Twelve Days

Days Five to Eight

Days Five to Eight

Sunday 18th December

Today was my lazy day; I just loafed around the house, watching old DVDs that I found. Shrek, Finding Nemo and Freaky Friday were on my movie list. But as I was checking for yet another snack (I went to the gym yesterday and I was feeling like treating myself), I noticed that I had barely enough ingredients to make myself a decent and somehow healthy dinner. So I changed out of my sweats and left my warm cozy apartment for the Asda supermarket down the road.

I got back in almost an hour, seems like everyone in Manchester was doing their Christmas shopping then. Before I put on the lights, I stepped on something that made a soft crunch. I gasped and quickly flicked on the light switch, and I was relieved to find out that it was only paper.

In the small, nearly inexistent foyer of my house, lay tiny yellow papers, that formed the Olympic emblem. In the middle was a white envelope which contained two tickets for the men's football quarterfinal at Old Trafford in Manchester, for Saturday the 4th August 2012. The match began at noon and ended at two o’clock. I grinned like a fool, being the huge football fanatic I was, I had never been to Manchester United’s home grounds.

The other card inside the envelope said:

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, five golden rings.

P.S. I hope you pick me to accompany you to the Olympics.

*****

Monday 19th December

I crossed out the number eighteen on my office calendar. Only six days till Christmas. I said to myself over and over again. The weather was slowly getting harsher and snow was more frequent. Some of my more affluent friends had travelled away to the coastal towns and cities of Europe, Africa and South America. I sighed; I wish I was also basking in an exotic location.

I tried rubbing my hands together to create warmth but with little avail.

My assistant Lisa McCoy popped her head into my medium-sized office. “Morning! Baxter’s on line two, he says it’s about the merger.”

I groaned and threw my hands up in the air. “But it’s almost Christmas!”

“Yeah but Mr. Parker wants to start the New Year with a blank slate.” Lisa shrugged.

“Ugh, fine…” I quickly blew onto my hands before rubbing them together again.

“Didn’t I tell you? You got a package from some Canadian winter wear company.” Lisa left for a few seconds and returned carrying a small box. “Cross your fingers that it’s gloves, Euro News says that we’re in for quite a storm tonight.” She smiled and left.

I ripped open the package and saw a pair of black puffy gloves with the logo ‘Canada Goose’ embroidered near the cuff. I read the description paper and it said that they were also water resistant. The palm and thumb area was reinforced for better grip, and there was a draw cord at the cuff to tighten the gloves.

The elegant card with it said:

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, six geese a-laying.

P.S. Okay, I couldn’t find six geese, so I sent you something from Canada Goose instead to keep those delicate hands warm!

*****

Tuesday 20th December

I was just about to leave for work but when I opened my front door Jason was standing right there, about to knock. I gave him a ‘what are you doing here?’ look.

“Hi,” Jason gave me a cute lopsided smile.

“I have to go to work so bye.” I tried walking past him but he blocked me, stopping me by putting his hands on my shoulders. I raised my right eyebrow and he let go immediately. “Okay, what do you want?”

“Whoa, easy there tiger,” he said, “C’mon, time to go.”

“Go? Unlike you, I have a job to get to.” I attempted going past him again, but with no avail.

Jason ignored my half-insult and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go,” he looked me up and down, “I think you should change first.” I opened my mouth to retort but he clasped his hand over it. “Trust me.” His brown eyes bored into mine.

“Fine.” I gave up and headed into the house once more. I put on dark skinny jeans, a long sleeved white shirt and a puffy dark brown sleeveless winter jacket. I threw on a bunch of gold bracelets for an extra touch.

We left in Jason’s sleek black BMW and he drove for what seemed like hours. I ended up drifting off to sleep and I woke up when we had stopped. Jason wasn’t in the car so I unbuckled my seatbelt and exited the vehicle as well.

“Oh, you’re up.” He said, not looking away from the scenery. I didn’t blame him.

We were parked on a cliff, overlooking the beach below and the vast ocean. On the right hand corner we could see a modern city surrounded with frost covered trees. Only a few dedicated surfers were in the freezing cold waters, while others preferred to wait till summer. I could also see open fields covered in snow, which I knew were beautiful parks once all the ice melted. You could just catch a glimpse of the sun among the heavy winter clouds.

“Where are we?” I asked in a whisper, I was still in awe.

“Swansea, Wales.” Jason reached into his pocket and slid me a small card, along the metal railings that were between us and certain death.

The card read:

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me, seven swans a-swimming.

P.S. Sorry, it’s too cold to swim in the Swansea Bay.

“C’mon, there’s more.” He smiled and outstretched his hand for me to take. I smiled back and we walked down to the beach, hand in hand.

*****

Wednesday 21st December

I rubbed my eyes, trying to get rid of any sleep I had left. I sat up and outstretched my hands to the sky, as if trying to reach out to God. My arms collapsed back down and landed in my white puffy duvet. I yawned and got out of bed. I looked at my calendar and smiled. I was off work until Monday the second of January.

I trudged into the kitchen, grinning my way there. Jason was so sweet yesterday. We walked on Swansea Bay for hours, before heading back here at five o’clock. When he dropped me off I offered him coffee and we continued our conversation for a while longer. He left at ten; our farewell gesture was only a brief hug. Mind you, I still hadn’t fully forgotten what he did with Shauna.

When I took out the frying pan and placed it on my LG electric stove, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

On the mosaic-tiled dining table was another of Jason’s illustrious cards.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, eight maids a-milking.

P.S. Well, I got the milk part right.

Beside the card, lay a packet of Milky Way Stars, my favourite chocolate.

*****