3rd Prize

Have A Nice Christmas

By Moira Dearness  

T h e re s t au r an t was b u s y ; w aiters and w a i tresses wer e movi ng quiet ly an d eff iciently
between tables, taking and d e l i vering or ders. A man wearing a dark, str iped
business suit a nd an old-school ti e sat at a table s et for two. He poured himself a
glass of wi n e and picked up the menu, drumming his fingers on t he t able as he read
it.

The head waiter moved swiftly over to him. "Would you like to order now Sir?" he
asked.

" Yes. I' ll have the Tournedos Rossini medium r a r e, sauteed potatoes and the roast
v egetable medley, and for my mot her the pan-fried lemon sole and a side sal ad."  

"Thank you sir. Will I hold preparation until your mot her arrives?"

"No, she's late. I hope she'll be here soon." The head waiter gather ed up the
menus and turned to walk away, when the man said "Wait. Bring a glass of fresh
orange for her."  

Two minutes lat e r a small, grey-haired, smartly-dr essed woman hurried into the
rest auran t , paused to look around and in response to t he raised hand of t he man,
walked over t o the t able.  

"You're late Mother," he snapped as she sat down. 

Sorry Graeme," she said "I decided to leave the car at home today what with Princes
Street being in such a mess with the digging up for the trams, and who knows what
streets are closed and where I could get parking. I came by bus, but it took much
longer than I thought."  

"I ' ve ordered your usual lemon sole and a salad," he said.  

A waiter came to the table with the glass of orange juice and set it in front of the
woman. "Is our order going to be much longer?" Graeme asked the waiter, looking
at his watch.  

"No sir, it should be here soon," was t he polite reply.  

As the waiter left, the woman said "I would have quite liked something different
today Graeme, and as I'm not driving I would like a glass of wine. You surely won't
be drinking the whole bottle?"  

Without a word he poured wine into her glass and pushed it across the table towards
her. She took a sip, and glanced around the restaurant.  

"It's very busy today," she said "we might have quite a wait" .  

Before Graeme could reply, a waitress arrived at the table and served their order.  

"Sorry to be a nuisance dear," the woman said "please, could I also have sauteed
potatoes and the roasted vegetables?"   

"Really mother," scolded Graeme "you've already said how busy the place is. You're just giving them extra work."  

"No trouble at all Madam." said the waitress "I can get them for you immediately."  

"You should' ve been in on time; then you could've ordered what you wanted without
troubling the staff. Let's get on with our meal. I'm wanting to tell you about the
arrangements Ginny and I have made for you coming at Christmas."  

He drank his wine, then continued, I know you usually drive down but I don't want
you on that road at this time of year . Ginny is coming up for a charity lunch on the
16^th, and she'll collect you. It's a few days early, but you need to spend a bit of
time with the kids, and you can watch them while we get the shopping done. Be
ready to leave when Ginny arrives; she's going out of her way to get you and ...  

The woman held up her hand to interrupt him. "No need Graeme. I'm going
somewhere else for Christmas this year. I thought it was time that you and Ginny
and the children were able to make plans that didn't have to include me."  

Graeme was too stunned to reply. The soft hum of the conversation of the other
diners and the sound of cutlery on crockery cut across the silence.  

When he could speak Graeme said "But mother, you've been coming to us at
Christmas for years. Ginny and I have already made plans and changed
arrangements specially to suit you. Where are you going if you don't come to us?"   

"I ' m going to Christchurch," she replied.  

" Christchurch?" he queried. "Who do you know in Dorset?"  

"No dear", she said patiently, "not Dorset: Christchurch, New Zealand, and I'm..."  

"New Zealand!" he spluttered as he choked on the food in his mouth. "You've never
flown by yourself, and never that far. Have you any idea how long it takes, and how
cramped and uncomfortable it will be in Economy Class. Who are you going to stay
with in New Zealand?"  

She smiled sweetly and said, "First, I won't be travelling alone, and we will be going
First Class. Second, we will be having stopovers in Hong Kong and Japan. Third, I
am going to visit Gerald Foster, and I will be staying in a hotel."  

Graeme was lost for words again. "Uh ... who ... uh ... who is Gerald Foster, and do you
realize how much all this gallivanting around is going to cost?"  

Her expression remained calm and serene as she answered "Gerald Foster was my
first serious boy-friend. We were at High School together, but when we left he went
away to join the Merchant Navy as a radio operator and I went to Glasgow to
college. We wrote to each other for a while, but then lost touch. He apparently met
a girl while his ship was in New Zealand, got married and made his home there. I
met and married your father, and did not hear from Gerald again until he asked me
to be his friend on Facebook three weeks ago."   

Graeme's skin colour went from an unhealthy red to an even more unhealthy puce.
"Facebook!" he exclaimed. "when did you get a computer, and how on earth did
you get on to Facebook?"  

"I've had a computer for a few months now. My neighbour, Chloe, she's a lovely
person, she got me interested and helped me with buying one and getting set up. I
send e-mails, pay accounts, do my banking and I have met up with so many nice
people on Facebook. Gerald saw my name because we have a mutual friend, so he
got in touch. He's a widower now, and he suggested I go out to visit him."  

"Mother, have you gone completely mad. You're going half way across the world,
tr avelling with someone I don't know, to meet up with someone you haven't seen for
over fifty years, spending a colossal amount of money and just behaving totally
irresponsibly."  

She took a deep breath and said "Graeme, all my life I've had people dictating to
me, telling me what I should do, what I should wear, how I should behave and how I
should spend my money. When I lived at home my father ruled my life; when I
married your father it was the same. He said what I could and could not do, he
controlled the spending and never consulted me about anything. Don't get me
wrong, he was a good man, but it was the way he had been brought up - the man
was head of the house and the woman was expected to know her place. When he
died, you took over. Well, I've had enough; today is the end of the old me. It's a new day tomorrow, and the start of a new life for me!"  

G r aeme had neve r s een his mother like this before - so positive and so assertive.
Noticeably deflated he said "Please Mother, listen to reason. You intend spending
m oney you don't have, going somewhere you don't know, and you still haven't said
who it is you' re travelling with, or how long you'll be away."  

"I ' m travelling with Chloe: she's a bit younger than me but we get on very well.
She has a sister who emigrated to New Zealand 10 years ago and she hasn't seen
her in all that time. As to when I'll be back, I just don't know. If I like it there, I
might stay for quite a while. Now finish your lunch, there's a good boy."  

She finished her meal, drank the last of her wine, and continued "You really don't
need to worry Graeme; your inheritance is quite safe. I must have forgotten to tell
you, Chloe and I had a win on the lottery a couple of weeks ago: we're in a two-
woman syndicate and one of our tickets was the only one to match the six numbers,
so we shared the rollover jackpot - four million pounds each. Now I really must go
dear, I've a lot to do before we leave tomorrow."  

She got up, went round and kissed him on the forehead. "'Bye son, I'll e-mail you
when we get there. I'll settle the bill on my way out. Graeme dear, do stop opening
and closing your mouth: you look like a demented puffer-fish! Have a nice
Christmas."  

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Judges comments: Well done to Moira Dearness for this interesting story with excellent use of dialogue. The contrast between the two main chracters is very good.