Under Chateau Lights | Complete

2 | It's Just...

When we finally make it out of the mall, the street is so lit up with Christmas lights and blow up reindeers and other Christmas decorations that you'd hardly know it was night. I blink a few times and weave behind Elodie toward the subway, hot chocolate in hand.

Underground, it is darker and less joyous, but the speakers still play a childish version of Jingle Bells as the warm stale air of the subway station reaches me. There are Christmas lights adorning a sign and all of the advertisements are for something you'd give your boss, but it's quieter.

I mean, it's not quiet; it's a subway. But the noise is more bearable and the tension slides out of my jaw as we reach the platform. The light flickers overhead, so slightly it's probably imperceptible to everyone but me.

"Gerard should be waiting for us at the next stop," Elodie began, still bouncing. Her heels tap gently on the hard floor. "We should be there a little early, though."

"Early to the next stop or to Mom's?"

Elodie rolls her eyes. "Mom's, silly."

Amelia is back to babbling happily, but she's bound to be ready for another nap by the time we get to Mom's house.

"Smart baby," I whisper, playing with her hands and making silly shapes with my mouth. "Maybe I can join you for a nap later."

"You can't avoid it forever, you know," Elodie starts again, just as the Mozart of my ringtone blares out and echoes into the open space of the train tracks.

"Saved by the bell," I say, stepping away from her. "It's work."

I slide the green button across my screen and put the phone to my ear. "This is Julie."

"Hey, Ms. Kendrick, it's Samantha calling. I... umm, well, Mr. Georges-Mandrapilias asked me to tell you that he needs you to come in next week." The poor thing is stuttering over all of her words.

"I can't come in next week, I'm on holiday."

Samantha lets out a light giggle on the other end of the line. "Umm, okay. I just think he means not to go on holiday. But I can tell him what you said."

I cannot help but sigh. "Is he there?"

I can almost hear her curly brown ponytail jostling as she nods, but I wait for her to answer before asking to speak with him.

"Julie!" His deep bass crackles out of my ancient phone speaker in a way that is almost certainly audible to everyone around me. "How is my favourite team lead this evening?"

"Buttering me up isn't going to work, Arnold. I'm on vacation starting Monday for my family thing and I'm not even going to be in Toronto."

"Ah, Julie. Can't you skip it? Just a day or two and then you can head up there."

"I'm leaving in the morning." A lie.

The train rattles in the distance. I probably have thirty seconds before I miss it. "I have to go catch a train, Arnold. If there's anything I can do from afar, just let me know."

"That's my girl! Samantha's already sent you the email."

Of course she has. I walked right into that one.

"Julie! We're going to miss the train." Elodie is straddling the doors, using herself and Amelia as a shield to keep the doors from closing, but they won't listen forever, so I rush over and shove her onto the train, falling into her as the doors close behind us.

"You shouldn't do that."

"What? Stand in the door? What's the worst that could happen?"

Obviously, the worst that could happen is she gets crushed by a door, but the question is rhetorical, so I just laugh. She quickly changes the subject as cigarette smoke wafts off someone at the front of the car and swirls around me.