Page 7 of A Christmas Adventure

She turns on the light and sits up startled. She looks at the empty side of the bed and pulls back the sheets with the temptation to bury her face in them to inhale that scent one last time. Violet shakes her head and gets out of bed, heading straight for the bathroom. When she's under the shower streams, she can't stop smiling,she doesn't regret at all what happened, although she still thinks she needs feelings involved to do something like what she did yesterday. This woman is a one-time case that she knows won't be repeated, an anecdote, something she undoubtedly enjoyed like crazy, but she doubts she'll find more like her. It's very difficult to find a person who meets all those physical traits that can please and attract you, so finding two seems unthinkable to her.

After a quick breakfast in the hostel's bar, Violet says goodbye to the innkeeper and goes out into the street. As he told her, there's no trace left of the previous day's snow.

When she's close to reaching Alquézar, Violet decides to call Teresa, not only because she feels a bit bad for not telling her the truth, but because she needs to tell someone what happened to her yesterday.

"I told you so, but you never listen to me," her friend huffs when Violet tells her that the snow forced her to stay overnight in Huesca.

"It wasn't that bad, but I preferred to stop as a precaution."

"Something could have happened to you, Violet."

"Actually, something did happen, and it wasn't bad at all," Violet's voice has changed, it's a mix between enigmatic and amused.

"What happened?" Teresa asks in her most gossipy tone.

Violet decides not to beat around the bush, she's about to arrive and needs to let it out and share it with her friend, who she knows will be happy for her.

"I met a woman when I went out for dinner and we ended up in my room."

On the other end of the line, there's a hollow silence that makes Violet smile, amused, imagining Teresa's bewildered face at that moment.

"In your room? You mean..."

"That I slept with her," Violet completes, satisfied and proud.

She has to squeeze her legs as she says it, because every time she remembers it, she gets excited without being able to help it, and she likes that.

"Really? You? Violet, the one who needs to be in love to have relationships."

"Exactly, me," she responds smiling as she takes the turn that leads to her mother's village.

"I can't believe it," Teresa applauds sitting on her home's couch. "Tell me right now how it was, what she said to seduce you like that."

"That's the best part," Violet says, "she didn't need to say anything. It was all an exchange of glances, she attracted me a lot, well, we attracted each other," she clarifies.

"She didn't say anything to you?"

"No, she just asked me if I was from there, I told her no, and then we only exchanged a few phrases to decide where to go. It was all very intense," Violet gets excited again and notices her mouth dry.

"And what's the name of the only woman capable of achieving such a wild act on your part?"

"No idea," Violet laughs and Teresa puts a hand to her forehead while stretching her lips, "and I don't care either. I enjoyed the moment and I don't regret it."

"Well done, girl, sometimes you have to let your hair down."

"Well, I don't think this will happen again, Teresa. It's just that this woman was exactly how I imagine my ideal woman, you know? But well, I only saw the physical part, I'm sure her character is incompatible with mine, although I'm not going to find out either. I'll leave you now, I'm arriving at my mother's house."

"Alright, enjoy the little time you have with her and be careful on your way back."

Violet hangs up the phone while coming to the conclusion that the encounter with that woman is exactly what she needed to finally shake off Marina's shadow. Now she's clear that her relationship with her is definitively dead and that she has to talk to her to make it clear and get her to stop calling once and for all.

When Violet hugs her mother, she breaks down and cries inconsolably in her daughter's arms with a mix of joy for her visit and that sadness that has flooded her since her husband left. Violet lets her vent and comforts her until she gradually calms down and they can both sit for a while in the kitchen to chat.

"Have you had breakfast? I brought some of those sweets you like so much yesterday," her mother places a tray covered with a cloth on the table.

Violet's mouth waters at the smell. Although she has had breakfast, she's hungry again and can't refuse to eat those pastries she likes so much along with another cafe con leche. As she savors it, her mother explains that the bakery has been opened by the manager, but Violet knows she won't be at ease until she goes there and sees that everything is under control, especially on a Sunday, when the place is bustling with people.

"Why don't you tell me how you're doing while we take a walk to the bakery?" she suggests when she finishes her second breakfast.