** 1992 **

Jessica had gone backpacking with her friends to avoid Louis. She was afraid that he would bring his girlfriend home this Christmas. She didn’t think she was ready to meet someone who held his heart.

Yet, at each place that she visited, she could only think of what souvenir to get for him. At the end of the trip, she had a big box of presents for him but she didn’t give any to him until the next year.

Christmas just wasn’t the same without Jessica and Bobby around. Louis wished he had gone backpacking with Jessica. He missed her and he didn’t bother to stay beyond Christmas Day.

** 1993 **

“She would be all alone this Christmas. I can always visit your family next year.” Louis tried to convince Ada.

Ada looked at Louis with annoyance. “Why am I always playing second fiddle to her?” Ada raised her voice to Louis.

Louis controlled his escalating temper and replied, “No, you are not.”

Ada gave a mirthless laugh and retorted, “You didn’t help to vet my thesis even when I had asked you to so many times. But you have just spend days doing research for her paper and you are bringing it over to her now.”

“She had helped me during my high school days so what’s wrong with me helping her now?” he answered back with his hands resting on his hips.

“Oh it’s nothing wrong, except that you don’t even know the subject and you have given up your sleep to do that.” She said directly into his face.

“Although I don’t study engineering, it doesn’t mean I can’t understand it.” Louis retorted even though he knew Ada was right. He didn’t even know if the materials that he had gathered made any sense.

She laughed. “How many nights have you spent on IRC with her and ignored me, Louis?” Unwillingly, tears started to form in her eyes.

He stepped towards Ada but she moved away. “Louis, I don’t think you treated her as a sister only.” She looked sadly at him and added, “You love her.”

He shook his head and reached his hands out to Ada.

“Stop lying to yourself and me.” She took a final look at him. Bracing herself, she said calmly to him, “Let’s break up.” Ada walked away from Louis before she finally let her tears fall.

Jessica was unable to go home for Christmas because she was rushing her final year’s project and Louis had decided to go over to visit her instead.

His excitement of seeing her after two years faded when he saw the tall guy next to her. He was her project mate, Joe.

Louis watched with uneasiness as Joe and Jessica put their heads together and sat closely to solder the resistors, capacitors, diodes and many other components unidentifiable to him onto a circuit board. The lingo between them was like an alien language for him. His usual confidence fled him and he stuffed the materials that he had brought along to the bottom of his travel bag.

It was already Boxing Day when Joe and Jessica finally took a break from their project. Louis looked on with jealousy when Jessica passed a present to Joe and pushed him playfully out of her apartment. “You stink!” he heard her said and laughed. But he missed out her words after her laughter “Remember to pass the present to your girlfriend.”

That night, Louis and Jessica went to a nearby pub for drinks. Louis drowned himself with the drinks while Jessica kept her eyes on him. From his incoherent speech, she gathered correctly that he had broken up with his girlfriend but interpreted wrongly that his girlfriend had fallen for another guy.

Seeing how broken-hearted he was, Jessica pulled the coaster from under her glass and penned a promise on it. When they returned to her apartment, she quietly slipped the coaster into the box of souvenirs that she had gotten him since last year. Alas, as that Christmas bore too much bad feelings for him, he had put away the box of souvenirs without examining any of its contents closely.

** 1994 **

For almost the entire year, Jessica had waited for Louis’ response to her promise. When he eventually informed her that he would be spending Christmas in his city that year, she flew off disappointedly to spend hers with Bobby. Her Christmas holiday turned into a three-year stay instead. She found a job in the country where Bobby was and spent her next two Christmases there.

** 1995 **

Louis returned home for Christmas to find a photograph which Jessica and Bobby were with Joe and another two ladies. While Joe had his arms over Jessica and the other lady, Louis could only focus on that arm that Jessica was gripping.

** 1996 **

Louis was buried (or rather he had chosen to be buried) by his work that Christmas and remained in his city.

** 1997 **

It had been four years since Jessica last spent Christmas at home. She had happily dragged Bobby and his live-in girlfriend home with her. Just as she thought she had gotten a great surprise for Louis and their families, Louis gave her an even greater surprise.

This was the first time Jessica met Lydia. Lydia was quiet at their first contact but she was friendly and chatty once she warmed up to Jessica.

Lydia and Louis had met during their friends’ wedding early that year. Louis was a friend of the groom and she was a friend of the bride. Louis had accidentally knocked into her during the wedding reception and dirtied the back of her white skirt with his red wine. While Lydia was terribly embarrassed by the mess, she still smiled kindly to Louis and told him not to worry about it. He observed that she had not risen from her seat since the moment she sat down after her skirt was stained. When all the guests were almost gone, he saw her stood up and glanced at her twisted skirt from the left and from the right. Her cheeks were flushed and she immediately placed her two hands behind her on her skirt when he approached her.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded her head silently.

“Is anyone picking you up? Shall I give you a lift home?”

She shook her head then nodded her head.

He gave a soft chuckle and took off his jacket. “Tie this around your waist,” he said.

She took his jacket gratefully and did as he suggested. Together they walked to his car.

Very few words were exchanged during the car ride and they only learnt of each other’s name when she was alighting from his car.

From her friend’s husband, Lydia finally obtained Louis’ contact number. She met him to return his jacket. Another few months of dating followed before Louis brought her back to his apartment. During the heat of their passion, he was alarmed to learn that he was her first man.

(14.02.2014)

Happy Valentine's Day! I didn't manage to complete this story by today but I did an update.