Christmas disaster

Violet didn’t know who thought and convinced people that proposing on Christmas is romantic, but she knew that she definitely hated this person with her whole heart. There wasn’t a worse way to spoil her favourite holiday than by trying to make her a wife. Growing up as a child, she only ever wished for two things: to never get married and to never have a bad 25^th December. Ironically, Christmas of 2016 had a couple of surprises in stock for her.

“Hey, Nat! Can you please put those boxes over there,” cried Violet from the kitchen “Oh, and do you know whether Jeremy is coming tonight, or not?”

“Dunno, but I hope not”

Natalie was Violet’s childhood friend which meant she was the only person who could convince her to do something. Inviting a bunch of their high-school friends and colleagues was her idea and Vi agreed only on one condition—Natalie is going to help her set up the place which was a great pleasure for the latter. She was a designer after all.

After about six long hours of preparation for the party, two best friends were ready to welcome their guests, which started filling up the house like ants coming to the feast. Their outfits varied from classic silk black dresses to the glittering jumpsuits with all the shades of the rainbow. Due to the absence of a dress code, people wore what they thought one should wear to an adult Christmas party. “Looks ridiculous,” whispered Violet in Natalie’s ear, while watching the girl in a pink crop top trying to make conversation with a guy in a velvet suit, “I love it”

The decorations were decided to be kept to the minimal exposure. There was some silver tinsel wrapped around the staircase railings and the Christmas tree had only black silver and gold toys. A lonely mirrorball was hung in the middle of the ceiling to entertain the public by breaking into pieces while it shined. Quite a miserable reason for existence but painfully beautiful and too relatable for humans.

“Hey, Violet!” exclaimed a shadow from behind.

“Jeremy! You made it! Merry Christmas”

“Merry Christmas you too. Hey, can we talk somewhere quieter?”

“Sure”

Natalie shot a puzzled look at her friend, but Violet just shrugged. She assumed her old classmate would take her upstairs, where it was less noisy but he pulled her out of the house and right onto the street. Neither had a jacket so the cold air made their bones shiver straight away. The snow softly cracked under their feet. ‘Pretty’ thought Violet as the lights illuminated the snow, the cloudy sky above and Jeremy’s eyes. Looking in his eyes was like looking at the Sun and Venus as they outshined the rest of the universe in the summer morning.

“Is something wrong?” asked the woman.

“There’s something I need to tell you…Remember when you had a crush on me?”

Violet chuckled. “Yeah, I was eight”

“Well, when I found out later…I, I just couldn’t stop thinking about you—”

Violet’s mouth’s corners fell. It wasn’t funny anymore. At all. Absolutely terrible for the blonde-headed.

‘No, no, no, no. Don’t tell me he’s—’

“And I never really stopped” shared Jeremy, as he got to one knee “So, will you, Violet Smith, marry me?”

“No”

“Oh, I love you so much and I’m so ha—Wait, what?!”

“I said no”

“But, why?”

“We aren’t close. You don’t…even know my middle name.”

“I can learn”

“Jeremy, the whole thing is so spontaneous. And I, I have a boyfriend. You probably didn’t even know that”

“Oh, well, ok then. It was nice to see you, bye” was the last thing Violet heard from Jeremy, as he left the front porch of her house and disappeared into the night.

Violet didn’t like the fact that this was how Christmas evening started. She couldn’t believe that she was getting proposed to. Looking around, she noticed how romantic the atmosphere was which made her wonder if Jeremy decided to propose outside on purpose. She was a bit sorry and annoyed a lot by what he did. Disappointing someone wasn’t hard or unusual for her to do, by she was also disappointed herself. In Jeremy, her and Christmas.

Eventually, she decided to get back to the house hoping that the worst part of the evening is behind. Oh, how wrong she was. The second proposal came not too long after. She desperately tried to find Natalie when her colleague, Max, started pulling her out of the living room and upstairs. She asked him several questions, but he either didn’t hear because of outrageously loud music or ignored her on purpose. That made her worry a lot. She already started imagining the worst possible case scenario, as he pulled her into the guest’s room. ‘Probably thought it was my room’ noted the owner of the house to herself.

Max started quickly talking, describing how beautiful she was or something like that anyway. Violet wasn’t really listening, rather going through an escape plan in her head. There were lots of possibilities considering she does box three times a week. She was in the middle of deciding between jumping out of the window and wrestling Max and running out of the room (she really wanted to jump out of the window, but the second option seemed fairer and she knew Natalie wouldn’t really approve the first one), when he got to his knee and declared that he wanted Violet to become his wife. Ironically, just like Jeremy, he didn’t even know her middle name. How could she let this man make her happy if he practically didn’t even know her? She would laugh if she wasn’t so irritated.

“Max, listen, you’re a good guy and I’m sure there’s a girl who would see how—”

“Don’t tell me you’re saying no”

“I’m saying no”

The next twenty minutes were weird. Max had time to beg Violet, curse her, cry, beg her again and then, only then, he stormed out of the room. Not without calling her a bitch obviously. And he was the one calling her the love of his love five minutes ago? At least Jeremy took his rejection more gracefully. The only part of the last half an hour which she rejected was not jumping out the window.

The next proposal was only two hours after the second one. Her boyfriend, Tyson, run into the house. His cheeks were red like tomatoes and he was panting, clearly, he ran like a madman to get to her house. In his right hand, there was a bouquet of white roses (her favourite flowers and in the left one, a small bag.

“Hi, I’m sorry I’m late. All the flower shops were closed, and then I had to pick your present and I was almost late and I know those aren’t really excuses, I should’ve thought things through better and—”

“Ty, this is fine. This is good. I really don’t mind”

“You don’t?”

“No”

“Ok, can we speak somewhere privately” he whispered looking around.

“Sure”

He led her to the room they both liked calling the library. It was a small room right next to the kitchen where two huge bookcases and a desk with a chair stood which makes the room an office, and not a library. They used to dream about moving into a bigger house and making one of the rooms into a library but then things changed. Violet actually hoped that she wouldn’t need to talk to Tyson much that evening because she didn’t want to spoil the evening for either of them. They had completely different plans for the future and Violet’s didn’t include her boyfriend in it.

Once they entered the room, Tyson closed the door and got to one knee and got the red velvet box out of the bag. ‘Here we go again’ flashed through Violet’s mind but she knew that this proposal would be different.

“I know you hate fake niceties and things that take more time than they should so I’ll try to go through my speech as quickly as possible. Violet, you’re the best thing ever in my life and I just can’t stress that enough. We’re just a year and a half with each other and some might say I’m rushing through things but why should I wait if I’m so sure in what I’m feeling? I’m in love with you, Violet Mary Smith, the woman who hates her name but whose name is the very reason I’m smiling right now. The very reason I’m who I’m today. Vi, my initial speech was twenty minutes long but I can sum it up in three words: I love you. When we met, you said you don’t want to ever get married but I wonder if I changed your mind. Will you, Violet Mary Smith, marry me?”

Standing between the books, with candles being the only light in the room, she almost said yes. Tyson knew exactly what she wanted, hell he even almost knew her better than anyone else. He loved her and she almost loved him. The whole proposal was almost everything she ever wanted. He...they...were almost everything she ever wanted. How could she say no? ‘Yes’ was right there, on the tip of her tongue, ready to fall and bounce on the floor and announce the future in which they could be happy. Saying it would feel so goddamn good, she almost said it. Almost.

“I’m sorry Ty, but you’re not really the one for me. You haven’t changed my mind and I wish you did. I truly do, but you hadn’t. I’m sorry. I’m not even sure if I love you anymore”

“Okay, it’s okay”

“I’m sorry, Ty”

And that was enough for both of them. They both broke down in silent crying. Violet fell into his arms, not sure if she will ever find the strength to get up. Tyson kept whispering that it would all be okay. Violet only believed it because it was he who said it. He never lied to her before—he wouldn’t lie now.

Did they sit there five minutes or five lifetimes? Neither was sure. Violet thought that the party was definitely over by the time they stood up, pulled themselves together and decided they were ready enough to step out of their small world.

“Look, I know you said you probably don’t love me but that shouldn’t stop us from talking. I don’t have to be your boyfriend, you know, we could be friends. You’re an amazing person, Vi. And yes, you hurt me, but I’m glad you told me the truth. It was a privilege to get hurt by you. Goodbye, Vi, hope to see you soon. Merry Christmas, and goodbye” he could only whisper so much and yet that was enough to make Violet start regretting her decision. He was arguably the sweetest person she’s ever met and even though she didn’t love him, she still cared about him. And that “The fault on our stars” reference? That was worse than any punch in the gut, although she thought she deserved much more for being so cruel. Finally, he kissed her on the cheek for the last time and left her alone with her favourite flowers, but not with the ring, which was basically him confessing that he still loved her but he’ll move on and that made her happy.

By the time the fourth proposal came, at about ten o’clock, Violet was already tipsy. She was sitting in the living room with the rest of the guests playing games. Suddenly, Rick stood up and exclaimed that he had an announcement to make. He got to his knee and literally shouted the very line Violet hated so much: Will you marry me? That was the most confusing moment of the night (which is impressive considering everything that’s happened and will happen). She and Rick weren’t friends. He didn’t even know her name since he was Natalie’s friend, not hers. Everyone else who witnessed the moment was as shocked as the woman. Violet was about to start crying because it sure was the worst Christmas ever when Rick winked at her and that’s how she knew the whole thing was a joke. She made a couple of funny remarks and then Rick and she started laughing, and so did the rest of the party.

Violet could swear she’s going to fall because of all the stress experienced. Her legs felt more like two clouds of cotton candy rather than a group of muscles that are supposed to hold the rest of her body. Her gaze blurred and her surroundings merge into one thing: bewilderment. The torture had finally ended and at about eleven o’clock, the guests started leaving. It took almost the whole hour for everyone to leave and Violet was left alone with the only person she wanted to be left alone with, Natalie. They started tidying up when Natalie confessed she needed to talk to Violet and tried to do it the whole evening. Her excuse was that the circumstances always got in the way…but what if they led them up for a perfect momentum?

“Violet, there’s something I was meaning to tell you and I know you probably don’t feel the same way but I love you and” that was the moment she got to her knee and said the words Violet didn’t want to hear up until this moment “Will you marry me?”

It was twelve o’clock, the fireworks explosion was heard from the street and you could see the sky get painted with the best colours if you looked out of the window. A day which started out completely normally had time to turn out into a terrible disaster, but ended up as the best miracle. Wonders happen and Violet echoed the word her mother told her she would when she found the right person, the word she swore she never would, the word she secretly wished to say to the one person she was sure she’s always loved: Yes.