Beautiful Things

Celebrating: Chapter after New Years

        Fiona made coffee for Alison with her new coffee maker. It was 2 am, and the drug had been removed, but the doctors wanted her to stay awake.
    She walked over to where Alison was sitting in front of the window. She was silently crying. Her eyes had lost their sparkle, and Fiona noticed the dark circles under them. Just like the ones Fiona used to have.
    "Do you want to talk?" Fiona asked quietly, trying not to scare Alison. Alison shook her head violently, and Fiona decided to wait until she was ready.
    They sat in silence for a while, and Fiona couldn't take it anymore. She had to know what was going on with Alison.
    "What happened?" Alison took deep breaths.
    "I've been dating this guy, Mark for four years. My family likes him, which is rare. My dad and mom are both millionaires and live in a gigantic mansion. They're always inviting me to tea or galas."
    "We had a New Years Party last night. All of our friends and family were there." Alison began to rock back and forth.
    "Everything was perfect. I thought Mark was the guy I'd been waiting for all my life. We were dancing to our favorite song when he pulled me close and asked me-." She began to sob. Fiona sat next to her, trying to calm her down.
    "He asked me to marry him. He moved my hand to his pocket, and it had a ring in it. I dropped his hand. Everyone was looking at us."
    "I ran away. The ballroom was huge, and running in heels isn't easy. I heard the guests whispering things like aren't they happy and what's wrong with her?"
    "My mom went around, telling everyone I had champagne problems. As I was leaving, I saw Mark's family. His sister had a bottle of wine, but the cork was still on. They looked ready to celebrate, but no one was celebrating."
    "I'll never forget the look on Matt's face. Time froze at that moment. I got in the car and drove anywhere to forget it."
    "That's awful. Forgive me for saying this, but your mom can't disguise a mental illness as champagne problems." Alison looked at Fiona with wide eyes.
    "I had a mental illness for the last 18 years. I know you're not ok." Fiona said. Alison got an alert on her phone.
    She picked up her phone and scrolled for a while, and threw her phone across the room.
    "My mom posted a photo of Mark on a train with the caption 'He's heartbroken.' All the comments are asking what happened and tagging me." Fiona was shocked. Mark wasn't Alison's mother's child. Alison was.
    "How could I do this? Mark's heart was glass, and I shattered it. He's on that train right now, surrounded by people who have no idea what happened. There are bustling crowds that he hates, and silent sleepers that seem too peaceful." Alison curled herself into a ball.
    "Hey." Fiona wrapped her arms around Alison.
    "We have the same birthday. You're only twenty-one. Way too young to be married. And you might not have been the one for Mark, but he'll find the real thing instead."
    "She'll patch up his tapestry that I shred," Alison responded, sitting up.
    "And hold his hand while dancing, Never leave him standing. Crestfallen on the landing with champagne problems." This sent her into another fit of tears.
    "His other pocket had his wallet. It had my picture in it." She said in between wails.
    "But her picture will be in it now. He won't remember all my champagne problems." Alison had a neutral expression now, and Fiona couldn't tell what she was feeling.
    "I just keep picturing his face. I'm sure he had a whole speech planned about starting the new year engaged and love and all that fake stuff. I'm never going to love again." Alison looked like a crumpled-up piece of paper. It was clear she remembered it all too well.
    Fiona knew the time wouldn't fly for her. Alison would be paralyzed by it. Alison's phone dinged again. It was a text from Mark that Fiona didn't want Alison to see.
    "Maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much, but maybe this thing was a masterpiece until you tore it all up." Mark had no right to say that. Alison was more hurt than he was.
    "Talk to me, Ali." He sent. She went to Alison's settings and turned the read receipts off. Mark didn't deserve to know if Alison had seen the texts.
    "Who's that?" Alison asked.
    "No one," Fiona set the phone down.
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