"What do you think about throwing a Halloween party this year?" My wife, Chloe, asked me as she entered our room, fresh from the shower.
It made sense she would want to. We had just finished getting everything unpacked in our new apartment. Instead of a housewarming party, a Halloween party would be seasonally appropriate.
She watched me ponder it over as she got into bed next to me. "How many people were you thinking?" I asked before I committed. I hated large crowds, and there wasn't a lot of people I was fond of.
"Twenty-ish?" The number hung in the air for a moment. Twenty doesn't sound like a lot, but location plays a huge role. Twenty people in an auditorium? No big deal. Twenty people in your apartment, well that's a different story.
"Egh, I guess 20 people doesn't sound that bad, so long as they don't destroy the place." Chloe was born and raised in our city; she was used to a crowd. She went to school here, she went to college here. Hell, up until our honeymoon, I'm not certain she was ever away from it. I grew up in a small community. My graduating class wasn't much more than 20 people. It was quite the culture shock when I started college.
"Ooooh, thank you baby, I gotta call Erin and start planning!" She kissed my cheek before pulling out her phone and calling her best friend.
Erin and Chloe had been close for forever. They're the kind of friends who have been friends so long that neither of them remembers when it happened. As Chloe's parents tell it, they met in pre-school and have been closer than siblings ever since. When Erin got married to Chris a few years ago, Chloe was right beside her as her Maid of Honer, and when Chloe and I said 'I Do', it was Erin who filled that role.
As Erin and Chloe talked excitedly over the phone, making plans on costume ideas, food and drink requirements, and the guest list, I fell asleep pondering costume ideas of my own.
When I woke up the next morning, I had an invite on my iPad to a Freeform file (this collaboration tool that Apple released on iPad). It was quite extensive, and included a To-Do list for the apartment, supplies needed to spookify up the place with fog lights, a laser level, a large cauldron like bowl for the punch, Halloween themed activities, a tentative guest list, and some couples costume ideas for both Chloe and I, and Erin and Chris. These girls nerded out over the party.
I chuckled to myself as I got ready for work while Chloe snoozed away peacefully. The perks climbing the corporate ladder, she was able to chose what days she commuted to the office and what days she worked from home. Another perk was the large apartment we'd just moved into.
Chloe had a drive that was unmatched, and when she threw herself at something, there wasn't much that could stop her. So, at 34, she was the youngest Managing Director in the history of her company. I couldn't tell you exactly what her job duties entailed, but I can tell you she was the average office workers boss's boss's boss. Beneath Chloe where the Department Level management, and beneath them where the Team mangers. She answered directly to the COO of her company, and from what I can gather, was being groomed to take over for him when he retires in the next few years.
I wasn't quite as ambitious as Chloe, but I'm doing okay. At 35, I'm working as an engineer for a moderate sized manufacturer. It isn't glamorous work, but I enjoy what I do and I like my coworkers. I'm in line to be Senior Engineer if the dinosaur who's been holding down that title for the last 20 years ever retires. He's 72 years old, but is still sharp as a razor.
In almost no time, September gave way to October, and before I knew it, the weekend before Halloween was upon us. Chloe and Erin had done most of the planning. I helped set up for the party, but Chloe and Erin made the snacks, bought everything needed for the drinks, as well as the various activities they'd decided on. Honestly, about the only thing I did was set up the fog machine and laser so it made it look like you were walking through a toxic swamp. I rigged up a cooler for the fog machine to flow through so the smoke hung low to the floor, and installed some LED lighting around the apartment that we could program to enhance the atmosphere we were going for. I also installed some speakers that could be used to play the haunted effects we were going for, as well as some music. I had a blast getting all of this set up.
"Babe, will you get the door, I'm changing into my costume?" Chloe hollered from the bedroom.
I stepped away from the laptop I would be running the sound and lighting systems from and went to see who was at my door.
As the door swung open, I was greeted by Spider-Man and Felicia Hardy, better known as the notorious cat burglar, Black Cat. Both of them looked terrific. While they may not have been comic book accurate, they at least could pass for their depictions in the Spider-Man game that released on PlayStation. Erin wore a white wig and small mask over her eyes and a black body suit that accentuated Erin's body in all the right places.
I've known Erin for a decade now. I won't lie and say that I've never looked at her in a sexual way, because I have. She was a beautiful woman. But this was different. Erin almost always dressed modestly. She didn't wear a lot of form fitting clothing, even in the times we'd been swimming together. On those occasions, she'd worn a "mom-kini" (A two piece swim suit, but there's a cover attached to the top that covers the stomach). From what I'd gleaned from Chloe, Chris was a bit of the jealous type, who didn't like the idea of someone else checking out his wife. That was going to be a problem tonight, because that suit fit her like a second skin and left little to the imagination. Although her costume didn't show any cleavage, it was form fitting enough to show off the shape nicely. It also revealed Erin had a flat stomach and a very shapely ass, with each cheek clearly defined by the spandex stretched taught.
I stepped aside to let our guests in and was rewarded a quick sideways hug from Erin and a handshake and a pat on the back from Chris.
"You two look great!" I told them as put the last few necessities on the table. "Who's idea was this?"
"Well, Erin figured since you and Chloe were going as a Superhero couple, we should too." Spider-Man answered as I tried not to check out Erin's ass when she leaned over the counter to plug her phone in.
"Technically Batman and Harley aren't a couple." Chloe interjected as she joined us near the kitchen, disguised as Harley Quinn. This was the first time I'd seen her costume, and it took me by surprise. Chloe is no prude, and this wasn't necessarily inappropriate, I just figured she'd go for something more conservative since her coworkers and their children would be joining us.
She was pretty close to Margot Robbie's version of Harley quin. Blonde pigtails, one tip died blue, the other pink, studded choker, red and blue jacket over a white T-shirt that stopped an inch or two above the blue and red hotpants that I wasn't convinced wasn't just a pair of boyshorts underwear, and some fishnet stockings.
Erin squealed "Oh my God, you look fantastic!"
"Me!? What about you, just look at you." The two hugged one another and before setting about finishing up before the guests started to arrive.
The party invites said the start time was 6pm, so we still had an hour and half to go. The guests were going to be an assortment of coworkers and friends between the four of us. We still had some time, but people occasionally do show up early.
I took Chris, I mean Spider-Man, back to the computer and tasked him with finishing up the playlist for the party. It didn't have to be all Halloween music, so if he was welcome to add what he wanted while I went and tried to squeeze myself into my rubber Batman suit. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was wildly uncomfortable, and it didn't breathe at all. Also, comically, as I walked sometimes my thighs would rub together and cause the rubber to squeak with each step I took. Needless to say, I will not be donning my cowl again anytime soon.
A short time later, guests started to arrive and we all busied ourselves welcoming them and their families. We helped with the various activities we'd planned. Costume contest (a kid in a Transformers costume that actually transformed took first), a pumpkin carving contest (one of Chris' coworkers manage to depict a vampire transforming into a bat and flying back to his castle, he won), some trivia games, and a few other activities filled out the itinerary, all which seemed to go over well with those in attendance. Beverages, adult and child-friendly, were served throughout the night. Since Erin and Chris were crashing at our place tonight, the four of us consumed a healthy amount of libations, and we were feeling pretty good by the time the last guest was ushered out. The apartment didn't look too trashed, but since it was 11pm, we decided to save the cleaning for the next morning.
I couldn't wait a minute longer, I retreated to my bedroom and changed. Being Batman wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I returned to the living room in a t-shirt and gym shorts. Everyone else was apparently fine with their costumes.
"Here, I made this for you." Chloe handed me a drink as I took a seat on the couch next to her. It was some whiskey in a Dr. Pepper. She'd made it fairly strong, but it still went down like butter as I drank it.
"What do you all want to do?" Erin asked as she took a seat on the floor, her back against the couch between Chris' legs.
"Want to act like teenagers, and play a game of Truth or Dare?" Chloe asked, slurring her words a bit.
"Laaaaame." Chris huffed, his eyes looking heavy.
"Do you have a better idea?" Erin asked him, with a little ice in her voice.
