Angie's Christmas Eve had gone well enough until the lights went out. After a day spent drinking eggnog, eating fruitcake and watching Christmas movies, by the time the evening rolled in, she was reasonably warm, tipsy and sleepy.
She didn't want to be with anyone. Not like she had a lot of options. Christine was no longer her friend, Jessie was gone, and Kay had better stay home for Christmas.
Browsing Netflix in the dark gave her a headache, so she turned on the lamp by the couch. The light flickered for a moment, then the entire apartment plunged into darkness.
"Well, fuck," she said good-naturedly, turning on the flashlight on her phone.
She stood from the couch and wobbled to the window. The building across the street had power so it most likely wasn't a blackout. It must be her own fusing.
Her phone beeped and warned that the battery was critically low. To be fair, she couldn't remember the last time she'd charged it. So with the little light it could still provide, she dug out the candles she still had and lit them. It wasn't much of an improvement, but better than nothing.
Then, like the experienced electrician she was, she used the phone battery she had left to check her fuse box. Except it was above the exit, too high up for her to reach even perched on the chair she dragged in from the kitchen, and she wouldn't really know what to do even if she could reach.
"I need an electrician," she declared into the semi-darkness.
Except it was Christmas Eve and late already, so finding someone who would work at this hour seemed impossible, especially when she had no idea who to call and she had no phone or internet.
She'd never needed an electrician before. She'd always had Tom, or if things were too complicated, Jimmy. Now Jimmy was in Huston. They hadn't flown back for the holidays because they were taking off in two days and Sarah had decided to go there instead. Sam was probably still on that mysterious mission,and Kyle should stay with Kay. Which only left option number one. Tom.
"Calling him over would he stupid." But her battery was dying out so it was now or never. She really wanted to watch another brain-numbing movie before bed.
Spending Christmas alone, the first Christmas without her family, was not easy. She needed more eggnog. But first, he dialed Tom's number. Maybe he had plans, but she didn't care right then. He owed her TV.
"Angie?" he asked stupidly, as if he couldn't read the damn name on his screen.
"Hi," she said, "I need your help, could you come over? My battery is about to die. Thanks." And she hung up, then giggled a little.
He was probably panicking, wondering what was going on. A part of her expected him to want to track her watch, but since she told him to come over, there was no point.
So for the following minutes, she unlocked the door and busied herself with moving the candles off the kitchen table and to the counters, as well as the ones near the couch to make sure nothing caught fire. It was a habit she'd developed when they used candles for entirely different purposes. The thought startled her a little, but another glass of eggnog fixed her worries. Then, she sat on the kitchen table, leaned back on her hands, and crossed her legs.
Huh, maybe she should change into something nicer. She wore leggings and a checkered shirt-dress which was fine for moping around the house. Maybe she should take the leggings off and keep the dress, but then she'd be wearing fluffy reindeer socks so that wasn't very sexy either.
Why did she want to be sexy again?
To punish him.
That sounded legit. It was his fault he wasn't there and Christmas wasn't wonderful.
YOU ARE READING
Lose Control (The Jewel Project #5)
Adventure"It's never going to end, is it? The rivalry, the hatred, the madness. Not even now. Not even after so many years." It has been three years since the last jewel was recovered, and the Agency seems to have put the project to rest. They have a new tar...
