We were all seated at the grand dining table, still chattering excitedly about the show, when the girls finally made their appearance in the dining room. We all stood up immediately, me almost falling over because the chair was so heavy I couldn't push it back easily, and applauded and cheered them like homecoming heroes.
Miss Havisham had, according to my request, arranged that Josie was sitting on the end of the row so that Crystal was going to be able to sit ariound the corner of the table adjacent to her. That meant Darcy was next to her, then Miss Buchanan, then Rhett, Miss Havisham, Angelo, and finally myself, all along the head of the table.
As the girls approached the dining table, Miss Havisham indicated to Crystal that she should sit at the corner with Josie, and similarly nodded and gestured the other girls to their places. She put Mahogany next to me, then Luna around the corner, then Cordilia. Celine was next to Crystal, then Pensee next to her. The air was buzzing with complements and exclamations for the girls. They teased us for a little while, but finally admitted it was Celine in the bird costume in the finale.
We were all still in a flurry of conversation when nine perfectly handsome young men, impeccably dressed as butlers, all appeared and set our places in choreographed synchronization. As they finished, they all stood, one at each of our places, with the napkin, ready to place it in our laps. Miss Havisham gave the signal, and we were all treated to the masculine invasion of our intimate space together. My scan of the others at the table revealed that nobody else had that same sense that I did, of intimacy when the napkin was laid across their laps, except Miss Buchanan who gave a loud exclamation of delight. Was I more like Miss Buchanan than like the other people at the table? I hoped not. I still didn't know what to make of the outlandish lady who was openly flirting with both the men seated on either side of her with equal energy.
Josie, for her part, was completely unconcerned that Miss Buchanan was dominating Darcy's attention. She was in the zone with Crystal. I snuck a peak over each of their minds, and I could see that both of them were zinging with excitement and thrill as they spoke in animated joy, punctuated with "oh my god I know, right?" and similar expressions of familiarity and friendship.
They spoke directly into one another's faces, like only women do. They gave each other their complete attention and communicated with every facial expression, hand gesture, vocal inflection, as well as gushing language, at least as far as they could, around the servers' hands as they set the places in front of the almost oblivious women.
I leaned forward and caught Miss Havisham's eye, and nodded toward the girls. She didn't even have to look. She had been noticing. She gave me a "yes ok, you were right" nod with a smile.
Angelo and I talked easily about music and literature, and hopes and aspirations for travel, and a wide range of topics. It was just easy to keep chattering away, never running out of things to talk about. His voice was steady and kind, his eyes were friendly, and there was always a wellspring of good-natured humor just below the surface, which would bubble up without warning, creating a moment of laughter between us. He also easily looped in Mahogany, Luna, and Cordilia, so that our corner of the table was alive with friendly chatter the whole evening. I didn't want it to ever end.
The food came and went as the courses progressed, the wine flowed, the conversations ranged. I had to keep reminding myself to check in on Crystal and Josie from time to time, finding their conversation only deeper and more personal, their emotions more robust and powerful, and the earlier "crush" sentiment from Josie developing into real attraction and even desire, on both sides.
Miss Buchanan, on the other hand, was getting drunk. By the end of the main course she was sitting on Rhett's lap, and Darcy was feeding her each mouthful. She had loosened her garments and the boys had their hands up and inside her clothing. She was being bawdy and ribald, and I was shocked that Miss Havisham didn't object. It was so outside the sort of decorum that she liked to maintain!
When dessert was served, all hell broke lose.
Well, that's how I saw it, anyway. Everyone else seemed to take it in their stride.
Miss Buchanan stood up as soon as the fruit salad with a delicate custard and chantilly cream topping arrived. She announced, "I'm having my dessert de l'homme!". She started undressing Rhett.
For the first time in Miss Buchanan's increasingly confronting display of sexual inappropriateness, Miss Havisham intervened. I was relieved, because I didn't know what Miss Buchanan was going to do, but whatever it was I was sure it was going to be over the top and inappropriate.
"Perhaps you would have more room further down the table, dear," was all she said. Like what? That's it? She just asked that the... whatever was about to happen when she undressed this young man, that it happen a few meters further away? On the dinner table? Where we were all STILL EATING DINNER?