Triptych

Sophia Lyceum, SwitzerlandChristmas EveCollinI was mentally prepared that I was going to spend the holidays at school. I was here on a scholarship and my parents just couldn’t afford to fly me back to our small Russian village, especially with the prices of the tickets at this time of the year. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find out that Collin, one of the boys in our extended group of friends, was also staying. The son of a British diplomat and an American entrepreneur, he usually lingered in the periphery. Brooding and closed in himself, Collin rarely spoke. He was aware of me, though, of that I was sure. I had caught him staring a few times, snickering at a sarcastic reply I had to the teasing of the snobbish part of our classmates. I was almost sure he was the one, who treated me to a nice piece of cheesecake, the last time the group visited one of the luxurious cafes my friends leaned towards. I had a small allowance, but absolutely not enough to keep up with their lifestyle, so I joined them rarely and played my favorite game: “Find the cheapest thing on the menu and order it.” Sometimes it was an espresso, other times – a bottle of mineral water.  This particular time the winner was herbal tea. Collin was right behind me in line and not even five minutes after we sat down, one of the waiters came with the complimentary piece of cake, declaring it was their hundredth the months or something. It just wasn’t the type of establishment to give away food like that. PartyAll five of us, the castaways that were not going home for Christmas, were invited to the dean’s house for a Christmas bahis şirketleri Eve dinner. I had borrowed a red dress from one of my friends and was planning to use a pair of shoes I had inherited from my older sister. With the minimal make-up I used, all I had to do was curl my long blond hair and all in all Cinderella was ready to go to prom.“Zip your coat up! It is freezing outside.” I heard Collin’s voice instructing me, while we were crossing the campus to reach the old building, housing the dean and his family.I kept walking.“Anya! Zip that coat, can’t you hear me?” He caught up with me.“I can’t.”“What do you mean you can’t? You surely know how to zip a coat. I have heard you reciting Shakespeare at class, how hard could this be?” He grabbed me by the lapels and I froze at the proximity.“I can’t zip it, OK? It is too small; it just doesn’t fit me anymore!”To hell with those rich boys and their cashmere coats that fit.“Here,” He took his scarf off and wrapped it around my neck, then slid his hands around my waist to cover me with it as much as possible. I almost jumped at the unexpected contact, but couldn’t resist leaning my head down and breathing his hair in, while he was busying equipping me for the ten-minute trip, like it was going to take hours. He smelled like mint, detergent and something that I could only identify as “boy.”The party at the dean’s house was full of people we didn’t know. I soon found myself wandering from room to room, taking in the beautiful paintings and sculptures that decorated it. A woman was playing the violin from a neighboring room and the whole bahis firmaları atmosphere was so surreal, that it looked like one of those fake celebrations you see in the movies.“Is your father still doing business with those Canadians? You should tell him to call my James, he is sure to help him. You can come along, too. My granddaughter is very pretty, you know.” I almost laughed at the scene I found in the corner. A tiny, well-manicured lady was holding a very stoic Collin by the sleeve, while widely gesticulating with the other hand.“Excuse me!” I interrupted the ode de granddaughter – “I am sorry to interrupt, but Collin here had promised me a dance and I am afraid I will have to borrow him for a while.”“Can’t keep a lady waiting!” He was quick to jump at the chance to escape, hooked an arm around my waist and led me away.“Thank you for this! I don’t think I could take any more matchmaking.”“The girl is what you should be after, though. One day you will indeed inherit your parent’s money and she is one of your people.”“That’s what I am afraid of…” He sighed and his eyes darkened.Not wanting to ruin the evening, I rested my hands around his neck and offered: “Let’s pretend you are one of my people tonight, then.”“What do your people do at parties?”“The same – dance and have fun, just not on the same budget” I replied.“Do they kiss?” Collin teased.“Yes, but they never ask for permission in advance,” I fired back and pressed my lips to his in a quick peck.“Like that?” He leaned back in to kiss me properly, when Mr. Brooks – our house keeper and chaperon – cleared his throat right behind kaçak bahis siteleri us and noted that it is close to midnight, so we had to head back to the dormitories.Collin’s scarf was tucked inside the sleeve of my coat and without commenting on it, I just wrapped it around myself and we left.      Christmas morningI wasn’t expecting any gifts today, but some of our friends had left presents for Collin and I also had one of the Christmas cards I painted myself to give to Mr. Brooks. So after stopping by his room on the first floor and presenting him with my clumsy attempt at art – the picture showed him, standing in front of the Christmas tree we had in the common room, surrounded by kids, holding “Thank you for taking care of us!” signs – I headed to the last floor, where the rooms of the senior boys were. I found Collin still in his pajamas, frowning at an expensive looking sweater.“Hey! Merry Christmas!” I greeted. “Did the sweater eat your breakfast or something?”“It is from my mom. She gets her secretary to get me my presents, so I end up with a cashmere sweater every year. I am sure mom doesn’t even know what her own present was…”“It is still a very nice sweater” I pointed out, taking it from his hands and spreading it over his chest. “It highlights the golden specks in your eyes.”He placed his hands over mine and held my gaze. My fingers were cold and I tried to free myself, but he squeezed even tighter and murmured a discouragement. The sweater fell at our feet, when he leaned his head down and kissed my knuckles, but this time I didn’t try to move.“You smell like roses, you know?” Collin said, while opening my fists over his palms. His nose glided over my palm and I gasped when he took my pinky in his mouth and lightly nibbled. His tongue glided over the same place immediately afterwards, soothing the sting.