A Holiday Hazard

 

Days were passing and Christmas was nearing, but I was barely prepared. I knew that at that rate, I would be busy setting things up even on Christmas Eve.

I wish mom was here; things would’ve been so much easier and fun.

Mom used to take care of everything because my work always kept me occupied. It made me wonder whether I appreciated her enough while she was still around.

“Earth to Violet, do you copy?”

I almost jumped out of my chair; I didn’t realise my coworker Ralph was standing next to me.

“Oh, hey! Sorry, I was spacing out.”

“The GM wants to see you. Looks like you may be stuck here on the 24th, too.”

“Tyler isn’t going to be very happy about it.”

“If you don’t have any plans for Christmas, you can bring him to our house. My wife and daughter would love to see you two.”

“I’ll let you know.”

When I entered the GM’s office, someone I did not expect was there with him.

“Violet, it has been a while. You’re looking good.”

“Hello, Clive. And yes, the divorce has helped a lot. What’re you doing here; shouldn’t you be out somewhere with Lana?”

“Very funny. Anyway, I own part of the company now.”

The GM said Clive wanted to launch a new project  soon, and that Clive wanted me to join it. I refused, and said I wished to take a week off to be with my son for the holidays. Two days went by peacefully (aside from last-minute Christmas preparations), but then Clive showed up, saying he wanted to see Tyler. He somehow convinced Tyler to ask me to let him stay at our house. I told him to use the guest room.

Later that night, I was awoken by footsteps approaching my bedroom. I quickly grabbed my gun and tiptoed to the corner behind the door. It opened, and in came a masked man with a gun.

“Drop it and remove the mask!”

The man complied; however, he wasn’t someone I knew.

“Who are you?”

“Just a hired gun.”

Right then, Clive burst through the doorway and stabbed him with a knife.

“Clive, what are you doing?”

“Saving you, of course.”

“That wasn’t necessary. Wait, are you the one who hired him?”

“What? No, why would I do that?”

My hands began to shake; my heartbeat slowly rose. I cocked the gun and held it firmly at him.

“You killed him to silence the truth, didn’t you?”

“No, it wasn’t me!”

“He’s right,” a woman’s voice came from the hallway—it was Lana, and she was armed.

“Lana, what are you—”

“Shut up, Clive! I leave my husband for you, and you go crawling back to your ex?”

“Lana, please!”

She shot him in the chest, and I shot her back twice. I quickly kicked her gun away and called the police. By the time they arrived, both Lana and Clive were unconscious. Tyler woke up and was paralysed at the sight of Clive being carried away. He yelled and screamed, but I held him back and hugged him tightly. I stayed by his side and tried my best to console him. Around an hour passed, and he finally fell asleep. I then got a call from the hospital; Clive had passed away moments after surgery.

However, Lana survived. She faced trial a week later and was sentenced to twenty-five years.