An Objective Christmas

With her riches, she could have dined anywhere. The Mercier Hotel provided a lavish meal that included succulent feasant and an unprecedented supply of endless champagne and eggnog. She questioned this last part. Mariana Gaines couldn’t imagine bubbly nog. A successful analyst at Diamante Bank in Wilmington, Delaware, she had amassed a modest fortune of five million dollars. When she walked through her lavish apartment like a vagabond searching to grasp a golden dream, she felt that she accomplished everything. Except, she felt unfulfilled. No husband or kids to speak of, she wanted to experience the holidays as she had done as a kid.

The warm fireplace, and the crackle from the chestnuts…the games of spades and the smell of candied yams all awoke in her the desire to venture out into the world. As she left her apartment, she tipped her doorman Wendell $50.

“Hey, Thanks, Miss Gaines! Merry Christmas!”

Mariana hailed a rideshare car. She journeyed to the bar. After she sat and had a drink, she put up her left hand with an engagement ring on it. A man stopped short of asking her a question. She looked at the barkeeper.

“”Martini extra, extra dirty,” she said with composure and truth.

A man walked up to her. She was about to offer her faux engagement ring when the face lit up right next to her. This face seemed familiar.

“Chad Nurse?” Mariana asked, wonder and bewilderment creeping into her voice.

“Mariana…Merry Christmas. It’s been some time.”

“Merry Christmas. Yes it has.”

“So, I know you’ve stayed in Delaware, too,” Nurse remarked.

“Yes. The beautiful grind of being a banker….” she replied and then sipped her potent potable. “Wait, how did you know…?”

“Trust me, I follow the markets and your interviews for the Daily Delaware are superb.”

“Thanks. I’ve been trying to keep a low profile but that’s all I can do. Who are you with?”

“I’m flying solo. My daughter, she’s nineteen, she’s back home holding down the home front. This is my second Christmas since the divorce.”

“You and Holly Hodgson….”

“Yep. We’re still on good terms but we just couldn’t make it work.”

Mariana loosened the fake ring.

“How about you? I only know some of your business life. Spouse? Kids?” Nurse continued.

“No children. Never married.”

Do you have any family to enjoy Christmas dinner with at all?” Nurse hugged his eggnog and rum with his palm.

“No.”

“You don’t have to, but you can come to our house. It’ll just be the three of us.”

Mariana felt like time melted. It was as if Dalí’s Persistence of Memory played out before her eyes. She shook off the image as the alcohol coursed through her system.

“No, I mean yes, thank you for the invitation.”

“Look… this… I’m not going to finish this drink.” Nurse whistled for the barkeep.

“I'd like to pay for these drinks.” He tapped the screen and out they went. Mariana was a bit sluggish, but still quite coherent. Nurse walked her out of the bar. They found their way to his pickup truck.

During the ride Mariana laughed to herself. “What’s so funny?” Nurse asked, a grin curling around his mouth.

“It’s just that, I haven’t had Christmas with anyone else but some wine and a movie in close to two decades myself.”

“All that’s about to change,” Nurse proclaimed.

When they arrived finally, Mariana seemed to have sobered up some more as she soaked in the dazzling light display of the Nurse residence. The house boasted modest features, but the decorations seemed tasteful and plenty. The lights coordinated with all the various pieces. The theme was carmel brown and platinum and the whole arrangement both overwhelmed and sparked joy.

“You really went all out, didn’t you?” Mariana asked.

“We’ve been decorating for this time of year for decades. Even before Soretta was born. C’mon. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

As she stepped inside the house, The first thing she smelled was the jerk turkey and macaroni and cheese. She then noticed a train wind its way, suspended from the ceiling. The caramel and platinum blanketed nearly every surface as she scoped the tree. Ornaments had been arranged specifically to entice the eye. A platinum alarm clock sat nestled in the tree amongst the lights. She sniffed the real tree and its savory scent which was like spearmint.

“‘‘Retta, this is….”

“Mariana Gaines. I watch business on Channel 30, too, Dad.” She turned to Mariana. “Nice to meet you.” They shook hands but both seemed limp.

“Everything’s done. We can start now.” After everyone fixed his or her plate, they sat down to eat at the dining room table.

“We’re Objectivists which means we’re atheists so we like to have our eyes open and express our gratitude for the hearth.”

“I don’t subscribe to anything mystical, either.”

“Great. Soretta, would you like to start?”

“Everything that has happened to this family is a complete travesty. My mom is probably somewhere in a gutter with a bottle. I don’t know why my dad brought you here other than obvious reasons. That’s all I have.” She picked up her plate and headed for the living room. “Simon, play holiday playlist on shuffle.”

Nurse sprang to his feet. “I apologize profusely. ‘Retta!”

“What was that?”

The music still played.

“Simon turn off playlist!”

Soretta looked up at her father.

“What are you going to do? Ground me?”

“No, I just want you to understand that you’re mom and I will never be together.”

This whole time Mariana continued to chomp on the food which had notes of truffles and hints of rosemary and thyme. The beautiful arrangement of fruits and vegetables on the table enticed her. The father daughter continued to chat. Then, they both walked back into the dining room.

“I’d like to apologize for my boorish behavior. In order to make it up to you, I’ll gift you two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It was for college but I wanted to just get a certificate in cybersecurity, so you can have it.”

“And not just that, for all of your selfish work in the field of finance which netted us our profits, I match that amount for a total of half a million dollars from my retirement fund. This is not a sacrifice as we value your work in the Delaware area more than what Sorretta was going to study in underwater basket weaving or what my days lounging in Rehoboth Beach would have been like. I’ll never retire. It was your business acumen that led us to our small riches anyway.”

Mariana was shocked but not surprised. “I thank you both and I encourage you to be just as self-interested as you are around the holidays every day of your life.” They used Cash App to transfer the funds.