The weeks passed by and Nascenshire grew colder and colder.

“Do you have any dinner plans?” asked Emilio.

Lucas looked at him with a confused look.

“I was just going to cook dinner and eat at my apartment. Like every other night.”

“You should come with me and Valerie! We’ll close the cafe early and take you out to eat!”

Lucas usually turns down generous offers such as this, but he decided to join them for dinner. It has been a long time since he has done anything remotely fun or exciting.

And there he was, sitting at an outside table with Valerie and Emilio, who were dressed in a way that gave Lucas second-hand embarrassment. Valerie was wearing a green and white striped t-shirt under an unbuttoned blue dress shirt. Her skirt was pink and it went slightly past her knees, and she wore pink tennis shoes. She also wore huge round sunglasses. Emilio wore a dark green t-shirt under a light blue vest that still had the price tag on it, as well as baggy jeans with huge fraying holes. He was wearing the same shoes as Valerie, but in orange.

“Why are you dressed like that? Where did you even get these clothes?”

“Is this not what’s trendy these days? I saw some pictures on the internet and felt inspired,” Valerie smiled. Those sunglasses look ridiculous, Lucas thought. It was already dark outside but Valerie kept them on.

“We bought these this morning knowing we would be having dinner here tonight!” Emilio exclaimed.

“Good evening. May I get you started with anything to drink?” The waiter’s sudden appearance surprised the three of them.

“Haha, what if we had coffee,” Emilio said to no one in particular as he opened up the menu.

“Are you kidding me? We can have that anytime at work. Pick something else,” said Valerie. She opened up the menu in front of her. “There isn’t even coffee on the menu!” Valerie shoved the menu she was holding in front of Emilio’s face, as if he wasn’t also looking at a menu.

“I’ll let you all take your time deciding,” the waiter politely said, and he walked off.

The three of them looked through the menu. Lucas had decided what he was going to order, but he wasn’t sure if Valerie and Emilio had decided, as they seemed to still be focused on the menu. The waiter returned.

“Are you ready? Let’s start with you, miss.”

Valerie’s mouth was agape.

“How about you, sir?” The waiter looked at Emilio, who looked back like a deer in the headlights.

“I’ll have the chicken and risotto,” Lucas spoke up. “And maybe three waters, please?”

“Alright,” the waiter said as he scribbled in his notepad. “Anything else?” He looked at Valerie and Emilio.

“We’ll just share the risotto. Is it possible to order more later?” asked Lucas. He hated the awkward silence and spewed out whatever he thought would fix the situation.

“Yes, that is no problem. I’ll leave the menus here then.” The waiter walked away and Lucas looked at Valerie and Emilio, who were not the slightest bit embarrassed.

“Good thinking, Lucas!” exclaimed Emilio.

“You’re so smart!” Valerie smiled. “This way, we can all try different dishes instead of having only one to ourselves.”

The glasses of water arrived, and Valerie and Emilio sipped on the water while looking at Lucas. Lucas awkwardly looked back with wide eyes. The way they smiled looked like they wanted to say something.

“What do you think of the cafe?” Emilio asked. “Tiring? Difficult? Weird?”

“Well, I guess it’s not easy.” Lucas actually thought it was exhausting, but he did his best to sugarcoat it. “I guess it’s a new experience.”

“What about us? Aren’t we the best?” Valerie flipped her hair and Emilio laughed at Valerie’s audacity. Lucas didn’t say anything, though he laughed in a way that sufficed as an answer for Valerie. “I know. We’re pretty fun.”

“Isn’t school supposed to be wrapping up soon? That means you can relax a bit!” Emilio said.

“I wish. I have exams to study for. But after that, I’ll be on break,” said Lucas. “Oh, I guess I should tell you. In a few weeks, once school is done, I’ll be gone for a bit. I have to go home for winter break.”

“Oh, that’s fine! What happens during winter break?” Valerie asked.

“Nothing really. I’ll just go back to my hometown for a few weeks.”

“You sound so sad!” Emilio exclaimed. “That sounds like it should be a good thing, right?”

The waiter came to the table with the risotto.

“I’m so hungry, let’s start eating right away!” Valerie began serving the risotto to everyone’s plates. They ate in silence for a bit, and Valerie picked up a menu and looked through the pages. She raised her hand, and somehow managed to keep her arm raised for several minutes before a waitress walked by their table and noticed her.

“Hello, do you need anything?” The waitress stood on the side of the table where Emilio was sitting.

“Ah, I would like to order, um, this.” Valerie leaned over Emilio to show the menu to the waitress, pointing at something on the page.

“Alright, anything else?”

“Hm… maybe this, too?”

“Alright…” the waitress’ voice trailed off as she wrote in her notepad.

“And that will be all for now!”

The waitress nodded and then walked away.

“Do you even know what those are?” Emilio asked, referring to the dishes Valerie had just ordered.

“No, of course not. We’ll find out when it comes!”

They finished the risotto, and as they waited, Valerie and Emilio chatted about business stuff that Lucas didn’t understand. Lucas stared at his plate and occasionally took a sip of water.

“Hey, aren’t holidays supposed to be coming up? We’re already approaching the end of the year!” Valerie said.

“I think that’s right! Too bad we can’t all celebrate together, since Lucas won’t be here by then.” Emilio pouted.

The waitress from before came by with a dish and set it on the table.

“I will take this out of your way,” she said as she picked up the plate that the risotto was served on.

The plate in front of them had some kind of meat with some onions on it. Emilio picked up a knife and began aggressively sawing into the meat.

“Give me that, you’re not doing it right,” Valerie said as she took the knife from Emilio’s hand. Emilio carefully watched Valerie cut the meat into smaller pieces. The waitress came back and set on the table a large bowl of soup and three smaller bowls. Valerie served everyone the pieces of meat she cut and ladled soup into the bowls for everyone. “This looks so good! Good on me for choosing these!”

They ate their food and Lucas agreed that Valerie did a great job choosing what to order, or rather, got really lucky with her choices. Valerie suddenly held up her glass of water.

“Cheers to Cafe En Gard!”

“Cheers to Cafe En Gard!” Emilio held his glass up, too. “And cheers to Lucas!”

“Yes!” agreed Valerie. “Cheers to Lucas!”

“Cheers!” Lucas held up his glass and smiled. There were some people sitting at nearby tables who were looking at them, but it didn’t really matter. The three laughed and finished the rest of their food. When the bill came, Valerie paid in exact cash.

They walked down the lamppost-lit sidewalks together back to the cafe. There was not much talking, aside from Valerie and Emilio making occasional remarks about what they were going to do when they got home. When they got back to the cafe, Lucas gathered his stuff from the break room and was the first to head out, with Valerie and Emilio waving to him at the door as he left.

The semester eventually came to its end, and Lucas managed to survive his final exams. He went back home to his family’s house, where things were less chaotic than in Nascenshire. Lucas expected it to be another uneventful, dull winter. Though he was not totally wrong, one day, a package came in the mail. He found it strange, since it was addressed to him, but he didn’t order anything. He unwrapped the paper to reveal a box of candy with a card attached.

Happy holidays, Lucas!

Hope you enjoy these holiday candies! We saw them in a catalog that was mailed to us.

We wish you could be there with you to celebrate the holidays. It’s getting a little chilly. Stay warm!

From Emilio and Valerie