Chapter 168: Mary

A party was a good idea, a lot had happened lately and everyone needed a little cheerful relaxation. Good food, good beer and decent music would help most everyone. There would always be the naysayer in any crowd to try and bring rain on everyone else’s enjoyment, the task was to simply not be that person. The women always wanted a celebration of some sort, even if it was simply a pot-luck dinner after church service we all had to get together and someone had to speak.

Suddenly that someone was always me. I’m not sure why my words would matter more than anyone else’s; the only thing I’d really ever done of note was buy a random winning lottery ticket after cheating on a woman who I loved. All things considered I didn’t consider myself to be a preacher of enlightenment or truth.

Still, that was in my path today – I would make a short but motivational speech. I would also dress up for the part and try to act all stately. What made it worse was that with the upcoming trips I had to make I would be doing this a lot, I already had an appointment made with our tailor to get the appropriate suits and even a tuxedo made. Too many casual trail conversations with the Rabi had led to my downfall there, once he knew I intended to head to Washington & New York soon so he decided I needed to be decked out appropriately during those visits.

He was right in the overall scheme but that didn’t mean it made me happy. I did have to learn to play that game if I wanted to take care of these people but I didn’t have to like it. So it was determined that I would practice here and everywhere I stopped in between. I would be the perfect, well-heeled gentleman in all the best attire with all of the correct accoutrements. So much for my love of blue jeans and other rough & ready attire; to do what I wanted to do I needed to present a persona and it had to start now.

Still, today wasn’t full formal yet so I wiggled around it a bit and decided to have one last good time, I’d wear my best ‘non-formal’ attire but still try to act stately and mature. I’d rather just get drunk, dance and then get laid, the order of those operations was negotiable and repeatable.

Mouse was gone.

That woman who was glued to me since I got back had simply disappeared, without a peep. This was bizarre, she had been firmly attached to me and then she was gone. It’s not like I still didn’t have other people constantly orbiting around me but I had been hoping for some delight a litter later in the evening. I decided that she was simply getting dressed herself and that I would see her later.