Morning all. We managed to keep power over the weekend but there are still alerts going on for my area so if I end up disappearing for a bit, you know what happened. Fingers crossed that the warnings don’t materialize. Still there we are. It will be nice to think about something other than weather and it’s impending doom, although I hope if you got hit harder than we did you are staying warm and safe. Let’s jump into the morning prompt shall we? Timers at the ready and off we go.
I like the set up of someone with one task being tripped up by other plots. I don’t know if this is the beginning or somewhere later in the story, But I suspect i will be thinking about it at lunch.
Monday, January 26th: The drink was pink and decorated with tropical fruit.
The drink was pink and decorated with tropical fruit. He didn’t know if it was alcoholic or not. He didn’t have time to ask. As soon as he walked into the door, the drink was thrust into his hand by a woman. She smiled and welcomed him in a way that looked slightly inebriated. Her words slurred around the edges. Her eyes and smile were sharp and clear though, which instantly had him on alert.
He moved out of the entryway, pushed further into the room by those behind him. The house was large and there were plenty of rooms to move through. A large number of people even spilled out into the backyard. He could see them laughing on the patio. The large glass doors were shoved to the side opening up the back wall and making it easy to slip through from indoors to out and back.
Ian knew the woman who handed him the drink wasn’t the hostess. As far as he knew there was no hostess. At least not officially. William Wetherly lost the latest Mrs. in a divorce settlement the year prior and replaced her with an ever-changing line of those who wanted to audition for the role.
He seemed to have no intention on filling it but enjoyed the auditions. Thus far no one lasted more than three weeks. Ian wondered if that would last. After his first divorce he spent six months with a string of girlfriends before choosing the Second Mrs. After that divorce he lasted only three weeks before marrying the third. With each divorce the dating period became shorter.
‘Until this last one,’ Ian thought. It lasted longer than anyone expected. Ian set the thoughts aside. Weatherly and his love life weren’t why he was here.
He maneuvered his way through the crowd, hating the close quarters. He was used to keeping people at arm’s length when he didn’t know them and sometimes even if he did. He avoided crowds as a rule.
‘And I don’t think I would choose whatever theme this is as my chance to join the crowd.’
He was certain someone started out with a tropical theme in general. He doubted it was any more specific than that. The flowers were a riot of color and the greenery placed in every room was lush and thick. He didn’t see enough luau themed items to think Hawaiian but the colors were bright pinks and fuchsia. Thee were also a lot of feathered boas and sequins.
‘Its almost like someone dropped a pageant into the tropics.’ The non-theme-theme made him feel even more off balance than the crowds. He looked at his drink and decided he ought to look like he was drinking it if anyone was watching. He didn’t want them to think they had to try something else to deal with him. He had other things to do and didn’t nee dot be dragged into someone else’s plot.
Ten til Midnight 