A Family Christmas Ch. 05

"Lunch is to be my treat...OK..." Julia enthused, "So I get to choose where we go..." Her enthusiasm was infectious and I allowed myself to be tugged from one coffee house to the next until eventually we found ourselves in the Getreidegasse opposite the famous Café Mozart Salzburg. "Here... I want lunch here..." she announced.

"OK...great," I agreed, "I have heard of this place but have never been here..."

The Café Mozart is probably one of the best known cafés in Europe, a real tourist attraction, even I had heard of it but had never been there on previous family trips to Salzburg with Mum and Cora. I looked at Julia, her face with wreathed in a beautiful smile.

"You cheated..." I laughed, "You intended coming here all the time..."

"Maybe..." She grinned then hugged my arm tightly to her and reached up to give me a light kiss on the cheek. Wrapped up the way that we were to the casual onlooker were would probably appeared as a 'couple', that fantasy gave me a warm glow inside.

We climbed the stairs leading to the restaurant and were pleasantly surprised to find that there were tables available in the main dining room with its half panelled walls, windows overlooking the panorama of the snow cloaked city and plush red velvet cushioned chairs. Each table had its own traditional hat stand for the diner's coats as the restaurant was comfortably warm. The cold weather and long drive had prepared us for a hot lunch and so we picked the 'tagesempfehlung' set lunch which consisted of a tasty Klare Gemüsesuppe, a clear vegetable soup, followed by Würstl Kartoffelgulasch a sausage and potato goulash served with huge chunks of rustic white bread all washed down with a glass of gluwein, the spicy Austrian winter mulled wine.

We clinked glasses over the lunch table, the cold had made Julia's face glow and she had pretty pink blushes on her cheeks. She had taken her knitted hat off and let her hair down so that it had fluffed out in a silver streaked halo around her face.

"H-m-m-m-m, this is so good..." She commented, forking a piece of sausage into her mouth. "So tell me about your plans for university..."

"Er... that's a bit of a fragile subject at the moment..."

"Why? I thought that you had been accepted by Cambridge ... At least that is what Gill told me at Christmas... She is very proud of you, you know... and you don't get to an Oxbridge college without top passes."

"Yeah... I guess that my scores are good enough, but I am having a bit of a dither over what I want to do... That is partly why I plan to take a year out before starting Uni."

"Tell me..." Julia wasn't going to let me off the hook. This was my biggest nightmare. I knew that Mother had sensed that I was troubled but I hadn't been able to discuss it with her yet because I just hadn't got it clear in my own mind... I had thought that I had my whole future mapped out but over the past few months doubts had crept in and now I felt a complete fuck-up... I hadn't even talked about it with Cora, she at least had her education all planned out even if she was a bit vague about what happened afterwards. I was the complete opposite.

"I am not sure if I can make this sound sensible... I haven't really got it together for myself yet..."

"Just try, sweetheart..." She put down her fork and patted my hand, "But if you really don't want to talk about it...that's OK as well... we don't have to..." She resumed eating and just tossed in a little throw-away tease without looking up. "Just remember who I am, I have friends in Special Branch and MI5, if I have to beat it out of you I will..."

I looked up and we both started laughing. "OK, I'll try and tell you..." I chuckled, Julia had the ability to put me at ease more than anybody else that I knew. "You know that I plan to go into the army after university?" She didn't interrupt, just nodded and grimaced. "It's all I have ever wanted to do since I was a child. Well the original idea that I had was to do an army sponsored engineering degree and with that in mind I applied to Cambridge Department of Engineering, mainly because both you and Mum went to Cambridge, but I also applied to Manchester and the University of East Anglia... hedging my bets...in case my grades were not as good."

"That's sensible," Julia agreed.

"When I was accepted by Cambridge, subject to my results standing up, I was really thrilled, I went on the army assessment course at Sandhurst, and incredibly got accepted as an officer entrant."

"So what is the problem... It sounds as if you got what you went for...?"

"Yeah... But then I went and complicated things..." I took a good sip from my warm wine and felt the glow encouraging me to go on. I took a couple of minutes to eat. Julia just raised her eyebrows in askance.

"It's not a girl is it?" She asked seriously. I knew several guys about my age who got into emotional binds because they were in a relationship when it came to leave home and go to university. Until now there had only been Cora in my life and we had already faced up to the fact that from the autumn of this year we would be apart, her at Edinburgh and me eventually at Cambridge.

"Oh, God NO... Jules..." I had already told her that there was nobody special but I drew the line at blurting out that I was still waiting to get laid. "Nothing like that...and I'm not worried about leaving home either, Cora is off to Edinburgh and I know that Mum will be OK without us..." I took another mouthful of wine and a deep breath. "The problem is with ME! Suddenly a few months ago I got a bit panicky and applied to Exeter University for an archaeology degree course..."

"That's a bit of a U-Turn... From engineering to academia..."

I shrugged. "I guess so. I have always loved history and been fascinated by archaeology... And history was my top A-Level subject... I think I just got cold feet about whether I was really up to performing well on a four year engineering degree course, even if the third year practical element was with the army."

"I'm guessing that you got accepted by Exeter University, Depart of Archaeology, as well," "She smiled, "And now you don't know which to take up?"

"That is about the long and the short of it..." I confirmed. I had told nobody about my dilemma, not even that I had applied and been accepted by Exeter but it seemed right telling Julia. I was not looking for advice or for somebody to make the decision for me, I knew full well that this was one thing that I had to decide for myself, I couldn't even ask Cora.

We had finished our main course and called the waiter over to order their famous Nockerl as desert. It was perfectly souffléd with light peaks of meringue and a sprinkling of confectioners' sugar and the pleasant surprise of a thin raspberry sauce layer at the bottom.

"So, if you decide to take the archaeology course, will that change your decision to become a soldier?"

"Oh, absolutely not!" I repudiated. "I telephoned my recruitment sponsor Staff Sergeant Lewis, as soon as I heard from Exeter to discuss options. I will still be accepted as a graduate officer entrant, but I shall not be able to take up the service university sponsorship deal as that is limited to technical degree courses. I will need to pay my own way through university or get a government student loan."

We ordered coffees and a plate of tiny macaroons.

"Have you told your mother about any of this yet?" Julia asked with a knowing arch to her eyebrows and a wry smile.

"Ah, There is the rub... As Hamlet might say...!" I quipped. "I absolutely know that Mum will totally support me in whatever decision I make, we have discussed my career choices over and again, but I feel that it would be wrong to stick her with additional university costs for me, it is costing her a fortune to send Cora to Edinburgh to do music."

"I don't think your mother would even consider the cost if the two of you were getting a good start in life and were happy with the choices," Julia said, confirming what I already knew. "How does Gill feel about you wanting to join the army?"

"She hasn't tried to dissuade me... after all it was her choice as well at my age... But I guess she feels a bit protective of her idiot son," I joked.

"That is understandable...she IS your mother after all. Remember, you are my only nephew and I don't want to see you broken or damaged, I expect to have you available to take me out to dinner and concerts for a long time to come yet!" " Julia smiled and reached out again to squeeze my hand, "I would not dream of trying to influence your decision, James dear..., But I do think that you should talk to your mother soon... Maybe whilst we are here on holiday would be a good time..." She was right of course and in my heart I knew that the decision had already been made.

"How do you feel about the army now, Jules?" I asked. I might be on unsteady ground but I wanted to know, "About me becoming a soldier?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah, honestly," I grinned, "I don't need your approval, but I would like your understanding...Shit, that sounds very grown up...doesn't it?"

"I think that I have grown up too, James dear." She answered. "I've grown out of my immature prejudices. I think I would rather see my favourite nephew as a teacher or an archaeologist, if he hasn't got the balls to be a barrister like his brilliant aunt... but I think you will make a clever and intelligent soldier like your mother." She squeezed my hand again affectionately. "Just try not to get yourself hurt... I have become very fond of you,,,,"

We put our warm coats and hats back on and left the restaurant to stroll along the Getreidegasse looking at its multitude of brightly adorned shops most still with their Christmas decorations, the narrow shop front being deceptive as stepping through the shop doorway brings you into premises which extend to the rear of the building many of which are deceptively large. The street itself is populated with clothing boutiques, specialist shops, cafés, and restaurants. The shops are located next to take-away coffee venues, traditional inns, and little bistro style restaurants.

As much as I normally dislike shopping, browsing the shops of fashionable clothing, antiques, jewelry, perfumes, 'Sound of Music' memorabilia and Mozart souvenirs with Julia was genuinely enjoyable, she was fun to be with and I found myself laughing and chattering about anything and nothing something which my mother and Cora would have found totally out of character.

Suddenly it was getting dark and the shopping streets had become a fairyland of brightly lit colourful shop windows and strings of lights spanning the width of the lane above the heads of the throng of shoppers who pack the street.

"It's nearly five-thirty," Julia told me glancing at her watch, "How about we grab a cup of coffee somewhere and then get a taxi back to the car,,, drop off the shopping... then take the taxi back to the monastery and have a drink before dinner?"

As I might have anticipated we had a shed load of shopping in paper carrier bags. After a couple of 'snatch and grab' expeditions into various boutiques Julia had settled down to some serious shopping and had bought an expensive brown leather shoulder bag for Mother which I knew that she would really love and then had dragged me kicking and screaming into Gammello's, a very up market men's boutique specializing in exclusive Italian styled clothes.

"If you are taking me dancing tomorrow night we both need something to wear... and YOU must have a jacket..." Julia had told me persuasively. "...and you can wear it at the dinner tonight as well..."

I did not need too much persuading. I hadn't brought a formal jacket with me and I knew that I really needed a new one... my old black linen jacket in my wardrobe at home I had worn all year and was at best shabby but more importantly Julia always looked fantastic and I didn't want to let her down when we went out. I am a complete Philistine when it comes to fashion and so I was happy to let my aunt browse through the rails of coats and eventually pare her selection down to two, both of which looked great to me, a dark grey Italian linen and silk mix jacket and a very fashionable military style light grey jacket with patch pockets. She made me put both on one after the other then parade up and down whilst she looked on critically and before standing in front of a mirror to pretend to take an interest in my own appearance.

"I think this one..." She eventually said, holding up the dark grey, I have to admit that it was my favourite of the two. Nothing in that bloody shop was priced and when the Italian salesman quietly answered my enquiry, I nearly died on the spot... It was well more than I would have paid for a complete suit in England.

"Julia...I can't afford..." I started. It was a lie, I could afford it, I was just too mean to spend that much on a piece of clothing without a fight.

"It is my treat..." she answered, handing her charge card to the shopkeeper. "I bought Cora a gift...now this one is yours...OK?"

The present buying levelled out within the next half an hour when she led me into a very exclusive looking ladies shop to find herself a dress to go dancing in. I found it a strangely sensual experience following her from rail to rail whilst she picked out dresses, skirts and tops and held them up for my approval just as though we were a couple.

After that followed the tingling anticipation of waiting outside the changing cubicles whilst she tried the final selection of dresses on. My mind was a slide show of imagined views of her slipping out of one garment before trying on the next wearing nothing but those silky cami-knickers and a lacy bra. She emerged and paraded them for me one at a time without my catching more than a brief glimpse of her lingerie.

It was my first time shopping for clothes with a grown woman and I found it highly erotic and had to sit with my coat folded in my lap to disguise how horny it had made me. Finally we had it down to a dress that I thought totally suited her, it was dove grey silk with a scoop neck and very plain but hugged her figure and showed off her curves and tiny waist, I thought that it looked sensational. She kept the dress on and wandered around the boutique collecting stockings and matching grey silk lingerie including a pair of those sexy cami-knickers she appeared to favour and gave them to me to hold for her. When she eventually returned to the changing cubicle and handed the dress out to me, I passed it, with the lingerie to the sales assistant and charged them all to my card before she emerged dressed for the street again. To my surprise the dress and underwear cost less than she had paid for my jacket but I would have paid everything I owned just to see Julia wearing something that I had bought for her.

She didn't argue about who had bought the dress but gave me one of her big beautiful smiles and in front everyone put her arms around my neck and hugged me to her and pressed her lips to mine in a far from innocent kiss. "Thank you, my darling, it's gorgeous," she said quietly. I was sure that the saleswoman had heard her and it was darkly exiting that she probably thought that we were lovers...if she spoke English, either way it was a fantasy that I could learn to live with.

We found a small café where we could get coffees and Julia managed to get a mobile telephone signal and raise Mum who confirmed that she and Cora ought to be getting a flight on Friday and would be landing at Innsbruck around 16:30. Julia confirmed that we would pick them up, then handed the telephone to me to say hello and ask after Cora whilst she went to the ladies room.

"Aunt Julia tells me you are taking her to a concert tonight and then dancing tomorrow?" Mum asked.

"Yeah, that right." I confirmed.

"Who are you really?" She chuckled, "And what have you done with my son... the real one who hates dancing and has to be forced to enjoy himself... Are you some sort of alien who has taken over his body?"

"Actually Mum, we have been having quite a good time... Julia is good fun to be with you know..."

"Yes, I do... she is my sister remember," Mother replied without trying to hide her amusement. Then her voice took on a serious note. "Jamie, darling... be careful."

"What does that mean, Mum?"

"Oh, I don't know... Just female silliness probably..." I heard her take a deep breath, "But seriously, my darling... Promise me you will take care of your aunt... she is probably feeling a little bit fragile right now..."

"Yes of course, I'll take care of her..." I promised but it seemed a strange thing to ask, "Why do you think she needs...?" At that moment Julia returned, sat down beside me and took the telephone from my hand.

"Gill dear," she said with a smile, "I am taking my nephew back now... I get to keep him for another two days yet... I will let you share him with me after Friday..." Shit, that was the second time she had done that today, first with Cora, now with Mother. I felt like the pawn in some sort of female game... I just didn't know what the fuck the game was!

The taxi we had hired to take us and the shopping back to the car and get our shoes, waited and then took as back to the St. Peter Monastery in good time to take our seats at one of the best tables at the front of the beautiful Baroque Hall, with its pure white table linen and real candle lighting. We had been seated at one of the smaller four person tables which we shared with a very pleasant couple from Cleveland, Ohio, a mother and daughter who on the Vienna-Salzburg-Munich Christmas tour visiting the seasonal markets and festivals and were due to return to Munich the next day for New year celebrations and then were flying home to the States. The mother, who I think was called Domonique was about 50 and the daughter, Jeanne was early twenties, a red head and quite pretty and seemed to appreciate the evening more than her mother who seemed not particularly happy with the food and not overly keen on the programme of Mozart pieces. I was seated between Julia and Jeanne who was full of light conversation before the performers arrived and was quite tactile constantly brushing my sleeve with her finger tips and leaning close to whisper some small snippet of information about the programme or the menu.

When the musicians and vocalists arrived we all stood up to applaud and Julia put her lips close to my ear and hissed, "Change seats with me!"

"What?" Her request took me a little by surprise.

"If you want to live through dinner... Then change seats with me!" She repeated emphatically.

I did and when we were seated she immediately engaged Jeanne in a short conversation which I guess was to justify moving places.

The dinner and the performance were stupendous it was certainly one of the best concerts that I had ever attended. The Amadeus Consort were all musicians and vocalists who regularly featured in the Salzburg festival but performed at the Baroque Hall Mozart dinners nightly throughout the year at the St. Peter Stiftskeller which is reputed to be the oldest restaurant in Europe. The ensemble performed selected arias and duets from Mozart operas, 'Figaro', 'Don Giovanni' and the 'Magic Flute' as well as popular pieces such as Serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik and the Salzburger Divertimento. The ensemble performs in period costume with period instruments and usually consists of six musicians and two or four singers. All the members of the ensemble are graduates of the Mozarteum University Salzburg and work with top European orchestras and international opera houses. In the setting of the Baroque Hall the performance is as near to when the pieces were first played in the 1790s as possible; I thought that it was a really fabulous experience and Julia seemed totally enchanted.