Red and White Flags || Oliver Sykes

34

Today was Christmas Eve, and Cassie was more excited than ever. This was her first time spending any holiday with her dad. Oli told me that he had a bunch of things planned, and I personally was excited to see what it was.

"So Dad, what are we doing today?" Cassie asked.

"It's a surprise Cassie." Oli answered. "Just know that you need to dress warm today."

"Ooh, So we are doing outdoor activities. That's fun!"

Cassie ran upstairs to change into warm clothes. Alissa came down seconds after Cassie went upstairs.

"Why is the little munchkin so hyper early this morning?"

"It's actually 1:30, and she's excited because we have a bunch of plans for today." Oli answered.

"Oh really, like what?"

"Well, we were going to go shopping and see Santa, and maybe even go sledding." Oli answered.

"Don't you think she's a little too old to see Santa. I mean the child just made it to high school." Alissa asked.

"I don't know, what do you think Natalie?" Oli asked.

"She might be a little too old Oli. Maybe we could just have dinner in the place of seeing Santa." I suggested.

"Okay, that's a good idea."

Cassie came running downstairs, ready to start the day. We all loaded in Oli's car and headed out to the mall. The mall was so packed, that it was nearly impossible to find a parking space. It took us about 15 minutes to find one, which was really far away from the entrance. We walked into the mall and planned a meet up in the middle of the mall right next to the big Christmas tree. Oli and Alissa went their ways while Cassie and I went ours. I remembered coming here when I was younger, but the place looked so different. Remembering this place made me think about my parents. I haven't talked to them in 13 years. I should probably see them soon, even though they would probably close the door in my face.

"Mom, are you okay? You look really deep in thought."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, I found hot topic. You wanna go in there?"

"Sure. Maybe we could find one of Dad's band T-shirt's in there." Cassie said as she walked to hot topic.

After three hours of shopping, We finally met up by the huge Christmas tree. Everyone's hands were filled with bags. We managed to fit all of the bags in the car, and now we were headed out to dinner. Oli was taking us to this vegan restaurant that he liked.

"So Oli, what did you buy?" I asked.

"Stuff!" He answered bluntly.

"Really, that's all you're going to say?"

"You'll see on Christmas." He laughed.

I looked over at Alissa, who was sitting on the passenger side. She seemed really quiet, which wasn't really her. She literally talked forever, and now she's quiet. I wanted to ask why, but I felt like it was none of my business.

We arrived at the vegan place and waited in line for our seats. The place was also really packed, but it didn't take long for us to get our seat. Alissa was still really quiet, and it even looked like she was crying. Oli also seemed a little off. I really wanted to know what happened.

The waitress came over and took our orders. Cassie and I just ordered a salad. Oli ordered a vegan burger, and Alissa ordered nothing. The table was quiet when the waiter walked away, so I decided to make conversation.

"So, um have you seen my parents lately?" I randomly asked.

"No. I haven't seen them. I haven't really heard from them at all. You haven't talked to them?" Oli asked.