New York during the holidays is a magical place to be. The lights are glistening off of every building and every inch of snow. The tree at Rockefeller Center was the most amazing thing to witness in person. The amount of lights that are on the tree make you transform into another world. She was luckily enough to have a view of the tree from her hotel window.

She dropped her bag on the bed in her hotel room when she turned quickly at the sound of a soft knock on the door.

“…Justin, you should already be …” She gasped. “Mom?”

“Charli.” She paused. “Can I come in?”

She stepped out of the way and waved her hands for her to enter.

“The shit you pulled over Christmas was uncalled for. And in order for me to spend time with my daughter for this holiday I had to book an ungodly priced flight.”

Charli stormed across the room, fetching her purse. She pulled out her checkbook, filling it out to her mother. “How much was it?”

“That’s not the point.”

“It is exactly the point.” Charlie stood tapping her foot, waiting for her mother to tell her how much it was. So she wrote down and amount, signed the check and handed it to her. “There.”

“You know what… ever since you moved and started working for Justin you have become this selfish person.”

“Selfish. Seriously?”

“Listen…” Her mother snapped.

“No. Listen to me.” She interrupted her mother, “I need you to understand that I will not be second best to someone that tore me down and made me feel as though I wasn’t good enough. You made a choice, and you made it very clear to me that you are siding with the man that cheated on me… for nearly half of my marriage. A situation that you knew for years was going on and didn’t have the decency to tell me about. I could have found love again. I could have been happy, but you took that away. And that barrier is on you, not me.” She exhaled a breath and went right back into her long rant, “If that makes me selfish, so be it. But I made the right choice, I chose to divorce him. I made the choice to be happy again. And if you can’t accept that, this will be the last conversation you and I both have.”

“Charli… I want you to be happy.”

“Then you need to side with me, your daughter, not your ex son-in-law.”

“He has always been part of the family.”

“He signed away his rights to this family.”

The room was silent. Awkward silence.

“Will we ever be the same again?” Her mother asked.

Charli shook her head, “You are my mother, and that’s never going to change. But you need to accept me and all the things I have chosen. And until then, we are not going to have a relationship.”  She shifted through her suitcase, looking for something quick to change into. “Take the check. I don’t want to be in debt to you.”

Her mother shoved the check into her purse and stormed out of the room.

Charli finally felt the weight of her choices lifted off of her chest. She couldn’t let anyone, even her own mother, make her feel as if the choices she made were the wrong ones. She knew she had made the right choice, if anything it was the best choice she had made her entire life.

She ran through the venue, trying to find Justin. She was so going to get a lecture from him about not being there when he needed her on this night of all nights.

The lights lowered into darkness.

The crowd erupted with roars.

“You’re late.” Justin ran passed her, warming up his muscles.

“Sorry, mother issues. She showed up at my hotel.”

Justin stopped in his tracks. “You okay?”

“Much better now.”

“Make me a promise…” Justin asked whispering into her ear, ensuring that she heard what he had to say over the roars of the crowd in the venue that began to get louder and louder. “We make this new year about making ourselves happy.”

She smiled, nodding her head. “We will push each other to happiness.”

He handed her a manila envelope that had a name and an address on the front of it.

“Can you mail this for me?”

“Is this…?” She asked cautiously.

“Divorce papers.” He admitted. “It’s time.”

“I… I…” She was stunned that he actually made the move.

“A new year, a fresh start. Time to make me happy. Time to make you happy.” Justin stepped onto the platform that would raise him onto the stage.

“Oh and Charli…” he kneeled down, “At midnight, I expect you in the center of that stage taking shots with me!”