The birthday party... Wow, how do I begin this one? Let's begin a month before when I spoke to Steph about giving Annie a birthday party. She thought it was a fantastic idea, especially since Annie had thrown my 50th birthday party a year previous. She was turning 47 and both Steph and I began planning for the event. We agreed upon her house in Kalo Chorio, since she had a huge deck area, bar and patio that would be great for a small party of 20 or so. We started getting together supplies, including enough pork and chicken for a large souvla or as we know it barbeque. We also arranged for one of her other friends to do the cooking of the meats. Annie found out about our little plan and joined in to insure one hell of a party. The invitation list was of several of her friends from the British Legion, a club of Brit ex-pats in Paphos and Limassol, some village friends she had made, and of course myself and Steph! My work mate was invited but he begged off as he had other plans for the evening.
Well, as the Saturday drew near for the party, everything dropped into place nicely, our sea work had to be delayed due to bad weather, heavy seas forecast for waves over 1 meter. As group lead, I kicked everyone out of the office at noon and proceeded to the village to get cleaned up, help the ladies set the party up and assist the gentleman doing the cooking. I lit the fires in late afternoon so that he could start cooking when he arrived. The ladies were in the second floor kitchen preparing the multitude of snacks and side dishes for the evening meal. After I got the fires started, I took a quick shower, put my swimsuit on and a t-shirt and walked up to assist the ladies. Their husbands were down sitting in the shade around the pool drinking beer and bullshitting. British men have a sort of different attitude about their ladies it seems to me. They seem to put them right after beer, football and arrows... (in that order!). The gals were all talking and laughing and having a good time, sneaking sips of wine (which was plentiful) getting everything just so to take down to the patio/bar/pool area.
Our cook arrived and he started setting up his sauces, spices and the sausages he would be cooking later. He shooed me away and I went up to the kitchen. The ladies had finished their tasks and stored things in the refrigerator and were down by the pool sipping on their wine with their hubbys or partners. Annie was still flitting around and told me to get out of the kitchen and go swimming or something. So with nothing useful to do, I jumped in the pool and splashed around a bit to cool down just as darkness started falling. Steph soon joined me as did Annie. The three of us were the only ones in the pool and, strangely enough, the only ones who got in all night long. The others were content to sit around drinking, talking and laughing and had no interest in getting in the pool. Annie and Step and I were out in the middle of the pool with the lights off and treading water, chatting a bit and Steph said something flirtatious, I don't remember her exact words but it was something to the fact if the others weren't there, we could all be skinny dipping. I laughed and said, I'm not showing my shortcomings to anyone. Annie and Steph laughed and then proceeded to turn me away from the others who seemed totally disinterested in us. So I slipped my hand down Steph's one piece suit and massaged her ass and did the same with Annie in her suit. Both gals giggled and said for me to behave myself, we could have fun later, but it was time to eat and party a bit.
We got out of the water, dried off, and slipped a t-shirt on. It was hot and I kept the wet trunks on as it was still very warm and I knew they'd dry quickly. The ladies both put on cover ups and joined the guys and other ladies who were sitting around the pool. Since Annie had thrown me a party before, I took the "master of ceremonies" role and announced food was ready. Everyone grabbed a plate and cued up for some delicious chicken, pork and sheftalia, a local sausage that were delicious. Various veggies, cheeses and fruit were all on the buffet we set up. Everyone sat around and ate and drank beer, wine and liquor until the early hours of the morning. Just before everyone left, we opened Annie's presents and I must say, there were some very unusual gifts on her table. Anything from a very large vibrator to some nice negligee, everyone brought something. She did get some nice clothing as well. I'm pretty sure I know who bought the vibrator, Steph is very creative at times.
I think the last guest left about 2 a.m. The ladies cleaned up most of the area before they left while the guys sat around bull shitting and telling old war stories. After everyone left, I took off my shirt and jumped back in the pool to cool off before bed. I didn't have to work on Sunday so this was an opportunity to decompress completely. I took about a third of a glass of wine and slipped into the shallow end by the steps. Annie and Steph came and slipped into the pool as well. We chatted for a bit, just relaxing and Annie got out of the pool and proceeded to turn the pool patio lights out. She said she didn't want to disturb the neighbors. Knowing Annie, I think that was the last thing she was thinking about.
