A Short Story
The day after Christmas, I got a text from Josh, the guy I’d been dating for a couple months. We started dating around Halloween, but dates had been few and far between with all the holiday festivities going on.
I feel like I’ve known him for a while, but with sometimes a week or two between meetings, getting to really know each other has been intermittent. I was surprised when he invited me to his family’s big New Year’s Eve party.
“Holly is going on an adventure!” Said my best friend, Renee, when I called her up to plan a shopping trip.
“Dude must really like you.” Normally, I wouldn’t get ahead of myself when it comes to guys I’m dating, but in this case I figured it was a safe bet to acknowledge we must be on the right track. This made me happy. I liked Josh a lot and it felt good to get confirmation that he felt the same.
Still, this felt like a big deal, and my nerves were a little shaken up.
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Two days before the party, in an effort to calm my nerves, I asked Josh to meet me for dinner. I told him I wanted to get the party scoop. I was excited, but meeting his family was a big deal and I wanted to know what to expect.
On one of our past dates he mentioned that his parents enjoyed hosting get-togethers. I hadn’t imagined I’d be invited to one so soon, much less one of their biggest ones.
I learned there would be about 30 people there. He has two brothers and two sisters, all who would be there with their respective significant others. Also included would be lots of aunts, uncles, cousins and various friends of their parents.
One of his brothers was dating an influencer chick. Her name is Camille Flowers. Quite posh, if you ask me.
“That’s cool.” I said.
“Yeah, he’s always had an eye for the model types. I like the more down-to-earth types.” He said with a wink.
Josh was definitely a heart melter.
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The next morning, remembering our conversation, I naturally took to Instagram to lurk the page of Camille. She was definitely beautiful and had a perfection look about her. Long light brown hair, delicately manicured nails, and I watched about ten of her “GRWM” make up videos. She had good tips and she even gave me some ideas of how to plan my glam.
Also that day, I’d grabbed my journal* and my favorite pens* and got to writing. With all the busyness the past several weeks, journaling had gone on the back burner. This party felt like a big deal, so I thought it was time to get my thoughts and feelings together. So far, nothing was standing out and giving me pause. I felt safe in Josh’s company, I felt he was open and honest with me and we had fun – great conversations, lots of laughing and we seemed on the same page with our values.
This exercise relaxed me and gave me the self-assurance I needed.
I called my sister to let her know I was not going to be at her house for her little shindig. She reminded me that I’m a social creature and no matter what it will probably be a fun exciting experience.
She was right.
Nerves completely calmed now, I was ready to get this party started.
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On my drive to his parents house, I started freaking out. We hadn’t kissed yet, and New Year’s Eve required an obligatory kiss at the end of the night. In front of his family, I thought to myself? Stay cool, I said to myself, everything will be fine. Josh is nothing but a gentleman.
When I pulled onto his parents’ street, it was obvious which house was the party house. I was the last to park in a line of cars, grateful it was a mild evening. The weather was a cool crisp 45 degrees, no wind. To me, it was perfect. I arrived around 9 o’clock, thinking it would be better to limit the time I’d have to be socializing. Fashionably late, I guess.
Almost every house in the neighborhood was decorated for the holidays, so despite the dark night the light leading the way down the sidewalk was fantastic.
Josh came out to walk me up the front path. He led me through the door that opened up to a large foyer and I instantly saw people scattered about. The house was huge, but modest. To the left was a living room, to the right a family room with a more casual setting and I could see the hallway in front of me led back to the kitchen.
I was in awe. The indoor decorations were as majestic as the outside – the attention to detail was immaculate. And, there was food everywhere.
Josh took my coat, “Wow, you look incredible.”
I shamelessly raised my arms, “Ta da!”
I was proud of my outfit. I found the cutest black dress with plenty of sparkle. I was also excited about my manicure – I’d found the best glitter nail polish*. I whipped up excellent glam in a few days’ notice.
The first place we headed was to the kitchen so Josh could introduce me to his parents.
We found his mom, Trish, pouring champagne and his dad, John, cracking open beers. His mom was gorgeous and I could see a lot of resemblance between Josh and his dad. The meet and greet was quick as they both ran off with their respective trays to serve drinks.
Wanting to keep my wits about me, I asked for sparking water which Josh graciously poured in a champagne flute.
All in all, it took about thirty minutes for Josh to walk me around and introduce me to various guests, naturally focusing on his siblings and other family members. It was tough keeping all the names straight, but I think I remembered all the major players.
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The two of us landed in the family room, we grabbed snacks and sat down to mingle. Josh’s brother Jake was also there with Camille. She seemed uptight, not like the carefree girl I stalked on Instagram. When Josh introduced us, she gave me a quick handshake and jaunted off. Now she was sitting on the other side of the room with Jake, he was talking to her, but she didn’t seem engaged. She mostly nodded.
Josh’s sister Valerie came over to talk to us and I immediately fell in love. She shared Josh’s charisma and she exuded enthusiasm, especially when she talked about her kids.
I asked her how she handles being a mom to three young boys. She laughed genuinely and said there is never a dull moment. “Here comes one now,” and we all turned our heads.
Out of nowhere, one of the boys came bounding into the room with a megaphone toy emitting fart noises* and little puffs of smoke. I saw Josh puff up his chest a little, “that was my Christmas gift.” He smirked, proudly.
“Tommy! Get out of there with that! No one wants to smell your ass bananas!” It was his dad, Josh’s brother-in-law, saving us all from inappropriately timed farts.
I noticed Camille got extra stiff when she saw him running around. I found it interesting because from her Instagram page she had such a fun-loving personality and she talked about her affection for kids and wanting her own someday. The woman I was watching did not seem like that at all.
I thought it was hilarious. The toy was pretty cool. The little rings of smoke were flawless.
“At least he chose the banana scent instead of the stink liquid it also came with.” said Josh.
“That’s my Tommy.” Val said with a loving smile.
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After a while mingling in the family room, Josh asked me if I wanted to go watch some football.
“Sure!”
Inside the media room were a bunch of guys hooting, hollering and hyped up on smack talk. We stood in the back and one of his cousins caught us up on the game stats.
“Are you into football?” he asked.
“You bet,” I replied. “Go Bills!”
He gave me a funny look and turned away to catch the next play. He must be a Jets fan.
Normally, I do love watching football, but after a while I realized I felt out of place in this room.
I turned to Josh and whispered, “Too much sausage for me, I’m going to go see what the ladies are doing.”
He looked down at me with his tender eyes and sweet smile and replied, “yeah, go scope the place out.”
I entered the kitchen and found the room buzzing with the sound of laughing and chit chat. This kind of banter was more my style.
I spotted Josh’s mom and shimmied over to ask if I could help. She was neatening up a charcuterie board. A gorgeous unbelievable delicious savory charcuterie board. I refrained myself from digging in while she was working.
She took me up on my offer and asked me to grab a couple bottles of champagne out of the fridge.
“Josh is very proud of the fart gun he gifted your grandson.”
She tilted her head back and let out a genuine sweet laugh. “Omigosh, anything to get his sister’s goat. The fart gun was pretty mild compared to this giant ultimate nerf gun he got Tommy last year. Apparently he broke not one, but two potted plants.” She laughed again, apparently as equally amused as Josh by the destruction young boys bring on.
She finished with her board, added the champagne bottles on the tray and took off. A hostess’s job is never done. Like Josh said, I could tell she loved it.
I stood awkwardly and tried to ingratiate myself with a group gathered around at the other end of the island counter.
“Remember the time we almost skinny dipped in that fountain in Barcelona?” One of them said.
They were clearly catching up on old times and I respected their desire not to get to know someone new. I took the opportunity to venture off.
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I walked toward the laundry room, remembering Josh told me the bathroom was somewhere in the vicinity. As I walked in that direction I noticed a hallway leading to another wing of the house. Curiosity got the better of me, and I kept going.
“Woah, wow.” I exclaimed to myself. The end of the hallway opened up to an airy rustic library. Once again, I was in awe.
The room was dimly lit by strategically placed Torchiere lamps, emitting a soft glow of amber light.
The decor was chic but cozy: Big soft leather couches and regal looking arm chairs. The coffee table was huge. I wondered how they got it in there.
Alongside the back wall were a giant set of French doors, which I noticed were slightly ajar. I tiptoed over to investigate.
As I got closer I could hear voices and lucky for me the door was open just enough I could peek my eye through. It was Camille talking to a man. The string lighting on the patio gave me enough light to see her clearly, but a bush or something was overshadowing the man sh was talking to.
“What if I’m pregnant, Robbie? I’m late.”
Robbie? Robbie? My mouth was instantly agape, ass bananas dad! Valerie’s husband and Tommy’s father.
“Shush, calm down, you don’t know anything yet.”
That was all I had to hear to know I needed to get the heck out of there.
I quickly guided my way through the room to get as far away as possible. Grateful I was able to sneak into the powder room as if everything was normal.
I had to take a few minutes to compose myself. Does this mean Camille has been having an affair with her boyfriend’s brother-in-law? I reflected back real quick at her distaste for Tommy who had innocently created raucous. I felt irritated.
What was really going on here? All sorts of scenarios ran through my head.
Awkward was an understatement, but I knew I couldn’t stay in the bathroom forever. I kept telling myself to take deep breaths.
A few minutes later, I exited the bathroom and almost instantly ran into Josh.
“There you are! It’s almost midnight.”
We joined the group in the family room to wait for the ball to drop.
A few minutes later I saw Camille siddle in and resume her spot next to Jake. How long were they out there? I wondered. I didn’t see Robbie come into the room at all.
The awareness of this situation made me forget my original fear of the evening. The kiss at midnight!
I poked Josh, “are we going to kiss?” Perhaps I was ruining the moment by asking, but we are in his parents house with his whole family and I had to know what he was thinking.
“I’ll give you a smooch, but don’t worry, total class.”
5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Happy New Year! Champagne glasses were raised, Josh planted his smooch. I glanced back over at Camille and noticed her only pretending to sip her champagne.
I told Josh I hate to smooch and run, but I’m ready to get on the road. I had about a 30 minute drive back to my apartment. Normally it would be past my bedtime, but adrenaline gave me what I needed for what otherwise would have been a sleepy drive.
It took me about ten minutes to say my goodbyes, thank yous and nice to meet yous, and Josh walked me to my car.
I worked real hard to stay loose and not show the distraction in my mind. When Josh put his hand on the small of my back and assisted my walk down the long driveway helped. He warmed my soul and I leaned in affectionately.
At my car he said, “I hope you had a great time. My mom told me she thinks you’re adorable.”
“Your family is pretty awesome.” I replied.
“Now it’s time for the real kiss.” He pulled me closer, leaned in and kissed me with passion and heart.
I melted.
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January 2 and I was back to work after a two week hiatus. The day before was a full day of rest and processing. My brain was overwhelmed with thoughts of my developing feelings for Josh, that amazing kiss, and of course, the soap opera that was about to rain down on his family.
I was struggling with what I should do. Tell Josh or keep it to myself. And, I knew just the person to confide in.
Maggie is the concierge on our floor. She is retired from a high-powered job running an investment firm. These days she is happy reigniting her roots, answering phones, greeting visitors and fixing finicky printers and coffee makers. She says she loves to work, but also wants the simplicity that comes with the retired lifestyle. She is grounded, wise and a true gem.
The best part is she listens, counsels if necessary and moves on with her life. No judgements and no gossip.
I gave her the jist of my dilemma.
“Don’t tell him.” She advised. “Let things play out as if you were never there.”
She pointed out that I really don’t know anything. Even though my conclusion seemed obvious, it’s all speculation. I would end up being known as the whistle blower who stirred everything up. The new girlfriend who went snooping around the house.
I would argue I was exploring, not snooping, but arguing semantics probably won’t win my case.
Coincidently, Josh texted as I was talking to Maggie asking me if I wanted to meet for dinner that night. I told him no, but was definitely in for the next night.
“It’s a date.”
A few minutes later the UPS driver hopped off the elevator with his cart full of packages. Before we knew it, our colleague Tim was running down the hall toward the elevator holding aloft a can of WD40*.
“What’s squeaking?”
Wow, what a guy he was coming to save the day from squeaky carts. I laughed and took off.
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That night, I grabbed my journal* again and I realized as I was writing that much of what was triggering me was recalling one of my past relationships.
My ex-boyfriend moved into my house, took advantage of me financially, cheated on me and left. Not the best memories. After muscling through the heartache I sold my house and moved into my apartment. Having a smaller space helped me heal.
It angered me that Camille and Robbie are going to blow up the dynamics of this wonderful family.
But, Maggie was right. Ultimately, I don’t know much and everything is going to play out regardless of my confession to Josh. And, I don’t want his family to associate me with their new found struggles nor be known as the whistle blower.
Things with Josh are going so well and I don’t want to risk messing that up.
Now all I had to do was work on my poker face.
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The next night I met Josh at one of my favorite restaurants. I told him I was going to be feeling no shame because this place had the best gourmet burger and fries I’ve ever had. I told him he can look away every time I worked to wrap my mouth around that slab of beef. And, little did he know, this was the kind of comfort food I needed.
It took me a few minutes to loosen up, but I don’t think he noticed. Once we got laughing at the other events of the evening, I let what I knew go.
I shared what his mom told me about the nerf gun.
“My sister is so full of bologna! Nerf guns may have some destructive qualities, but knocking over 20lbs potted plants? I don’t think so.”
“That kid loves that kind of stuff and it brings me joy watching him have so much fun.”
Hearing him talk about his nephew with such affection reminded me of how Tommy’s life might change soon.
Josh noticed me zone out. “Earth to Holly….”
I blamed my distraction on work and told Josh about Jim, the WD40* superhero, saving us all from high pitched vibrations.
“I also saw that guy once with his finger in his nose, digging for gold.”
Laughing together grounded me and I was nothing but calm and relaxed for the rest of night.
As we walked to the car, Josh asked,
“How about you officially be my girlfriend? Let’s see how this goes.”
With a big smile I looked back at him, “Absolutely! I’m looking forward to many more of those New Year’s Eve-like kisses.”
In the end, I knew I was making the right decision and also realized that I could tell him what happened at a future date. After things blew up and settled down, I can tell him what I stumbled on. He would either understand or not. I felt we were establishing a good trust bond, so I was confident in the former. I’m sure he will understand that I didn’t want to be in the middle of a family issue, especially being a newb in the group.
Now all I had to do was enjoy my time with Josh, explore our possibilities and watch how things play out.
I was excited for the times ahead and grateful for this new amazing man in my life.
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