Toby Williams answered the door to find three of his mother's friends stood on the driveway. He'd met all the women on more than one occasion, and had often wondered what they'd looked like thirty years ago when they'd been about his age. It was obvious to him that even though their faces were heavily wrinkled, and that each one had skin blemishes make-up couldn't hide, that they'd all probably been attractive in their twenties, especially if they'd had the sort of figures he always assumed that women had prior to marrying men with as much money as each one's husbands.
"Hello," he smiled politely, "But my mother's not here. She's gone away for the weekend to see her sister."
"We know," grinned the slightly overweight woman closest to him, "but it's her birthday tomorrow and we've planned a little surprise for when she gets back, so can we come in?"
"Sure," he shrugged and then asked politely, "Is it anything I can help you with?"
The fifty-something woman he knew only as Cathy grinned back at him, "Definitely," she replied waving a canvas shopping bag under his nose, "Or there wouldn't been any point in bringing this lot."
"Why, what have you got in there?" asked Toby as he instinctively peered downwards in an attempt to make out what was in the bag down but saw nothing.
"Let's have a drink first," smirked Cathy as one of the other women waved a shoppping bag which he could tell from the sound of chinking glass contained bottles of some sort, "Jenny's spent all day telling us about some special cocktail mixer she got from a friend and we want to try it out."
The three women walked past Toby into the open plan kitchen, where Jenny put the bag of bottles on the worktop and gestured for him to sit down. "We know where everything is," she said smiling, "so I'll pour us all a drink and then we'll let you in on what we've got planned."
Toby sat on the three-seater in the main room as the two other women sat in the armchairs either side of him and watched intently as their friend pulled bottles of spirits and mixers from her shopping bag. "Any preferences Toby?" she asked grinning, "Or would you like me to mix you a nice surprise?"
"Whatever you want to do is fine by me," he smiled in reply, just seconds before the thick set fifty something woman to his right laughed, "Lets get the drinks poured first!"
The two other women also started laughing as Toby shrugged in puzzlement while watching the stick-thin fifty year old stood in the kitchen quivver with amusement as she poured small amounts of several spirits into a cocktail shaker and then added two different coloured liquids that he assumed were non-alcoholic.
"You first," said Jenny as she handed the contents of the shaker to Toby in a large tumbler, "and then I'll make us something."
He sipped at the glass politely, and then asked, "So what's in the bag and what do you need my help with?"
"Lingerie", laughed Cathy McAllister as the lines on her face turned into deep creases, "But let's all have a drink first."
Toby gulped his drink nervously and gestured towards Jenny for a refil which she poured from the shaker while grinning almost maniacally. "Do like my cocktail Toby?," she sniggered, "Or has Cathy just embarassed you?"