Calling Mrs Claus Page 3

  “Wow, look, mommy, it’s a train set, wow, this is cool.”

  Sophie smiles at him and gives him the appropriate responses, much to his delight.

  “Lina, come and help me build it, I want to play.”

  “I have to give Elena her present first.”

  He is disappointed but curious to see what his little sister is getting. At the mention of her name Elena, crawls over to Lina and puts her hands up.

  Lina lifts her and gives her a cuddle and a kiss. “Let’s see what I have for you.”

  Arthur shuffles near to see. Lina opens the present and sees Elena’s little eyes light up at the colours and the pictures on each large piece of the jigsaw.

  Elena is placed on the floor with the jigsaw and true to what they both thought, she puts the end of the piece in her mouth. Arthur is moving his train around the track making train noises and having so much fun. Bart comes into the living room and smiles seeing his family happy.

  “Okay, I am going to bring these two upstairs and you two can open that bottle of wine that has been chilling in the fridge. Thank you for the toys, Lina, they are exquisite.”

  “You’re welcome, Bart.”

  Elena and Arthur give their mom kisses and then Lina. Sophie is already on the way to the fridge to get a bottle of wine and two glasses. She comes into the living room and pours them both a glass and takes a seat. Just as she sits down the doorbell rings making her groan.

  “Typical, just when I sit down too.”

  She is just about to get up when Bart appears with the take out for them.

  “Oh, this is why I love you so much.”

  Bart laughs and gives Sophie a kiss, “I love you too, enjoy ladies.”

  He leaves quickly when he hears Arthur shout from the bath. Lina and Sophie tuck into the food, the conversation light and flowing. Sophie looks over at Lina and decides to ask the question.

  “Lina, are you lonely?”

  Lina chokes on her drink, “Am I lonely? I’m here with you.”

  Sophie rolls her eyes, “You know what I mean. You haven’t been on the dating scene in a while. We used to go out together and you got a few numbers, now we don’t do that. When was the last time you kissed a woman?”

  “Wow, you don’t beat around the bush. I don’t have time for dating, Sophie. I have my art and sculptures. I’m happy with what I have.”

  Sophie sits up straighter in her chair, “I get that, but you didn’t answer my question, are you lonely?”

  Lina is quiet for a few minutes, “I guess, there are times I could be a little lonely. I never really thought of it, honestly.”

  Sophie moves over beside her and puts her arm around her, “Would you not try again and see if someone would catch your eye. That voicemail could be a starting point. Have people see what an amazing artist and sculptor you are. There could be a lady there that would want to meet the artist and then you show them your charm and go on a lovely romantic date which could lead to more.”

  “I think you should write a romance novel, you have an overactive imagination. You know I don’t like the commercial side and that woman sounded like she only wants to make money for the store. I have seen her kind before, and it ends the same way every time. Money hungry and the art is in the background and the people that it is made for are charged to see it and experience it. That’s not who I am.”

  “Then meet her and talk to her and tell her what you want and expect from her and the work. If she doesn’t agree to your terms, then you don’t do it. What’s the harm in meeting her and having a conversation?”

  “Why are you so interested in her?”

  “I think it’s a great chance for you to create on a larger scale and if you get paid you can do something really special with the money. What is your dream, Lina?”

  Lina smiles at the enthusiastic tone, “My dream, I would love to have my own little warehouse and be able to teach kids and give jobs to those less fortunate.”

  “How do you intend to do that if you don’t get yourself out there and make a bit more money. Then you can fund the warehouse and what you want to do. On another note, her voice was silky smooth, sexy.”

  “You can’t be serious; her voice was just normal. I don’t want to talk to her.”

  She pouts making Sophie laugh, “You sound like such a child, do you want me to go with you to meet her?”

  Lina contemplates it then shakes her head, “No one is meeting her, I haven’t called her back and I don’t intend to.”

  “Damn, you are so stubborn, I think that’s not clever. This could be the start of a dream come true for you and you won’t even meet her.”

  Sophie changes the subject but is already plotting in her mind how to change her mind. They finish the bottle of wine and end up playing cards and laughing into the early hours of the morning. Lina goes to bed in the guest room happy and content after having a fun evening with Sophie.

  Lina wakes up with little hands against her cheek and hearing the full-blown conversation of a two your old child. She opens her eyes and grins, “Good morning, Elena, did you sleep well?”

  Elena continues to talk much to Lina’s delight. She kisses her on the cheek, “Let’s go find your mommy and thank her for waking me in such a wonderful way.”

  Elena is smiling and claps her hands.

  “Sophie, I think this beautiful little one belongs to you.”

  Sophie grins and hands Lina a cup of coffee, “Here you go, and I’ll take my little princess.”

  Arthur is making train noises and having fun with his new toy. Lina looks around her and smiles softly, “Thank you for letting me stay last night, I love those two kids like they were my own. I was thinking about what we talked about last night and I might give that woman a call.”

  Sophie squeals and claps her hands making Elena do the same. “Brilliant, that will be a step towards your dream. Do you want me to be there when you call her, you know, for moral support?”

  Lina laughs, “I think I can handle that, thanks. I will let you know how it goes though. Now, I need to go and deliver the centrepiece to Queen Mia.”

  “Good luck with that, I am going to spend the morning playing with my two beautiful kids and then after lunch, we are all going to go to the park.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Lina arrives at Mia and Matthias’ house. Matthias comes rushing out to her, “Oh my God, you’re here. Mia has been rushing around like a headless chicken. I owe you big time, Lina.”

  “Relax, she can’t be that bad.”

  Matthias opens the door, Lina is shocked to see Mia with her hair in rollers and no makeup on. “Christ, she’s lost the plot. Did she have to put herself under this much pressure?”

  “LINA! Finally! Where have you been? Do you know what time it is? Do you think that I have time to be waiting for you when there is so much to do?”

  Lina is shocked and takes a look at her watch, “It’s only ten in the morning, you have hours.”

  “HOURS! I have so much to do and it all has to come together before the first guest arrives. Well, where is it? Let me see it?”

  Lina holds out the box and it is ripped out of her hands. Mia, opens it up and looks at the piece and then looks at Lina, “Is this it? This took you six weeks to make? How is this going to impress my friends?”

  Matthias shakes his head, taking the piece from Mia, “It’s beautiful, Lina, you have done a wonderful job.”

  Lina quirks an eyebrow at Mia making her huff, “I suppose it will have to do, it’s too late to get something else.”

  Lina grits her teeth and turns around to leave. “I want that back when your dinner is done, I am giving it to Sophie, she appreciates it.”

  Mia throws her arms up in the air, “Whatever! I have no time for this, I’m going to get ready. Matthias, get the kids ready, I need them at the babysitters as soon as possible and don’t be slow, you have to get back here to help me with the setup.”

  Lina looks at Matthias, who has red cheek
s, “I won’t be long, sweetheart.”

  Matthias walks out with Lina, “Why do you put up with her? She’s gotten worse, you deserve so much better.”

  “She’s just under pressure at the minute, this dinner is her way of stepping up the ladder at work and getting in with the crowd. It will settle down once she gets that promotion. She didn’t mean what she said about your piece, it really is beautiful, one of your best pieces. Thank you for helping me out.”

  “I would do anything for you, you’re my brother. Is she like this to the kids too?”

  “No, she is a good mom, she is a sweetheart, you have just seen her on a bad day.”

  “MATTHIAS! Hurry up and get back in here.”

  Matthias bows his head, “I will see you soon, Lina.”

  Lina gives him a hug, “Come over any time you want, with the kids, okay.”

  He smiles at her and kisses his cheek, “I will, I better go before she shouts again.”

  Lina gets into her car, starts the ignition, waves to Matthias, who jumps and scampers into the house again.

  “Jesus, she is such a great catch, good luck Matthias.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Ann looks in the mirror and fixes her purple dress, “It will have to do, now where is this dinner?”

  She looks in her phone and scrolls through the messages, “Damn, I deleted it!”

  She calls her friend Helaine, “Helaine, I’ve lost the address…You want a lift? Why am I not surprised? I’ll be there in ten minutes. See you then and you better know where we are going.”

  She picks up her bag and keys and is just heading for the door when her phone rings. She doesn’t recognise the number and because she is in a rush, she lets it go to voicemail.

  She reaches Helaine’s house and beeps the horn, she sighs, picks up her phone and listens to the voicemail,

  “Hi, this is Lina Wouters, I am returning your call...I don’t know why I’m doing this but if you want to meet to talk over things you can give me a call and we will arrange it. Okay, so that’s that, talk soon or not…”

  “Fuck, the onetime I don’t answer the damn phone.”

  Helaine jumps into the car, “Hi, you look beautiful, what’s with the face?”

  “I just missed an important phone call.”

  “Call them back, it’s no big deal.”

  “I can’t, we are running behind schedule thanks to you taking so long.”

  “Okay, I’m sorry, just call back in the morning. You will get it sorted then, is it for work or is it a lady friend?”

  Ann rolls her eyes, “It’s work-related, it hasn’t been a lady friend for quite some time.”

  “Yes, I’ve noticed that too, you need to put yourself back out there, you are a beautiful woman and have a lot to offer. What happened sucked but not all women are like that.”

  “I know, I know, I’m just not ready yet when I am, I will let you know.”

  “Oh honey, you’re not my type.”

  Ann laughs shaking her head, “you’re not my type either.”

  The mood is light in the car and once they reach the house, they both get out, check their reflections in the window.

  “Ready?”

  “I’m ready. Let’s go and see what the evening has in store for us.”

  Helaine chuckles, “You may want to check that attitude at the door, we don’t want to be eating and socialising with a sourpuss.”

  She bumps Ann’s shoulder and rings the doorbell. “Smile, it’s meant to be fun.”

  Ann is about to give a sarcastic retort, but the door opens, “Good evening ladies, you both look beautiful. Welcome to our home, my name is Matthias, I’m married to Mia.”

  He moves out of the way revealing Mia, who is standing in a stunning red dress with enough bling to blind you. She smiles brightly and holds out her arms to hug them both; “It’s so nice to see you and thank you for coming. Matthias, sweetheart, could you get our guests a glass of champagne.”

  Matthias nods and hurries off to retrieve two glasses. Ann and Helaine look around, “Wow, you have a beautiful home.”

  Mia smiles bigger and brighter than before. “Thank you, Matthias has worked very hard and I am making strides in my own career. We are very happy with our little home.”

  Ann looks around, “There is nothing little about your home.”

  Mia shrugs and grins, “I have a style I enjoy.”

  Matthias returns with the glasses of champagne, “Here you go ladies, Sweetheart, everyone is here, and the first course is ready to be served when you are ready.”

  Mia nods, “Follow me and we will get seated, Matthias, can you let them know we are ready now?”

  “Wait, you have someone serving us our meal?”

  “Of course, I wanted tonight to be special.”

  Matthias enters and notices that Mia hasn’t lit the candles or turned on the lights of the centrepiece. He leans in lights the candles and switches it on. As soon as he does there are oohs and aahs from the guests. Matthias is proud of the response while Mia is quiet.

  “Where did you find such an exquisite piece? It’s magnificent, I have never seen anything like it.”

  Mia sees an opportunity to impress her guests, “Oh I had this piece specifically designed for tonight. I am lucky enough that my husband is the brother of a wonderful artist and sculptor. She made this especially for me, isn’t it wonderful?”

  Ann cocks her head to the side, “What is the name of your sibling, Matthias? This is an incredible work of art, the detail, the story, the romance. It’s truly magnificent.”

  Matthias is stunned by Mia’s fabrication but grins hearing and seeing the response the piece has had on Ann, “My sister’s name is Lina, she really is awesome, but she never really puts her art out there for the world to see.”

  Ann is listening intently and the more she hears the more intrigued she is about Lina.

  “I actually have reached out to her to help me create a masterpiece on a large scale for my store. I’m hoping to meet her and hopefully hire her to help me make history.”

  Matthias is excited, “Oh my God, are you serious? That would be incredible, she deserves a shot to get out there and to be seen.”

  Mia is not liking where the conversation is going and tries to steer it back to her.

  “Enough shop talk for tonight, let’s talk about something fun.”

  Matthias hears the undercurrent in her tone and swallows, “Yes, of course, darling, you’re right. I will go and check on the second course.”

  He excuses himself and scurries out of the dining room. Ann is not impressed by Mia but can’t fault her enthusiasm to reach her goals. She excuses herself and makes her way to the kitchen to find Matthias.

  “I’m sorry to be a pain, but is there any possibility that you could introduce me to Lina? I have a voicemail to call her back to arrange a meeting. I’m thinking by what you were saying I may need a little help to have her listen to me and hopefully agree to work with me.”

  Matthias is shocked by her admission, “I don’t know if I would be much help honestly. I can give you some advice if you are going in there to just get your own goal achieved for monetary gain, that doesn’t interest her. She loves what she does, no money in the world would change her spirit or her heart. She loves to give back to the community and loves to put a smile on a child's face by giving them a toy. That means more to her than a lavish lifestyle or material gains. My wife and sister don’t get along very well, due to the differences in what they believe to be important.”

  Ann is more intrigued by Lina and smiles at Matthias, “I can assure you I would not want to insult her by offering such things, but I will need to pay her for her work and the budget for that is very generous. All I ask of you is to give me a chance to speak to her.”

  Matthias thinks about it and grins, “I will introduce you to her, but now I need to get back to this evening's meal or there will be a very frosty reception awaiting me later.”

  Ann smil
es and shakes Matthias’ hand, “Thank you and no we don’t want that.”

  The meal is enjoyed by all, but a lot of the attention is brought back to the centrepiece and Lina much to the annoyance of Mia. She hides it well, but Matthias knows that she is unhappy with the way it is going. She has cemented her place in the group and even has an ally to help her on the ladder at work but because the attention is on Lina makes her crazy with jealousy. At the end of the evening, Ann leaves the house with a lighter step and looking forward to meeting Lina the following day.

  Chapter 5

  Matthias sends Ann a message asking her to meet him at the park. She shakes her head assuming that Mia has a hangover and he had to take the kids out of the house. She is excited to meet Lina and have a chance to bring her on board with her project. She texts back quickly and rushes to change her clothes and every time she looks in the mirror, she screams unsure what look is the best to meet an artist.

  She remembers what Matthias said and decided to wear her skinny jeans and red tee. She takes one more look, shrugs, “It will have to do.”

  She jumps into her car and reaches the park in the quickest time she ever managed. Matthias looks up as he hears the car come to a halt and grins when he sees Ann get out of the car. “Someone is eager.”

  He waves to her and grins when she waves back. “Who is that daddy?”

  “That is a friend of your mom and she wants to meet Auntie Lina.”

  “Did Lina maker her a toy? It wouldn’t be nice if she didn’t give her anything. She always makes our toys.”

  Matthias smiles down at his young son, “Maybe when we go over to Lina’s you should tell her to make a toy for Ann, Senne.”

  Senne nods enthusiastically, “I will and then I will tell her that Isabelle wants a dollhouse for Christmas.”

  He runs off and starts to push Isabelle on the swing much to her delight. Matthias smiles as he watches on. Ann comes beside him, “Your kids look happy. Good morning.”

  “Good morning, they got spoiled at the baby sitters last night and had an amazing sleep. They came home with so much energy that was a little too much for Mia.”