"Sorry Callie, I cannot meet you after work today."
"Come on Marva," the pleading voice on her cell phone comes through clearly, despite the noise in the parking lot around her. "I need to introduce you to this great guy. Charlie is perfect for you. You will fall head over heels in love with him the first time you hear his voice."
"Nope, I can't do it. Tonight is Bryan's birthday party and if I don't do my share, Karen will never forgive me," Marva answers.
"Oh heck, I forgot about that party. Okay, that's the only reason I'm letting you off the hook. But next weekend, I get you for Friday after work and I'll bet Charlie will take up your Saturday night."
"Charlie? Charlie who?" Marva asks.
"No more info, until you meet him," Callie answers, laughing at the frustrated growl Marva gives her.
- - -
Here she is and it was not her idea. Maybe, she should not have listened to her sister. Karen thought it would be a great idea to give their brother, Bryan, a surprise birthday party in his own apartment. Alright, okay, Karen promised to do the hard work, and pay for most of what they needed, order and pick up the food trays, shop for all the supplies and probably most risky, going to Bryan's apartment early enough to make sure it is presentable for the party, or at least make sure the bathroom is clean. All Marva needs to do is greet all the guests in the bar in the next block and like the child's game of "Follow the Leader," lead everyone to the apartment house, into the elevators to the fourth floor, and ring Bryan's doorbell. After that she will enjoy the party and get rid of the trash.
Karen thought a "Bring Your Own Booze" party would be appropriate, because it is a frequent way to get-together among their friends, most of whom are young professionals and none of whom are exactly affluent. Their lifestyles are too busy for any of them to begin to think about collecting some of their modest, but growing, incomes into real savings or assets.
Karen didn't think about the rule about not taking alcoholic beverages into a bar where liquor is sold by the drink. So, instead of being in the air conditioned comfort of the bar, Marva is standing in front of the bar, collecting bottles of liquor and coolers of beer into the trunk and back seat of Karen's car, plus trying to keep the party guests that aren't inside, from blocking the front door of the bar. They are waiting for the phone call from Karen to say that she has convinced Bryan to get dressed and take her to dinner, even if she has to agree to pay for it herself. When Marva finally agreed, it was her only requirement. She did not want Bryan to attend his own birthday party in cut off jeans and a muscle t-shirt, or worse, no shirt, as is his usual mode of dress when he is home alone, which may or may not be frequent. He does not voluntarily share much information about his private life with his sisters.
After receiving the phone call, it does not take a great deal of encouragement to get help with the party food platters, and everything else, from the trunk of Karen's car. Several party guests have been waiting inside the bar at least since they left work more than two hours ago. There are other willing hands for the ice chests, drink mixers, shopping bags of disposable plates, napkins, and all the other party supplies that will eventually end up in the trash. In fact, most of her efforts are spent trying to hold the noise level down when the elevator doors open. But after ringing the doorbell and twenty people screaming "Happy Birthday," all she has left to do is enjoy the party, eat some of the snacks, and turn down all the offers of, "Hey Marva, you ready for another drink," although she tells everyone who offers that she does not drink.
"So, you are Bryan's little sister, huh?" The late to arrive stranger asks, and then holds out his hand, "I'm David Wells. I didn't know I was coming to a party."
Marva offers her hand and after a quick handshake, says, "Yes, I'm Marva Preston. How do you do David?"
David Wells is a dark man, dark hair, dark eyes, and dark complexion, in his late twenties. He is a gregarious person, and can make a friend of almost anyone, when he wants to persuade them to buy what he is selling. He is often a bold flirtatious man, usually teasing every woman he encounters, confidently touching them in some way, either companionably putting his arm around them or holding their hand for a moment while he smiles at them as he passes along compliments. He is a successful salesman, given a product he can understand well enough to promote, and takes great care to make sure he is well groomed and fashionably dressed.
"Ah-h-h-h," David Wells says. "So I finally get to meet "The Marvelous Marva"."
"Marvelous Marva, where did you hear that?" She asks her question with a puzzled look on her face.
"Sorry, I'm just catching up here. Bryan called me last week. He arranged for me to have a job interview with his company. I didn't know he was having a party."
Finally understanding, Marva laughs, "Oh, what a coincidence. Sorry, I didn't recognize your name. I called most of his friends to tell them about the party."
As they chat comfortably, David continues to look at Marva, enjoying the view. Marva is a small woman, in her early to mid-twenties, not really petite, but not far from it, just not an Amazon, like her older sister, Karen. She wears her dark straight hair to just below her ears, usually tucking the sides behind her ears, or occasionally using clips or combs to hold the sides away from her face. She has slim hips, but muscular legs, those you would see on an energetic person who runs or walks for exercise. Although her bust is probably average size, it is emphasized by her small waist. She is not a bold, out front, sales person like her brother. Instead, she can most often be found at the rear of the room, watching everyone or finding something to do to make her self useful. Almost everyone notices how fair she is, her skin is so light it is almost transparent. Even tiny blood vessels can be seen on the surface of her hands, arms, and any skin not covered by her clothing.
It seems, David and Bryan have known each other, for several years. They worked together for two years, before David accepted a transfer to another city and Bryan changed companies. Now, David is hoping to go to work for the company where Bryan now works, as his best chance to move back to the city.
Several times, over the next few hours, David's eyes are drawn to Marva. He enjoys her lively personality, as she deftly escapes the wandering hands of several of Bryan's friends and occasionally tries to do a small amount of hostess work, telling someone to go eat some of the food on several large trays spread around the apartment, or she collects a handful of trash to take to the kitchen.
When everyone has finally made at least one round of the various food trays and had one, or in several instances, a few drinks, the gag gifts begin to make their way into Bryan's hands. One of the women gives him a tube of chocolate flavored body paint and offers to demonstrate. Bryan opens more than one package of flavored condoms and playfully throws them around to the guests. A plastic battery operated vibrator is presented to Bryan by a salesman from his office and two of the women are asked if they would like to borrow it, one of whom says only if Bryan holds it for her. One of the women admits she personally knitted the tie-on ball warmers and offers to tie them on any man who will demonstrate how they should be worn. The hot pink, sex organ, ice cube tray is a big hit, particularly by one guest who moans that it takes too long to freeze or he would use it on any willing partner in the room. The strawberry flavored edible underwear disappears from the box and no one will admit they took them.
One of the men snatches the fluffy pink lined handcuffs from Bryan's hands and puts them on the nearest woman. It takes a while to find the keys, but she is good natured about it because all the men around her offer to feed her and hold her drink up to her mouth.
As the evening advances, an occasional couple is seen walking down the hall, either arm in arm, or lips mashed to lips, headed toward the master bedroom, or the bedroom in the hall, as their hands move to buttons and belt buckles. Marva turns down several invitations as she tries to hide her amazement at total strangers offering a quick tour of the bedrooms, although those are not the words they use, or leaning over to whisper, "I need to taste every inch of your skin."
Perhaps her easy blush convinces most men that she is not as experienced as the other women in the room. They may have heard Bryan mention his little sister, little being appropriate for size and now meeting her, little works for younger, too. She does look younger than the rest of the crowd, in fact, a lot younger. Bryan is thirty and Karen is a few years older than that.
At least three times that David notices, Marva goes out to the balcony, down the hallway, or to the kitchen to take a telephone call from a cell phone she pulls from her jeans pocket. There is no way she could have a decent conversation with anyone, while standing in the living room full of loud voices, laughter, and even louder music. One of the times David sees Marva step out to the balcony, he starts to follow, but is stopped by David wanting to introduce his older sister, Karen.
David, like most of the men in the room, has no interest in Karen. Anyone who watches Karen, for more than two minutes, discovers there is another woman very near and several times they are very affectionate, holding hands, or Karen has her arm around the smaller woman's shoulders. It takes little more than a glance to determine Karen's interest is in a same sex relationship.
Karen is not really an Amazon. She is tall, certainly six feet tall and maybe an inch, but probably not two inches, more. Her brother Bryan is less than an inch taller than she is. Everything about her is tall or long. Long arms, long legs, long hair which reaches well past her shoulders, and long slender fingers any piano player would relish. She does play the piano, but not nearly as well as her younger sister, who despite her small hands, has a well developed reach that amazed every one of her piano teachers. But Karen has a voice that sends chills down the spine of a man. It is a deep, sexy voice. Most men, soon after meeting her, regret her sexual preferences. They would prefer to hear a voice like that whispering in their ear as they satisfy her obvious sensual nature. Some men have even gone so far as to brag they could turn her into a lover of men, rather than a lover of women.
When David offers his hand to shake Karen's hand, Bryan introduces the woman standing beside his older sister, as his secretary, Cynthia Martin. She seems to know all the inside scoop on the company where Bryan works. She offers David a few quick suggestions to use when he appears for his interview on Monday. She hints that the company is gearing up for a large product release and is hiring additional salesmen so they can be trained and ready to sell on the product release date.
When Marva returns from her most recent visit to the balcony, Karen stops beside Marva and leans over to say, "Cynthia and I are going home. You'll bring the car?"
Marva nods at her older sister, as David walks up to stand beside her a moment. "So, Marvelous Marva, what's with the phone calls?" David asks the young dark haired woman he watched walk back into the room from the balcony.
"Uh, it's a favor for my boss," she answers. She does not like to answer the question, or more particularly does not want to share information about the call, although there is no reason it should bother her.
"Excuse me. Your boss calls you at eleven o'clock at night? Is that some new kind of harassment I'm not familiar with?"
Marva laughs, "No-no. Actually, I was talking to a client. My boss and I have an agreement. The client did not finish his business because we had a bomb threat at the office today and had to leave the building for several hours. I agreed to take the calls until midnight, so I wouldn't miss Bryan's party, because my boss wanted to attend his daughter's music conservatory recital and I get two extra vacation days."
"Hey, strangely, I believe you. That is too convoluted to be anything but the truth," David laughs and enjoys the young woman's blush, while she looks down at her feet, in an effort to hide her pink cheeks. "I'm sorry," David says, putting his finger under her chin, so she will look up at him. "I did not mean to embarrass you. I'm just teasing."
