Page 11 of A Christmas Adventure

The two friends finish eating and, as if the stars had aligned and Marina had heard the conversation between them, coincidence makes it so that when the two are walking out the door, they run into her face to face.

"Marina," Violeta says, surprised.

"Hi, Violeta. Teresa..."

Teresa is the one who breaks the awkward moment between them by greeting Marina with two kisses.

"Are you here for lunch?" she asks Marina out of mere courtesy.

"No, actually I was just passing by, but since I'm here," she says looking at Violeta, "Do you have time for a coffee? I promise I won't keep you long."

Violeta looks at Teresa with some discomfort, but she knows she must face this moment and won't have a better opportunity than this.

"Alright."

"Well, I'll leave you girls," Teresa says goodbye, leaving them alone.

"It's hard to talk to you," Marina says as soon as they sit down across from each other.

"We broke up, Marina," Violeta answers, "and in our case, I think continuing to keep in touch isn't good for either of us."

"I don't want to keep in touch, Violeta, what I want is for us to try again. Listen," Marina extends a hand across the table to try to take Violeta's, but she pulls it away and hides both in her lap, "I know I might have overwhelmed you a bit, but I've changed, I swear, I'm trying to prove it to you, but you won't let me."

"The thing is, it's always my fault," Violeta sighs. "You haven't changed at all, Marina, you're still as controlling as before, and your insistence that we get back together is just another way of overwhelming me even now that we're not together. I ended the relationship and you refuse to accept it because it's not what you want, and that's the problem, that things have always been done the way you wanted."

Faced with Marina's stunned expression, Violeta falls silent and decides it's not necessary to keep throwing things in her face. She has made a decision and Marina simply has to respect it. In the middle of this uncomfortable silence for both of them, the image of the mysterious woman from the hostel comes back to Violeta's mind, making her wonder why with Marina everything can't be as easy as it was with her. Good sex, some laughs, and then each to their own.

"I think you're being a bit unfair and that you're rushing the decision," Marina says, coming back to the charge.

"Look, my parents are having problems," Violeta says suddenly, not quite sure why she's explaining this. "Tomorrow I'm going on vacation to the village and I might stay there again and work in the bakery with my mother."

Marina's mouth opens into a circle and Violeta, amazed at what she has just said, wonders to what extent she's saying it to get rid of Marina without needing to be very rude, or if really, at some remote point in her brain, this idea that she has sometimes thought about when she gets overwhelmed at work, is starting to have more and more chances of becoming something real. Maybe the time has come to leave the stressful life of Madrid to the Madrileños.

"You in the village?" Marina asks as if it were impossible to imagine. "But you're the most urban woman I know."

Violeta feels offended.

"It's clear you don't know me well if you think that way."

"Maybe it's because in all the time we've been dating, you've never taken me to meet your parents even once."

"Look, Marina, I think we've already said everything we needed to say and continuing to stretch this conversation will only serve for us to say things we might regret later."

Violeta stands up, leaving her coffee untouched.

"I wish you the best, but don't call me anymore. You and I are never getting back together. Please, move on with your life."

Marina looks at her without saying a word and then turns her gaze back to her cup, ignoring her presence.Violeta leaves the restaurant feeling uneasy, but with the certainty that she has closed the chapter with Marina.

Chapter 7

When Violeta opens her eyes, she feels a peace she hasn't experienced in a long time. She's in what used to be her bedroom when she still lived with her parents. Thankfully, her mother isn't one of those who has kept everything just as she left it. She has turned the room into a guest room, leaving a large part of the closet just for her, of course, and has put in a large bed where Violeta now sleeps sprawled out without hearing the incessant sound of Madrid's traffic.

She arrived yesterday almost at nightfall after a very peaceful trip. She barely had time for anything; she unpacked her suitcases, took a shower, and while talking a bit with her mother, dinner time arrived.

Violeta looks at the clock when she hears noise in the kitchen. It's eight in the morning, and she frowns because she knows her mother goes to the bakery very early and shouldn't be there at that hour. She dresses quickly, pulls her hair back into a ponytail, and heads straight to the kitchen.

"Mom, what are you doing here? Are you feeling sick?" she asks when she finds her inside.