Christmas with Queen 2019

Advent Day 11

Pantomime - Brian

It had always been a family tradition to go to the theatre and watch the pantomime. I won't lie to you, I was excited for this years performance. It was Cinderella, my favourite!

My grandpa always organises the tickets and where everyone was being seated. So, when I picked him and my Nana up in my car to take them to the show, I thought I'd ask about the seating plan.

"So Gramps, where will I be sitting?" I asked as I pulled out of their driveway

"Ah my dear! I'll be on the aisle, then your Nana, then your Mum, your cousin Rose, your aunt, your cousin Nick, then you!" He sounded so happy about his plan but I was a little downhearted. I was on the end, meaning I was going to have a complete stranger next to me. I hope they weren't a creep.

"That sounds great Grandpa!" I faked my excitement

"Thank you for the lift dear. You don't need to worry about getting us home as we are staying with your aunt and cousins tonight. You can go into town or something? Meet some friends?" Nana said

The trouble was, I didn't have any friends and had a non existent social life. Going into town and shopping was my idea of hell.

"Yes Nana, I think I will" I lied. I didn't want to disappoint the most important people in my life. You see, when my dad was ill it was my grandparents who looked after me. They still did for a while when he died to give my mum time to recover. But that was when I was 4, we've all done a lot of growing up since then.

We arrived at the theatre and I walked in with my Nana holding onto my arm. She was a bit unsteady on her feet so she loved to have a bit of support when walking. Usually Grandpa would hold on to her but I think he was a bit excited for the panto as he practically raced inside to meet with the rest of the family.

There stood the rest of my family in the foyer of the theatre. Mum, Charlotte, was wearing a Christmas jumper, she's always been a bit over the top and eccentric but she has a heart of gold. My aunt, Cath, was stood next to her, they look so alike they could be twins. My aunt is the joker of the family, pulling pranks and telling really cheesy jokes. My two cousins were close by, Rose and Nick. Rose is 5 and loves anything pink and girly, Nick is 7 and is in a bit of a dinosaur phase.

"Hey guys!" I greeted them. Rose ran up to me and hugged my legs

"Y/n!" She screamed so loud that the whole theatre now knows my name

"You excited for Cinderella!?" I picked her up and held her to my hip

"Yes yes yes!! Nick isn't though. He doesn't like princesses" Rose explained with a sigh

"There's no dinosaurs in Cinderella" Nick crossed his arms grumpily

"Cheer up bud, there is more in Cinderella than just a princess" I tried to reason with him

"Ok" he sighed before holding on to my aunts hand as we began to walk in and find our seats

Grandpa ushered us into the right seats before taking his own seat on the aisle. Christmas music was playing for now whilst we waited for the performance to begin. The seat next to me was yet to be filled, I was silently hoping that the seat didn't get sold.

"Y/n" Nick's voice brought you out of your thoughts

"What's up matey?" I turned to him

"I'm tired" He yawned

"Did you have a busy day?" I quizzed

"Yeah, I built a fort with with the neighbours" He kicked his legs in the air as he couldn't reach the floor

With that the lights went off and I felt someone sit next to me. In my head I was cursing but when I took a quick look at who was sat there my heart skipped a beat. It was a guy about my age with the curliest hair you would ever see in your life. His skin looked smooth under the dark mood lighting which was now projecting from the stage. I snapped myself back to reality when someone came on stage and said their line.

The show was absolutely amazing. I was practically laughing the entire time because of the ugly sisters. They were two men dressed up and falling over in their heels, their facial expressions mixed with their awful makeup made me howl. I leaned forward and looked down the row of my family to see them all enjoying it, even Nick.

When I sat back I accidentally brushed my arm against the man next to me's arm.

"Sorry" I blushed

"No worries" he smiled so sweetly I thought I was going to burst

The show ended and the lights all turned on. My family got up to leave because the two little ones were getting extremely tired.

"I'll see you guys later" I waved them off as I was putting my jumper and my coat back on

I was about to leave when I heard, "excuse me?" I turned to see it was the guy I was sat next to

"Yeah?" The corner of my lip turned to a smile

"Uh, I j-just wanted to s-say you have a c-cute laugh" his cheeks were turning red

"Oh" I was in shock, "Thank you, very much"

"I'm Brian by the way" he scratched the back of his neck

"I'm y/n"

"That's a beautiful name" he grinned

"You're such a flirt Brian" I giggled, "I'm going to have a walk around town, would you like to come with me?" I asked

"That would be lovely" Brian zipped up his coat before holding his arm out. I happily linked arms with him as we walked out of the theatre and into the winter night.