Aniko: Shattered dreams of love

Christmas or hell?

Laszlo spent the evening of December 24th at home with Rose, the usual time for them to celebrate Christmas. He was slightly apprehensive and curious about what the next day would bring!

In the morning, he took public transit down to Union train station, and he was off to Niagara Falls. Anikó arrived just in time; he had a shopping bag with him that contained his overnight change of clothes, Anikó's presents, and a bottle of champagne for Mary and Joe. After a warm hug and plenty of gentle kisses, he noticed that she wore his ring, and she drove him to her home. Inside her home by the bar, a pine Christmas tree stood, nicely decorated. Personally, Laszlo did not like the long-needled look, although many preferred it in Canada, as their needles did not shed when they dried, providing excellent needle retention. He preferred the more traditional short-needled fir or spruce type. Mary and Joe were not around.

Anikó was very excited. She took Laszlo to the tree and showed him a nicely wrapped box with his name on it. She asked him to open it. It was not a large box; it was shaped like a brick, maybe two inches thick. Laszlo unwrapped it quickly and saw it was an orange-coloured Hermes box. He opened the lid, and there was a very classy silk men's scarf in it, perfect for the winter. Anything from Hermes was expensive, being a French luxury product maker. He gave her a warm embrace and thanked her. A useful gift, he noted in his mind, better than some chocolates. 

 By now, Anikó had to be a bit apprehensive about what she was about to receive from him. Laszlo knew her by this time and had her figured out in great detail. A lot more than Anikó thought. He knew her methods of slight hints, indirect manipulation, planting seeds into his mind, about the camera she liked, apart from the obvious one in the camera store when they had picked up the prints. He bought the camera, not because it was planted in his brain. He bought the camera because he enjoyed photography as well and perhaps knew more about photography than she did. Although he did not have a 35mm camera at this time. He figured that going out and taking photos together and sharing something special between them would help her to break those invisible chains Mary held onto, link by link, one step at a time. He was hoping that Anikó would realize that she could count on him to nurture and prune her so she could bloom into the woman she always talked about wanting to be. The woman he wanted was his soul mate. Naïve, maybe, but he was going for it.

Laszlo reached into his shopping bag and pulled out the champagne. It was Pol Roger, Brut, in a green and satin gold gift box; he had not bothered to wrap it. He smiled and said this to Mary and Joe. And I gave the bottle to Anikó. She took it to the dining room table and placed the bottle on it. When she turned around, Laszlo had the box with the microphone in his hands and told her this was for her. As the box was wrapped and very heavy, it could have been anything. Looking at Anikó's face, it was easy to see she was disappointed, as it was too small to hold the camera. When she opened the box saw immediately that it was a top-of-the-line professional Shure microphone, she started to scream with joy! Right away, she plugged it into her stereo to test it out. It sounded so much better than her old, no-name one. Laszlo sat down to watch her clowning around and impersonating a singer. Her act lasted about five minutes, and he clapped when she finished. Laszlo asked Anikó if this was what she was hoping for. He knew well that it wasn't! Anikó replied that this was the last thing on her mind, and when she saw the box, she was surprised at this thoughtful and great gift! 

 Laszlo then reached into the bag and pulled out two more boxes. One held the camera, and the other held the lens. Anikó rushed over to him, and by looking at the boxes, she instantly figured out, by their size, that it had to be a camera and a lens. She opened that bigger one fast. When she saw the printing on the box that it was a Minolta SRT 202, a black model, she started to scream with joy. "Thank you, Laszlo, thank you!"