbing my back under my t-shirt. We're standing in her kitchen and I just take the pot of coffee out of the machine.
"Good morning, want coffee?" Looking her and she nods.

"Excited for tonight?" She asks.
"Yeah, indeed, wondering what you've gotten me." I chuckle. The taps my nose with her fore finger and kisses me swiftly on my lips. She is so sweet and innocent, it makes her so adorable.
We sit on her couch, in pj's and our coffee. We look like a couple, that does good for tonight.
For the rest of the day we spend the time with watching tv and waiting for dress time.

As I change into a blue shirt and navy dress pants, Katie walks into the bedroom to change herself.
"You know, Rose invited us for New Years Eve." I say as she puts on the black tights.
"So?" She responds
"You'd like to come with me? To Rose?" I repeat.
"At Rose's house, with her alone?" She has still not answered my question.
"Yeah, I don't know. She asked me if you wanted to make dessert."
"Okay."
"Okay as in, okay I am coming." I assure just in case.
"Yes and will you give me her number so I can discuss a few things."
"Sure, sure."
I leave the room as she puts on her dress.
I am quite confused by her reaction, she shared just a hint of jealousy which I can't put a finger on. I let go of the thought when I start thinking about the hypothetical romantic relationship with Rose. There isn't one, and there will never be, right? She shouldn't be worrying.

As she comes out of the bedroom after 20 minutes, her lips are covered in red lipstick and she used eye shadow to create a rougher look. She looks stunning though. Her hair is still the same. It is straight and her bangs hanging perfectly on her forehead. Her dress is matching navy with my pants.
"Are you done staring?" She remarks when she notices my gaze.
"Nope, you've made yourself a distraction for tonight." I tease.

"Let's go." I tell her and hold the door open for her.

During the forty minutes ride, Katie talks about her family and what to expect. She talks about her mother and how she is such a perfectionist and how father is the opposite. Her brother, Kale, has a tiny scar on his cheek because of a bicycle incident. Kale also had two children, Liza and Luca. His wife is named Karin. Their family has something with their roots, her grandparents were named Iris and Ian.
Sadly, with me she would break their tradition. Katie's childhood home is on a hill and quite modern. The house is partly in the middle of nowhere, but gets attention its size.
The lights go on when the sky becomes more red and eventually turns into darkish blue.

I park the car next to the road and exit the car. I open the car door for Katie and she grins while stepping into the ground of dirt.
"Crap, I think you've to carry me." She looks at me with humorous eyes and I chuckle.
"You could have thought of bringing extra shoes, since you are wearing heels." I remark and she rolls her eyes.
I place my arms under her knees and under her lower back and lift her up. One arm rests around my neck and the other one carries the bag with gifts. She laughs when I close the door with my foot.
She keeps laughing while I carry to the house. The walk isn't that far and Katie is not that heavy, so I carry her all the way to the front door. I put her back on her feet and I am rewarded with a swift kiss on my cheek. She knocks on the door and I sneak an arm around her taille. The door is opened by Kale, I believe. He is quite tall and muscular which makes me slightly anxious.
"Hello, sis and, you must be Will.." my body relaxes when shakes my hand and puts his other hand on my shoulder. We enter the hallway and I swallow away the gasp, even the hallway looks expensive. As figured, Katie and I grew up in different circumstances. Her family already had the wealthy roots. They were all lawyers with the oxford degrees. While Katie went to private schools and then to university, I went to public schools and worked. After Riley and Sophie graduated secondary school they went on to uni and I helped my father in the diner. He needed me, he couldn't afford another server. Years went by and the diner became more and more known. Its popularity made the diner as it is today.
The house has wooden and glass walls which makes the place look even bigger. When entering the loving room which contains a long half circled couch and in the middle there is a fireplace, a man around his fifties sits laid-back on the sofa and in a split second he stand up.
He immediately recognises me as Katie's new boyfriend and formally shakes my hand. Katie hugs her dad and leaves the bag of gifts on the ground. We follow him into the dining room, where the table is massively set. I quickly count the amount of knifes before introducing myself the woman who's probably named Karin. The blond woman tries to calm down her children but only the baby girl with the matching blond hair, but curled, stops crying. The other one, the boy, keeps running around the table.
"Hi, I am Karin." She reaches over the perfectly made table and too shakes my hand as the rest of the family. "Luca! Now, stop! Look who are here." Karin yells and the boy immediately stops, intimated by his mother.
"Katie! Katie!" The girl in the baby chair screeches. First, Katie walks over to her niece and kisses her cheeks.
"Lisa, this is Will." Katie points her index finger to me, I wave and get the same respond.
"Where is my favourite nephew?" Katie puts her fists on her hips and looks around the room.
"Here!" Luca exclaims.
Katie kneels down and opens her arms. Luca runs into them and they hug. I kneel behind her and introduce myself to Luca. He didn't seem very interested, because he kept playing with Katie's necklace instead of looking at me.
"Katie and Will have arrived and you couldn't tell me earlier." A woman screams and follows Kale when coming into the dining room.
"Ah, Katie, my precious daughter." She hugs us both and kisses on the cheek.
"Ah, and her Will." She does the same thing as she did with Katie.
She lets us go and Katie starts grinning.
"You got some lipstick on your cheek."
When I try to whip off the pink stain, Katie puts my hand away and starts rubbing.
"Gone?" I ask.
"Gone." She smiles and takes a seat.
She gestures me to sit next her and I follow her order.
When everyone is seated, maids come in with pans and bowl full of food. There is so much to choose from, so my plate easily fills up. During the dinner, her family asks me everything. From what my favourite colour is to what I do for a living. After a while the conversation is more awkward than informative. When everyone finishes their desserts Katie's mum, Jane, claps her hands.
"And now to the gifts."
The maids clean up the table as we exit the room. I feel kind of bad for them, they have to spend their Christmas working while watching their bosses celebrate.

Everyone is seated on the couch, expect the children. Luca is sitting on the ground and Lisa has a place on Kale's lap.
Both Lisa and Luca greedily open their gifts while we are watching. Luca has gotten a model car from Katie and me, a teddy bear from his grand parents and even more from his parents.
Lisa, on the other hand, has gotten a new dress from us, crayons and a big notebook from her grand parents, and a fairy outfit from her parents.
While the children are distracted with their new toys, the adults exchange gifts.
Katie and I bought for both Karin and Jane cookbooks from another foreign chef.
Kale adored some sort of classical music, so we'd bought him a cd. Her dad got rewarded with a bottle of expensive scotch. Katie got me a Cd of Coldplay, which I already own, sadly, but it doesn't matter.
"Diamond Earrings." Katie exclaims as she opens the box. There hides a hint of disappointment in her voice, which makes me uncomfortable. Why is she disappointed?
After exchanging thank you's with every one, we say goodbye and leave. I carry her back again to the car. When I look down, her eyes are closed, she is fast asleep.
The drive is longer since I drive slow, trying not to wake her.
She mumbles when I wake her as we arrive at her place. Again, I carry her inside and change her into her pyjama.
"Sleep well." I say as I kiss her on her lips. She groans and turns in her sleep. I leave her apartment and lock the door.
The first thing I do after entering my car is calling Rose.
"Will!" Rose sounds surprised and drunk.
"Merry Christmas, my friend!"
"You, too. Will! Merry, merry Christmas. Happy Christmas to you." She slurs.
"You want me to come over?" I've taken care of this girl since we've met. I will always do so.
"Why? You are with Katie, aren't you? Katie rhymes with Sadie, haha!" Her laughter gives me a bad feeling.
"Katie is asleep."
"Perfect little angel, isnt she!" She says disgusted.
"Where you at, I am coming over!" She's too drunk now and I cant leave her, she will get in trouble.
"Home alono." I thought she would be with her parents, but now I know, something is so wrong.
"I will be there within 10 minutes." I say and end the call.
I race on the roads and arrive 7 minutes later.
With the set of keys she gave me once in case of emergency I open the door of her apartment. Entering the living room, she is seated on the couch.
"Will!" She exclaims.
She stands up and wraps her small arms around me. Apparently, it is all fine, she is just fine.
"Happy Christmas."
An open wine bottle sits on the coffee table and the bottle is halfway empty.
"How my glasses have you drunk?"
"Three or four or five." She answers, counting on her fingers.

I lead her to the bedroom and begin to undress her. "Will, Will, Will." She pouts like a a child. When the flaming red dress is off, I can for the first time she her fully body.
I am left unspoken, it is wonderful. Her curves ask my hand to touch them, but I can't.
I have Katie, echos in my head.
"Do you have anything to sleep in?" I am searching for a piece of clothing in her drawer and avoid staring at her half naked body. The black lingerie just finishes her off.
I find a t-shirt and put it on her.
She playfully smacks my chest when I push her back against the mattress.
"I love you, Will." She mutters in her sleep.
"Love you, too." I say as I kiss her cheek and brush away her stroke of hair with my hand.
It is hard to leave her this way.
I go to the living room and look for a piece of paper. I can only find some napkins as I begin writing.
Happy Christmas!
Please, sleep off you hangover.
See you Monday evening.
Love,
Will
I lay the small gift I bought for her on the napkin and take a quick look in her bedroom.
She has wrapped her body around her blanket and her head is buried in her pillow. I chuckle as I close the door.