Listening to our Santa, we were sincerely surprised to know what had brought him into the Parisian hostel. It was rather strange; and according to him, it was obvious that he had his own apartment. And if he, together with his mother, hadn’t bought their own house or flat in a prestigious area or the countryside yet, then for certain they had a roof over their heads that was much more comfortable than our shelter. It was a well of stories and coziness, but after all that, it remained just a hostel.
Certainly, he fit into our constantly changing circle, having shown himself not only an attentive listener, but also a wonderful storyteller. But the fact of his staying in a hostel generated a set of questions – and not only from me.
And he, in telling the story of his life, was creating a new delicacy as an artist, adding some sugar dragée or syrup, a stick of cinnamon or chocolate glaze. And what was surprising was that in his story, there was no hint of any woman, even the one who would draw his attention or would inspire the creation of the next ice-cream marvel with a surprising name.
By the way, I would like to tell more about the names. They were not too elaborate or abstruse – they breathed with simplicity and sincerity. A bit later, having visited our Santa’s small restaurant, I understood how precisely they corresponded to an essence of the dessert and the mood of the person who ordered it. “The Autumn Symphony” or “Golden Leaf Fall” with their tart smell; or “Honey Month” with the intoxicating aroma of white honey, so bright and clear… Each ice cream became a small story: at first for himself, and then for someone else, or even a couple.
Santa became silent for a few minutes. It seemed that he plunged into his memoirs or his imagining of the next masterpiece. Unconsciously stroking the snow-white mustache, he looked so far away, as if thousands of miles from us and our hostel, and having absolutely forgotten about his listeners. Then he quietly said: “And here I am.”
It turned out that his beloved mother, having grown tired of waiting for his 40-year-old son’s acquaintance with the daughter-in-law, not to mention future grandsons, just decided to arrange a private life. No, not our ice-cream man’s life; she had been trying to make that for nearly fifteen years.
No. She arranged her personal romantic life.
As soon as she wasn’t oppressed by two jobs and money flew into their hands, she grew young again, blossomed, and found an agemate. Last week, they returned from their honeymoon to the house, where she lived with her son.
Oh, of course, you can say that a man of such age should live separately, especially someone as independent and as successful as he was. Certainly – if he has plans for his own private life. If, near him, could be a woman who can make a tasty breakfast and show tenderness and care. And what if everything that interested our hero lay outside these mere pleasures? What if his comfort was circled by the smile of his mother, who had been near him since his childhood, and ice cream became his greatest love?
Mother’s marriage deeply wounded our Santa. He couldn’t imagine that he would have to share the attention of his dearest and loved mother with someone else.
Suddenly, the ice-cream man realized his loneliness. He felt so sharply, painfully, and inexpressibly hopeless that he rushed away from the house. The whole day, he lived in a magnificent hotel “Bristol”, where he nearly went crazy from the prudish foreigners and narcissistic fellow citizens who treated him like a poor little boy from the neighborhood he had quite forgotten about. Or, it seemed to him that they saw right through him.
