Chapter 7: Partyville

A week before THE PARTY, the caterers and party planner started to have equipment dropped off at the house. Twenty-five round tables that could each seat eight were delivered along with two hundred folding chairs. The delivery crew set up about a dozen of the tables in the area away from the kitchen and heavily used part of the patio.

Dave’s garage and carport became unusable for cars as box after box of other things needed for the large crowd arrived: paper goods, linens, racks of glassware and dishes, booze, wine, beer, and everything else one could think of that was nonperishable. Two large temporary refrigerators were installed.

A huge tent was erected nearby ‘just in case’ the usual Sarasota weather was uncooperative that day.

Meanwhile at work, Dave and Donna Klaubert, Derek Wilson’s PA, were spending time together each day handling arrangements, questions from guests, and other odds and ends.

“I have acceptances from over a hundred-seventy people,” Donna announced on Wednesday morning before the party including you and your neighbors. “It’s only midweek and another hundred or so are the type that never respond one way or the other and most of them show-up anyway. I’ve also been checking the weather, and this looks like a sterling weekend for outdoor activities. You do ‘it’ outdoors, don’t you?” Even time they’d gotten together she’d teased or propositioned Dave about having sex.

Dave laughed, “I do ‘it’ anyplace my partner or partners want, Donna. Are you partial to indoors or outdoors? I could even do ‘it’ in bed. That’s the most comfortable. If we do ‘it’ and I do ‘it’ to you, you’ll be such a basket case, you’ll just want to curl up and sleep as the pleasures from the experience wash all over you. Full recovery can take well over an hour and in some cases may require a few days for full recovery. I guess I should warn that in rare cases, you may never recover.”

Donna looked intrigued. “I sure hope we get to do ‘it’ together. You seem pretty confident about your abilities and the impact of our actions.”

Dave laughed again, “Of course, I’m confident. I’ve got four wives and eleven other women who I’ve kept happy by doing ‘it’ often.”

Donna adopted a teasing air, “How often can you do ‘it’ in one day?”

Dave smiled, “That’s the wrong question. The right one is ‘How many times do YOU want to do ‘it’ in a day. I’ll meet your needs; have no fear.”

“And what if I want to do ‘it’ once every half hour all night long?”

“Then that’s what we’ll do, but don’t make yourself sore. We could use other orifices if you’re so intent on setting some kind of new record for doing ‘it’. Others have tried, but I always leave satisfied customers.”

Donna shifted, “I was thinking of wearing something really sexy to the party. Do you think that’d be out of place?”

Dave chuckled, “You’re the one that’ll have to work with most of the people there. You wear whatever you want, but I’m not going to help you by making some suggestion based on some ulterior motive that I have. My best advice is surprise me.”

Donna reached in her portfolio and pulled out a piece of paper and passed it to him. He glanced at the page dated the day before and read the letterhead: Ashton Medical Laboratories. The rest of the document confirmed that one Donna Klaubert was free of any sexually transmitted diseases.

Donna looked at him with glassy eyes. A long period of silence passed. Dave could guess what was coming. Donna leaned into him and kissed him. She held the kiss for almost a minute, and then pulled away and opened her eyes.

“Wow! You kiss really nice. Thank you,” she nearly whispered.

“So do you. Not appropriate activity for me to be doing at work with my boss’ boss’ aide, but that was nice from my point of view, too.” Dave sighed. “Now that you have me appropriately hot and bothered in so many ways, I have to go back to work. I’m meeting with Gus Seaborne about staffing levels in the western region.”

Dave stroked Donna’s cheek tenderly and left the conference room they’d been using.

Saturday morning the troops moved in bright and early. The caterers arrived with a large truck outfitted with multiple gas ovens and a small mountain of food, some of it already cooking. A squad of helpers set up the rest of the tables and all the chairs, spread table clothes, and arranged sun umbrellas at the tables. Two luxurious portable toilets each capable of serving about four people at a time arrived and were set up off one part of the patio between Roy and Owen’s homes. A second squad worried about the buffet tables, place settings, centerpieces and many other details including various signs and such directing attendees to restrooms, food, bars, and such. The bartenders started to set up the multiple bars and a couple of self-service stations. Circle members that had taken on tasks were everywhere as well.

The dispatcher from the local taxi company stopped by to see the set up. He’d be standing by with spare cabs to drive anybody home that was over the limit. A squad of nimble young men set up two valet parking stations in the street, and established areas where they could park the attendees’ cars and keep track of them in a couple of the fields across Circle Drive.

Heather’s army of waitresses and waiters arrived at two o’clock and went into conference with the head planner and the head of catering about what they would be serving and how to behave while on duty. At three, they went off to change into their sexy little uniforms.

Donna Klaubert had arrived about ten o’clock that morning ready to work on details. She glued herself to the party planner she’d been in contact with for the past month, and became another pair of hands to do various tasks.

At three-thirty, Alice, Pam, Julie, and Heather took up stations at the front door to their home to welcome guests and direct or escort them to the core patio and party area. A festooned direct entrance from the street to the core patio also got established and manned.

The day before, Dave sat with everyone in the Circle going over the organization chart of the utility, who was important, and bridge lines to help start conversations. The activity was more confidence building than that he expected them to remember so much information.

The band had finished setting up by three-thirty, and they’d started to play various riffs and other incidental music to warm up, and also to entertain the early guests. The first guests outside the Circle started to arrive right at four o’clock, and comprised several of the families living on the perimeter of the property. Once they made it to the patio, Dave greeted them warmly and gave them a two-minute tour and explanation about the cohousing project and the expansion that was just getting underway. Dev and Sean warmly joined the neighbors and took over so Dave could greet the next wave of guests. Owen was there circulating and meeting people. Like everyone else, he had a simple nametag with his name printed on it.

Soon, the patio was abuzz with people and conversation, and more people arrived by the minute. Dave glanced out his front windows at one point to see the six valet parking attendants racing to and fro as people arrived and they took their cars to park.

Dave was caught totally off-guard when James Elsworth Parker, the CEO of the utility, arrived in a small black sports car with his hot blonde trophy wife. He swept through the throng of people, warmly greeting everyone from the utility that he recognized, and then vanished before too much ado could be made about his ‘sampling’ of the party.

Derek and Emily Wilson caught up with Dave and explained. “Jim’s presence would put everybody on guard about what they were saying, drinking, and everything else. He wants people to have a genuine good time, so that was why he only made a ceremonial appearance. Everybody can say they met him or saw him, but a half hour is just about right for him at things like this.”

Derek wandered off after pronouncing his wisdom leaving Emily with Dave. “Your summery dress is beautiful, Emily. I love the colors against the white background. You’re beautiful.”

Emily latched onto Dave’s arm, pulled the arm to her full breasts. He was sure she wasn’t wearing a bra. She whispered to him, “The dress would look better on the floor of your bedroom as you plunder my body. I’ll have you know that there’s not much on underneath this. I’m hopeful.”

“Emily! You shock me.” He feigned shock and awe.

“I’m hoping to shock you into action. You escaped me at our own party a few months back. I don’t want to let this opportunity go by.”

Dave teased, “I have rules I have to follow; you know.”

Emily gave him a look prompting him to explain.

Dave went on, “They’re for your good as well. We need to each have very recent STD tests. That’s the inviolable rule of the Circle. I’m sure Donna told you about our extended family.”

Emily swore slightly under her breath, “Damn. Damn. Damn. I even have a doctor’s appointment next week, and it would have been so easy to get that taken care of this past week.”

Dave silently breathed a sigh of relief. He added, “Besides that, take my viewpoint on this potential union. Your boss’ boss’ wife wants to enjoy a romantic romp with you. You know you could turn her inside out and backwards, leaving her panting for more and madly in love with you, BUT if things were to sour for any reason, said wife could say just the wrong thing to hubby, who could in turn put me out on the street in an unemployed status faster than it takes for a penny to drop.”

Emily pondered how to get around those two obstacles.

Dave said, “I would love to engage with you, Emily; I just think it would be unwise and too audacious of me. I don’t need another notch in my bedpost, and I’m sure you don’t either. Neither of us operate that way. If we do something, we should be building on some kind of intimacy we’ve built between the two of us. It doesn’t need to be the romantic ‘I’m yours forever’ kind of emotions, but it should be ‘I want you as a very good long-term friend’ intimacy – and I’m not talking about sex.

“Society lumps sexual, romantic, and friendship intimacy all into the same bucket. To me, they are vastly different.”

Emily leaned in and kissed Dave. “Then I shall start to build what I need to with you. The issue with my husband is a non-issue, but I’ll save that for some other day to go over with you. This setting is hardly appropriate. As for building something between us, I will be delighted. Expect some invitations to join us at some of our smaller parties than you were at before. We’ll have more time to talk and be together in that setting. We’ll, of course, include your other family members.”

Dave bowed slightly to her, “I look forward to it.”

Exactly at five o’clock the army of waiters and waitresses swept out of the core kitchen carrying trays with delicious looking hors d’oeuvres on them – some hot, some cold. The ‘Mmmmm’ sounds of delighted taste buds echoed around the patio almost as soon as any of them had been sampled. “Try this!” became a favorite expression. Every item had been chosen to elicit just the savory responses the guests gave them.

Eyeballs of both men and women rolled around as the sexy waitresses and buff waiters circulated with their trays. Each politely made comments to the opposite sex that were on the verge of flirting, but often a double entendre: ‘If there is anything that I can do for you, just ask me and I’ll try to accommodate your every need.’ ‘What could I do that would make you very happy?’ ‘Oh, dear! I guess I shouldn’t bend over that way right in front of you when I’m not wearing ... oh, never mind.’ ‘It was so warm today I didn’t want to wear ... oh, you don’t need to know my worries.’

Also at that point, the band stepped up its volume slightly, and invited people to dance in the space in front of them. Two-dozen couples moved into the space and swayed and jived to the various songs. The band was top notch, and quickly developed a rapport with their audience, taking requests and joking with them. Roxie was singing her heart out and being very entertaining.

Dave and Alice took five minutes to dance together to a fast number, putting on a show of their fancy footwork and choreographic skills. Eventually, Dave took to the stage to welcome everybody to the party and express his hope that they’d all have a memorable time and enjoy themselves to the utmost. He invited everyone to swim and carouse in the pool. At that point, no one had gone swimming.

Dave handed the mic over to Derek Wilson, who called five people to the area in front of the stage and then announced their promotions. Dave had bought some large ribbons with huge gold disks attached that each said ‘First Place’ on them. As each promotion was announced, Dave put the ribbon around their neck and shook their hand, very much like awarding an Olympic medal. The action kept things light and yet rewarding for those involved. A photographer took thousands of pictures.

At seven o’clock people were asked to start the buffet lines. A contingent of hungry people immediately formed and raced through the lines of the ‘all you can eat’ buffet. They took up seats as the next wave of guests got in line. While that was happening the wait staff circulated topping off people’s drinks, mostly wine, or serving the last of the hors d’oeuvres.

Dave went through the line towards the end with Derek and Emily. Alice joined them. The four of them joined Brian Coswell and his wife Joan and another couple at their eight-person table. Everyone raved about the party, the drink, the food, the ambience, the band, and the eclectic nature of the guests. Just about everyone had met the movie stars and billionaire Owen Bennett, too.

Partway through the meal, Joan looked at Alice and said, “I’m kind of confused. I thought I met another woman here named Pam who said she was Dave’s wife.”

Alice smiled sweetly, “Oh, she is. There are four of us with Dave.”

Brian tried to silence his wife’s next comment by putting a hand atop hers on the table. He gave her a very nasty look to shut up the obvious question. She ignored the censorship and stern look her was giving her.