2.
The following morning Chloe awoke to the sound of banging and crashing throughout the house. She rolled over and blinked her bleary eyes awake and strained her ears to pick up the sounds of whatever was happening. Somewhere downstairs she could hear her mother’s voice drifting through the hallways, calling to one of the handymen to hang the garland higher.
Decoration day, she thought with fondness.
It had been a family tradition of theirs for as long as she could remember to spend a full Saturday adorning their family home with a whole host of Christmas décor, but usually they would wait for Chloe to surface. Maybe they had got wind of her and Damon’s argument and decided to leave her to it for the morning, or maybe they just realized that now she was twenty-two, she was probably too old to be still fussing on with activities that were created for her when she was a child.
She felt a pang of nostalgia as she remembered their family Christmas’s when she was younger and of how her and her parents and brother had all dressed up in festive jumpers, turned on the carols and danced all day together whilst adorning the tree and sipping mulled wine. Chloe always found herself with the job of untangling the fairy lights, and although she hated it, it was another tradition that seemed to have stuck. It had always been one of her favorite days of the year, but even though she was back there for the weekend and away from her apartment in the city, she was still feeling decidedly un-Christmassy.
She yawned and leaned up on her elbows. Even though she was feeling more like The Grinch than Mrs. Christmas she dragged herself out of bed and after pulling on her robe, made her way downstairs.
“Chloe!” her mother beamed as she shuffled into the kitchen and grabbed the pot of coffee that was resting on the center island.
The whole room looked as if a Santa’s grotto had exploded all over it and she tiptoed amongst lush green wreaths, garlands and baubles to find a seat at the table.
“Morning,” she croaked as she took a sip of coffee and rested her chin on her hand.
“Feeling the after effects of last night?” her mother smirked.
Chloe shrugged and raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure how much she had heard, or indeed even if her and her father had been home when the argument took place. Their family home was so big, it was easy for people to disappear into their rooms and sleep peacefully at night without being disturbed by the goings on of the others. She and Damon had left them at the gala dinner and had no idea of when they had returned.
“Something like that,” she said sullenly.
Her mother looked at her and placed the garland she was holding down on the counter top.
“I knew something was up last night,” she said. “What’s happened?”
Chloe sighed and felt the tears stinging her eyes again. She wanted to tell her mother everything, but at the same time, she couldn’t bear to go through it all again.
“Damon and I…” she began. “We’ve broken up.”
Her mother reached out and stroked her shoulder. Chloe knew there was nothing she could say, but just the fact that she was there for her was enough.
“I’m sorry Darling,” her mom soothed. “I thought maybe he would have been the one to go the distance.”
“Well,” Chloe sighed. “At one point so did I.”
Her mother smiled sympathetically and then turned back to the decorations.
“You know we can talk about it if you want to,” she said over her shoulder. “But I won’t crowd you for now.”
Chloe blinked away a tear and nodded. Her mother knew her so well, she was fully aware of how little she would want to discuss the whole thing. All Chloe wanted to do was throw herself into a new activity, and fast.
She got to her feet and picked up a golden angel. It was one of the decorations she loved the most and remembered year after year.
“Where is this going?” she said cheerily. “May as well get started and help you.”
“Don’t worry,” her mom smiled. “If you don’t feel up to it I have the boys helping me out.”
She motioned to the hallway where Chloe could see the guys her mom hired to do odd jobs around the house working away like busy bees, pinning the garlands up the length of the staircase and around the gallery landing.
“Well, maybe I will get dressed first,” Chloe chuckled.
She took her coffee and made her way back to her room where she dressed in a casual pair of jeans and a red t-shirt.
May as well at least try to be festive, she told herself as she tied her long black hair up high into a pony tail and finished it off with a red ribbon.
As she made her way back downstairs and rejoined her mother in the kitchen she realized how good it felt to be home for the holidays. Even though her apartment was only a half hour drive from her families stunning and sprawling home, she rarely spent much time there. Since Chloe had gone out on her own and thrown herself into the working world, she hadn’t felt the need to go home as often, her time was stretched enough as it was. But with Christmas fast approaching and her father’s annual gala dinner being arranged for that weekend she had decided to put in a few weeks leave from her job at a glossy magazine and take some well-deserved time off. Now she didn’t have to worry about getting back to the city in time for a meeting on Monday morning and she had more than enough time to enjoy the holidays and get all of her shopping done in good time, rather than flapping around like a maniac at the last minute!
“So,” her mom said as she passed her a string of fairy lights that were curled up into a tight, tangled ball. “I guess you can start with these.”
Chloe groaned and her mom winked. Some traditions, it appeared, certainly never changed.