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I pull myself from my thoughts and look at Leah again. “How have you been?”
She shrugs. “Working my way up the ranks at the city paper, trying to convince them to let me write about something other than school tax levies and the results of the Willowcreek Retirement Village’s Annual Foxtrot Competition.” She rolls her eyes.
I chuckle. “Actually, I’d like to read that. I bet it was a real hoppin’ party.”
Leah laughs and squints at the TV. “Hey, the performances are starting!”
The basketball game has ended, and now there are thousands of people celebrating on the streets below us in New York as Ryan Seacrest speaks to the camera. Maureen shuts off the stereo and turns up the volume.
“Food’s here!” Nick comes from the door with multiple boxes, sliding them onto the counter and opening them to reveal various kinds of pizza and chicken wings.
Maureen reaches into the fridge and pulls out a large platter piled with fruits and vegetables. “And I’ve brought something to balance the heart attack Nick has provided.”
We all dig in, filling our plates and our stomachs. There are twelve of us now—not quite the twenty guests Nick bragged about, but it’s still a crowd, and there’s a fun banter amongst us, fueled by the beer that we all happily consume.
Sophie takes a sip of hers and nods at Nick. “Where is everyone else?”
He shrugs. “There are a lot of parties tonight, they might show up later.”
One of the others, Dean from the production team, clears his throat. “Yeah, and um, we will need to head out pretty soon. There’s a thing down the street we promised we’d make an appearance at.”
Nick takes a long swig of his beer. He tries to hide his disappointment, but it’s clear.
Maureen is at the TV fumbling with the remote. “Hey guys, I think the TV went out.”
The screen is black and the silence in the room is suddenly very noticeable.
Nick takes the remote and begins pressing buttons repeatedly.
“Well, now how will we watch the ball drop?” Maureen slumps onto the sofa and watches him with a huff of displeasure.
Nick presses some buttons on the side of the TV. “Don’t worry. I’ll get it figured out. Hang on.”
Dean clears his throat. “Well, um, we’ll probably head out then. Wouldn’t want to miss that, and we were already about to go.”
Nick looks up with his jaw set. “I’m going to figure it out.”
Dean wipes pizza sauce from the corner of his mouth and walks over to him to extend his fist for a bump. “Man, we’ve really gotta go. It’s been tight though.”
Nick returns the fist-bump without enthusiasm and then continues working.
Dean and all five of his friends say their goodbyes, toss their trash, and leave the suite in a pack. Just the six of us remain.
“Well, glad they got their free food,” Sophie mumbles as she bites into a carrot.
“Yeah, that was rude,” Leah agrees, grabbing another slice of pizza.
I watch Nick step back and stare at the blank TV. I almost feel bad for him. Almost.
“Can you fix it?” Maureen asks.
Nick shakes his head. “Everything’s hooked up correctly. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Maureen crosses her arms.
Sophie stands up and walks over to the stereo, flipping it on so that soft music fills the room. “Who really cares about the ball drop, anyway?”
We all shake our heads in agreement. Maureen shrugs.
