Christmas Lights Read online

  “She cheated on me,” Millie confessed. “It messed me up.” She’d told Claire they were over, but had consistently avoided the question as to why. She knew she needed to tell Claire now, there was no point in keeping it a secret any longer. Not saying anything wouldn’t erase the fact that it had happened.

  “I’m sorry, babe,” Claire replied. “That’s horrible.”

  Millie nodded. It was horrible. But it was doubly horrible because Millie was a typical lesbian and was looking for the one to settle down with. Claire was straight and enjoyed playing the field. While no one enjoyed being cheated on, Claire seemed more able to get up and brush herself down and start again than Millie was. Probably because Millie invested herself one hundred percent from day one.

  “Everywhere I went I remembered her,” Millie continued. “And then I saw a job ad online for a place up here, near you, and I just went for it. Two telephone interviews later and they offered me the job and…”

  “Here you are,” Claire said.

  “Here I am.”

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” Claire enthused. “I have loads of friends up here but no one like you. It’s going to be such fun living with you again. And there are so many people I want to introduce you to.”

  Millie was grinning from ear to ear. It was going to be fun. In her previous home, she shared with three other girls and they had nothing in common. One of the girls worked nights, and the other two had high-flying corporate jobs. They were all ships that passed in the nights. Definitely not friends.

  “I just want to start fresh, I know that sounds crazy for someone who’s only twenty-six.”

  Claire shrugged her shoulder. “You do what you’ve gotta do. What day do you start work again? Was it Tuesday?”

  Millie nodded. “Yeah, so I’ve got tomorrow and Monday off and then I’ll be back to work. It will be dead weird to start a new job, I hope everyone’s nice.”

  “You’ll be working for a charity, of course they’ll be nice,” Claire said. “And you get a couple of days to have a look around town and get settled, so that will be cool.”

  “Yeah, I’m really excited about it. New beginnings and all that.”

  “We just need to get you a new woman,” Claire said.

  Millie shook her head. “No, no. I need a break from dating!”

  “Nah, you don’t,” Claire disagreed. “You need to get back on the horse, so to speak. I’ll find you someone. Don’t you worry.”

  “You saying don’t worry, makes me worry even more,” Millie admitted.

  “I bet I can get you a date before Christmas,” Claire said.

  Millie laughed. Claire loved to play matchmaker, in fact most of the dates Millie had gone on while in uni had been set up by Claire. Not that any of them were that successful.

  “Can’t I just settle in for a while before you go throwing women at me?” Millie pleaded.

  “Katie is hot, I think she’s bi,” Claire said, already seemingly going through a mental list of people she knew.

  “How about you?” Millie forced a subject change. “Are you seeing anyone new?”

  Claire ruffled her nose and shook her head. “No one at the moment. I was half seeing Dan Davies, the local radio host, but we didn’t fit. He didn’t watch Strictly Come Dancing, so he had to go. You know what it’s like once November and December come, it’s like a good ten hours of my week.”

  Millie knew. Every year, without fail, Claire would spend every weekend at home watching one of the nation’s favourite television shows. It had celebrities, dancing, glamour, and glitter. And Claire loved it. Not only did she watch the main show, she watched the satellite shows, and all the behind the scenes extras online. She was completely obsessed.

  “Speaking of which,” Claire said, looking at her watch. “It’s nearly time!”

  The TV was turned on and Millie watched her best friend’s face light up with joy as she started to explain who was on the show that year, who’d been better than expected, and who was just plain terrible.

  Eventually the show started and Millie sat and watched, her mind only half of the TV. The other half was on this new life she was looking for, and the new adventures she’d recently embarked on.

  A new job, a new home, new town, new friends. It was exciting but it was also scary. On top of that, Claire was in a matchmaking mood and had set herself a deadline of Christmas, less than three weeks. It was typical Claire, and Millie remembered their years living together fondly. Every day was a new laugh.

  Millie picked up the blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around her. She didn’t know what life was going to throw at her next, but she was looking forward to it.

  Chapter 4

  Kay got out her car and walked up the driveway to her home. She hated the winter, no matter what time she got home from work the house was always dark and unwelcoming.

  She unlocked the front door and entered the hallway, tossing her keys into the bowl by the door and closing the door behind her.

  “Honey, I’m home,” she muttered to herself.

  She turned on the hallway lights and walked around the downstairs of the property, switching other lights on. She wasn’t saving the planet but at least she no longer felt so alone. There was something about a dark house that made her feel unsettled.

  It had been a long afternoon and evening. It was only nine in the evening, but it felt like the day had stretched on long enough for it to be midnight. She’d been at a drinks reception for the minimum amount of time acceptable. During that time she’d had to maintain a smile on her face while her colleagues laughed and joked about the Christmas tree debacle.

  It was all well and good to laugh about it when it wasn’t a part of your department’s remit. Of course the gentleman from the highways agency found the lack of a tree and the subsequent fallout to be hilarious, they weren’t in the firing line.

  She’d been called Scrooge most of the evening but she’d done her best to maintain a happy expression and pretend it didn’t bother her. It was the only way to cope with such situations.

  Kay had worked in politics long enough to know that getting upset was completely useless. A tough skin was the only way to survive in the weird world of public office.

  In the living room she noticed a flashing light indicating a voicemail on her private line. She pursed her lips for a moment, wondering if a member of the public had somehow got the number and was calling to voice their displeasure.

  It wouldn’t be the first time.

  Deciding she couldn’t ignore it, she sucked in a deep breath and pressed the button.

  The dulcet tone of her sister came through the tinny speaker. Complaining about not having heard from her in over six weeks. It didn’t feel that long but Kay knew her sister wasn’t prone to over-exaggeration so knew it must be true. Lisa quickly updated her on her family, husband doing well, kids doing well. The usual. She slid in a quick dig that it was just the two of them now and they really needed to make an effort to stay in touch.

  Kay felt her heart sink. It was two years since their mother had passed away. It felt like a lifetime and a blink of the eye all at once. Not a day went by when she didn’t think of her. Lisa seemed to be under the impression that she was mourning alone.

  It wasn’t the case, Kay was just used to keeping such things locked up inside.

  Lisa signed off her message with a request that Kay call her as soon as she could, and a hope that maybe they’d spend Christmas together. The invite was always open to her.

  Kay went into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of red wine from the rack. She’d not thought too much about Christmas, even though the big day was only three weeks away.

  She’d never really cared all that much for the festive season, not really celebrated it at all in the last decade. She considered it a time for children and for family. As she didn’t have children, and couldn’t stand to spend too much time with her family, She’d decided that it wasn’t for her.

&nb
sp; She poured herself a generous glass of red wine and sipped thoughtfully at it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Lisa and her family, it was just that she didn’t feel a part of them. She was the aunt and sister who lived far away. There were no rituals that she was involved in. She just turned up, showered the children with presents, thanked her sister for the random selection of generic toiletries she got every year, and then went home.

  She went back to the living room and turned on the television. As always, the channel was set to the news. The main evening headlines were on and the politicians at Westminster were bitterly fighting each other. It was the part of politics she disliked the most, the ‘them and us’ mentality.

  Surely, at the end of the day, they all wanted what was best for their constituencies? And yet they ranted and railed against one another like animals.

  The next news segment came on, apparently a group of activists had glued themselves to a train to protest raising train prices. Kay rolled her eyes. The police where delicately prising people off of the train, putting them in handcuffs and blankets to keep them warm before taking them to the station to be processed. It seemed ludicrous. When did gluing yourself to something become the logical choice of the protestor?

  Luckily, the trend hadn’t made its way to Bromford, but she imagined it wouldn’t be long.

  She turned the television off again.

  “Might as well get some work done,” she muttered to herself. She placed the wine glass down on the coffee table and picked up her iPad. She curled her legs under her and started to access her work emails.

  It was a typical evening routine. There was no time she wasn’t working, evenings and weekends were just a continuation of her working week. The town didn’t stop just because six o’clock came around or because it was a Saturday.

  Especially in December.

  Chapter 5

  Millie wandered through the small supermarket, trying to get her bearings. She found it interesting how different the same chain could be in different parts of the country. There were different brands, different products, different layouts. Obviously each shop had figured out what worked best for them.

  It all added to the newness and excitement of starting a new life in Bromford.

  She stopped and looked at the Christmas puddings and mince pies, wondering if she should grab some. If Millie had her way, she’d eat nothing but Christmas treats from December 1st right the way through to Christmas Day.

  Christmas was a big deal in the Yates family, and it always had been. Millie had a crystal clear memory of being a toddler and playing with Christmas lights and attempting to hang them on the tree. Of course, she’d been tiny so she’d just dumped the entire lot of the nearest branch she could reach.

  As she got older, her fascination with all things festive had grown and grown. Her grandmother handed down traditions and Millie made new ones. Between the two of them, they single-handedly filled every weekend and evening throughout December.

  Things had changed when Grandma Beth had passed away with Millie was thirteen. It had changed again when she’d moved away from home to go to university. And it had changed again when her parents moved to Spain to retire.

  Of course Millie had an open invitation to visit them, but flights to Spain and getting time off work wasn’t always easy. And there was something distinctly unChristmas like about spending the end of December in a marble-floored villa with the air conditioning on.

  Millie was traditional. Christmas meant ugly sweaters, log fires, hot chocolate, turkey with all the trimmings. Her parents thought it meant flip-flops, wine coolers, and fish. Fish! They’d clearly gone mad.

  She missed family Christmas, but she knew they’d never be back. It was up to her to make new traditions. She grabbed a yule log and some mince pies, Claire would have to help her eat them.

  She used the self-service checkout, seeing the enormous queue at the staffed checkout. It was a Sunday and the shops were due to close in just under an hour at four in the afternoon. Everyone was panic buying, as usual. Despite the fact the doors would open again in less than twelve hours.

  Her reusable bag had a large cartoon image of Rudolph on it. She’d bought it two years ago and loved it.

  Outside the supermarket, she started to walk around the high street of Bromford. It wasn’t a huge town, but it certainly wasn’t small either. There were two large theatres, a multi-screen cinema, multiple restaurants, and two midsize malls filled with shops.

  It wasn’t London but it wasn’t as quiet as Millie had initially worried it would be.

  “Millie!”

  She stopped and turned around. A smiling woman was approaching her, she had a clipboard and wore warm clothes complete with a big woolly hat. Millie vaguely recognised her from the pub the night before, one of Claire’s friends.

  “Hey!” Millie greeted.

  “Hi, I’m sure you’ve forgotten my name, it’s Laura. How are you doing?”

  Millie smiled. “I’m doing great, thanks for the reminder. I’m terrible with names. You’ll have to remind me loads more times I’m afraid!”

  Laura chucked. “No problem! I was wondering if you wanted to sign my petition? It’s about the Christmas tree. Well, the lack of one.”

  “Absolutely!” Millie placed her bag on the floor and eagerly took the clipboard. “Christmas isn’t Christmas without a tree.”

  “Exactly,” Laura agreed readily. “Especially here, it goes in the central square over there.”

  Millie looked up towards where Laura was pointing.

  “Without it, it just looks dark and sad. The tree is really important for the town. It brings everyone together for the lighting ceremony, there’s always a little party. To not have it… well, it’s ridiculous.”

  “Agreed.” Millie signed the petition and handed it back. “These councils think they can just make cuts and cuts, but it has to end somewhere. I mean, if they can’t find a couple of hundred pounds for a tree then what’s wrong with them?”

  “Mismanagement.” Laura said, shaking her head sadly. “It’s been like this since Nightmare Nightingale was elected years ago. Cutting everything left, right, and centre. She gets in time and time again, every year things get a little worse.”

  “Has anyone stood against her?” Millie asked.

  Laura made a face. “A couple of times, but no one with any real gravitas. But we have a great team of people, we protest and get petitions sorted like this one. We’re pretty well organised, maybe you have some time to get involved?”

  Millie nodded quickly. “I’d love to. I used to be pretty politically active but I got lazy.”

  Laura’s face lit up. “Brilliant, we love having new people with us. You don’t happen to be free tomorrow, do you?”

  “I am. I don’t start my new job until Tuesday.”

  “Fantastic, I’ve managed to get tomorrow off, too. I work for a large accountancy firm, but they are pretty good about being flexible. We’re going to protest outside the Town Hall tomorrow. Nightingale released this news on a Friday deliberately, she thought that we’d all forget after the weekend. Well, she’s wrong. We’re getting as many people as possible together for a whole day of protests outside the Town Hall. She won’t know what hit her.”

  Millie laughed. “That sound brilliant. Sign me up! One question, where’s the Town Hall?”

  Laura smiled, she pointed behind where they were standing. “Just down that road, if you’re heading home now then you’ll pass it. Go to the end of the high street, then you’ll come to a large paved area, you can’t miss it. We’re starting at eight in the morning.”

  “I’ll be there!”

  “Great, thanks, Millie!” Laura turned away and waved down a couple who were walking by, trying to get them to also sign the petition.

  Millie picked up her shopping bag and continued walking along the high street. It was a real dirty trick to release the news about the Christmas tree last thing on a Friday. It grated on her, it was such a polit
ician thing to do.

  It had been a while since she’d protested outside a building on a cold winter’s day. She started to think about what to wear, and what to bring. Definitely a thermos of warm tea. Definitely multiple layers of clothing.

  She came to the end of the high street and stopped dead in her tracks. There was a large paved area with a war memorial statue standing proud in the middle. Behind it was an enormous, lavish building which just had to be the Town Hall. It was four floors high, red brick with white brick details on the corners. It was huge and very ornate, probably built in the 1800s.

  Millie chewed on the inside of her cheek and shook her head in despair. The council were working in luxury surroundings while the rest of the town wasn’t even allowed a tree. It was disgraceful.

  She turned on her heel to return to the high street. She’d passed a stationary shop earlier, she needed supplies. If she was going to stand outside the Town Hall the next morning then she needed to make a sign. A big artistic sign that told everyone just how she felt about the council, and the lack of tree.

  Chapter 6

  Kay Nightingale drove slowly along the street as she approached Bromford Town Hall.

  “For god’s sake,” she muttered under her breath.

  The public square in front of the building was filled with people waving placards and chanting. There was no chance that she’d get to the public car park across the street and be able to safely get to the office.

  “All of this because of a tree?” She shook her head and turned off the main road. She wasn’t about to drive her Mercedes closer to the crowd, who knew what they might do to it if they recognised her.

  She’d been demonised as the person who ruined Christmas and for some reason people forgot all about the supposed true meaning of Christmas of being kind and spreading goodwill.