A Lost Christmas Eve Part 4

Ms. Young had finally finished putting her dinner together. Everything that could be done, was done. She wasn't sure she was going be able to pull it off. Getting her mother off to the airport took longer than she expected, and as usual they had their habitual arguments. Traffic was terrible on the way back as the weather had become pretty bad by then. She sighed and stretched her back out. She decided to sit down for a moment to collect her thoughts. She moved her hair out her face as she sat at the kitchen table staring out through the sliding glass door. She had put on choral Christmas music, and the haunting voices were very peaceful. As she relaxed she suddenly noticed that snow flakes began dropping on the ground. They were very small, but could be seen dropping everywhere, and she thought it was beautiful. She suddenly realized the time and immediately headed for the shower.

Ben was in his room anxiously waiting for his parents to leave for their flight. He went out to the family room to help with the luggage, maybe even speed up their departure. He saw his parent's suitcases sitting by the front door as his father was flipping through the television channels. Ben looked out at the backyard, and was shocked to see it completely white. "Oh shit," he whispered. Ben's mother walked into the room while on the phone trying to find out about their flight. Ben walked up to his father and asked, "How bad is it?"

His father turned his head towards him, "It's bad. The weather service, the airlines, everyone got caught by surprise."

Worried, Ben asked, "Well what about you're flight."

"I'll be very surprised if our flight is going anywhere tonight." Oh my God Ben thought to himself. His dad smiled and put his arm around him, "Hey that's ok; now the three of us can be together tonight, we'll go out. You know your mom, and I hated not being able to spend Christmas Eve with you." Ben didn't know what to feel. His father was happy that their flight was probably canceled, and that they would be together.

"Well all flights are delayed till the weather improves." Ben's mother explained as she hung up the phone.

His father smiled, "Yeah, I guess it's going to work out after all. You better call Dino."

Ben was in a daze and answered, "Yeah, I'll call, and tell Dino I won't be coming over for the night. As he slowly headed towards his room he couldn't believe how bad he felt. He actually felt physically sick. How was he going to tell Monica they won't be together tonight? He was well aware of Monica's problem with being alone during the holidays. It was almost like it was her greatest fear, and she was much more fragile than she let on. He totally failed her he thought. She only wanted one thing, and there was no way he could give it to her. He entered his room and sat on his bed desperately trying to find the words to tell her the bad news.

Ms. Young came at a quick pace into the dinning room fully decked out in a red dress and red heels. She checked on everything to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She looked over the table that she had meticulously put together; table cloth, candles, her mother's good china, and silver. Perfect she thought. She went into the kitchen, and checked the food, perfect as well. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She walked over to the sliding glass door, and flipped the out door lights on. Everything was white, and she could see the now much larger snow flakes landing. She was amazed by how beautiful it all was, and how perfect the music she was playing went with it.

Ms. Young was startled when the phone suddenly rang. She turned and walked to the phone where she answered it. "Hello."

"Monica?"

"Ben," she responded in a gleeful voice. "Are you on your way?" He didn't answer. "Ben? Babe are you there?"

"Monica," he said in a sad tone, "Have you seen the snow?"

"Well of course; it's beautiful?"

"Yes it is." He took a few seconds before he spoke again. "It's also delayed my parent's flight till the weather changes."

"Oh my God, no." She turned around to look out the window again. "Is there any word on when the weather will change?"

"Channel 4 is saying tomorrow afternoon."

"Well is there anyway you can still come by. Maybe for just…"

"…I wish I could; you don't know how much I wish I could," he desperately tried to explain.

Gently, and sorrowfully she replied, "No…I think I do know."

"My parents are so excited that we'll be together I can't really…," Ben barely had the strength to continue breaking her heart. "Monica I'm so sorry. I feel like I'm failing you; I promise I'll make it up to you some day – I promise."

She began to quietly cry, and Ben could hear her sobbing. She grabbed a tissue and gently blotted her cheek. "Ben it's not your fault, it's not fair, but it's not your fault. You enjoy your time with your family. I'll…I'll be all right here."

Ben almost thought he was going cry. "I'm so sorry Monica. I'll come over tomorrow as soon as my parents leave. I promise."

She spoke softly, "That's fine Ben. I don't want you to blame yourself. Merry Christmas Ben," she proceeded to hang up the phone.

As the line disconnected, "Merry…goodbye." Ben hadn't felt this bad since he broke up with her a few months ago.

Ms. Young was still in shock, and she couldn't believe one of her worst fears was about to happen again. This would be the third Christmas Eve in row that she would be by herself, and many more in total. Why did this happen to her so often? Was there something wrong with her she wondered?

After she stopped crying she decided to eat some of the dinner she made. She set it up just like she had planned to do, but for one person now. She poured herself a glass of wine, and sat at the dinning room table. The festive Christmas music playing in the background just emphasized her being alone. She took a few sips of wine, a few bites of food, and it was good, but difficult to enjoy. Finally she tossed here fork on her plate in disgust, and upped the last of the wine in her glass. Her eyes began to water up as she continued to think about Ben, and tonight. "I must be cursed." She started to weep again.

After a few minutes she got up, and retrieved her purse from her bedroom. She pulled out her cell phone and the business card Barry had given her. Ms. Young looked over the card displaying his phone number, and contemplated what to do. Barry said he was alone tonight, and he definitely had feelings for her. She began dialing his number thinking that she just couldn't sit here staring at the empty dinner table any longer. When she came to the last number she stopped. She couldn't do this to Ben again. She immediately thought about what she had done with Ben's brother. Ms. Young had originally tried to justify her actions to Ben by reminding him he had ended their relationship. She was naturally attracted to his brother, and he seemed nice. But as they argued out their love for each other months ago, they both knew that it was a calculated revenge move to hurt him. It was still a very soar point between them, and Ben never discussed his brother. It wasn't Ben's fault he couldn't make it either; this wasn't his choice. The second she thought she would have to lie to Ben about it, she hung up. He had more than earned her loyalty she thought, and she was going to be just that.

She wanted to cry again, but instead she let out scream as she threw her cell phone across the room. After a few hours she started to clear the table, and was almost finished when the house phone rang. She decided not to pick it up figuring it was her mother calling to wish her Merry Christmas. That was the last thing she wanted. She continued cleaning up when the cell phone suddenly rang in the corner of the room. Ms. Young sighed, "Couldn't even break it." It wasn't her mother she suddenly thought because she didn't have her cell number. She immediately turned to search for the phone. She quickly grabbed it, "Hello."

"Monica?"

"Ben," she responded in a loving voice.

"Hi, how are you," he asked in a concerned voice.

"Better than I thought I would be. I finished dinner, and I'm cleaning up," she explained as she collapsed on the sofa.

"I'm sorry Monica."

"I know."

"My parents want me to go to midnight mass with them; I'm not even sure why we haven't attended in years."

"That sounds nice; you should go. I haven't attended in years either."

"They want to go to the church they were married at which is on Lamoureux St."

"Oh St. Catherine's I know that church. It's so close to my…oh my God...you're inviting me?"

"Do you think you could meet me there? I know the roads are pretty bad, we've got our SUV, but do you think can get there?" Ben sighed, "Maybe this is a dumb idea; I can't even promise that we'll be able to talk to each other."

It had taken Ms. Young a few moments to take it all in. "I'll be there; even if I have to walk. Oh my God I still can't believe this. No it's not a dumb idea. I haven't seen you in three days, if I can see you for just a few minutes it would be worth it."

"Really," Ben asked as he thought how good that felt to hear.

"Yes."

"I feel the same way." Ben looked at his watch, "It's eleven thirty now you don't have much time."

"Ok I'm leaving now, goodbye." She hung up, and quickly ran into her bedroom to change. She quickly changed into more suitable clothing, and exited the house.