"Of course, try not to be late."
Chapter 9
Only a day has passed since veterinarian Patricia Burnet left that shelter that kept her isolated for two nights. She has managed to sleep in her spacious bed, but she doesn't know if it's the frustration she feels from having interrupted her trip that made it so hard to fall asleep, ending up dozing off past two in the morning, and now she's there, sprawled on her couch with such laziness that she's carefully considering whether to go shopping at the supermarket or not, though she must do it because her fridge is empty, since she made sure to use up everything she had before leaving for Gibraltar. Her phone suddenly starts vibrating and she stretches like a feline to grab the device resting on the low table in front of the TV. She brightens with a smile when she discovers it's her friend Sonia calling, one of the owners of the hostel where Patricia was going to spend her free days.
"What's up, beautiful?" Patricia greets her friend.
"I'm with Yolanda, so don't say anything dirty," Sonia blurts out, and a boisterous laugh echoes through the speaker.
"Don't worry, I save the dirty talk for Yoli in private," Patricia replies mischievously.
"You bitch," Sonia laughs, showcasing that good camaraderie she has with the veterinarian.
Patricia met Yolanda many years ago, during a night out in the famous university streets of Salamanca, and they clicked immediately. After several drinks, they ended up making out in the bathroom of one of the many bars they visited, only to end up sitting in front of a fast-food joint filling their stomachs and sharing their troubles. They quickly became close friends, and later Sonia arrived to form a solid relationship with Yoli that works very well to this day – so well that the two women are now married and run a highly sought-after hostel in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.
"Tell us the truth, did you get tangled up in some girl's bed and that's why you didn't come?" Yolanda asks, who has previously made all sorts of bets with her wife about the real reason for Patricia's absence.
"No," the veterinarian repeats with a huff. "I know what happened to me is very surreal, but I'm telling you the truth."
"You lost," Patricia hears one of her friends say.
"What does that mean?" the veterinarian asks.
"Yoli said you were surely busy with a woman, while I bet you had a massive hangover. See, neither of us gotit right, but according to our rules, I'm the winner," Sonia explains matter-of-factly.
Patricia's eyes widen in amazement, though she knows that coming from those two, anything of this sort can be expected.
"Even if you don't believe it, I spent two days and nights stuck in an animal shelter, and to my bad luck, a former college classmate I don't get along with works there as a volunteer and..."
"I won, I won!" shouts are heard. "She was with a woman, doesn't matter doing what. Rules are rules."
Clicks, laughter, and hurried footsteps are heard, and Patricia can't help but smile. Her two friends have an enviable relationship, and although they sometimes act like kids, the veterinarian hopes that when she has a partner, they'll get along as well as they do. The three girls stay on the phone while Patricia tells them in detail everything that happened those days, and she also reminds them who Carlota is because even though neither of them knows her, Coco's savior had vented to them when all that stuff about the job position happened.
"But I still have some free days that I plan to use to visit you," Patricia points out. "Do you have anything available for these dates?"
Yolanda types on the computer to check their reservations.
"We have a double room free on the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh," says Sonia, reading what her wife has found, "though you know you can always stay with us."
"I appreciate it, but there's no way I'm staying there with Yolanda snoring and you waking up at hours that should be illegal, plus, you have a business and the least friends should do is support it."
The three friends agree to meet those days, and Sonia promises the veterinarian to have a tour ready through Gibraltar's streets and markets. Once they say goodbye, Patricia stays observing her living room and realizes how empty and impersonal it looks with the little decoration it has, especially during these special dates when many people put up lights, ornaments, and the typical Christmas tree. With a jump, she decides to get off the couch to buy some things to give life to her home, besides stopping by the supermarket to get provisions.
Patricia walks through the crowded streets and pulls up her scarf, covering even her mouth because these days, after the storm, the cold has settled in making this Christmas in Salamanca one of the coldest she remembers. She turns a corner to locate a store, the biggest in the area that offers all kinds of varied items, from stationery to decorations to paints and tools of all types. The veterinarian's goal is to make her apartment look more cheerful and not as dull as it is now. Just as she has chosen a couple of packages of lights and ornaments for the tree, she stops to look at some wooden reindeer that have caught her attention, but a very peculiar smell hits her nose and she doesn't recognize it until she turns her head and finds Carlota, who is beside her grabbing several of those figures and putting them in a cart packed with items to the brim.
"Oh, hi," Carlota greets when she realizes Patricia is beside her looking at her. "What a coincidence finding you here."
Patricia blinks several times, a bit disconcerted without knowing why.
"We live in the same area, Carlota, it's normal to run into each other often," she answers stupidly.
The smile fades from Carlota's face and, although she tries to hide it, her face shows the disappointment she feels at the cardiologist's response. Patricia is trying to understand why she's behaving this way when her former classmate says goodbye and heads straight to the checkout lines to pay. She decides to continue with her shopping, but the buzzing in her head makes her look for Carlota to apologize because she didn't mean to be harsh, but that response came out of her mouth without being able to control it. She spots her walking with two giant bags, and the volunteer, always polite, gives her a nod and leaves the store without looking back. Patricia scolds herself for her absurd behavior and decides that the next time she sees her, she'll apologize and try to be nicer.
"Well, time to get to work and bring some cheer to this house," Patricia says after arriving at her apartment, changing into comfortable clothes, and taking out everything she bought at the store.
She pours herself a glass of the wine she just bought and patiently starts assembling the small Christmas tree she had stored in the closet. She stands it up and puts on the lights, some ornaments, and some details to makeit look nice. She laughs when she takes out several personalized objects that Aida gave her a couple of years ago – they're very small frames containing different photos of them from some of the trips they've taken together. Their friendship is sincere, and Patricia is grateful that after a long relationship, they both have overcome the breakup and decided to remain friends. Every few months, they take a trip together and as a memento, they take some peculiar photo, and from there, her ex-partner has taken those snapshots to make her a Christmas gift. Although Patricia feels excited, she doesn't feel that festive spirit she experienced that night at the shelter when, together with Carlota, they decorated the place. She frowns and, as if moved by an invisible hand, searches for Christmas songs on her phone and puts on a Santa hat, seeking that feeling she thinks she's missing.
"I must be crazy," she says laughing at herself while moving to the rhythm of a carol she has found on a playlist.