Twelve Short Stories of Christmas 9: Fireworks

Day eight can be read here.

When the last of the presents had been unwrapped and the dishes had all been piled into the sink to wash up later, they all went outside to watch the fireworks display Lily had decided she was going to put on. They all stood outside, bundled in their coats, with champagne in their hands, as Lily lit all the fireworks and they watched and waited for the firework fuses to burn down and for the rockets and shooting stars to soar into the December night air. When the display started everyone oohed and ahed as they were meant to.

Patricia, who had never really liked fireworks turned to go back inside while everyone’s attention was distracted by the noise and lights of the fireworks. She went into the bedroom and watched the fireworks from there. She finished her champagne and set it down on the windowsill. Once the display was over she watched as everyone came back in. She saw her boyfriend talking to her best friend as they walked inside. Then, as Patricia watched, her boyfriend pulled Patricia’s best friend close to him and quickly, when he thought no-one was watching, kissed her. Patricia knocked the champagne glass off the windowsill in her shock. The pieces shattered on the bedroom floor and she ran downstairs into the kitchen where everyone had gathered after the firework display. She tried to find her boyfriend or her best friend to question them or maybe shout at them about what she had seen, but there were too many people. She got handed another glass of champagne at some point and sipped it while she searched the entire ground floor of the house. By the time she had finished she was tired and went to bed, without ever having found one of them. The next morning, she was only slightly surprised to find that her boyfriend hadn’t come to find her last night at all.