Once they’d eaten their Christmas pudding, Judith sought an appropriate moment to suggest it was time to leave. Having long since learned the pattern of her mother’s drinking, and judging by how much Blue Nun she’d already consumed, Judith knew that Patricia would soon revert to type and start to snipe, to pick, to luxuriate in sarcasm. The default Patricia would begin to emerge. The great thing these days, though, was that once the switch had been flicked, Judith could walk away. She didn’t have to put up with it any more.

So she ordered a taxi and dropped her mother back home. Duty done. She made sure Patricia was OK, poured her a large whisky and selected something on the telly from the Radio Times, knowing that in half an hour’s time her mother would be snoring away to the soundtrack of a family favourite.

It was nearly three o’clock when she shut the door behind her and headed out into the Christmas Day quiet of the Coed Celyn streets. It would soon start getting dark, but the cloudless sky and winter sun yielded more light than was usual for the time of year. She headed for Griffin Park, to sit on the swings until it was time to wander over to wait outside Lipton’s, where she’d arranged to meet Lyndon at four thirty.

They’d had five dates so far, including the office party a month previously. Carol, the office manager at Stats Services, had chosen the Travellers Rest as the venue for their annual bash because she’d left it too late to book anywhere else, and the only available date was November 25th. The whole place was geared up for big numbers, putting on a Christmas ‘night out to remember’ for a hundred office workers, few of whom actually knew each other or even shared the same employer. But hey, what did it matter? It’s Christmas!

Judith had decided to stay sober that night. So she couldn’t even blame the drink when ‘Three Times A Lady’ came on and she found herself slow-dancing with Lyndon the trombonist. She’d kissed him at the end of the night – a perfectly nice, perfunctory kiss that didn’t send her pulse racing or leave her desperate for more. Nonetheless, when he’d asked if he could see her again, she’d agreed. Because, why not? She liked him, he was clever and funny and not bad looking and, who knows, maybe the fireworks were poised, ready to go off, and were just waiting for someone to set them alight.

He’d invited her to his sister’s for Christmas tea and, although she really liked Lyndon, she felt guilty that she’d only agreed to this out of desperation for somewhere to stay. She’d much rather cwtch up on the sofa at the flat and read a good book, or watch some crappy video, but that was out of the question: Lana was only home for two days, and Judith had thought it best to give her and Gareth some privacy. So she’d taken up Catrin’s offer to stay at the Kellys’ on Christmas Eve, and Lyndon’s invitation for Christmas night.