Valentine-what?
The sun was low in a pale blue winter sky. The mighty oaks stretched their still bare branches upwards, but the birds were already eagerly hopping from branch to branch and chirping their little chirps as loud as their chests allowed. Adelie slalomed past the puddles that had formed all over the old and uneven paths that criss-crossed the campus. At the foot of the mighty oaks were lush tufts of snowdrops, and she could also spot the odd crocus. Spring was clearly on its way.
As usual, a few intrepid people were sitting on the terrace of the cafeteria, drinking coffee and enjoying the day’s last rays of sunshine. Adelie folded up the collar of her coat, she didn’t feel like sitting outside yet. It looked like spring, but it wasn’t spring yet. She turned onto the main path behind the cafeteria towards the library. It was Thursday afternoon, and she was late. Nate would probably already be waiting, as always, in reading room 302, at the end of the west wing.
Her boyfriend was indeed already waiting. They’d been studying together in the library every Thursday before they’d even realised they had feelings for each other, and there was no reason to break that cherished tradition. Nate had secured her favourite table, right by the window, half hidden behind the tall cherry wood shelves.
“There you are,” he greeted her, pressing a quick kiss to her cold lips. His were warm and soft, but the chin was scratchy.
“Sorry, I was held up.” Blue eyes shone at her from under fuzzy black hair. Nate was tall, and as required for a rugby player on the varsity team, quite solidly built. She leant against his broad shoulder and took in his tangy scent. Nate always smelled good. Today he smelled of aftershave, coffee beans and chocolate syrup because he’d worked the early shift at the Lemon Tree.
“You’re not very late, I wasn’t worried yet. Even if it is unusual to be here before you.” Nate’s voice was deep and velvety and, as always, seemed to vibrate directly in the pit of her stomach without going through her ears first.
She sat down at the table and took out her notepad and pens. “Some people never finish, and Professor Alvarez is one of them. How was your shift? Were there many guests?”
They talked about their day as they settled in, then sank into silent study for quite some time. Adelie had an essay to revise for her Interstellar Conflict Management studies, and Nate was researching for a presentation on space trade. A wall of books quickly piled up between them. It was already dusk outside when they finally packed up their books and walked hand in hand through the quiet library to the exit. The biting winter cold had crept back in with the darkness, and Adelie snuggled shamelessly into Nate’s arm as they walked to the car park.
“Come here sweetie, don’t freeze to death in your little coat,” her better half teased, and she stuck her tongue out at him. It was just an invitation for him to take her in his arms and kiss her in the shelter of the trees.
“You old charmer,” she gasped when he finally let her have her say again.
“Not my fault you’re so cute.”
“Nate!” She smacked him, he just laughed.
“You know, on Earth, this would be the season of Valentine’s Day. And I think it’s very unfortunate that this custom hasn’t made it to Westerhaven.”
“Valentine-what?” She took his hand and looked at him questioningly as they continued on their way.
“Valentine’s Day.”
“Is this another one of those absurd Earth traditions, like that pumpkin festival Halloween? Was it Halloween?” Adelie wrinkled her nose as she tried to remember what Nate had called this day in autumn when people carved faces into pumpkins and handed out sweets.
A deep, rumbling laugh was her answer. “Yes, just as absurd as Halloween. Although I imagine you’d enjoy it - it involves flowers, chocolates and giving pretty cards.”
“You could be right.” They had reached her black sports car, which was parked in the student car park behind the campus gym. After they got in, she asked, “Your place or mine?”
“Yours. I don’t want to share you with my flatmates today.”
#
Nate stood in Adelie’s tiny kitchen, chopping vegetables. The angelic creature he was allowed to call his girlfriend wandered through her elegant one-bedroom flat, stripping off her formal façade. The full skirt and petticoat went into the wardrobe, the blouse onto a hanger, and finally she stood in the doorway in nothing but her silk underwear and watched his actions. Soft waves of chestnut brown hair fell over her shoulders and her full lips were curled into a sweet smile. What drove him to the brink of despair, however, as always, was her teasingly raised eyebrow.
“What’s for dinner?” she asked.
“If you keep standing around here scandalously half-naked for much longer: baroness with cream.”
She burst out laughing, her laugh ringing out. “Okay, okay, I’ll go and put some clothes on. But you can save that thought about the cream for dessert.”
Nate took a deep breath as she disappeared into the bathroom, no doubt to change into one of her luxurious pyjamas. Adelie was enchantingly beautiful, ravishingly quick-witted and, when she was alone with him, indecently seductive. He concentrated on preparing dinner again and tried not to think about what she was planning to do with the cream. He was stirring the pot when her voice sounded again behind him.
“That Valentine’s Day you mentioned earlier - what’s that?”
She was now wearing midnight blue pyjamas and pinned her hair up with a golden barrette.
He turned round for good and grinned at her. “How much exactly do you want to know?”
Her eyebrow rose, again. “Well, everything, of course. Eden doesn’t celebrate anything nearly as absurd as you do on Earth. Give me all the details.” She grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and cutlery from the drawer and started setting her coffee table in the room. Since her kitchen was really tiny, this was the more pleasant option.
“So, pay attention. Valentine’s Day has its origins in antiquity, with the ancient Romans. They celebrated Lupercalia, a fertility festival, in the middle of February. At some point, one pope got tired of it and proclaimed 14 February as the day on which St Valentine should be commemorated - but interestingly, there are several of them.”
Adelie giggled, brushing a kiss on his cheek because he was still busy stirring. “As always, your holiday has a lot of staff.”
“And I’m not even close to being finished yet.”
A joking sigh and theatrically rolled eyes. “I should have known.”
He filled her plates with stir-fries and carried them behind her to the table. “It was not until the 14th century that Geoffrey Chaucer, a poet in England, associated the day with love in his works. Finally, in the middle of the 18th century, it was an established custom to give each other small tokens of appreciation and handwritten cards. And this developed into a flourishing industry over the centuries. Flowers, chocolate and Valentine’s Day cards, some even give jewellery.”
Adelie’s eyes widened. “That sounds like a lot of potential dynamite for a couple. What if they get the wrong flowers or the wrong chocolates? Worse still, what if one of them forgets? Do you have to go along with it?”
Nate nodded. “Yeah, there’s a lot of dynamite in there if it’s more important to one part than the other. It’s definitely something that needs to be sorted out before it’s too late. But - and that’s the nice thing about this day: you don’t have to join in, nor does joining in have to be limited to your partner. Many people also use this day to express their appreciation to others. It doesn’t always have to be romantic love.”
#
Adelie sat at her desk and played with her pen instead of concentrating on the text in front of her. Outside, in front of her floor-to-ceiling windows, a foggy grey late winter day hung, which even her three large white lanterns in front of those same windows were unable to brighten up. Spring was still a long way off. She thought back to her conversation with Nate about Valentine’s Day a few days ago. Even if its origins had perhaps once had something to do with love and affection, now it seemed to be a predetermined event, much less charming than the pumpkin festival of Halloween. The only thing she really liked about the whole idea was the cards. She had looked in the Archive and learnt that homemade cards were very much in vogue in the 19th century. Not something mass-produced, but something that had really involved effort and love. She loved Nate, and it would be easy for her to give him an expensive gift, a wristwatch for example, but was that really a symbol of her love? She reached for her InstaCom and dialled Nate’s number.
“Honey, what’s up?”
She swallowed. “Because of this Valentine’s Day...”
Her boyfriend laughed softly and she saw him in front of her, narrowing his beautiful blue eyes. “That keeps you busy, huh?”
“Yes, in a way. Especially that I don’t know how important this is to you.”
Now his laughter was louder. “Oh, babe. Look, I don’t really care. I was just thinking about it because it’s getting to be spring.”
“Hm.”
“I don’t have the feeling that this answer will satisfy you.”
Adelie twirled a strand of hair and paced around her flat. “I... I like the idea of the cards. For favourite people. And you’re my favourite person. But we don’t have a 14th February here.”
She could vividly imagine the look on his face on the other side of the line, probably trying to suppress a laugh. Her worry was silly, she fully realised. But she found earthly traditions fascinating, and he was just as far from home as she was. It took something familiar sometimes, for each of them.
“Babe - am I right in deducing that you’d like to celebrate Valentine’s Day somehow?”
“Yes - but only the really romantic kind. No grand gestures, no expensive gifts.” She had to make that clear.
Her boyfriend was quiet for a moment, then he said, “Will next week Saturday suit you?”
“Yes.”
That gave her about a week.
#
