Page 5 of The Christmas Competition

“The girls” were what Mum called her group of (also age seventy-​plus) friends who met up, without fail, every Thursday morning for coffee and to gossip about everyone in town. “Okay. Have you asked them what they mean?”

“Of course not!”

I sighed. “Right. And what do you want me to do about it?”

“Don’t take that tone with me, Nisa.”

Keep your cool. “Apologies, Mum. But I’m a little confused as to how I might be of assistance in this debacle.”

My sarcastic tone went over her head, disguised by my flowery language.

“I need you to read the email and tell me what you think.”

The rich, meaty smell of my stew was making my stomach grumble loudly. “Fine. Forward it to me and I’ll have a look.”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

Lord, give me strength. “Press the wee double arrow button at the top of the email.”

“I can’t see that. Can’t you come round and look at it?”

“I’m about to eat my dinner, Mum. But I’ll try to come round another day.”

“When?”

I fought the urge to throw my phone across the room or scream. Or both. “I’ll text you.”

“Fine.”

“See you soon.”

“Fine.”

I hung up aggressively, then finally tucked into my stew with a satisfied sigh, giving in to the urge to scroll through social media and distract myself from my mother’s nonsense. “Freya’s away in the Canary Islands,” I told Izzy, as if the cat could understand. “Getting herself a bit of winter sun. Good for her.”

I was well aware that I was using Izzy as a Drew substitute again. This would be the sort of thing I would’ve read out to him at the dinner table and he would’ve made an interested noise in response.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, a photo of him and his new girlfriend, Aileen, appeared on my feed, and I froze with my fork halfway into my mouth, my blood turning to ice. The two of them were cuddling and laughing as they looked into the camera, bedecked in winter coats and woolly hats with a lovely sandy beach and blue-​gray water behind them. “Loch Morlich,” I said, quietly.

They looked so happy. A painful lump traveled up my chest and lodged in my throat, pressure building behind my eyes. I placed my fork in my bowl and tried in vain to swallow the lump back down with a gulp of water, blinking quickly to push the tears back in.

I let out a slow breath, forcing myself to scroll past the photograph. I knew that I should unfollow Drew, or at least mute him from my feed, but every time the thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Because then it would feel like giving up on us forever.

Finding out he had a new girlfriend had been like a sucker punch to the gut. My mantra that this was merely a phase, that Drew would soon realize the error of his ways and come home, had become weaker since he’d taken up with Aileen a couple months ago. Saying it out loud, as I had to Rona earlier, was a tactic to force myself to still believe. But despite the fact that this trial separation he’d wanted now included a new girlfriend, I couldn’t let the tiny flame of hope be snuffed out. He might find his way back to me yet. I just had to figure out how to distract myself from him in the meantime. Putting up the tree had helped a little, but seeing it in position had reminded me that last time it stood in the corner of the living room, Drew had been here with me.

I continued to scroll, hoping that no other triggering photos would cross my path. But a few posts down something else caught my eye, for different reasons entirely. Something on the town social media page.

The Inaugural Inverglen Christmas Lights Competition!

Do you think your property is the most festive in the land? Click the link below to enter, then decorate your house by Christmas Eve, when our team of judges will walk the streets to decide who wins first prize for best-​dressed house! The lucky winner will be announced on Boxing Day and will win a luxury weekend stay for two at the Loch Glen Hotel and Spa.

Excitement sparked in my system, sidelining my melancholy for a moment. What better way to kill two birds with one stone than to enter the competition? It would provide me with the distraction I was craving, turbocharge my Christmas spirit, and also—​as a bonus—​be an eyesore for Kerr grumpy-​arse across the road. He was a total grinch all year round and had never decorated the outside of his house, so surely going over the top with decorating would piss him right off.

Granted, I’d never really decorated the exterior of the house before either, save for some so-subtle-​you-​could-​hardly-​see-​them icicle lights under the living room window. But that was just because Drew hadn’t wanted our house to look too gaudy. However, he wasn’t here right now, so that gave me free rein, with no one else’s feelings to consider. Except Izzy’s, but I was sure my feline companion wouldn’t mind.

As if hearing my thoughts, Izzy jumped onto my lap, purring in contentment and rubbing her soft head against my hand—​which was still holding the phone with the photo of sparkly Christmas lights on display. So, I took that as a sign of approval.

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