I parked the car on the street in front of the house, turned off the engine, and reached for the invitation lying on the passenger seat. I re-read it three more times just to make sure I was reading it correctly:
Amy & Rich's Summer Fun Bash
4pm to???
Snacks and beverages provided
Pretty straightforward, until I read the handwriting below the printing:
"Hope you can make it! It's been a while since I've seen you, and I can't think of a better opportunity for us to get together and catch up. Bring a date if you're more comfortable that way, but it might be better if you don't.
Love,
Amy"
Even that doesn't sound too unusual, but the fact that the note and invitation were from my ex-girlfriend, my very married ex-girlfriend whom I haven't seen since she got engaged, was what made it very weird. What was really, really weird was that she was hosting this party at her parents' house.
I grabbed a bottle of wine from the passenger seat and made my way up the front walk to entryway the door. I didn't hear any music, yelling, or even voices coming from the side yard or the back yard, on my way to the door, which I found strange for a "Summer Fun Bash" on a beautiful sunny day. I rang the doorbell, hoping I wasn't the first person to arrive, even though I was fashionably late by 45 minutes. No one answered the door. "They must know it's me and they changed their mind about inviting me," I thought as I stared at the door. About a minute went by before I rang the bell one more time and waited to be greeted by one of her parents, who would be anything but pleased to see me. Finally the door opened, but just a crack. I could see someone peering out, but could not make out whom.
"Come on in," the voice said as the door quickly swung open. Whoever answered the door was almost hiding behind the door.
I looked around the kitchen that I had not set foot in nine years and noticed that not a thing had changed. The only difference I could detect was a dressing screen was put up to block the stairs up to the huge family room, and prevent anyone from really seeing up there. There were also a number of upright brown paper bags along the edge of the kitchen. There was music playing throughout the house, and it seemed like it was loudest right there in the kitchen.
"I can't believe you came," said a voice in disbelief. Turning around, I finally noticed that it was Amy's twin sister Allison whom had answered the door. She was wearing a loose fitting sheer robe and not much under it from what I could tell. "I really didn't think you were going to show up. I'm kinda glad you did. Amy will be thrilled."
Recovering from being stunned about seeing Allison, and seeing a lot more of Allison than I ever had before, I finally managed to get out, "Oh, here. I brought a bottle of wine for the party."
"Thanks. I'm sure a bunch of people will appreciate some good red wine to relax with."
"So where's Amy, and every one else for that matter?" I asked.
"Everyone is up in the family room, as usual. Amy won the coin toss, again, and she's The Hostess for the party. Tom just got here a minute or two before you did, so she's probably busy with him for a little while."
Allison set the wine down on the counter, next to the other liquor and wine amassed there, and pulled out a brown paper bag from the cabinets underneath.
"You can put your stuff in here," she said, offering the bag to me.