Cocktail Party?

 I think we need lemons also, if we’re going to have cocktails.  Limes, cherries, olives?”

“What?  Oh sure, sounds great.”  Jeff was looking at his tablet, as usual.  Barely listening to his wife as she rattled off items she needed.  The party was to introduce him to her new work friends.  Great, he thought. I can hardly wait.  Booorrring!  He glanced up just for a second to see her giving him that look.

” You know how much this means to me.  Why can’t you just go long with it?”  Her phone rang and of course she stopped to answer it.  

Jeff had been here before.  What is it with these meet-everybody-at-my-office parties?  You hear about fifty names you won’t remember an hour later, and when the jolly old St. Nick party comes, it’s the same thing all over again.  A waste of his time, he thought.  He had more important things on his mind.

“Sure, that would be great, Grace, bring that.  It’s your specialty!”  She hung up the phone and shook her head.  Why is it everytime you have a get-together everyone thinks you can’t LIVE without their contribution?   It’s not a potluck, it’s a cocktail party!  She looked at her list again.  Olives, gin, vodka, “I wonder if we should get stuff to make margaritas?”

“Huh?”  Jeff looked up briefly from his tablet.  He finally found someone to buy that old motorcycle.  Two minutes, that’s all he needed.  Two minutes!

Julie couldn’t believe it.  Jeff should be happy for her and this new job. Her phone rang again.  This time it was Kevin saying he was happy to accept her invitation.  She crossed off another name on the list.  She was excited to see most of them were coming.  If only Jeff would put that damn thing down so we could talk.

Jeff almost had the deal sealed when he jumped at the sound of his wife’s voice.  “Jeff!  Are you listening?”

“I almost have the bike sold, hold on!”  Julie’s phone rang again.  As she answered it, she caught the look on Jeff’s face. She remembered that look.  

“Thanks, Carol. I’ll have to call you back.”  Jeff pushed the tablet aside.  For a moment they just stared at each other.  They each turned off their devices.  Julie put the list in her purse.  

They each started to speak at the same time.  “Let’s have a drink.”

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