Daily Flash Fiction Challenge

Far from the beach

It was another Groundhog day. Repetition, repetition, repetition.

A kiss goodbye, shut the front door, listen for the car to pull out of the drive, load the dishwasher, vacuum the house and take a break for coffee and catch up on the news.

The news was in Arabic with English subtitles. The TV shows seemed to be political discussions with mostly men in traditional white robes and head bands.

Celia thought they looked quite distinguished.

She let out a sigh and headed for the kitchen.

Jeremy’s contract in the Middle East was for six months.

Five months too long.

After the first month, she realising there was no Autumn, Winter, Spring, it was just Summer, Summer and more Summer.

And to make matters worse, it was always HOT.

Something had to change.

They had been there a month with another five to go.

No way. It was time for action. Celia logged on to eBay and ordered three boxes of Shiraz. Alcohol was a big no-no.

She signed up for every TV subscription she could find. At least she had Jeremy’s credit card details.

She went online shopping and treated herself to new handbags, shoes and perfumes.

Days later her parcels arrived one by one. She was surprised the wine made it though without getting stopped.

Suddenly, the shadow of depression vanished and she enjoyed a tipple in the morning, watching a few shows, a tipple in the afternoon and set of the new automatic floor cleaner to do the housework.

It was good for Celia until Jeremy looked at his bank statements and spluttered his coffee over the new eight thousand dollar Persian rug.

“You do realise I’ve got to extend my contract to pay for this lot?”

Celia hiccupped. “So we can’t go home yet?”

WC 297