The best ever Christmas present
A short story by David Arthur Thorpe
From the series: Love has more than one colour
It had been raining all day, better said all week, but this did not seem to affect the good mood of Terrance, a 38 year old guitarist and lead singer in a Manchester rock group, "Manchurian Sons". The band had been rehearsing all day, as every Saturday, for their forthcoming concert at the renowned downtown club, "The Place". This engagement could mean a breakthrough for the musicians and a possible recording contract. They had been working hard on their performance for the past month, rehearsing songs of the Beatles, The Moody Blues, The Rolling Stones, John Mayall and Jimmy Hendrix. The year was 1969.
Tired but pleased with the session, Terrance made his way back to his suburban flat. The thought of spending the evening alone, however, was not appealing and he decided to call in at the local pub. The music and the friendly crowd there would mitigate the feeling of loneliness he had been experiencing since he had separated from his girlfriend three months earlier.
He was thankful that his parents and sisters lived relatively nearby in Bolton, his home town.
Terrance had however, only a , good and reliable friends. One of which was Daniel, a frustrated poet and novelist a few years older than Terrance, who lived with his wife Bridget and dog Merlin in a renovated farm house in the Yorkshire Pennines.
Terrance, who worked as a graphic designer, looked forward to his sporadic weekend visits to his family in Bolton or his visits to Daniel and Bridget in Yorkshire. He enjoyed the long walks in the Pennines with Daniel, Bridget and Merlin; the interesting conversations with Daniel and Bridget`s good cooking. He would listen attentively over an after-dinner whiskey or two to Daniel`s candid advice and poignant stories and later, if not quite as attentively, to Daniel`s reading of a new poem or extract from a still unfinished novel, both of which were doomed to end up in the waste paper basket of some "incompetent" publisher; at least in the opinion of Daniel. Terrance trusted Daniel completely and confided in him both his hopes and his fears.
On his last visit to his sisters in Bolton, he had invited them to the concert at the "The Place", which they both accepted even before the invitation had had time to dry on Terrance`s lips. His parents declined with the excuse that they were too old for nightclubs. Sally, the eldest sister, would come with her husband Neal, whilst Madeleine would bring the latest hero in her life. Daniel and Bridget also accepted the invitation.
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Her mother had named her daughter after her favourite flower, Nelke (the German name for carnation). The 7-year-old Nelke stared with her large brown eyes in astonishment at the house. She thought it was a palace as she had never before seen such a house.
Holding her mother`s hand they both walked up the garden path to the front door, where a chubby smiling lady was waiting to greet them. Nelke held her rag-doll tightly and her mother carried a battered suitcase, trying to keep her poise under the strain. They were carrying their only possessions. The year was 1948 and they were refugees from a small town not far from Berlin. Their new home in the West was in Heidelberg, the old university town on the river Neckar. This warm August day was the beginning of a new life for both of them.
The chubby lady took Nelke in her arms and kissed her.
It had been a long, hazardous and exhausting journey of almost 18 months since they had flown from their home to escape the wrath of the advancing Red Army. Nelke´s father had been reported missing 3 years earlier. After the capitulation of the German Reich, they had miraculously arrived in the American controlled zone, and later were brought in army vehicles to Heidelberg, one of the few German towns almost unscathed by the war.
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Twenty years later Nelke was on her way to Manchester, England, to visit a close friend, Miranda, from her student years at the Heidelberg university. Miranda had read German studies at the university. The two friends had constantly been in contact after their university years and Miranda had visited Nelke two years previously in Heidelberg.
Now relaxed in the 'plane flying over the North Sea, Miranda first thought of her boyfriend Kai, but with no regret at leaving him behind. Their relationship was at an end and Nelke knew she would soon have to look for alternative accommodation, even if it meant returning to her mother's house. Her thoughts now turned to her meeting again with Miranda and she smiled; it would be a wonderful autumn holiday in Manchester.
As promised Miranda was waiting for her at the airport and Nelke fell into Miranda`s embrace. Suddenly the memory of the chubby woman`s greeting at the Red Cross Centre so many years ago came back into her mind.
It had been a wonderful week´s holiday and Miranda had taken Nelke to many places of interest and of course they had found time for "retail therapy". For this last weekend Miranda invited Nelke to one of Manchester`s smartest night clubs, The Place. Andrea, a girl fiend of Miranda had organized the tickets. She worked with one of the band members, Terrance. "The band is really groovy" she assured. "Why not come with your friend Nelke. I can arrange the tickets. I work with one of the
members of the group and we'll have an unforgettable Saturday evening." Miranda did not need much persuasion and agreed.
They did enjoy themselves. First savouring a splendid meal served by attentive waiters. They laughed as each one told of some earlier escapade. Men of course were the topic. Miranda told of her visits to previous concerts of the "Manchurian Boys" and how professional they were. She had not underestimated. All three of them were totally enthralled with the performance and Miranda´s suggestion that she introduce them to the "boys" found unanimous approval. Somewhat nervous Nelke and Andrea followed Miranda as she led them back-stage to meet the musicians. After a short introduction and the question if they had enjoyed the show, Terrance took the plunge and invited the "girls" to a drink in the bar lounge.
He had his reason. On being introduced Terrance and Nelke had looked into each others eyes, unwilling to retrieve their hands from the handshake.
They both knew straight away that they liked what they saw and sensed a mutual attraction. Terrance assured his seat next to Nelke´s in the bar lounge and for the rest of the evening they seemed almost oblivious to their surroundings, flirting and telling each other irrelevances, each one a magnet for the other.
It was only when Miranda interrupted to suggest that it was time to leave, as it was now way past midnight, that Nelke seemed to awaken from a dream. Embarrassed she agreed. She had no idea it was so late she apologised.
On saying goodbye to each other, Terrance kissed Nelke on her cheek, which sent a quiver throughout her entire body. She dared in return to grasp his hand and whisper in his ear a thank you for such a wonderful evening.
"I will never forget this evening", she promised.
She turned away and joined Miranda and Andrea to leave the club. Motionless Terrance watched them disappear through the main entrance, a sad expression on his face but a joy in his heart. He was determined to see Nelke again. Tenacity was one of his intrinsic qualities. This brief encounter was not going to be the end he decided.
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Terrance played down his true feelings for Nelke, at least in front of Andrea. She had teased him a little on the Monday morning in the office about his obvious romantic interest in Nelke.
He merely commented that he had found her very pleasant and had enjoyed her company and conversation but nothing more. Andrea did not pursue her curiosity but a slight smile on her face told him that she had not believed one single word.
As the weeks went by, Andrea never mentioned Nelke to Terrance and at first he was pleased she did not enquire further. He had asked Nelke for her address and had written to her to tell her how much he had enjoyed the evening with her. He also added that he missed her company and wished they could meet again. He did not, however, admit to her that he had fallen in love with her.
As the days became shorter and autumn was giving way to winter, Terrance had still no reply from Nelke to his letter. He was worried and downcast and became irritable. Daniel noticed this and when Terrance next came to visit, on handing to him a second whiskey during their game of chess, Daniel enquired what was on his friend`s mind. Terrance, somewhat relieved and glad to talk to someone, explained the whole situation to Daniel.
Daniel knowing his friend's feelings; suggested that Terrance ring the telephone information and on giving Nelke's address they should be able to provide him with her telephone number.
"Call the girl, you idiot and find out why she has not replied to your letter," was Daniel`s final advice.
Terrance did exactly what Daniel had advised and was rewarded with a cold shower when the operator informed him that Nelke Sakove was not registered at this address, but rather a certain Kai Hefner.
"Had she not received my letter then?" He asked himself and the operator. The operator hung up on him without giving an answer.
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They had not much more to say to each other. Kai just gave Nelke the letter from England, which had arrived for her after she had moved out of the house in which they had lived together for the past 5 years. He weakly apologised for not bringing the letter earlier as he had been working in Munich on a project, but Nelke, on seeing that the letter was from Terrance, ignored his excuses. Nelke looked at the postal date and noticed it was dated 2 months previous and seemed not to notice Kai turn and walk back to his parked car and out of her life.
The weeks before Christmas were busy ones for Nelke and she still had not answered Terrance's letter. The truth was that she was unsure how she should answer it. Although she had often thought about him since her return from Manchester, she had never asked herself what she really felt for him. Her mind had been occupied with first moving away from Kai and then her mother's stroke. This had completely changed her daily routine.
Nelke made up her mind. She would call Terrance on Christmas Eve. After all he had written as a p.s. his telephone number. He had convinced himself he had nothing to lose.
Nelke and her mother had the Christmas Eve diner together and afterwards the "Bescherung", which is the giving of Christmas gifts, which usually lie beneath the decorated Christmas tree. And so as every year according to tradition they exchanged their carefully wrapped gifts and embraced each
other. They talked for a while and drank together a "Sekt", the German champagne before finally Nelke took her mother to bed. It was 10 o`clock.
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Terrance had planned to spend Christmas Eve with a friend at a jazz club in the city centre. His friend had rung to say he was unable to meet Terrance as he had a heavy cold. Christmas Eve alone was something Terrance had not planned and thought first to eat something and go down to the local pub. There would be a party there and that was a distraction. He was just about to leave when his phone rang.
"I'm ringing you to wish you a Merry Christmas Terrance, this is Nelke in Heidelberg"
His heart stopped beating for a second. He could not respond.
"Hello, is that you Terrance?" asked a concerned voice.
"Ah, yes", he managed to reply.
"I'm sorry for not answering your letter but I……"
Before Nelke could continue to explain, Terrance interrupted her.
"Oh, don´t worry about that. This phone call is much better than a letter."
Nelke did, however, explain why she had not replied to the letter and told him about her mother`s stroke and many, many other things. For his part he told her all that he had been doing since they last met. They talked and laughed and admitted to each other how they had missed each others company. This was Terrance's best ever Christmas present.
The 'phone bill would arrive sometime next year.
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