Day 6

I do not own anything

They drove along Lambeth street and left the city, heading toward Croydon, then Erik asked Christine to get the map in the gloves drawer and look for Brighton street, it was somewhere in the South. Christine told him to turn right, but after riding for around thirty minutes, they had to turn back because Christine found out that she was holding the map upside down all the time. After three hours of wandering around without a destination, they finally found some walkers and asked for directions.

Reaching Redhill, Erik stopped to buy some gas and checked his wheels, looked like his steer was too old for a long journey like this. Christine, on the other hand, liked to stay in the card, with the map on her thigh.

After they passed Crawley, Erik rode slower, the countryside was covered in snow, and the windscreen was also covered with ice, and the car kept stripping dangerously when they turned. After a while, they were too cold to even talk. Erik turned the heat to the highest, but the tiny propeller could not win against the strong wind. They stopped at a coffee shop whose name was " The Seventh Bell" to warm themselves up with two cups of hot coffee and started to continue their journey again.

After another long drive, Erik finally announced that they were about to reach Brighton. But then again, he did say that the littler trip would only take them two hours most, and since they left London, it has been almost double the time he said at first already.

Finally, they found Brington, but all the games were starting to close, the festival was already over and everyone was going home to celebrate their holiday with their family, Erik walked to the ticket clerk but no one was there so he came back.

" All the shops were closed so we will be able to get in for free." He winked at Christine, not even bother about the time. " so, where can we find this fortune-teller?"

" I am not sure if she would be waiting for us."

" don't be ridiculous, she is a fortune-teller, right? So she would have seen us coming anyway."

" Are you making fun of me, Mr. Reddington?"

"Not this time, my dear Miss Anderson, let's go, it is freezing here."

oOo

Christine stood in front of the booth where she met the strange fortune-teller. She felt so stupid and nervous at the same time, it was ridiculous to come all the way here just for something a fortune-teller said.

Everyone would feel this was a crazy idea, anyone would. But not Erik. He was the one who suggested they drove there in this weather when they should stay in their bed and had nice hot cocoa.

Maybe she could share a hot cocoa cup with him in her apartment.

" aren't you going to get in her tent?" Erik pushed her forward. " I will be waiting outside, be careful."

" Okay, thank you, Erik."

" It was nothing, I also need a vacation, too." Erik light his cigar and started to smoke to warm himself up. " please don't be too long, or you will have to pick up my poor icy dead body."

" don't worry." Christine laughed at his joke, she was too nervous to walk in, but thank him, it was better then. " I am sure that your body can live through something like this, after all, you have survived after my deadly noisy friends visit every Friday."

" haha, very funny, but seriously, don't talk too long, we still need to go back to London, it is Christmas and I don't feel like spending the night in my car. We both will freeze to death."

"sure, sure, Mr. Grumpy."

oOo

When Christine walked into the fortune-teller's tent, she saw the woman was sitting on a chair, using some kind of crystal ball to look for something.

" Hello?"

" I see you have come back, even when you did not believe in my words the last time you were here." The kind woman looked used smiled with her. " what brings you here?"

" well… I have been thinking about what you said…. And I want to know the truth."

"The truth?"

"did you see what you told me the last time I was here?"

" I only said what I saw."

" The last time I was here, I did not tell you my name, but you called me. How did you know?"

" How did you name all the smell you breathe in?"

"well, I have a gift. My nose is very good."

" and I have 'the eyes'. Both of us are blessed with the used power to do our works."

" I came back because… I don't know… something pulled me here, what you told me last time…. Confused me…" Christine confessed. " I couldn't sleep."

" I understand, for someone like you, everything will happen like it was with me."

" Please tell me the truth. Did you see what you told me?"

" The truth? I am sorry, dear, but the future was not written on the stone, thank god. Your future is in your hands."

" so everything you said before was just a lie?"

" It is just a gift. Nothing is reliable. It is up to you to decide what will and will not happen."

" decide what?"

" decide that you need me to tell you about what you want to know. Think about it carefully dear, I know you have a life here but are you satisfied with it?"

Christine sat in silence, she did not know how to think, it was the truth that she loved her life in England, she had her friends and her dream job here, but why did a part of her still feels like it did not belong here?

" I… I don't know… I have my friends, my job…"

" Dear, dear, but there are more wonderful things that are waiting for you ahead." The old woman smiled. " you have to go on a very long journey, to a new place, where everything started, but to do that, you will have to accept something, and by the look of it, I know you are not ready, yet."

" please tell me everything that you have seen and I will decide what I want to believe."

" Are you sure?"

" yes. When I was young, my mom and I always go to church on Sunday. The church where I lived was always cold, very cold. And I stood hours after hours to pray to a God that I have never seen him before, and he has never been generous enough to listen to me, so I think I can sit and listen to what you want to say for two or three minutes…"

" I am very sorry that your parents were killed in war…" she said, cut off what Christine was saying.

" How did you know?" Christine was surprised.

" shhh. You came here to listen to me, yet you kept talking and talking."

She turned Christine's hands over and gently whispered. " you have two lives, Christine. One is what you have and one is waiting for you for a very long time. Both don't have anything in common. But the man I told you was waiting for you in the other life, and he will never be in this life that you currently have. To meet him you are going to have to go on a journey. And that journey will change everything you have known for all your life."

" everything you have told me is meaningless." Christine denied. She couldn't believe what the old fortune-teller has said.

" maybe, maybe not. After all, I am just an old fortune-teller in a small carnival."

" a journey to where?"

" to where you have started everything, dear, to where your story began."

" I am from London and I am planning to come back there tonight."

" no, no, I am talking about where you were born."

" it is still London, I was born in Holborn."

"no, you weren't, believe me." The old fortune-teller smiled at her.

" damn it, I know where I was born."

" believe me, you are not born from there. Look into the mirror and you will see your answer."

" I am sorry for arguing with you. But all my ancestor was from the North, my mom is from Birmingham and my dad is from Yorkshire."

" They both are from the East, you came from the kingdom that no longer exists." She whispered.

" It is nonsense."

" I am telling you, the journey you have to go

" I will repeat, you are not ready yet, dear, so let continue our talk another day."

"I am sick of those sleepless nights, I hate it, I will not go back to London without proving that you are a big liar…"

And both of them fell in silent. The fortune-teller looked at Christine, did not say anything.

"I... I am sorry, it is…. I did not mean to be cruel…" Christine looked down in shame. " I did not mean to be disrespect…"

The old fortune-teller pulled away and stood up.

" you should go home and forget about what I have told you, it is me who has to be sorry. The truth is I was just an old crazy woman who lived in a small tent in a carnival, who took pleasure in making fun of everyone's miserable life. I tried to predict the future and now I am the one who got stuck in my game. You should go on with your life without any worries. You are a very beautiful young woman, I am sure you will meet the man you want in your life without an old fortune-teller tell you what you need to do."

She walked toward the door, but Christine did not follow her.

" I see you have become more honest than before. So alright, we will continue with the game." Christine told her "after all, nothing is going to stop me from thinking this is a game. So, let pretend that what you said is serious, where do I start?"

" you are making me tired, dear. I didn't predict your future, I just told you what was on my mind, so we don't have to waste our time with that. You don't have anything better to do on your Christmas?"

" you can't make me leave you alone, I promise I will go when you give me the answer."

The old fortune-teller sighed. She walked to the small painting of a Byzantine god. And when she turned to look at Christine with a more serious face.

" at the kingdom of love, you will find a man, and this man will lead you to the next step. Don't forget if you follow the road until its end, you have known for a very long time will no longer exist. Now, please leave me alone, I am tired."

She opened the door for Christine, the winter cold made Christine had to put on her coat. She took out her wallet but the old woman did not take her money.

Christine said goodbye to the fortune-teller and left. She found Erik standing next to his car, hands in his pocket. She ran to him, not wanting to spend any more time in the cold winter.

oOo

" I am starting to worry, you know. I kept asking myself that should I go and find you or not. It is hard to stand here and wait for you in this cold weather." Erik complained.

" I am sorry, I forgot the time. I think we will have to drive all night…" Christine caressed his arm.

" and you also forgot about the old and sad Erik, who was waiting for you under the cruel weather." He said while starting his Austin "well, you forgot about the time, I didn't. I hope it was worth the wait."

Christine took out his map and put it on her thigh. Erik reminds her to put the map the right way so that they could get back to their home in time.

" This is not the weirdest way to spend your Christmas, right?" Christine told him, looking guilty because she left him waited in the cold.

" well, it is weirder than sitting next to an old radio and yawn anyway." Besides, if the road is good, we can make it home before Christmas is over. There is still a lot of time before midnight."

"and it is still a long way to London." Christine sighed. " I am sorry for making you use your Christmas like this, I am sure you have a lot of other things you can do."

" it is fine." Erik asked her. " do you mind if I smoke?"

" as long as I can have one."

" you smoke?"

" I don't, but with all that happened tonight, why not?"

Erik took a box of Embassy from his coat and told Christine. " do you know how to drive?"

" I don't," she answered and leaned over to hold on to the steering wheel.

" try to drive in a straight line and don't hit anything on the road." He said and help her control the wheel when his Austin was about to hit a tree. Then he gave her a cigarette. " so, we lost, because you look more worry than you was. What did the old lady tell you?"

" It is nothing, I must have been over-active with what the fortune-teller told me. I did not get any sleep in those past few days and now I am exhausted. The woman is crazier than I thought." Christine coughed violently after she took up her first cigarette. So Erik took it away and thrown it out of the window.

" take a nap then. I will wake you up when we're home."

Christine tried to make herself more comfortable and she suddenly felt tired and sleepy.

Erik stared at her sleeping face for a while before turned his attention to the road.

oOo

Erik pulled over and parked on the sidewalk, he turned off the car and wondered how could he wake Christine up. Calling her name would shock her, put his hand on her shoulder would be rude and coughing was out of the question since she did not even stir on their way back even when the old car kept making a very big sound whenever he turned.

He would have to cough all night to wake her up.

" We are going to die because of the cold if we stay in this car all night…" Christine slowly opened her eyes and said.

Erik was the one who jumped out of his bone.

When they finally walked up to their apartment, both Erik and Christine did not know how to act. Christine was the one who broke the silence.

" so, it is only eleven PM."

" yes, it is only eleven PM."

" What did you buy this morning?"

" Jambon, a bottle of Piccalilli sauce, red bean, and a piece of Chester cheese. You?"

" eggs, bacon, bread, and honey."

" a real party," Erik said. " I am so hungry, I can eat anything."

" since you have invited me to breakfast, I will treat you to a special Christmas dinner."

" I remember it was you who invited me out for a breakfast."

" But you are the one who paid for it, and I want to thank you for driving me to the carnival," Christine said.

" great, I am free all week."

"Erik, I am talking about tonight. I think it is ridiculous for both of us to celebrate Christmas alone." Christine said, raising one of her eyebrows.

" lucky for you, I am free tonight, too. Let me grab something and I will come over."

" sure."

oOo

Christine boil some water, pushed a big trunk to the middle of her small living room and put a tablecloth on it, she couldn't find any fresh flower to put on her dining table, but she found some candles and some old china plates.

She hears someone knocked on her door, knowing it was her neighbor coming over for late-night dinner.

" The door is not locked."

" you know, Christine, what if it is not me? You should be more careful." Erik said, closed the door, not forgetting to lock it.

" it is fine, we are the only ones who live on this floor, and I am sure if something like that happens, you will come to rescues me." Christine smiled.

" I am very happy that you think so highly of me." Erik laughed as he put his hand over his left chest. " but you will have to spare my old bone, I am not good with playing knight in shining armor, stood with a young beauty."

" Erik, you are not that old. Here, sit down, I will serve our dinner."

" I will help." Erik stood up.

" no, let me do it, sit down, Mr. Reddington." Christine pushed him down and walked into her kitchen. When she came back, she had two plates in her hand.

" I have bacon, eggs, and bread."

" it smells delightful." Erik took the plate from Christine's hands and took out a bottle of wine. " I think a Christmas night won't be a Christmas night without two glasses of fine wine. I don't have flowers or anything fancy so I brought everything I bought this morning over."

" that's wonderful."

They ate and had a very nice talk about things that have happened in their life. Erik told her a bit about his childhood, about his mother's pain for marrying a man who did not share anything in common with her, about his brother who did not have any sense of humor but have a lot of greedy to try and drive him out of the house, so that he could take over everything. He asked Christine several times if he bored her. She said not in the million years because she found his family picture wasItof rather colorful.

" how about you? What is your childhood like?"

" happy, I was the only child, don't have any sisters or brothers. I am a bit jealous with you, you have a lot of one brother and two sisters to play with. But then I got all the love and care from my father and mother."

" What did your father do?"

" he was a pharmacist. But sometimes, he did some research, too. He was in love with drug, medicine, and their pharmaceutical value. My mother worked with him, they met at college. We did not live infancy but we were really happy and our house was always full of laughts."

" you are very lucky."

" I know. besides, seeing that happiness makes you want to have a perfect life like that."

" so, why not be a pharmacist like your father?"

" me? No, I don't have the same interests like my father. I like their smell more than their pharmaceutical value." Christine giggled. " you see, my nose is super sharp, and I like to make essential oils, most of them are made from flowers."

"it sounds fantastic."

" I am glad you like it, some find it rather boring."

" It can't be more boring than sitting for several hours to drawn something."

"I think it is interesting. Sitting there, drawing what you see, how you feel… express your feeling with your brush." Christine cut two flats of cheese. " seeing your works being published in a store must be wonderful."

" I will tell when it can be published, besides, you have your works being published in a store, too, love." Erik winked at what he called her, hoping she did not realize it.

" I am sure people will see the beauty of your painting soon, I like it." Christine did not pay attention to what he called her.

" thank you."

"so, here, have some dessert and I will let you go to bed." Christine put some cheese and soft bread on the plate for him. " thank you for taking me to Brington, that was very generous of you."

" no problem, I should be the one to thank you, I have had a good time, it is better than sitting in my house and listen to the radio." He looked to her glass rooftop. " it must be very bright in the morning here."

" yes, yes, it is, I will invite you over sometime in the morning."

After they ate everything, Erik stood up to leave and Christine came with him to the door.

" you don't have to see me off, I don't have to go that far."

"no, no, you don't."

" Merry Christmas, Miss Anderson."

" Merry Christmas, Mr. Reddington."

(TBC)