Day 3
I do not own anything
"oh my god, I could have been killed." Peter's face was as pale as a ghost. " thank you… Christ… how did you do that?"
"it's… luck… I guess." Christine's face was even paler than Peter's.
"thank god." Meg sighed. " you should have looked where you were going, Pet. It almost ran over you."
"yea…" Peter said, still shaking.
" Are you alright, Christ? You look like you have seen someone die." Raoul said, wrapping his arms around her. " it is ok now. Peter is fine."
"it .. it is nothing…" Christine tried to avoid his arm. "let… let's go home…"
" yeah, I think you two." Roy pointed at Christine and Peter. "… should sit down for a bit and have some Volka."
" thank you, I think I will do just that."
" Volka sounds delightful." Peter stands up. " but I think it will take more than Volka to make me forget about this. But speaking of Volka, what will you do at Christmas?"
" I will visit my uncle's family, like usual." Meg hated spending Christmas without her family. " it is traditional since when my mom was still alive."
" oh, sorry. I think Roy and I will spend some time with our granny." Elizabeth said. " she is quite old. So we want to spend as much time with her as possible, and also, Roy tried to talk her into moving in with us. So that we can take care of her better."
" me and my book, of course. I need to clear the library, too." Peter sighed, " it is the busiest season for me, I want to hire some help but I don't think I have enough money to pay."
" I see." Raoul nod. " I will go to some Christmas party. So, Christ, where will you go?"
"I… Uhm… I will go to a party, too." Christine said, uncomfortable with his forwardness.
" where?" Raoul insisted.
Suddenly, Meg kicked his legs, hard.
" Hey, look, everyone." Meg pointed at a poster. " Eddy and his friends are playing cover for a dancing party in a coffee shop. It is still too early for Christine to come back to her home and suffer her rude neighbor. Let's go there."
"yeah, it sounds fun."
oOo
When they came to the coffee shop which Eddy and his friends would be playing, Peter tried to pull Christine onto the dance floor, but Raoul beat him to it.
" hey, Christ, it is fun, right?"
" yeah…" she said, uncomfortable.
" what's wrong?" Raoul asked, worrying. " it is not that bad, isn't it? Dancing with me?"
" it is not like that…"
" Christ, I have been thinking…"
"don't. I don't think we are a very good match." Christine pushed him away.
" But, why?"
" Raoul, today is a very nice day and I don't want to destroy it, but I don't think of you that way, I just want to be your friend."
" alright… I know, you already told me… so, you still don't change your mind about me then." Raoul sighed, "it is not hurt to try and hope."
" I am sorry."
" so… friends?"
"yes, friends."
oOo
" goodbye, Christ, have a nice holiday," Raoul said to her. After the dance, Roy and Elizabeth said that they boughtYeahething so they left first, and Raoul insisted that it was not safe for a woman to go home alone, so Raoul took Christine home while Peter helped Meg.
" thank you." She smiled, the way Raoul waved at her like that made her thought of the good old day, when he was still a boy with a red nose chasing after her scarf. That was why she could not be with him.
Christine walked slowly up to her room. She could hear her neighbor was returning home and she did not have any strength to fight so she waited until he was in his apartment.
oOo
Christine walked into her apartment. It was cold so she decided to heat some water for tea so that she could sleep easier. But after she just boiled her water, suddenly, her apartment was dark.
Seem like it was another power cut. It has been happening a lot latterly. Christine tried to find some candles but then she remembered that she used the last one two days ago and forgot to buy some more, again. She needs light to write some notes about everything she could smelt that day.
The only way was to come and ask for her neighbor. So she walked across the hall and knocked on his door.
As soon as possible, the door swung open. And Erik stood there with a candle in his hand.
" I have been waiting for you, Miss Anderson," Erik said with a raising eyebrow, looking serious.
" you have been waiting for me?" Christine asked, looking shocked.
" since the power was out. I am not wearing my sleeping clothes yet, you can see that. Here, take this, it is what you are about to ask me. It is what you need, right?" he gave her the candle.
" thank you, Mr. Reddington, I am sorry, I forgot to buy some more candles, I promise that I will remember to buy some more next time."
" I won't count on that, Miss Anderson. Good night."
" hey, you know, you can call me Christine."
" good night, Christine." He closed the door.
Christine came back into her apartment but after just two or three minutes. Someone knocked on her door. She opened it and saw Erik was standing there.
" I believe you will need this, too." He pulled out a match and helped her light the candle. " there, the candle will be much more useful if it was lighted." He looked satisfied with what he just did. " now, don't look at me like that, it doesn't take a fortune-teller to know that you will need someone to light your candle."
" thank you, Mr. Reddington." Christine blushed, she didn't want to confess that she used her last match to heat the water for her tea.
" no problem, Miss Anderson."
" you know, I have been asking you to call me by my name, it is Christine. You must have very a short memories or you just decide to ignore my words."
" The second one."
"hah, I thought so." Christine giggled.
" so, now that it is settled, I will be going home now, it is getting cold standing here." Erik said. " and since I will have to call you by your name, you will have to do the same, the name is Erik."
" good night, Erik." Christine smiled.
"good night, Christine." He nodded back before turned to walk back.
Christine closed her door, feeling happier than she could ever be, seem like she and her neighbor could finallybe able to get to know each other better.
(TBC)