Curious Causes of Christmas

There were several things that were currently wrong with Nathalie Westfield’s life.

Firstly she couldn’t find a job that she enjoyed, secondly the Welsh rugby team had lost their last match, thirdly she was expected to be home for Boxing Day and fourthly she was snowed in, hence the third problem.

Christmas in Wales was generally a relaxing time, the Christmas lights in all the towns would be switched on and a tranquillity would roll across the country that was mean to sooth and calm everyone. Including Nat. But she herself was far too wound up this year to relax. Her search for the ultimate job had forced her to admit that maybe it was time to start looking outside of Wales, the place she called home.

But right now she was struggling to bring up warm feelings for the place that she called home. It was never meant to snow in South Wales, it was the part closes to the sea and usually the warmest part of the country as well. She looked out of the window of her small house and sighed. Oh it was pretty of course but when you had places to be and people to see the snow was such a hindrance its beauty didn’t quite justify it.

On top of everything the phone lines weren’t working and the heating was sputtering incessantly indicating that soon it too would give up and just turn off.

It was times like this when Nat really needed her boyfriend to be around. Despite the fact that she had covered various parts of mechanics during her maths studies at University, she was still baffled by the whole concept of fixing a heater. Gavin always seemed to know what to do, even if it was just to hit the heating hard with a wrench.

Holding back another sigh Nat ventured around the house for all the possible thick blankets she could find. After several minutes she was heaped on the sofa tangled in at least five blankets with the TV on. Somehow that was still working but it was only a matter of time.

So whilst the children’s Christmas special flickered across the screen Nat aloud her mind to drift and look back on all the various Christmas moments that had occurred over the past weeks.

Despite the fact that there were several longstanding things wrong in her life, Christmas this year had been a good one. Her family had been melancholy with very little drama to punctuate Nat’s life. But the highlight of Christmas had been seeing her, albeit very drunk boyfriend, perform a beautiful acoustic show.

He had been going on about it for months before hand, his excitement like that of a child. He was such a scatterbrain that if it hadn’t been for Nat the show probably wouldn’t have happened anyway. She was worried about scheduling a show on the twenty-first, she knew that the snow would make things difficult for them but what Gavin wanted doing happened. So she found a nice venue in Swansea that she booked for the night and went on the search for other bands who wanted to play.

She smiles as she remembered how the night progressed into a steadily less sober state for Gav. His stories made little sense to those who had braved the snow to watch only half of Ghostlines, and the shout out he dedicated to her had caused her to blush furiously. What made her smile even more was his reaction the next day when he spotted a wine bottle in her kitchen. He went very pale very quickly and had to sprint to the toilet.

Her relationship with Gav had been a simple and yet beautiful affair. They had met in Cardiff after a rugby match when Nat had nearly been mauled by an upset English fan who didn’t take defeat to the Welsh lightly. She had been pushed out of the way and nearly fell on the pavement when Gav, being that gentleman that he was, caught her.

There are many people in your life for which you are willing to fight for. There are some people that will mean everything to you and you dare not disappoint them for fear of driving them away.

But then there is that one person, that one special person who means more than anything, so much more that it is impossible to put into words the kinds of emotions that this person evokes in you. This is the person worth fighting for; this is the person for whom you will go to the end of the earth and back. For whatever irrational emotion or reason you do whatever it takes to make that one-person respect you, admire you. Love you. That is the one person whom you could never drive away. For Nat Gav was exactly that person.

Nat had always had a solid plan, but when she met Gavin her rational and solid plans were put in jeopardy because Gavin didn’t exactly live a steady life. He had a hectic touring schedule and was all over the place. Nat had to constantly remind herself of the bigger picture, she had to waver from her solid plans so that she could fit Gav into her life.

And right now she couldn’t have been happier about it.

A sharp knock on the front door tore Nat out of her revelry and wrapped up in one of her many blankets she shuffled to the door. She opened it an inch or so to stop a giant flurry of snow entering her house.

The unexpected visitor was Gav. He was stood almost knee deep in the ridiculous amount of snow that had fallen over the past days. In his arm was a huge picnic style basket. Quickly Nat ushered him in, but despite this a couple of snow flakes still managed to find their way inside but they were instantly beaten by the warmth and all that was left of them were several drops of water on the carpet.

Before she could even say anything she was greeted with a loving kiss and his trademark grin.

“What you got in there?” Nat asked gesturing down at the basket.

Gav grinned at her again and lifted the lid to reveal a hot water bottle, two big packets of crisps, hot chocolate powder, marshmallows, another blanket and several DVDs.

“Gotta make the snow day as comfortable for my girl as possible,” he said with his grin still firmly in place.

Nat was so touched that she could only muster a smile and threw her arms around Gav.

We as humans rely so much on our emotions. Some people may see this as a bad thing, a trait in the strands of DNA that we are lumbered with. Others see emotions as positive guides through life, enriching daily routines with surprises.

Gav was Nat’s surprise and she couldn’t be happier.