Paul's mom would kill him if she saw him on his phone during Mass. He saw the text when he was checking the time. Mass was running late. It was 10:04 am.
Merry xmas! 🎄🎅🎁
It could've been a copy and paste text. Accidental. He'd already received five of them from his friends.
The last text in his thread to Adrienne was from him on November 1st.
Hey I don't remember much but I'm really sorry 😔
He only lasted ten minutes before the urge got the better of him and he slipped his phone out of his left pocket and hid it beside his thigh where his parents wouldn't be able to see.
Merry christmas to you too!
She responded during the homily. Was Santa good to you?
him: Yeah. I get extra spoiled on christmas
her: Because you're the baby?
him: I'm baby jesus
her: Lol
him: I mean it's my birthday. It was a joke
her: Your birthday is christmas?
him: Yep
her: You're 19?
him: Correct
her: Happy birthday. Sorry I didn't know
Paul heard a tsst to his right. His mother was staring daggers at him. She pulled down her mask and her mouth was practically foaming.
"PUT. IT. AWAY," she said through her teeth.
Later in the car back home, Paul condemned her for ridiculing him on his birthday. It was a running joke—joke to Paul, not a joke to his parents—that it was Paul's parents' fault for having him on the biggest holiday of the year.
"Stop making me feel bad about it," his mother said. She was extra testy this year because Bobby couldn't come home.
"Mom, I'm not serious!"
"I can never tell."
/
Adrienne's cousins all had children and Christmas was admiring newborns, avoiding eye contact with nursing babies sucking boob, and cringing at the screams of toddlers testing their boundaries. The day made her feel young, with no one to relate to. She envied her cousins and they seemed to envy her. Everyone wanted to hear about life in London and passive-aggressively inquire as to why she'd ever leave it.
She went upstairs to the hallway bathroom guests only used when the first floor one was occupied. The first floor bathroom wasn't occupied, though. She stayed on the toilet with her phone long after she peed. The bathroom smelled like grapefruit.
him: It's cool. Sorry I was at mass and then family brunch
Adrienne smiled to herself. It was like a conscious agreement to pretend the two months of silence never happened.
her: Churches are open?
him: Yeah. They have been for awhile. Half capacity. My mom gets first dibs since she's a ccd teacher lol
her: what actually is ccd? I never knew
him: Cruel catholic detention
her: Yikes
her: I'm jewish, btw. But we celebrate christmas with my mom's side
She balanced her phone on her lap while she put on her festive mask. It was a navy cloth decorated with gold dreidels. She took a selfie and sent it to him.
him: lol that's cute
Adrienne smiled.
her: are you busy?
him: not really. Why?
Adrienne put the phone on the sink and wiped herself. She flushed the toilet and washed her hands. She took the phone again once her hands were dry and called him.
Paul assumed the call was accidental but the phone kept ringing. He was on the couch. The A Christmas Story marathon was playing on the TV and his father and uncle were talking about politics and what virus measures would be put in place once Biden was inaugurated.
His father was quietly democratic because his uncle, his mother's brother, was anti-Drumpf but openly republican. His mother's side of the family was an Italian Catholic family with a conservative viewpoint but his mother was forced to relax her views to "acclimate to reality", Bobby's words.
Paul went into the other room. "Sup?" he answered.
"Hey." Her voice echoed.
"Where are you?"
She laughed. "In the bathroom. Hiding... What are you up to?"
"Not much."
"Not slaving away in the kitchen making a Christmas feast?"
"I'm not allowed in the kitchen. My mom and aunt make me a cake and they don't want me to see it until they sing 'Happy birthday'. It's kind of a tradition."
"Happy birthday," she said quickly. "I'm sorry. I already forgot."
"It's okay."
"It almost like something overshadows it." She laughed at her own joke.
"Why did you call me?"
She made a hmmm noise, like she was pondering the question herself. "I think I miss hanging out."
"Hanging out?"
"Yeah."
"Okay." Was he supposed to say he missed her too?
He had checked his phone obsessively all week after Halloween, but when she never responded to his text, he figured he fucked it up and he moved on, distracting himself with online classes and video games. He only found himself thinking of her when he was masturbating.
"I'm sorry I never texted you back after Halloween."
"Don't apologize." Paul blushed. He knew he was the dick in the situation. There was no reason for Adrienne to want to talk to him after that. He was still confused about what she wanted from him now.
"Want to grab a coffee for old time's sake?" she asked.
"Maybe." He wanted to play hard to get. It felt good. It made him feel in control.
"Where's Paul?" He heard his mother ask from the kitchen.
"I need to go," Paul said to Adrienne. "We'll talk." He hung up on her as she was saying goodbye. The good feeling dissolved almost immediately. He contemplated calling her back to apologize.
"Paul?" His mother called.
He put his phone down on the staircase and walked away from it.
-----
*Photo by https://unsplash.com/@maximeutopix
ESTÀS LLEGINT
EMOTIONAL DISTANCE
Novel·la juvenil*a pandemic romance with a 19 year old college student and 29 year old unemployed woman It's 2020. Paul should be off to college, Adrienne should be engaged in London but instead they're both stuck in Connecticut and cross paths thanks to a harmless...
