Coming Home

A knock interrupted Valence from her writing.

“What?” She called, her voice tinged with the annoyance of being interrupted. She specifically told her secretary not to interrupt her. Valence was catching up on paperwork which filled her desk—the year end nightmare of every corporate employee.

“Ma’am, I just received a call. Mr. Bryans did not deliver the gifts and the papers.”

Her annoyance now turned to anger. “What?!” Valence raised her head and saw her secretary’s body half way in and half way out of the office. “Did I not properly tell that these deliveries should be made on time?”

Her secretary sensed the impending burst of a volcano. Valence was kind; she had a long patience except when it’s the end of the year. “Yes, ma’am but Mr. Bryans had to attend an emergency. He apologizes profusely.” 

“Well, get some third party delivery company to do it then!” 

“They have ceased their operations ma’am, for the holidays.”

“Why—“ Valence’s voice died as she remembered it was December 24. Everyone is preparing for Christmas.

She stared at the secretary that seemed to be anxious, probably knowing what she’d say next. The papers needed to be delivered today. They should have been delivered yesterday—Valence always liked to be a day earlier than the deadline—but the delivery person, Mr. Bryans, failed to do that. The gifts were for her family. She rarely spent time with her family due to her corporate role that needed her utmost supervision. Also, she was a workaholic. It did not also help that year-ends were always busy for her. Therefore, she made up her absence by showering her family gifts. Unfortunately, it seems those, too, would be absent if they would not be delivered by today. 

Valence sighed and dropped her pen on the table. She leaned back on her chair. She’s not that merciless to make her secretary run through the city and be the Santa Claus for a night. She glanced at her digital clock on the table, it was five in the afternoon. Her secretary should be out by now, bustling through the Christmas eve traffic. 

“Ma’am?” Her secretary spoke. She must have been silent for a while now, “What should I do?”

Valence closed the folder of the document she was reading. “Prepare the things that needs to be delivered, and my car.”

***

Valence found herself walking in the parking lot, her bag hanging on the crook of her arm, her keys jangling as she turned it round and round in her finger. She found herself asking if this was a good idea. She will likely need to pull up a few all nighters to catch up with her paperworks. She will also be likely bored out of her mind in the traffic. 

She opened her car and placed her bag on the passenger’s seat. The documents were stacked on the back seat, neatly arranged by her secretary sorted by the proximity of their final destination, from nearest to farthest.

She turned on her car and gripped the steering wheel. She sighed. It has been a long time since she drove herself. Usually, she has a driver driving her around but most of the time, she has herself stuck in her office or meetings. Good thing though, she never forgot how to drive. She mostly drove herself around when abroad but to drive herself around in her own country, she felt a bit of uneasiness settle in her gut. It also did not add that she was pressured to make deliveries before 12 midnight.vIt was six in the evening now.

She pulled out of her parking spot and out into the road. She saw her secretary standing on the sidewalk, perhaps waiting for a cab. Valence stopped in front of her. She was met with a big smile and a wave. 

“Where are you going? I can drop you off,” Valence said after lowering the glass window of the passenger seat.

“Oh no,” her secretary waved her hands in refusal, “It’s okay ma’am.” Valence remembered the relief that washed over her secretary when she told her to prepare the things she needed to deliver. “My son is coming to fetch me. He should be here soon now. Do take care on the road!” 

Valence nodded, “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Duscher.” The secretary returned the greeting and waved goodbye. Valence drove away and closed the window. Her secretary has been with her for a long time. Valence was 10 years younger than her, but she never felt she was intimidated by the woman’s age. She became someone similar to a mother figure but as well as a trusted confidant. Valence do get guilty when she unintentionally burst her wrath on her secretary.

Night has shrouded the city. The traffic was getting worse. The first stop was closer to the company building and it took her less than five minutes to arrive. She dropped the first folder to the guard. The guard seem to recognize her as she saw shock on his face when she gave the folder through the passenger window. She smiled and greeted before taking off again. The second stop was close as well. It would have took her less than ten minutes to arrive if not only for the traffic. She spent more time sitting instead of driving. Anticipating this scenario, Valence turned on the music. Not the radio but her playlist, to check if it had anything on. To her shock, it did, and it was all her favorite songs. Her secretary must have downloaded them. The car was hers but was driven by her driver who was currently off duty because she did not intend to get out of her office today.

Nevertheless, Valence turned on her music on shuffle and felt energy pump through her. She felt free—the kind where it let one's guard down, where one does not worry on the opinion of others, and where one let their minds relax and follow the bends, highs and lows of the music instead of the things that needs to be done. She would have danced in the car if she was not the one driving.

Valence proceeded to deliver documents throughout the night until the traffic subsided and she could freely zoom through the roads. She now only met one or two cars, and no one was walking down the Christmas-lighted street walks anymore. The traffic was one of the things she hated this country, but she realized there was some sort of beauty of it too. They made her stop and reflect. They made her look around the surroundings; they anchored her to reality instead of the bubble she was often encased with.

She suddenly felt melancholic for the days that had passed, the days when she was just starting out on making sense her role in the world. The days when she had no car and instead walked and rode public transportation in the sweltering heat just to get to her workplace or when she applies to multiple jobs. Almost every establishment and street in the city, she realized, had a special place in her memory. Earlier, she passed by a small restaurant where she puked after drinking liquor for the first time. She also passed by the park in the middle of the city where she remembered the picnics she had with her family when she was young.

Her life today was so far from the poor life she had when she was young. Valence vowed that she would not face that kind of hardship again and worked hard. She took every opportunity, juggled multiple jobs at once, and filled her days with work until she forgot to take care of herself and spend time with her family. This very fact often pops up in her mind every night but a part of her argues, was she not doing this for them? But it made her question, did the time she lost spending with her loved ones really worth the wealth she brought them? Was it worth the affluent lifestyle she now had?

Valence stopped at a red light and turned to the backseat for the next folder, only to realize her backseat had become empty. She had finished delivering all the papers. She looked at the clock on top of the radio: it was eleven in the evening. There was still one she had not delivered. The light turned green and Valence did a u-turn and stepped harder on the accelerator. She was going home.

Since she was a child, Valence had always lived with her parents but when college came, she took advantage of it and lived on her own and never turned back, enjoying the freedom it gave. She loved to travel too, and she never stayed in one place. Her parents and siblings, however, stayed in her childhood home. And today, after many years, she is coming back.

Time seemed to go faster as she made her way home. Every glance to the clock, the more time seemed to have past. Her heart started to beat fast, anxious as she did not announce she would go home for Christmas—she wouldn’t have to, it had become normal. 

The more she got closer to home, the more she was welcomed with more memories from her past. She saw her elementary school, the shops she used to go after class, the homes of her classmates. She saw new shops too and saw how things have changed in this little poor village. There were things that did not change though: the old red chevy parked at the side of the curve that was now covered in thick dead leaves, some chipped red peaking out from its cover. The lack of light posts, the lone light post that flickered eerily until it eventually gave in to the darkness in less than a week, the tall trees that made a canopy above but never obstructed the city lights below. 

Her home was located in one of the poorest, mountainous region of the city. As she pushed her small automobile up a slope, she felt an urge to cry for some reason. Not because of her car, but the memories she had not realized she had locked away. She felt some kind of guilt as over the years, she failed to look back on where she came from, perhaps from shame that she came from such a poor background. She felt guilt as it dawned on her that it was not work that consumed her time but the current society she mingled with—the society that caused her to ignore her roots, ignore the problems of the common people as she let herself be cocooned into the comfortable lifestyle of the upperclass. And, at the same time, the realization of how far she have come, the hard work, the sacrifices.

She stopped in front of the familiar red gate of their family home. She looked at the clock, it said 11:55pm. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She parked her car and opened the trunk, revealing gifts of all sizes wrapped by her secretary. She carried as many gifts she could carry and went to the gate and called her father’s name. Then her mother’s. The door opened and her parents and her siblings scrambled towards her to the gate.

“Valence! You came!” Her mother exclaimed.

“Yes,” she felt her throat constrict. It has been very long since she saw her parents face to face instead of their faces pasted on her phone or laptop. “I brought the gifts, there are more in the trunk,” she said, pointing at the opened trunk of her parked car. Her two younger siblings ran to the car.

“Valence,” her father stepped in front of her mother and embraced her in a tight hug. 

“Daddy,” she gasped and gave in to the wave emotions that clutched her tight ball, letting her tears fall. She returned the hug, the wrapped bags that she looped in her arm crinkled as she moved.

She suddenly heard the familiar sizzle of fireworks, and soon after, beautiful lights painted the dark sky. Red, white, blue, green and gold.

Her father stepped back and smiled, “Welcome home."