The Unforgettable Christmas

“I am sorry.”

Why do people do things to me and then say sorry as if everything would get alright! As if I am some saint who would forgive and forget!

I was watching my sister who was looking at me with her puppy eyes. She woke up today early, made me a nice breakfast, which I haven’t touched yet. She made my favorite cappuccino, which I have tasted yet.

I am that angry.

“I am alone. I called you so many times but you didn't come. May I ask where the hell you were?”

I wanted Arianna to answer me this time. I was looking for her all over the place. We have so much Christmas prep to do. The snowman is yet to be decorated. The tree is half decorated. And we have to make cookies too! Today is Christmas.

We both were in different cities when Arianna called me to celebrate this Christmas in our hometown Nashville. I arrived three days before, doing the preparation all by myself. But she? She arrived yesterday night when I was asleep. And now I find her in the kitchen with a strange smile that she is trying to hide from me.

“See Shenu..”

“No Shenu here.” That was my pet name. And it always felt like a dog name to me.

“You have to tell me what’s going on?” I asked her. A smell of breakfast was lingering around my nose. Should I just skip this conversation for a moment and finish this instead?

The breakfast was calling me. I was so angry that I kept on drinking coffee and hardly ate anything. She made me a nice omelet with some onions and tiny tomatoes on top of it. She knows I like tomatoes so much! She also made me some pancakes with maple syrup threaded on the top along with blue berries. Toast and peanut butter were placed nicely on a small glass plate with a glass of oat milk. Probably for her. I don’t adore peanut butter at all! She knows how much I hate them!

When I didn’t hear anything, I looked up at her. She was trying to hide her smile as she saw some messages on her phone.

Now I am really mad at her.

Before I could say anything, Arianna looked up and said, “I have something to tell you.”

I want to irritate her a little. I started with my omelet. It was still warm. I took a large bite of pancakes. Blueberries are not my favorite but my sister makes the best pancakes in the world and so this was a really good one. I took a few sips of cappuccino and now all my anger was down. The frosting was fresh, I think she made it this morning. Good. I can tell that she used high quality espresso beans.

“Are you listening?”

“I am hungry…” My mouth was so full that I couldn't even talk!

“Shelley please, I need to tell you something.”

“What?”

“John proposed to me.”

I slurped down my last sip. “What you said?”

“What do you think?”

“So you are going to leave me?”

“Oh dear. Nope. After marriage, we are going to shift back to Nashville.”

“Here?”

I looked around the house. It was our parents house. Neat and cozy with everything a family needs. Not big like my New York apartment but still was cozy. Actually more cozy in my opinion.

“Wait.. so many surprises. First, when did this happen?”

“Three days back.”

“And now you are telling me?”

“I just don’t know how to tell you this.”

“You must have at least told Brandon about it. He is close to you!”

“Let me correct it for you. He is close to me just because he can stay close to you. ”

“Please stop it.”

Brandon was also from this town and we all are childhood friends actually. Brandon is a player and I don’t want any player near me.

“He was there with me when John and I were having some problems,” Arianna said.

“Okay so everyone knows except me.”

“I thought Brandon would tell you everything.”

“The last time we talked, I asked him to get out of my life.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because he is an as***” I said to myself.

I wanted to tell my sis that I was drunk and he wanted to just drop me to my place which I kept on refusing. My sister would hate the fact that I started drinking again. But when you are living alone, loneliness grips you so much that only drinking remains the last option. I was yelling Brandon’s name in the pub but the other day when I realized what happened, I was glad he was there for me.

“Leave it for now. But Arianna, I am seriously mad at you. But now after hearing this, I am happy for you. Now it's time for a treat.”

I could see her lips curled up. We can hardly remain mad at one another for long.

After this, mission Brandon.