Absinthe Bubbles?!

I had gone over to Charitie's house, but as soon as I got there, she promptly ushered me to the car. We had been driving for about 10 minutes when I asked her where we were going. When she told me that we were going to New Orleans, I gently told her that New Orleans was in the opposite direction.

"Yes, I know, but I've got a short cut, and anyway, I have to go to Baton Rouge to take a test."

"But, Chair, it's stupid to be taking a test. Let's just turn around and go the other way to New Orleans." It was, after all, a Saturday night...1am, to be precise.

"No. I can't. This is my job, Jackie, and I have to do it, no matter that I don't like it, no matter that I hate it."

"Well, if you hate it, why don't you just quit and find another job?"

"Look, Jackie, if you don't like it, you can walk to f---ing bloody New Orleans!"

"Fine. Let me out." She stopped dead in the middle of the interstate and, with one last glare, I opened the door, and as soon as my feet touched the pavement, I was in New Orleans. I stared around, quite stunned, when I felt Charitie put her arm around my shoulder. She grinned at me and said, "See? Told you I had a short cut to New Orleans." We walked into the Monteleone Hotel where our French teacher, Ms. Medlock, sings while playing the piano. We lean against the piano situated in the lobby and listen to her for a moment or two before trumpets blast. We all turn to look at the stair where Steve comes tumbling down, dressed as a harlequin. Descending after him was Brian as the Queen and Stefan as the King. They stood at the landing looked at Chair and me, then turned and went back upstairs. Steve came up behind us and pushed us sharply so that we both fell to the floor. His voice rang out through the lobby: "Pick a number if you dare, and you might spawn the royal heir."

When Charitie and I got up off of the floor, we were in a waiting room of sorts. We each had a ticket in our hand, marked with the number 22, but mine had a "B" on it, while Chair's had an "S". A man rang a small, silver hand bell and called out "B-22". I hesitated, and when I did, Steve came up from behind and herded me towards this one door. He opened it then pushed me inside and slammed the door behind me. I looked towards the huge canopy four-poster feather bed, and sprawled in the center was Brian wearing this sexy negligee in a pale pink colour. He beckoned me to come closer, and when I got to the edge of the bed, he reached up to wrap his hand with my hair, then tugged until I was sitting on the bed next to him.

When I walked out of the room, the waiting room was still full, but I could not find Charitie anywhere. I went to ask the man holding the bell, when Steve interrupted me.

"When looking for George or Sally, all you do is check the tally."

I had no idea as to what he was talking about until I confronted the bellman. Behind him, hanging on the wall, was this large tally divided into a "B" side and an "S" side. The man asked me for my ticket, and when I handed it over, he proceeded to find my number on the tally and put a mark beside it. I dawned on me then that the Number 22 spot on the "S" side was blank. Charitie was still in the room with Stefan. So I walked to the other door that did not hold Brian and opened it up. To my complete astonishment, Stefan was sitting naked on his bed playing chess with a man that looked suspiciously like a turtle. I heard a giggle off to my left, and when I looked, I saw Charitie scurrying around picking clothes up off the floor. She tossed them into a pile in the corner, and after she had a mountain, she jumped onto them. The clothes shifted under her weight to form a throne. Meanwhile, the turtle man had sheepishly said the words, "Check Mate." Stefan's eyes blazed with rage as he threw the man to the floor. The turtle man began to slide towards the double doors, and when he got within a few feet of them, they opened to allow the man to continue sliding out.

At this point anyone could see how tense Stefan was as he stepped out into the waiting room. Still giggling, Charitie followed close on his heels, and I followed close on hers. When I got into the waiting room, it had turned into a large bathroom. Stefan had walked to a bathtub and got in while Steve poured this green liquid into the water. It started to foam into bubbles, and when there was a large abundance of them, Stefan began to drink them. I was so shocked that I just stood there with my jaw hanging slack, wondering what on earth was going through his head. That is when Brian walked up and read my mind as he stepped into the tub, negligee and all.

"It's absinthe bubbles, you ignorant fool." I stood there watching as Brian and Stefan drank from the tub and talked closely amoungst themselves. Suddenly Stefan stood up and pulled me into the tub. I was caught off guard by such degree that when I finally realized Stefan was holding me under the water, I could barely breathe. When I was to the point where black dots started to swim before my eyes, I remembered what Brian had said about the bubbles being absinthe, so I inhaled sharply, hoping to carry in just a little oxygen. The taste of soap was bitter in my mouth as Stefan pulled me to my feet. Perhaps it was absinthe for Brian and Stefan, but for me, it was pure soap. Stefan pulled me into his arms and murmured something about the dark sides of mirrors. I turned to look as Steve pushed an full-length mirror in front of me. Standing in the mirror was me...only I looked like Jack Fairy, and I was dry as a bone.