Page 1 of A Christmas Adventure

Chapter 1

Violet leaves her apartment in Madrid with her coat buttoned up to her neck. She buries her hands in her pockets and, after checking the steam coming from her mouth with each breath, also hides her chin in the white scarf wrapped around her neck.

It's 7:15 in the morning, and the cold seeps under her coat, freezing her legs covered in dark jeans. Violet starts walking briskly towards the offices where she works, a fifteen-minute walk away. With luck, she'll warm up after ten minutes of walking.

The asphalt is wet from yesterday afternoon's rain. The cold hasn't allowed it to dry, and with the drop in temperature overnight, she pauses to make sure she doesn't slip. It's an old habit acquired in her village, where winter frosts can cause more than one unexpected slip.

Violet delights in observing the Christmas decorations adorning the streets above her head; they're off now, but at night they're quite a spectacle that she likes to admire from her window balcony.

It's December 2nd, and all she can think about is the 22nd, when she'll finally start her Christmas vacation and can leave for ten days to visit her parents in the village. As she walks, Violet thinks about how much things can change. When she lived in Alquézar and studied in Huesca, she couldn't wait to finish and move anywhere to expand her horizons. Now, at thirty-two and after seven years living and working in Madrid for a multinational company, she'd give anything to feel the peace of the village again.

With these thoughts, she arrives at the huge office building where her company occupies the entire fourth floor and welcomes the heat that hits her face as soon as she crosses the door. Violet takes off her coat while riding the elevator, and ten minutes later, she's sitting at her desk in front of two computers, with her tablet serving as a calendar on its stand and her mobile phone to the side in case a client needs an urgent consultation.

Teresa, the colleague who handles the technical part of the project Violet works on, has suggested they have lunch together. Violet accepts without hesitating for a second. If it weren't for her, who has become not only her colleague but also a good friend, she's sure she would have gone crazy and wouldn't have been able to handle the pressure they're both under alone.

"They say good snowfalls are expected this year," Teresa comments without taking her eyes off her screen.

"I wouldn't mind if one of those that bury roads for a week fell, but only when I'm in the village," Violet replies, and Teresa laughs.

"Someday I'll have to visit that village of yours, although it'll be in summer," she clarifies, and they both laugh.

Violet's laughter disappears from her face in a flash when her phone screen lights up, and she sees Marina's name on it. She quickly slides her finger across the screen and rejects the call while letting out a sigh of desperation.

"Marina again?" Teresa guesses, whom the phone's vibration has made turn and witness Violet's nervous movement.

"Yes, she calls me almost daily."

"They say persistence pays off," her colleague jokes, and Violet gives her such a fiery look that she turns back to her screen and doesn't open her mouth again.

The two colleagues continue with their work throughout the morning until shortly before lunchtime, when Violet's phone vibrates again. She immediately looks up, thinking Marina is insisting again, but her expression changes to a smile when she discovers it's her mother. Violet takes off the headphones she wears to reduce noise and concentrate, and after picking up the phone from its stand, she gets up and moves to the window for some privacy.

"Hi, Mom," she greets happily.

They haven't spoken all week. She knows that as Christmas approaches, her parents are swamped with work at the bakery they've both run in the village for as long as she can remember. Orders for homemadepolvorones, donuts, king cakes, and the house specialty - cookies whoserecipe is the envy of the village - overwhelm them to the point where they have to hire extra staff from a month before.

Violet knows that talking to them in those weeks is almost impossible and that her mother takes advantage of any break to call her, which is why she has answered even while at work.

"Violet, honey..."

Her mother's sobs and stammering barely allow her to understand what she's saying. Maite cries inconsolably on the other end of the line, continuing to chatter trying to explain something. She speaks so fast and with such nervousness that it's impossible for Violet to understand a single word of what she's saying. She's also getting nervous and scared, fearing something might have happened to her father.

"Mom, calm down," she asks in a whisper, pressing her body against the window as if that would achieve more silence. "I can't understand you if you don't stop crying."

Her mother tries, and for a few seconds, she stops crying, but as soon as the first word comes out of her mouth, she chokes up again and stutters things Violet doesn't understand.

"Mom, please, try to take a breath and breathe slowly. Drink a glass of water, but calm down because I don't understand anything you're saying."

Silence returns, now she hears her mother blow her nose forcefully and fiddle with something in what she assumes is the kitchen of her house.

"Is anyone else with you, Mom?" she asks, hoping someone else can tell her what's happening.

"No."

"Is Dad okay?" Violet asks, terrified when her mother seems calmer.

"Perfectly."

The harsh tone her mother uses to respond surprises her, but she says nothing, only feels relief.