Fireworks
Written by: paperwaster
“I wish we could be together tonight,” she said, sighing into her cell phone.
“Me too babe, me too. I really thought after Christmas they’d give me a break, but with the way things are these days when the boss says you got to go-“
“I understand.”
“I know you do, that’s what makes you so great. I really appreciate that you’re so understanding about this. I tell you what, I’ll bring you back something special, anything you want.”
“I don’t know, I’ve never been anywhere.”
“I know, I’ll get you one of those T-shirts that says all I got was a T-shirt. You’ll look so sexy in it. I can’t wait to see you again. Just hearing your voice is driving me crazy. Did you get the champagne?”
“In the glass in my hand.”
“Alright, I’m putting my phone down for a second. Just need to pour some for myself.”
She listened carefully as he poured champagne into his glass, but something was wrong. He was taking too long. When he picked up his cell phone again, she asked,
“How big is your glass?”
“I poured a couple. They’re those small plastic cups in the hotel.”
“Mmm.”
“Oh don’t get like that hon, does it sound like I’m having a wild party or something.”
“It could be something,” she thought, but what she said was, “No.”
“Are you at our favorite spot, you should be able to see the fireworks from there.”
“Of course, but it’s clouded over. I don’t think I’ll really see anything.”
“It’s beautiful here, the sky’s really clear. I tell you what, I’ll go outside and tell you what they look like.”
She didn’t know how much longer she could play the game. This wasn’t the first time she had caught him in a lie. She did have to give him points for creativity though, and he was working really hard to sound convincing. The ability to bullshit is what made him such a good salesman and a sociopath.
She sat across the street from his house. She could see them both because the blinds weren’t drawn. His very pregnant wife was sitting alone watching all the festivities on a huge flat screen TV, while he stood in the kitchen, talking to her on the phone.
He kept babbling on, but she really wasn’t listening anymore. She looked down at the gun sitting in her lap. It would be so easy to take him out when the fireworks went off. No one would notice another bang. She glanced again at his wife in the great room. She’d be doing her and the kid a favor, but then again she didn’t want them to suffer because they’d both made the same mistake falling for that jackass.
She could wait. She’d go down to the office in the morning and check out the terms of his policy. That’s how they’d met. He’d come in to take out a bigger policy if she remembered correctly. It wasn’t her account, so she didn’t know the specifics. She would check it out, make sure that his family would be well provided for. There was no need to hurry. There was always the Fourth of July.
