Chapter Text
Snow could really be a double-edge sword in the city.
When it freshly lands, there’s no argument that it’s gorgeous. Soft white edges on everything, covering up the grey of the asphalt and metal, reflecting the colour lights of the different storefronts.
But it doesn’t take long for the salt and dirt and every fleck of grime to taint that soft white, soft edges turning into melted and refrozen jagged chunks and edges. Or worse, turning to slush, wet disgusting
Vi grimaced as she passed by a slowly melting snowbank shoved into the tiny alley space between two buildings, more sludgey dirt and discarded garbage than anything festive. From it trickled a slow melt of grey water over the sidewalk that looked like it was leaking poison. It hadn’t snowed in a while, and what had built up from the first couple of snowfalls was all pretty tainted by now.
Pretty far thing from the winter wonderland the songs she was stuck listening to during work constantly crooned about. Instead it was just depressing… muck.
Tugging her hood over her head to keep the wind off her ears, Vi just kept marching past pathetic snowbanks and closed stores in the darkness of the late night. She wove through the small crowds of people hanging outside bars, smoking and talking and laughing, or walking slowly on their own way home. A couple leaning against each other for support, belting out ‘Jingle Bells’ with all the confidence of not knowing all the lyrics.
Vi snorted, smiling to herself and just focused on getting home.
She finally rounded the corner to her own street, the already narrow road packed with parked cars as runoff from the newer condos up the way, some with tickets stuck to the wet windshields that will likely be ignored, or considered a cheaper alternative compared to what the underground garages charged.
Three buildings in, Vi turned right to the 4-story walk up and fumbled keys in cold fingers in the front door. She didn’t bother checking her mail, whatever bills were in there would be safer in the little metal box until she was ready to look at them; instead of risking losing them in her sad attempt at an ‘in’ box. She walked up three flights of stairs until she reached her own hallway, walls painted a dark blue and the carpet coloured a dark mystery, and unlocked and shouldered open her door to her apartment.
Vi flicked on the light, warm yellow brightening up the space of the little studio, hung up her keys and started to peel off her outdoor layers.
Once her boots were kicked off and coat hung in the closet, Vi tugged her phone out of her back pocket and unlocked it, heading over to the bed tucked away in the corner. The voicemail notification left by her sister had been burning in her jeans the whole walk home, waiting for her to get to a quiet space to listen.
Vi hit the play button on the note, and tossed the phone onto the dresser top so she could listen to the message as she undressed.
”Hey sis, it’s 8:30pm on December 1st, stardate fuck-if-I-know.” Jinx’s voice cracked as she started laughing at her own joke. Vi couldn’t help the chuckle as she finished unbuttoning her black dress shirt, tossing it to the laundry hamper. She continued to undress, grabbing her sleep-set of a tanktop and black sweatpants to change into as Jinx’s message went on.
“Hope work was okay for you. School’s still kicking my ass, same as every other day. Saw a guy totally wipe out on a patch of ice this morning, that was pretty funny.” There was a sound of her clicking her tongue, and then muttered thoughtfully “Am I a bad person?”
“Anyway,” Jinx’s message continued quickly over Vi snickering to herself. “Miss you, wanted to let you know that I’m gonna be totally swamped with finals so don’t worry about your own life getting too busy. Like we talked about over Thanksgiving, we can have Christmas a week late if it’s easier on your schedule. Or in January. Or, just, fold it into Valentines!” A loud snort and a laugh. “Since you’re doing your best to stay single forever.”
Vi snorted herself at that, brushing her teeth as Jinx’s voicemail continued. She spit, and then washed her face quickly, still listening over the noise of the tap as she splashed the water on her face to get off the day’s sweat and dirt.
“Gimmie a call in the morning, or whenever. Hell, call me right now and leave your own message. No, wait, don’t. Get some fucking sleep before your heart gives out, okay? See ya.”
Shaking her head with a chuckle, Vi tossed the face towel in the hamper and grabbed her phone to exit the voicemail app and set her alarm. She collapsed onto the bed, ready for sleep.
She’d call her sister in the morning.
The morning was as dark as it had been when she fell asleep, gloomy clouds blocking the sunrise from making an impact. Vi rolled over in bed to turn on her lamp so she could get some light in the place to help her wake up, tapping at her phone to grimace at the hour. Sitting up, she rubbed at her face with a groan, took a couple deep breaths, and then rolled to fall on the floor and start her morning routine doing pushups.
Some stretching, a shower and change into clothes later, Vi wandered into her kitchen to flick on the light and yawn into her elbow. She made a beeline for her coffee maker, grabbing the tin and opening it to see a pathetic amount of grounds looking back at her. Barely enough to make a cup, much less a pot.
“Shit,” she cursed, and yawned. Grumbling, she checked the time on her microwave; the glowing little green 7:08 looking back at her. Too early still for the grocer to open, and the 24/hr bodega had the worst goddamn roast she’d ever tried.
Only left one place.
Reluctantly dressing herself up to head outside, Vi tugged her knit cap down over her ears and shoved her feet into her worn boots, grabbing her keys and phone and trying, very mindfully, not to slam the door in frustration on her way out.
Once out on the street she pulled out her phone and dialled, figuring Jinx could keep her company on the walk. Vi huddled in her coat, trudging her way to the main street to brave through the morning crowds, as the phone rang until it finally clicked and Vi was greeted with her sister’s loud yawn.
“Sure, yeah, I’m awake.”
Vi chuckled. “You’d better be. Don’t you have classes soon?”
“Yeah, in the morning not the ass-crack of… oh shit, okay, I thought it was earlier.” Jinx snorted into the phone and Vi could hear shuffling, the in-and-out volume from her sister who probably had the phone sitting on her desk as she was walking around her dorm to get ready. “Why are you awake?” Jinx asked.
“I’m always awake at this time,” Vi answered, shifting herself sideways to squeeze through a thick crowd funneled to one side of the sidewalk by construction fencing. “And I’m out of coffee, so I’m heading to grab a cup.”
“Oh! Can you get me one of the gingerbread lattes?”
Vi chuckled. “Yeah sure, I’ll mail it express.”
Jinx cackled so loudly Vi had to pull the phone away from her ear for a second, wincing. “So you got my message? You good with it? Cause I’m so serious, we can shift the holiday around to make it easier.”
“I dunno J,” Vi mused. She stopped at the curb, shifting her phone from one hand to the other so she could shove the first into her coat pocket to warm back up. “It’s Christmas, it wouldn’t be the same on a different day, right?”
A disbelieving scoff came, one recognizable enough Vi just knew what face her sister was making. “I told ya, I got a lot on my plate. And you got, what, two weddings?”
“Three.”
“See? I remember last year. All those Christmas parties and fancy swoar-ays,” she said the word with snooty exaggeration, “drained you into a zombie. I’d rather Christmas be late than miserable, right?”
Vi just grunted, finally at the little alcove at the base of the condo where the coffee shop was, a heavy amount of salt scattered everywhere to keep people from slipping on the smooth stone. A rough, freezing wind started to batter at her as she walked down the steps, redirected by form-over-function modern architecture, and Vi tugged her hood over her head while ducking up her shoulders to try and keep warm. The motion pushed her bangs to cover an eye, and she focused on keeping the phone up to her ear while grabbing the handle of the coffee shop door with the other, ducking inside.
That’s probably how it happened.
The combination of Vi rushing to get out of the cold wind, Jinx yammering in her ear and exhaustion dulling her senses, meant that it was only inevitable she would walk directly into someone else while trying to shove herself inside as quickly as possible.
“Shit,” Vi cursed, bouncing back off the soft body she’d collided with, fumbling to not drop her phone. She felt the door slam behind her, and stood frozen in the warm indoor air.
The woman in front of her was staring at her in shock, both arms spread with one holding a coffee cup. A coffee cup whose lid had fallen off when Vi collided with it, spilling half its contents all over the woman’s front, the black button-down coat now sporting a dark wet patch right over her chest. Little droplets of light brown slowly dribbled down the wool, leaving darkening stains behind.
“Fuck,” Vi cursed. “Jinx I gotta call you back. Hey,” she quickly hung up and shoved her phone in her pocket, reaching a hand out like she could… what, wipe the coffee away? “You okay? I’m really sorry.”
Being acknowledged seem to snap the woman out of her shock and she scoffed, standing up straight with a disgusted noise. She was tall, with sharp cheekbones, long dark hair pulled back in a tight bun and an ice cold expression enhanced by her blue eyes. Intimidatingly hot.
“Do you not watch where you’re going?” she accused, the English accent making her voice sharper. She glared down at her free hand, which she used to uselessly flick at the soaked fabric like she could expel the coffee with pure disdain.
Vi frowned, embarrassed and annoyed. “Hey, sorry, it was just bad luck. You were on the other side of the door, I was cold, didn’t see you until too late.”
“The door’s glass,” the woman snapped back. “It’s see-through?”
The fucking nerve? Fine, pleasantries over. Vi snorted, looking at the door and then back to the woman, sneering. “Oh yeah. Looks like it’s glass both ways.”
The woman had no answer to that except a huff, silently staring more daggers Vi’s way.
Their glaring was interrupted by a barista, scurrying up to the other side of the woman with napkins in his hand. He held them out, looking at her with concern and acting like Vi wasn’t even there.
“Here, you alright?”
The woman’s attitude changed instantly, slipping into a polite smile and her voice softening as she took the napkins and dabbed at her coat, the barista taking her squash coffee cup so she could use both hands.
“I’m fine, thank you,” she was saying, “no, it’s alright, just my coat thankfully.”
Vi snorted lightly, watching the woman shift personalities to act all sweet and thankful as the young man offered to remake her coffee and double triple check that she was fine, both of them talking like Vi’d just vanished into smoke. She rolled her eyes, snorting a little to herself.
The door behind them opened, to cold wind and the jingling of festive sleigh bells tied to the top, pulling Vi out of her judgemental moment to realize she was standing in the way, and was here for a reason.
She gave an annoyed look to the man entering behind her and headed up to the counter to place her order.
The woman and the barista tending to her had moved up to the other end of the counter in the meantime, and Vi hovered at the counter with her hands in her coat pockets, watching from the corner of her eye as the woman pulled out her phone and seemed to be checking it with a pinched frown. Some of her long dark hair had fallen in front of her cheek and she brushed it aside to tuck it behind her ear, lips parting slightly as she read something on the screen.
The barista held her newly made coffee out and she took it absently, still staring at her phone screen, before seeming to remember her manners and blinking up to him. She smiled warmly and thanked the barista, pocketing her phone again and turning to leave.
As she did, the woman’s blue eyes found Vi’s.
It was for just a brief second; Vi quickly looked away so she couldn’t be caught staring, instead pretending the menu mounted behind the counter was incredibly interesting. She heard the coffee shop’s door jingle open and shut, and let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.
“You okay? What happened?”
Vi was back home, extra large coffee already half-drunk on the returning walk, and her coat and boots discarded by the front door before she decided to call Jinx back. Yawning again, the caffeine hadn’t had it’s time to do its work yet, Vi held her phone up against her left ear as she started to dig in her fridge for breakfast.
“Ran into someone at the coffee shop,” she answered, pulling out a carton of eggs.
“Oh! Someone you know?”
Vi couldn’t mask the amused huff she involuntarily made as the image popped back in her mind of the woman bright blue eyes staring at her in shock, coffee dripping off her coat. She began to one-handed crack a couple eggs in the frying pan as she replied. “No, like, literally ran into her. Spilled her coffee.”
A loud snort of laughter came from the other end of the call. “Smooth. How’d you manage that?”
“My usual luck and skills,” Vi grinned, twisting the element knob down to a lower heat as the eggs sizzled. “So. Christmas.”
“Christmas in a very merry January,” Jinx said. Vi frowned a little, and her sister must’ve sensed it with how she continued. “I just think that’s the least amount of stress for us. ‘Sides, that way we can get gifts on sale after the Big Day. Cheaper gas for the drive too.”
Vi chewed her tongue as she stared down at her cooking eggs, mulling over the suggestion. It was true that saving money was always a good thing, hard to argue.
“The point is that we get to see each other,” Jinx continued to insist. “It shouldn’t matter when.”
“I just don’t want you to spend your Christmas alone,” Vi said, flipping her eggs.
There was a soft snort on the other end of the call, and Jinx’s voice, when she spoke again, was in her quiet rasp she usually fell into when she got serious.
“Hey, I got people. You got people too, right?”
Vi thought of the only people she ever saw regularly, working beside her in the kitchen. Drinking buddies on occasion, before she had to drag herself out of the habit. Majority of the words they shared now being quick shouts over stoves and sinks.
“Yeah, kinda.”
“I’ll keep busy, don’t you worry,” Jinx said with a little whistle. “I’ll text ya what free dates work for me and you let me know if you can get it off, alright?”
Vi clicked off the stove and nodded, even though this was just a voice call. She grabbed her coffee cup again, taking a sip. “Sounds good.”
“Okay. I got class. Love ya.”
The call cut off abruptly, leaving Vi in silence on her kitchen. She tapped at her phone to turn on some music and plated her eggs, salting them and leaning her hip against the counter to begin eating.
She and Jinx both knew the younger girl would wear her down to agreeing with the delayed Christmas plans, so there wasn’t really any sense to arguing. Once Jinx wanted something done a certain way, it was hard to convince her otherwise. She’d probably already made plans for the holiday week anyway.
And, begrudgingly, she was probably right. Yeah Vi had Christmas Eve and Day off, but she had to head right back to her work at the banquet hall on the 26th for weddings and New Years. They were always short staffed, and the extra hours helped pay for Jinx’s school and Vi’s shitty downtown shoebox that wasn’t blessed with rent control.
January was a lot slower. Vi wouldn’t be as tired.
Vi finished off her eggs and tossed the plate in the sink, downing her coffee and heading for the shower while stretching her arm over her head. She had a ten hour shift today with catering prep.
She could dwell on spending Christmas alone later.