Chapter Six
Angie
She had resigned to the fact that it was better to wait with any more confrontations until she could talk to Nadine. Truth be told, Angie wasn’t sure what to tell—or ask—her, but her life had changed overnight, and as unrealistic as it was, Nadine seemed to have some idea why.
Okay, the next time she wouldn’t sneak away or pound on her front door. She would stay calm. Have a reasonable conversation with her neighbor, because there had to be a reasonable explanation for her reality, and why it differed so dramatically from the one she remembered.
In which there were toys and books all over the place, and everyone was always talking and laughing. While they were paying attention to what they ate, no one had ever argued against that one extra snack around Christmas.
Everyone in her home seemed so…polite and reserved. Christina wasn’t home. That was the strangest occurrence, but everything else was disconcerting on various levels. Bert—Brad.
And no one could or wanted to tell her how all of it had come to pass…
As she changed into different clothes for the restaurant, she was aware of Neva’s concerned gaze on her. Not to worry her any more, and also to buy time for herself, Angie had decided to play along for now.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay to go out tonight? You seemed really upset earlier.”
That’s because I am.
“I’m fine,” she said, forcing a smile. “I think I got a little stressed with the holidays so close.”
“Yes.” Neva sat next to her on the bed, laying an arm around her shoulders. “To think that Christmas Eve is only a week away.”
Angie all but jumped to her feet.
“Wait, what? A week?”
“But everything is ready. We have reservations for the restaurant, Chris will be home soon, and…Angie?”
“No, it’s okay.” She couldn’t draw any more attention to herself.
One week! That meant she had somehow lost three days?
How was that possible, and if it happened, why did Neva act like she knew nothing about it?
“You’re right, we’re ready.” Angie had no idea anymore if that was true. “I’m hungry too. Let’s go?”
She could tell Neva wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Please. I’m sorry—and I’m starving. Let’s say goodnight to the girls and go.”
She had a moment of anxiety entering the girls’ room, but to her relief, Billie, the babysitter, was the same sixteen-year-old Angie remembered. She lived at the end of the street and had babysat the twins for a couple of years.
“You have a good night,” she said and kissed both Fiona and Elsa. “Billie, thank you for making time.”
“Of course, Ms. Winters.”
She was quiet and reliable, and the girls loved her. It would be fine. Everything would be fine.
***
They took a cab, and Neva gave instructions to the driver.
“Gourmet French cuisine? Can we afford that?” Angie was only half joking. When they went out, it was usually to the family-run diner in town, or on rare occasions, to La Dolce Vita over in Chestnut Hill. She was certain they had never been to this one since it opened five years ago.
Neva gave her a strange look.
“Never mind. I can’t wait.”
She felt a bit intimidated when the hostess saw them to their table upon their arrival. Angie couldn’t remember when they had last dined in a place with white tablecloths and wondered if they were underdressed.
“Not to be annoying, but this isn’t cheap. Is there an occasion I’m not aware of?”
Neva’s smile held a hint of wistfulness.
“The company had record profits, and you know they gave me a nice bonus this year. I think I can afford to take out my wife for one nice dinner.”
Record profits? Bonus? Since when did Neva work for a company? Maybe she had done some freelance work for them?
“I’m not complaining. This is beautiful.
” It was. A huge, decorated tree stood at the far end of the room, and every table had a Christmas themed centerpiece.
To her relief, the waitress arrived with their menus, and they spent a few minutes on choosing wine and food.
She probably needed food more, but the first sip of wine helped calm her mind some.
Neva, too, seemed more relaxed. Angie wasn’t going to spoil the moment by asking what firm, and what bonus. Come to think of it, she had seen none of Neva’s painting supplies in the house.
The house…She needed to take a look around on her own, see what else had changed.
The Coq au Vin and red wine were definitely real. Every bite tasted delicious.
While they enjoyed their meal, Angie tried to sum up her situation.
They were still going to celebrate Christmas as a family.
That was what mattered, right? She had to know if Christina was happy in her school, and she had to get a hold of her own parents.
It was so strange to think that they’d only have lunch together.
Angie knew that they, like Neva’s parents, loved spoiling the girls senseless every year. What had changed?
“You’re far away,” Neva observed, taking her hand.
“I’m fine, just looking forward to Christmas, and having Christina home.” It wasn’t a lie, even though there was a whole lot more on her mind.
Angie’s gaze went past Neva to a server who was taking the order of an older couple, her jaw dropping when she recognized the woman.
How was that possible…?!
Scratch that, apparently, she had been catapulted into an alternate universe where nothing was impossible. Yeah, right. She retracted her hand and got up.
“Excuse me for a moment? I’m good,” she hurried to say. “I just want to say hi to someone.”
She had to hurry to catch up with the woman who returned to the kitchen in quick strides.
“Nadine! Wait! Please, I need to talk to you.”
The woman turned to her with a smile. Angie had almost hoped that she was mistaken, but it was definitely Nadine, and they were both standing in the kitchen of the restaurant, the staff watching them with curious gazes.
“Angie, hello. What a coincidence.”
“Could we go somewhere else? Just for a moment?”
“Sure.”
Nadine led her past her working colleagues, line cooks and other servers, to a dimly lit hallway. At this moment, Angie wasn’t sure if she could trust her neighbor, but she needed answers. That was priority.
“What would you like to know?”
“About my wish,” she began, realizing what she was about to say would sound completely bizarre to any reasonable person. It sounded bizarre to her, and she was living it! She had to take the risk.
“Are you enjoying it?” Nadine asked, beaming. “Isn’t it great? A week before Christmas, and you don’t have to worry about a thing. No elaborate dinners or preparations, no dishes, just a few quiet days with your family. And you and Neva have finally more space and money to spend.”
“What are you talking about? Wait, why are we talking about this? What did you do?”
“Not much,” Nadine declared with a shrug. “You made the wish. I did the rest.”
“How?” Her frustration and anxiety were rising again. “Who are you?”
Nadine wasn’t fazed by the confrontation. In fact, she acted like she was used to it.
Am I losing my mind?
“You could say I’m a wish granter. Every Christmas, I give people the chance to get the lives they want.”
“But this isn’t what I want,” Angie replied without hesitation. Never mind bizarre, she had to make her point clear. “Neva doesn’t seem to be happy. Our child is in boarding school, whose idea was that? Wait, Ernie and Fluffy didn’t end up in a shelter, did they?”
“No,” Nadine said patiently. “In this reality, they never existed.”
“This reality?” Her voice had crept up a notch, again. “What else is there? No, don’t answer that. Tell me how I can fix it!”
“I already fixed what you thought was wrong. The rest is for you to figure out.”
“But I don’t know what to do!” This couldn’t be happening.
“If you did this, you can reverse it, can’t you?
” Did she sound insane? It sounded insane to her, but here she was in the hallway of a French restaurant, imploring a woman she barely knew to undo her Christmas wish.
“I never meant…any of that. Okay, perhaps I didn’t make it so clear, but I didn’t want everything to change! I just wanted a moment to rest!”
“Then you’ll probably be fine.”
Angie had spun around, about to go back to her table, but something in Nadine’s tone stopped her. “Probably? What do you mean?”
“Well, I can’t tell you what to do.” Nadine sounded far too calm and patient for the content of this conversation. “But you must find out before midnight on Christmas Eve.”
“What happens if I don’t?”
She couldn’t believe it. Angie didn’t want to say it out loud. Nadine had no such reservations.
“Then everything will stay as it is.”
“No.”
“That is the way it goes. Good luck, Angie. I’m afraid I must go back to work.” Just like that, she was gone.
Angie stood for almost a minute, her thoughts racing, before she went back to the table.
“Are you all right?” Neva asked.
She wasn’t, but she was getting tired of that question.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“It’s okay. I thought I recognized someone, but I was mistaken.”
“Okay.” There was a hint of disappointment to Neva’s tone. “Would you like a dessert?”
How was she ever going to approach this with her? She couldn’t, Angie realized. Neva, in this reality, as bizarre as that sounded, had no idea. She would be as clueless as Angie was, and even more worried.
“I would. That chocolate hazelnut mousse sounds amazing,” she said, smiling, while wondering how she was going to get them back to normal.
Before Christmas, even.
Easy.
***
Long after Neva had fallen asleep next to her, Angie lay awake, formulating a plan. She had to push aside her disbelief and then approach the situation rationally. If she had done something to land in this reality, she had to be able to undo it.
There had to be some sort of lesson in it. She was smart, she was determined, she was going to make it.
Wasn’t she?
She reflected back on her interactions with all of her loved ones in the past weeks.
Sure, she might have been a bit curter and more demanding recently, but all of it happened because she had so much work to do.
Covering her own and her colleagues’ workload at the office, then coming home to make sure all items would be crossed off the never-ending Christmas list.
That had to be it!
Work. She had given her job so much time lately and not even tried to take one day off.
She could redeem that, right at the start of the week.
Angie still couldn’t fathom how she had been transported to this place that wasn’t quite her life, but she would do what she could to bring them home.
All she had to do was to make more time to actually be home, and the rest would follow.
Whatever ghost had come to visit her, she would solve the riddle and give her family the best holiday they could imagine, the same way she had done it for years. Just better.