Note: This story was submitted to the Furious Fiction competition and required to adhere to the following rules:

The first sentence must contain only four words.

The story must include something being shared.

The story must include the words PAINT, SHIFT, WAVE and TOAST.

The story must be no longer than 500 words

Toast

‘Everyone, charge your glasses! I’ve something to share with you,’ said James as he stood up. ‘And not only this bottle of outrageously good champagne – but also a surprise.’ He looked across at Courtney meaningfully. She shifted nervously. What was this?

‘I know, dear family, that some of you have thought that I would never amount to anything.’ He smiled around gloatingly and gave a chuckle. ‘But it’s amazing what the love of a good woman can do. Dear Courtney.’ He gestured to her with a wave and she returned an awkward smile. She glanced sideways at James’ younger brother Justin, who leant back casually in his chair. He looked deliciously dishevelled in his white linen shirt, with one too many buttons undone at the chest. He ignored Courtney completely, but her heart raced as she thought of the steamy pashing session they’d shared just that morning in the gym changerooms.

She turned back to James. What was he doing with his hand? He was fiddling with something in his pants pocket; something the exact shape of – oh! A jewellery box! A realisation hit her like a stone. He was going to propose! Everything became clear – the mysterious appointments and long hours ‘at work’ – he’d been shopping for a ring! And there was that day when she’d found her magazine on the table, open to a page of engagement rings.

She couldn’t let this happen. She couldn’t let him do this in front of his family. Her heart pounded and her thoughts raced as she tried to concentrate on his words; she heard ‘passion’, ‘dedication’ and ‘life-long commitment’. Shit! She twiddled her earring between her painted nails and tried desperately to get Justin to meet her eyes, but the stupid idiot just sat there, staring at James as though enthralled by him. She felt a flash of anger; how could Justin just sit there like that? He needed to do something – fake a stroke or a heart attack, anything!

She turned back to James just as he said ‘So, first, a toast – to Courtney.’

Without planning to, she yelled out, ‘No!’ James stopped and looked at her, shocked. ‘No, James, I’m sorry, you can’t. You can’t propose to me. I don’t deserve it. I’ve been sleeping with someone else.’ There was an audible gasp from the table as she looked to Justin for help, who just stared at her coldly. Bastard! Furious, she added, ‘And the person I’ve been sleeping with is Justin!’

There was a louder gasp, then a brittle silence. James looked from her, to Justin, then down at the table. ‘I see,’ he said. Then, after a long pause, ‘Thank you for your honesty, Courtney. Very… enlightening. But I wasn’t going to propose to you tonight. I was going to tell everyone that I got a promotion at work. I’m the new director.’ He pulled the box from his pocket and held it out, open. In it was a polished, gold badge engraved ‘James Emmett, Director.’

Copyright Sophie Ransom 2021