Keys of Disaster

*-Chapter 14-*

The next day, I called up Page to come help me decorate the tree and wrap the presents. My brother set up the tree in the living room so when you walk in by the front door, it's the first thing you see. I don't have any other family besides Ava, her parents and my brother. My grandparents from my mother's side passed away when I was seven and those from my dad's side moved to California after my dad died right after my mom in a car accident. We have quite a lot of deaths  but we learned to live with it.

When Page finally showed up, we started with the tree and that kept us busy for at least two hours. We first took a good look at each object from all the perspectives, then share our observations and after that we decide where its place is on the tree.

"Don't hang at the back, no one will see it" I say when I realize what Page is doing. "But then the tree will be all loopy and unbalanced" she argues. "That's ridiculous; we want the people to appreciate the decorations." I say, now standing with my arms crossed in front of my chest. "Fine, rock-paper-scissors, the winner gets her way" she says with her game face on and a smirk on her face. I nod.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!" we say together and gesture our hands to resemble what 'weapon' we have chosen. I had my hand still in a fist - rock - and she showed her index and middle finger- scissors . She then took away her index finger, showing me just her middle finger and I laughed.

After adding the finishing touches to our 'masterpiece' aka the Christmas tree, we went upstairs to wrap the gifts. I had already wrapped hers and hid it in my closet so we had nine presents to wrap. The ones I got for Michael, Johnnie, Ava and my brother and she ones she got for Michael, her mom, her dad, her little sister, Graze, and Johnnie. Her sister is about six years old.

We – me and Jason – always spent Christmas at their house but this year, we are having a whole party at ours. Ava and her parents, Page and her family, Johnnie and his family and probably Michael are coming. Michael's parents are never home over the holidays and he also spends it with us.

I went to the store to buy some things I thought Ava would need for the meal she's going to make. I called her this morning to inform her of her task. I also called Johnnie and invited them over. They were eager to come. When I got to the store, I ran into someone that I haven't spoken to in the last two years; my ex-boyfriend.

"Oh hey Alex" he says friendly after he bumped into me. "Hey Caleb, how are you?" I ask trying to act polite. After the break up, I tried to avoid him completely and that lasted up until now. "I'm good, how's your brother" he asks. Caleb is really tall and buff and he makes me feel so small when I almost hurt my neck just to look him in the eye.

"He's doing okay" I say and give him a small smile before turning my attention back to the shelf, looking for whole milk. He takes a place next to me and I can see in the corner of my eye that he is looking at me. Caleb was my first, almost serious relationship. We were together from 7th to 9th grade.

"Christmas list?" he asks when he notices the piece of paper in my hand where I had roughly written the important things I almost always forget. I nod in response. "It's cute that you still make your lists" he says while examining a dairy product. I was shocked at his nerve to try and flirt with me. I just ignored him.

"Say, do you want to get a coffee afterwards?" he asks daring. "Afterwards what?" I ask confused. "After shopping, I mean" he says biting his lip. "I have some errands to run, sorry" I say, emotionless, still surprised at him acting like nothing happened. "Oh come on, we haven't talked in forever. We have some catching up to do" he says trying to persuade me. I wanted to yell and him and give him a piece of my mind but I decided not to make a scene.

I turn to him, "Fine, one coffee" I show my index finger to confirm my words and then carried on with my list. He smiles. We got the things we needed - me taking my time just to spite him – we then headed to the coffee shop down the street.

We ordered and took a seat at one of the small, round tables in the shop. The tables were decorated with colored glass pieces to form a picture. It was nice. The place was quite warm, because of the heaters and the smell of cinnamon was still fresh. When I looked out the window, I could see one of the Santa's on the corner of the street ringing a big, golden bell, shouting "Merry Christmas" to bring Christmas cheer and a few pennies in the pocket. I turned my attention back to Caleb.

"So, what's new?" I ask and lay back in my chair to make myself comfortable. "Well, I finally made the football team. The coach loves me and my parents are very proud, to say the least" he says pleased with himself and with a big grin on his pathetic face. "That's great" I say, flashing a fake smile but actually trying to be happy for him. He's worked really hard to get on that team. The waiter brings our drinks. "How about you?" Caleb asks after taking a sip from his hot chocolate. "Well, I played exam a few months ago and got a lot of positive feedback and I've also started playing the guitar" I say after a hesitation and take a sip from my Cappuccino. "Who's teaching you?" he asks interested. "My boyfriend, Johnnie. He and his brother are really good" I say with a bit more enthusiasm. He became really intriguing when he heard "boyfriend" but he tried to keep his cool.

Then all the memories started flowing back to me, hitting me like a truck. I thought about all the good times Caleb and I shared. The kidney he gave my brother when my brother was on the edge of death. The time I cried my eyes out in his arms at the hospital right after I heard my mother had died. That massive teddy bear, Caramel, he gave me to hug if I missed him before he went on holiday. My eyes started filling up with tears.

I started to feel guilty but then the bad memories hit me. The arguments, the times he mistreated me in front of his friends, when he tried to get me to do drugs with him, when he was drunk and forced me into bed with him and when I struggled to get lose, he'd hit me and assault me. I was now crying, not even trying to hide the tears. He took a seat closer to me and put his arm around me. I couldn't bare it. I couldn't bare his presence; I couldn't bare him touching me. I wiped off my tears, "Sorry, this was a bad idea" I took my groceries and I made my way to the door. He let me go.

I got home, my eyes red from all the crying, I placed the bags on the kitchen table. I plopped myself on the coach not noticing Jason also being in the room. "Hey Lex, are you okay?" he asks in a caring voice and sits next to me. I shook my head. He put his arm around me and he lay back against the coach with my head on his chest.

After crying for a few minutes more, I sat up straight and looked at him. I told him everything that happened and surprisingly he listened and understood. He knew what Caleb meant to me and all the shit we've been through. "Hey, it's going to be okay, I promise" he says comforting. He takes a breath, preparing himself, like he has something important to say. I pay attention to him.

"I got a job as an engineer at one of the mines near the coast" he says after a moment of hesitation. "Jason, that's amazing!" I exclaim and threw my arms around him. "Yes, but it's a 90 minute drive from here. It's going to cost me 50 dollars a day on gas if I drive through every day so I'm thinking of staying there with one of the workers during the week and coming home over the weekends" he says soft.

I thought about that for a moment. "So, I'll be home alone during the week?" I ask, not fond of the idea. Jason is my protection and my supervisor and the thought scares me. "I was thinking, maybe you could move in with Page and I can sell the house and get a small flat for us to spend the weekend in. I've already spoken to Page's parents about it" he says. "What do you think?" he asks after a moment of silence.

"When are you starting?" I ask, hoping not too soon. "In January, a week after Christmas" he says. "Wow, okay" I say after contemplating the whole situation. "Are you okay with it?" he asks unsure. "Yes, I'm cool, still adjusting to the idea but I'm okay" I answer and cross my legs to my comfort. He smiles. "The salesman will be here tomorrow" he says and hugs me. So soon, I thought while holding him.

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