Alone For Once

family ties

The traditional Simonet Christmas dinner was almost an institution. Every two years the Simonet family would meet in their family home in the countryside next to Bordeaux and celebrate the holidays together. 

Organised by Clem's grandmother Angela, there were some ground rules. It was a black tie event, meaning the men had to wear tuxedos while the women were wearing ball gowns - the non-binaries were allowed to wear the one they felt more comfortable wearing. The dinner was made by Angela with the help of her grandchildren the entire day. 

The kids were forced to go to the church meanwhile the teens and adults staying in the house would set up the presents under the Christmas tree so that when they came back at around 10 pm, they could have the appetizer and open the presents. 

It was always a cheerful time for everyone except for this year, Angela invited Clem, no matter everything that happened at the beginning of the summer. 

The young French girl couldn't say no to her grandmother, especially since her only other plan would have been to spend Christmas alone since all her friends were spending the holidays with their families. 

She had taken the last plane she could to arrive as late as possible and spend the least amount of time with her family. She did Ljubljana - Paris with a three-hour stopover in Charles-de-Gaulle airport and then Paris - Bordeaux where her nonna would be picking her up to drive her to their family home. 

Clem had expected everything to happen during these three days. She knew that her parents and sisters would probably not want to talk to her while some cousins would ask what happened after the Eurovision. It was gonna be bad, she could feel it. 

"You know Clémie," her grandmother had always used that nickname for her instead of the more basic 'Clem', "I know you don't want to be here, especially after what happened, but I'm glad you're here with me" she smiled at her granddaughter while driving in the countryside roads. 

"I'm afraid my presence brings the mood down" the young girl truthfully replied. 

It has been a while since Clem felt this bad. Actually, the last time was before she left the band and moved to Ljubljana to start her new life, far away from all of this. 

Seeing the house in the distance made her stomach drop. It was becoming a little too real for her and she was already dreading what will happen. 

While her parents and sisters shot Clem a death glare when she followed her grandmother inside the house, some of her cousins jumped on her to welcome her. 

Rosalia, Arthur and Guillaume Simonet and Margaux and Gaspard Planterond were her closest cousins, all about her age. They grew up to become really good friends and when the news about her departure from the band broke, they were the first to send her messages on their group chat : 'Keeping Up With The Simonet'. The group chat used to be called 'For the Girls, the Gays and Nonbinary Pals' but with all the drama that happened that year, Antoine decided to rename it. 

🃟🃟🃟

Looking at herself in the mirror, Clem felt out of place and her light pink ball gown felt like a disguise. The redhead wished to be anywhere but here. God, I miss home she thought. God, I miss Bojan. As the thought of him acted like a bat-signal, she received a message from her boyfriend almost instantly. 

BEAU-JAN