-Mia had done wonders for young Dixie, when it came to figuring out that she had let herself go, given up on her relationship, all because Demetrios had ridden away on his Ducati, to god knows where. Left behind, to fend for herself, she had spent days, searching for meaning, and the truth in if she loved Demetrios enough, to see past the despair of his life before her. Dixie did clean up her act. Using money she got from her sketches, and her savings from the days of the club, she had kept in a drawer in the garage. After helping bail Steven out of jail, and into the not so loving arms of Mia, Dixie decided that she would do everything she could to ensure that when Demetrios did return, he would find her waiting for him, and having the garage looking like a true home.
Dixie headed to the centre of the city, where visitors came from all over to experience the Christmas markets (vánoční trhy) in Prague. Some unique products that are available at the markets are Christmas ornaments and holiday decorations, traditional Czech Christmas cookies, tablecloths, Frankincense or the Czech Christmas potpourri called purpura. Some other items on offer are Czech wooden toys, crafts, clothing accessories, scented candles or handmade soap. Dixie was able to taste some traditional Czech foods that were made fresh right in front of her. Hot wine (svařené víno or svařák), grog, and warm honey liquor called medovina come in handy in the cold weather. A perfect treat, for the eager Dixie, who looked adorable in her all black jacket, with white fur trim, and matching black denims, with suede boots.
One store, she wanted to visit was of course the Jeweller, where she had seen a signet ring. But on enquiry, the ring that she had in mind, was over 5000 Euro. A pretty penny for a gift from the heart. Dixie’s face fell, for she knew there was no way she could afford such a gift, and had to hand it back to the jeweller, smiling weakily. “Maybe next Christmas.”- she said quietly, before picking up her shopping bags, and heading back outside into the cold. The wintery chill had picked up, and Dixie had grown weary from her shopping trip. Hailing down a cab, she decided to go back to the garage, where she had already arranged for a small fir Christmas tree to be delivered. Sure enough, as the black taxi pulled away, she saw it leaning against the door, tied with string.
Struggling with getting the tree well clear of the door, enough to open it, Dixie had to make a few trips, back and forth, to get the tree, and bags of presents and food, into the humble garage. Bags all placed on the grungy couch, she removed her jacket and draped it over the arm of the couch, before pushing up her sleeves, and going to attempt to have the fir ready in a bucket of sand, and propped up in the corner of the room. It smelt devine, the air fragrant by the scent of the pine needles. From the markets, Dixie had collected some sweet wooden toys, in the shapes of cars and bikes, and some cheap tinsel, that she threaded around and around. Last but not least, she got a chair and dragged it over, so she could place the black angel on the top of the tree. It truly did look festive, and on getting back down, Dixie took two steps back to admire her work. It was nothing fancy, not like the ones in the stores, but it was put together with love, and it gave the room, real cheer.
Next would be wrapping the presents, that she got for all her work colleagues, and friends at the Death Club. She knew most were on vacations, and probably Mia too, with the hunky and banged up Steven. Dixie giggled to herself, as she remembered the poking and rib jabbing going on. Poor bloke, Mia was not going to make it easy on him, to regain her trust, and rightfully so. But Mia did need him, whether she was ready to admit it or not.
Going over to her shopping, Dixie had decided that for their Christmas dinner, that she would have a go at cooking Lamb with souvlaki. With her bags of groceries, and fresh meat, she headed to the small kitchenette and turned on the oven, while getting out the ingredients. First she started to gather together the ingredients for the marinade.
• 1 kg lamb, cut into 2cm (approx) cubes
• 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
• 1 medium lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried mint
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
Having chopped large chunks of fresh lamb, she then mixed up all the ingredients of the marinade and poured it over, covering the meat and placing it in the small fridge to chill and have the marinade work through the meat. The next part was making the sauce, which comprised of;
• 500g plain yoghurt
• 1 cucumber, grated
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
To make the sauce, mix the yoghurt, cucumber, garlic, the 2 tablespoons olive oil and oregano salt and pepper. This was placed in the fridge as well in a small jug, and would be used when preparing the meat for the grilling.
This gave her ample time, to go shower and change into a sweet little Pippy long stocking ensemble, that dark in nature, black and white stripes. No other colours, and her hair swept up into a pony tail neatly. She also had a small lace apron that she tied around her petite waist, and went back into the kitchen, to get out the Christmas table setting, and make a romantic Christmas dinner arrangement for two. She lit a red candle in the centre, and stepped back, to survey the room. Something was missing, and she knew what it was. Mistletoe, the small twig, that she would hang near the garage door, for when her love returned to her.
With presents placed under the tree, she then realised that she had not yet gotten a gift for Demetrios. Biting her lip, she was trying to come up with ideas, on how she could give him something worthy from her. Then she remembered he had a lap top in the garage, and wondered if he had any pictures she could recreate from her sketching. She sat down at his desk, and flipped open the lap top, the screen coming to life, and she dragged the mouse over to pictures icon. Flicking through, the scores that he had, were okay, but nothing really stood out, till….she saw a portrait, of what must have been Marianna. Sighing outwardly, she knew what she had to do. Staring at the picture, she reached out and ran her finger along the outline of the woman. “I know he loved you, and I don’t want him to stop. Demetrios needs you in his heart, and its time you were brought out into the light. You were his first angel. I want to be the one to watch over him now.”
Taking out the sketch book, she got her pencils, scattered on the desk, and started to draw, sketching away, with fluid liquid movements, and the image on the paper, started to come to life. Dixie was able to capture the spirit of the woman that made her Demetrios a man. The next few hours, the candle on the table would burn low, and Dixie would have finished the picture. Yawning, Dixie leaned back in the comfortable leather recliner office chair, and closes her eyes, as the pencil fell from her hand.
The picture in front of her, was a masterpiece, and signed. Dixie…2012 “A Woman of Substance” ; the name of the work of art. This would be…what Demetrios would find, as he returned home. <3>
