#47 MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
She called Sebastian back and said, she won’t be able to spend the Easter Monday with him, but the Sunday was OK. Sebastian was pleased about it and told her that Julian was thinking about visiting him at Sunday and for Sebastian everything was fine.
Mia mentioned that she wasn't that kind of person who celebrates anything and she would enjoy cooking with him or doing something. She wasn't good in sitting and talking. Sebastian agreed and they had a met on Sunday. As she to his door, she wasn't sure whether she was doing the right thing. Her voice within craved for company and being a part of people’s life, but her mind was strictly against this wish. Mia had “free time” from Jonas who didn’t get in touch with her for two weeks now after their last meeting and she was relieved about it.
After Sebastian opened the door, she came in and was surprised. First, Sebastian was looking great with his chilly, bright green shirt with blue stripes and simple jeans. His welcoming attitude was shown in his smile, in his gestures, in the way he helped her take off her jacket.
Because it was already almost two weeks that she didn't meet Jonas, Mia felt much better and healthy. She wasn’t hurt and this was a state which she started to appreciate. You never know how much you possess until you lose it.
She wore her favourite white, plain shirt with ¾ sleeves. She was able to wear it, because no bruises were to be seen. In addition, she was so happy about it! Her eyes were shining and her joy was spreading around like the magic powder of Peter Pan. Sebastian was almost flying.
When she came into his living room, she was stunned. She didn't expect Easter decoration on the table. „Swieconka“ what means a little basket with some basic items like a piece of bread, at least one egg, salt, sausages and some leaves of the box tree, stood on the table in the most visible position. This basket is usually taken to church and then a priest sprinkles it symbolically with Holy Water. The Holy Egg is shared with your family members before the breakfast on Easter Sunday. Mia felt strange. Did he really expect sharing an Easter Egg with her? They were no family and she didn’t want to celebrate anything.
Then she saw the Easter ram. Easter Ram was traditionally made from a cake mass, earlier even from butter. Now there are rather porcelain rams and one of them stood on the table. These have sometimes even no Easter attributes. The Easter Ram made from the cake mass was dried, then cut, put into milk and eggs, baked and eaten with cinnamon and sugar. It was a little bit like the German „Poor Knight“. And such a porcelain ram stood next to the basket.
She remembered the sugar ram which stood in her home back then when her parents were still alive. She was moved. That was the reason why she didn't want to celebrate anything what was connected with family.
On the table was some food: traditionally cooked eggs, sausages, even the white sausages (a little bit like the Bavarian white sausages), ham and baked turkey. Mia asked herself whether they wanted to cook anything together? It looked rather like sitting around and talking. She already got the impulse to run away. She fought with herself to keep smiling. She wasn’t very convincing about it, because Sebastian asked:
-You don’t like it?
She didn't want to lie and shook her head.
-You know, I always celebrated Easter with my sister and we prepared everything together. Yesterday it was an impulse of me to do it the same way we did it with my sister.
-Where’s your sister now? – Mia asked spontaneously.
-She died in a car accident. It was three years ago. I wanted to move to Warsaw and start studying here. After this accident, I lost every connection to my hometown. I just moved forward and met Julian on the way. Since then we celebrate such occasions together. Unfortunately, he couldn't come here today. Fortunately, you are here.
Sebastian was speaking calmly and for the first time Mia noticed his distant kind of being.
-If you would like to, we can bake a cake. – He added shortly to change the topic. It wasn't easy for him to talk about his past and Mia understood it even better than he thought. That was the reason why he wanted so much to have someone at his side on these days: he didn't want to be alone with his memories.
At least he had memories. Mia had just some pictures of her family in her head and in the meanwhile, she wasn't even sure whether she remembered everything in the right way. She was three years old and you cannot consciously remember many things at this age.
They went to the kitchen and Sebastian took everything out they needed to bake a cake.
Mia wasn't sure whether she did right, but she started to whisper, when he was looking over the kitchen’s table to check if everything was prepared for baking.
-I am an orphan, too.
This sentence came so surprisingly from her mouth that he wasn't sure he heard correctly. Sebastian didn't push her to further confessions and she was pleased about it. Now he could understand her background better. Moreover, he was almost so far to bet that she had a sexual harassment-oriented father and a mother who didn't care about her. Mia had to be from a well-educated family, but she didn't want to go home, when she spent so much time outside: previously in the teahouse, by running, and now in his apartment. She didn't like to be touched and she always kept her distance. She didn’t look like a person from an orphan asylum; therefore, Sebastian assumed one of her family members took care of her. He was curious how Mia lost her parents, and this question was in the air.
Mia looked at him seriously and asked:
-What kind of cake do we want to make?
Sebastian noticed that she used “we” and he was happy about it.
-Oh, I don’t know, something easy. I am rather a master of disaster in the kitchen.
Mia looked around and saw butter, sugar, flour and eggs.
-Do you have any fruits?
Sebastian looked in the fridge:
-I have only cherry jam, and bananas.
-OK, so we do an easy sponge cake. Mrs. Nowak taught me how to bake it. I am a master of disaster in the cooking and baking area, as well. – Mia said laughingly.
Sebastian laughed with her.
She ordered him to cream the butter and sugar together until they became light and fluffy, and then he added three eggs to the mass. In the meanwhile, she folded in the sifted flour and filled the mixture into the prepared cake tins. They stood arm in arm, were laughing and behaved mischievously: Sebastian pushed her a little and she spilled the flour, then she pulled him aside and one egg landed on the floor.
After that, Mia ordered to bake the mass for 20 minutes. In the meanwhile, they went into the living room and switched on the television. Instead of watching movies or television transmission from a mass, they watched MTV and laughed furthermore. Mia didn't sit down on his couch, but on the carpet. Sebastian followed her and they didn't stop to push themselves every now and then.
-If you are hungry, the wishing-table stands over there. – Sebastian said suddenly and Mia smiled. He was cute. He was funny and attentive. He even brewed her cherry-vanilla tea in the meantime. It was a very good, new feeling of getting attention from another person. Mia enjoyed it. Then, he pushed her once again.
When cake was already cool, they left the living room, but left the music playing. Mia removed the cake from the tins. Together they whipped the cream until thick and used it to fill the sponge cake with the jam. Because Sebastian had no icing, they couldn't dust it. However, it was no problem. The cake looked very good. They were proud of their job.
When they finished, Sebastian brought the cake into the living room and they stood in front of the table. Sebastian took an egg out of the basket and gave it to Mia:
-I wish you all the best.
Mia looked at him with a smile and after a moment, she accepted the gift.
-I wish you all the best, too.
Sebastian was on his private cloud nine. Then, she hugged him.