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He laughed at her, rolled a slightly wet dish towel into a rat tail, and started chasing her around the kitchen while cracking it at her rear.
She laughed and squealed, screaming at him to stop.
Suddenly the front door opened.
“Hey, who’s murdering Stacey? You can hear her screaming all the way down the street.” Chad, Jacob’s best friend, entered the kitchen and yelled over all the commotion. He entered the kitchen along with Don and Charity, a newly married couple.
Charity wrapped Stacey in a hug, planting a peck on her cheek. “Here’s our contribution to the celebration, not that I can drink any.”
Stacey took the bottle of wine from her friend’s hands. “Don’t you worry about it. I’ll gladly drink yours.” She rubbed her friends little pregnant belly. “I’m so glad you both could make it!” exclaimed Stacey to Don and Charity. “I don’t get to see you often, and now with you two married, and expecting, it’s like you’ve become hermits.” She gave Don a hug, and a punch in the arm to Chad as he tried to steal some food off a tray.
“Is Kristen here yet?” Asked Chad with a wince from the punch he took from Stacey. “I need someone to talk to who isn’t into abusing the fat guy!”
“Whatever, But no she’s not.” chuckled Stacey. “Help me get the rest of this food into the dining room and we can start eating. Kristen will be here late, as usual. We know better than to wait on her.”
“Yeah, she’s always on Kristen Time.” Jacob agreed as he passed out the last few trays to everyone to get into the dining room. “Take these. I’ll go find Elizabeth.” He handed off trays of food to Chad and left the room.
Elizabeth was leaning on the railing of Jacob and Stacey’s deck, sipping her wine, and enjoying the night sky. It was a clear and humid summer night. The sky was still bright, though the sun had set. Elizabeth was lost in thought wondering what some of her friends from college were up to.
Brady was on her mind. They were together on and off for four years but left college with no plans for when or if they would see each other. Realizing that you may not talk with someone again who was such a large part of your life for so long was strange.
Jacob paused when he stepped out onto the deck and saw Elizabeth leaning against the railing. He watched her for a moment. Her long brown hair was blowing gently in the almost nonexistent breeze. He noticed how perfect her body was, her curves in all the right places. He walked quietly toward her and joined her at the railing.
“What are you so lost in thought about?” She jumped in surprise when she heard his voice. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He placed his hand gently on the center of her back in a soothing gesture.
She hung her head and took a deep breath to calm her nerves and held up her hand.“Not a big deal,” she answered with a laugh. “You sure can sneak up on a person. I’ll have to keep note of that.”
“Yeah, don’t keep your bedroom door unlocked. You never know.” He winked. “Come on, everyone is here and it’s time to eat. I came to get you.”
Jacob made a gesture for her to go toward the door. He opened it and guided her through the kitchen and into the dining room.He led her to an empty seat. “Everyone, this is Elizabeth, our neighbor’s daughter.” She sat down and he took the seat next to her, with Chad on her other side.
“Hey, there. I’m Chad, your knight in shining armor.” Chad exclaimed as he stood and took her hand in his, lightly kissing her knuckles. Elizabeth gave him a crooked smile and blushed a little. She didn’t quite know what to think of that gesture. Chad was cute. He had short wavy dirty-blond hair and hazel eyes. He was dressed in jeans and a button-up shirt. Very relaxed looking.
“Really, Chad?” said Stacey, “Please excuse him. He is the friend you can never get rid of. He’s been tagging along behind Jacob for as long as I can remember.”
Chad immaturely stuck his tongue out at Stacey and gave a hearty laugh. Everyone followed. Introductions were quick, and Elizabeth soon found herself enjoying dinner and conversation. She didn’t speak much, but listened attentively, and laughed at the jokes. Dinner was going well, when suddenly, the front door opened loudly and in walked the queen, or at least that is what it seemed like.
The woman who entered was dressed perfectly in designer clothes from head to toe. She was wearing black high heels, a tight, black pencil skirt, and a black and white striped blouse. Her blouse had the top few buttons undone, exposing deep cleavage. She had long flowing blonde hair, and very little makeup; she was a natural beauty.
“Hey! I made it everyone! The party can start now!”
This must be Kristen, Stacey’s oldest friend everyone was talking about. Elizabeth watched the beauty with her simple yet put-together clothing, and the immediate attention she commanded from the guys around the table, and felt her mouth go dry, and her chest start to tighten.
This is the kind of girl who always made Elizabeth question everything about herself. She sighed inwardly and put on a smile she hoped looked genuine, as Stacey introduced Kristen to her.
Kristen nodded her head at Elizabeth in a half-greeting, brushing her off, then quickly turned all her attention to Jacob, flashing him a pearly white, toothy grin.
“Hi there, Jacob. Haven’t seen you in a while. Seems like you’re doing well.” Kristen came up behind him, squeezed his shoulders leaning in as close as possible with a chair between them, and took her seat on his other side. Elizabeth noticed that Kristen kept her hand lightly on Jacob’s arm as she filled her plate with food, and her glass with wine.
Elizabeth flashed a cold smile toward the new arrival and had to bite on the inside of her cheek to keep comments from slipping through her lips. Something about Kristen and the attention she demanded rubbed Elizabeth the wrong way.
Once Kristen was settled, she took control of the conversation. Elizabeth was unable to take part and had difficulty keeping up with where it was going. It was like Kristen meant to alienate the new girl as much as possible since Elizabeth had no idea who or what they were talking about. She tried her best to keep up, laughing at what seemed like the right place, putting in a few little “Wow, really?” and “I don’t believe it!” determined not to let Kristen get the best of her.
“Alright all, don’t hog the wine, fill up everyone’s glass, Chad.” Kristen held her glass out to make sure she got a refill, grabbed the bottle from across the table and poured some in Jacob’s glass before he could object. The bottle continued its journey, until everyone had full glasses, and the bottle was emptied. Another was quickly opened and continued the same path. Soon the bottle was back in Chad’s hand. He filled his glass, then reached over to top off Elizabeth’s,
“Just a little bit more, please.” Elizabeth replied politely.
“Oh, what…one glass is all you can handle?” Kristen commented coldly.
