Finding you: A Christmas special

Character

Ryan POV:

I was speedily typing away on my laptop in my study, when I looked up and noticed that it was already 8 PM. "Where does the time even go?" I asked myself aloud, I folded my arms on my old desk and put my head down. "Ryan, honey," called my mom, she was standing at the door, a red shawl over her shoulders, her mother's shawl. She carried a hot mug in her wrinkled, sun damaged hands that was calloused and toughened by days of hard work. I lifted my head and smiled at her, the crows feet at her eyes crinkled as usual, "hot cocoa?" She asked, "yes please," she walked in and placed it down on the wooden coaster, she tightened her scarf around her thin shoulders, "you're growing so fast," she said and then brushed her fingers through my hair, "and you need a hair cut." I chuckled, "mom, I'm twenty eight, relax." She smiled and pulled my head against her chest, "you'll always be my baby, no matter how old you turn." She kissed the top of my head hard, like she used to do when I was younger. "I miss you when you're away," she said, I took her hand in mine and gave them a kiss, "we really should sell this place mom, you can live with me in the city, you'll love it there." She smiled the same old smile she always gave me when I brought up moving, "I love you baby." She gave me a final kiss, and then turned to leave, "there's some soup in the fridge," she said, "I'm off to the shelter, mwah!" She blew me a kiss and she was gone.

I leaned back in my chair, bringing the cup of hot but drinkable cocoa to my lips, taking a sip and feeling that instant feeling of comfort. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, I was exhausted. I was always exhausted these days, especially with work. Maybe my mother was right, money isn't everything. Even thinking that made my heart tick a little more frantic as I remembered... "You're not good enough!" It's like ever since I've seen Elena again, it's caused so many feelings to come to the surface, and not just my unresolved romantic feelings for her but my feelings of inadequacy, made extremely and abundantly clear by her mother. I drank a bit more of the cocoa, trying to suppress those deep seeded emotions.

My alarm went off and I looked down at my phone, Time to eat. I switched it off and sighed, getting up and carrying my cocoa with me as I went to the fridge. My mom made a simple chicken soup, but I wasn't feeling it tonight. I wanted something heavy and filling. That made me think of Nona's in town, so I grabbed my coat and downed my cocoa, leaving the mug on the coffee table.

The ice outside was melty and sludgy, winter could suck sometimes in this town. Until the snow falls, it can be a pretty sad looking place. I headed to my car and got the feeling yet again, like someone was watching me. I turned to look over my shoulder, but it was too dark to see anything. I unlocked my car and got in, switching on the light. This case is definitely making me paranoid. I shook my head and put my seat belt on before turning on my lights and reversing.

Driving into town, I could see some of the store owners hanging up Christmas decorations and lights. There was a lot of laughter, after all, Christmas is our busiest season yet, with the ski resort not far from here. The resort that Elena's family owns. I pulled in front of Nona's and got out, locking my car and stuffing my keys and hands in my coat pockets.

"Did you see?" Asked a woman with a red beanie, "she's back in town." The other woman's jaw dropped, wait. That was Amy and Nila from school, they didn't notice me and continued gossiping, which for them, wasn't out of the ordinary, "so shameless! She's divorced now with a baby!" Exclaimed Nila, enjoying her five minutes of attention as usual, Amy laughed, "she deserves it! Always thinking she was better than us with her piano recitals and dance lessons out of town, and yet she didn't even go to university." They both laughed, "I guess that's what you get for marrying rich!" Exclaimed Amy and the two cackled like a pair of old witches. I knew who they were talking about, and it made me angry.

"Amy, Nila," I greeted from behind them, they turned around a bit peeved that someone was standing so close and for so long unnoticed. Amy was the first to plaster on a sweet smile, "Ryan," she said in a sickly sweet voice, she immediately hooked her arms around my own, "how are you?" She asked. I looked down on her literally, because she was short, "so, I heard what you said." She immediately tensed, "so, what if you heard?" She asked in a sweet voice, "it's not like it's a crime to talk about someone," she looked at Nila and the two of them snickered. "yeah, you're right," I said with a shrug, "so, how's the guy you trapped with a baby Nila?" I asked bluntly, she immediately turned red, "I-I-I" She started stuttering, caught off guard and embarrassed, "and how's working at your dad's hardware store Amy?" I asked, and she turned red, immediately letting go of my arm. "I'm sorry, I forget, which university did the two of you go to?" I asked, furrowing my eye brows, pretending like I was trying to remember. Amy turned red with embarrassment and started looking around to make sure no one was listening, "Ryan, stop." She said, "why?" I asked, "it's not a crime to mention your failures in life," I said and shrugged. They were both red and too stunned to speak, Nila grabbed Amy and with a huff, the two of them scurried away from me to the other side of the street.

They kept giving me odd looks over their shoulder as they whispered to each other. I smiled broadly and waved energetically at them, "it was nice chatting! We should do it again some time!" I shouted, and they looked down and walked faster. I shoved my hands back in my pocket, and turned to head into Nona's.