28 days in Christmas Town✔

Chapter 32

Chapter 32
Dec 26

"Let's get our boxes wrapped up already or we'll be late for today's event"

When Mom passed me by, she frowned slightly, stared at my wrapped gifts and said nothing. I had to ask "Are you done with yours?"

Her face hardened and a tight frown etched around "check the car and find out yourself". My eyebrows raised. I couldn't hide the mix of confusion and surprise on my face and she caught my expression, apologizing hastily "oh sorry. Sorry. I'm just a little tired. Let me go pack things up"

I watched Mom walk back to her room with a sulky look on her face, and quickly grabbed Sarayah's hand when she hurriedly walk past me "Hey. Slow down a bit"

"Sorry. This whole wrapping thing has me all disorganized. My assistant always does this for me, so this is all new to me"

"Good luck with that then. Who are you exchanging gifts with?"

"Some random woman named Kelly. I got her a microwave though. It seemed appropriate. What about you?"

"I was lucky to be paired with Seyi. Got her a handbag. Cost me a lot but she's so nice, so it's worth it. I know how much she wanted a new designer bag. She told me once so I decided to get it for her"

"Lucky you. Let's hope she likes it"

"I hope so too. Seriously, what's up with mom? She seems really upset. A little angry too"

.

"oh yeah. You weren't around yesterday evening. While you were dining with Ayo's family, the winner for the most beautifully decorated house was announced. Mom took fourth place. It sucked. At least, last time she took 2nd and she didn't decorate the house as much as this time. She's been looking forward to winning for months so it's gonna take a while before she gets over her loss"

"Poor mom. So they gave her nothing? "

"Not even a trophy. I tried cherring her up. It didn't work. Even Colin's cute face didn't help matters. You know how cute Colin is but it didn't work on her, and she really likes Colin. That's how upset she is. At least, she's a grown woman so I'm hoping she'd get over it in less than a week"

Twisting my lips, I couldn't bring myself to saying anything. I knew how much winning it meant for mom. To others, it seemed meaningless but mom loved the competitive feel of it "Let me go talk to her"

"Goodluck and make it quick. We don't wanna be late for today's boxing day's event"

..........

"Come in" mom replied, when I knocked softly at her door. Pushing her door open,  I let my line of vision fall around mom's room and appreciated what I saw. . It wasn't often that I went into her lemon colured room, but I liked the comfortable feeling I felt, whenever I entered. It was spacious and hardly had anything in it, aside from a walk-in closet , floor-length mirror, a couple of drawers and a queen sized bed,  but I loved it either way.

Mom was sitting at a corner of her bed and frustratingly trying to tie a knot on her giftbox. Huffing out in annoyance, She tossed the giftbox on the bed "It's so annoying"

Giving her a soft smile, I dragged the giftbox off her bed and sat beside her. I caught her wary look but chose to ignore it. "Let me help you"

The relieved look on her face, had my smile widening as I slowly began to tie it up "Sarah told me you took fourth place. Is that why you're pissed?"

"I'm pissed about a lot of things. The lovely dress I intended to wear today, isn't going to be delivered until tomorrow. It's so frustrating that they find it easy to disappoint someone"

"And?"

"Yeah. I took fourth place. How dare they?  I worked twice as hard as last time and I get half the result. I spent alot of money into this and I have no trophy this time"

""I know a little bit about that. I used to be in a relationship where I put everything into it and in return, I got treated less than what I expected. People know how to ruin your efforts sometimes"

"Exactly"

"But decorating the house shouldn't be a competition to you. You should do so because you love it, not because you want to do it better than someone else. Christmas isn't about winning. It's about sharing happiness and joy. You can't do that if you're hellbent on defeating other people. You did a great job and you should be proud of yourself, whether you won or lost. You're still a winner"

Mom looked slightly embarrassed "God. I feel so childish right now. It hurts that you're right"

Feeling content at her admission of the truth, I handed over the giftbox back to her "All done"

"You're great at giftwrapping"

"It's my special talent. I'm a whiz at this"

Smiling at the wrapped gift,  then back at me "I really wanted to win so badly. I looked forward to it each year. Winning it and hosting the pageantry were the only things I looked forward to each year. I had no one in my life. Sarayah was happy with her family in England and I lost contact with you. My two daughters were far from me and I'm a divorcee. It was all I had. But you are right, I should enjoy Christmas and care less about the competition"

"Well you have me now. I'm not far away anymore"

She interlaced her hand with mine and squeezed it softly "And I'm forever grateful for that"

Before I could reply back, Sarayah's voice rang  outside the door "We need to go now. Nosa's already waiting at the car for us. Let's get moving"

Mom whispered "Let's get out now before Sarayah cuts off our heads, for keeping her waiting"

..................

It's good to be back. I know I had taken more than a month hiatus and I felt a little stuck with this book, running out of ideas on what to do next.
So glad,  new plots came rushing in and I got the chance to keep going.
Thanks to all my readers who have been patiently awaiting my return. I really appreciate it.
Xoxo
Jasmine