The Magic Within You

December 2nd

An advertising jingle is what penetrates his subconscious and eventually wakes Louis up. The more he becomes conscious, he realises that the television has been on all night. Tiredly he rubs his eyes, sleepily searches for the remote control and finally finds it buried beneath him. He can't quite understand how he was able to sleep on the hard plastic while it probably pressed all over his body all night, but probably the tiredness after the long drive and the beloved chaos got the better of him.

Louis grabs his mobile phone on the bedside table to check the time and sees that he still has enough time for a shower before he wants to meet his family at the hotel restaurant at the time agreed yesterday to have breakfast together. He grimaces when he sees two calls from his boss and decides to skillfully ignore them, after all he knows for sure that Louis is on vacation. After all those months of hard work, he can be selfish for once and use his hard-earned days off for his much-needed rest. Maybe his boss will finally realise that he has to change something and hire more staff, that such four weeks of vacation in a row are not even necessary to finally be able to breathe freely again.

At this moment, Louis even goes so far as to turn off his mobile phone and decides to turn it on only once in the evening to see if he has missed something really important. To be honest, he doesn't know what should fall under the category 'really important' either. After all, his family is with him, he doesn't have a partner and the things his friends might want from him definitely don't fall under this point either.

The fact that he feels so much lighter with his decision makes it clear to him how important and right it is, and he digs out from under the warm blanket, yawning. Even though it's not really cold in the room, Louis still shivers as he gropes his way into the bathroom, still sleepy. After brushing his teeth, he stands under the shower for a long time and enjoys the warm water. Feels how his muscles relax, how his mind becomes more calmer and the stress of the last few months falls off him a little more. Actually, Louis feels reborn when he steps out of the shower and, finally awake, he chooses an outfit for today.

Since he will be spending the morning with his youngest siblings, he opts for a warm and cosy red Adidas tracksuit. Louis loves the colour itself and also that he can move freely with the two rascals with which he definitely will have his hands full. He knows his mother will raise an eyebrow the moment she sees him, not always a fan of his often casual style of dressing, especially in a hotel, but Louis doesn't give a damn. It is enough for him that he has to dress properly every day for his job and he will make full use of his free time to wear his favourite clothes.

Since he won't smoke in front of Doris and Ernest, he goes out onto his balcony and lights a cigarette. The wind is cold and he pulls the hood of his winter jacket over his face as he slowly exhales the smoke between his lips. The white of the snow blinds him and he narrows his eyes as he lets his gaze wander. Not many people are out yet, Winterhollow and its guests are just beginning to come to life. The sky is still hidden under a grey cloud cover, but it has stopped snowing, which Louis welcomes because he doesn't own any snow boots and somehow has to get through the day in his sneakers. Grinning, he shakes his head at himself, because what was he thinking - or rather not - going on a winter holiday without the right shoes? Like always, he was probably distracted from his work to even think about it.

After stubbing out the cigarette in the ashtray, he steps back inside into the warm, grabs his wallet and card for his hotel room, and then leaps out into the hallway. He's so looking forward to spending time alone with the youngest twins and catches himself softly humming Love Actually's version of 'Love is all around' to himself as he cheerfully descends into the elevator.

All alone, he allows himself a few seconds to indulge in his catchy tune only to then silently step into the somewhat busier lobby. His way to the dining room leads past the reception and he makes a short stop there. A younger woman with a big smile beams at him as he approaches her.