Last Christmas by Allyson Gottlieb

Author:Allyson Gottlieb [Gottlieb, Allyson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christmas short story
Publisher: Athena Press
Published: 2015-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Everybody in the house, make some noise!” The DJ, a skinny Asian kid in red suspenders over a white T-shirt with a Santa hat hanging from his head at an angle, egged on the already raucous crowd: “Are you people ready to party?”

“This is absurd,” I commented, looking out at the dance floor from my balcony seat in the VIP section. “Christmas is supposed to be about family and togetherness, but they’re all just using it as an excuse to party and get wasted.”

“Look who’s talking.” Tanya poked me in the arm, giggling. “Pot, this is kettle. You’re black.”

My cheeks burned. “It’s not the same,” I insisted, even as I failed to come up with reasons why. Instead, I downed the last of my drink, grimacing at the burn from the liquor. When I set the glass down, my movements seemed less coordinated than at the beginning of the night, a signal that I’d finally achieved a sufficient level of intoxication.

“Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!” As though timed to the DJ’s words, red glitter rained down on the dance floor as the music morphed into a sped-up club remix of “Deck the Halls”. The crowd screamed and cheered. I shook my head, turning back to Tanya.

It was just the two of us now, since Oliver had gone off with a pretty blonde in a fur-trimmed dress about fifteen minutes ago. I didn’t expect to see him back any time soon, and I was starting to wonder when I could get away with leaving.

Maybe I’d sit here a little longer and sober up before trying to drive. That was probably a smart idea.

Tanya put her hand on my arm and I looked up. “You doing all right?” she asked. “I know this isn’t really your thing.”

I shook my head. “You guys wanted to come here, and I’m happy just spend time with you.” Under my breath, I added, “Anything’s better than staying at home.”

“What?” She tilted her head toward me like she hadn’t heard, but there was no way I was repeating that.

A brunette in one of Arcadia’s white waitress dresses teetered up to our table, holding something over our heads. “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” she cheered, her voice lilting with clear intoxication. Confused, I looked up to see that she was holding a sprig of mistletoe.

Tanya squirmed when she noticed it, fiddling with her fingers and refusing to look at me. “Oh, I, um…”

I looked at her as though seeing her for the first time all night. She was wearing a dark green dress that was covered in sequins, her reddish hair pulled up to show off her neck. Then, like a magnet, my gaze was drawn to her full lips—lips I hadn’t thought anything of earlier in the night, but suddenly wanted very much to kiss.

“Go on,” the waitress said, like the voice of the devil on my shoulder despite her angelic appearance.

So before I could think better of it, I leaned in, cupping the side of her face with my hand, and kissed her.

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