CHAPTER 15: YULETIDE FRENZY Monday, 24 December 2001 Panic. Panic. Panic. Panic. Another 6 more days to that wedding dinner and I still haven't found something suitable to wear. Panic. Panic. Panic. Panic. And in my strickened state, I had also forgotten that tomorrow was Christmas and that I hadn't bought any presents yet. Panic. Panic. Panic. Panic. Slap! That was courtesy of the inner me or outer me or mini me or whatever me: get a grip, woman. It's not really that bad. Let's just check the 'to-do' list, shall we? 1. Find and
buy a dress for the 30th. Okay, so maybe panicking wasn't such a bad idea after all, I decided as checked the list again and pushed my way through the crowd. Christmas eve and yet everyone around me was looking so flustered. I guess I wasn't the only one who had all that last-minute shopping to do. And I had taken a day off from work today just to do that. Finally, after numerous willings for time to stop or slow down just a tad... A silk scarf
for Mag (it'll go well with her corporate look). Not bad. Not bad at all in a span of 3 hours. I glanced at my watch. 1.30pm. Eeps. That left me only 5 hours to get the rest of the stuff ready for dinner tonight. Looked like my dress for the 30th would have to wait another day. ------------------- I sang as I pottered about the apartment for the last time, making sure everything was ready for dinner. "Chestnuts
roasting on an open fire Hmm...somehow that didn't sound right. How did that song go again? Oh, forget it. I'll sing something easier. "Jingle
bells, jingle bells Ding dong? Oh, what fun it is to ding dong? 'Ding dong.' Oh! Ding dong, the doorbell! "Merry Christmas!" A bouquet of yellow and white lilies greeted me as I threw open the door. "Flowers for me fair lady." And they were subsequently shoved into my face. Having relieved himself of the giant bouquet, Bowie casually sauntered in. "No one else here yet? I'm the first?" Flowers. Wow. From Bowie. Double wow. Somebody stop me from keeling over. "Merry Christmas, Bowie. Help yourself to the wine, will you? I just need to check on the turkey." I had to escape somewhere before he noticed the bright red hue that was sweeping over my face. A few more 'ding dongs' and the rest of the gang were soon here. ------------------ I handed the carving knife to Louis. "Here, you can do the honours." What a sight. Louis, looking rather like Groo, hacking and sawing at the poor bird. What I really liked about the three musketeers was that I never had to worry about leftovers. Like the municipal council trashcans, they would eat anything and everything put in front of them. "Are you going to finish that?" Jules eyed Mag's untouched tiramisu greedily. "Err...no. Here, go ahead," Mag said as she passed him her dessert. Point made. -------------------- Another 10 minutes to go before the clock struck twelve. And there we were - all slumped about in the living room, very much inebriated. "Cheers to a great [hic] new year!" Jess yelled as she lifted her glass. "You're about 9 days too early, dummy!" Louis playfully whacked her on the head. "Merry Christmas!" Bowie shouted. "Not yet! Not yet!" Mag corrected. "A toast to world peace!" Jules bellowed. I looked at Jules incredulously. So did Jess and Mag and Bowie and Louis. "He's drunk," Louis said. "He's drunk," Jess nodded. "He's drunk," Mag smirked. "He's drunk," Bowie muttered. "He's defeesnatelee drunks," I slurred as I slumped back onto Bowie's body, letting my head rest upon his shoulder. Ha! How I love the fuzzy feeling alcohol gives me. Plus, you get to do the things you normally don't dare to do and after, deny that it ever happened, blaming it all on the influence of that evil drink. "Bwahahahahaha!" I burst out in laughter. "She's drunk." I heard Mag say. "Nose,
I'ms nots," I pouted. "Cheers and Merry Creasemas!" |
