It was 4am and Summer was awakened by a desperate need to go to the bathroom. She got up and left her room but right outside in the hall, she bumped into Travis.
"Oh, hi" she said, bashfully. She had cried and went to her room when she saw him and Liberty flirting at the party. She hadn't realised she liked him so much and what made things worse is that she saw him every day, week after week, month after month and she could barely contain her feelings about him.
"Hey there, are you OK?" asked a concerned Travis. She saw the hurt in Summer's eyes and remembered how sad she looked earlier when he and Liberty were being playful with each other. So she really did like him, he thought. Sure, Liberty was flirting with him but that was mostly the alcohol talking...Summer seemed to have genuine romantic feelings for him. Now things were different, in his mind. This beautiful, generous, lovely girl he took for granted liked him! He now saw her in a new light.
"Oh yes, I'm fine...actually I really need the bathroom" she said, with a forced smile.
"Of course...sorry, I'm in the way" he replied, awkwardly. "By the way, great party...wasn't it?" he added.
"Sure. Everyone seemed to have a good time"
"And it was because of you. You're a great host and...." he paused momentarily before finishing his thought "...a great person. So much good stuff happens because of you. I want you to know that...and I'm sorry if it seems like I take you for granted." Travis smiled.
Summer nodded. "Thanks, Travis. I really appreciate what you just said"
"No problem. I won't hold you up anymore" he said.
"Good morning, sleepy head" said Summer Holiday to her housemate, Liberty Lee. Summer and the third roommate, Travis Scott, had been up for an hour already and were finishing their breakfasts when Liberty emerged, still in her sleepwear.
"It was a long session at the space centre" replied Liberty. "Just 10 days before the launch". "What's for breakfast?"
"I did us grilled fruit" said Summer. "Actually I did too much...and I didn't know that Travis had cooked a load of grilled chicken as well so do help yourself; there's so much and everything must go"
Liberty grabbed a plate of the grilled fruit and sat down to eat. "Hmmm, this is good, what have we got on for today? Fancy going somewhere?"
"I don't mind" said Travis.
"We could....or, I know, we could throw a party!" said an enthusiastic Summer.
"Why?" said Travis.
"Oh it'll be fun!" continued Summer. "We'll invite all our friends and it could be a street party"
"But have we enough food and drink for a party?" said Travis, still unsure.
"Hello? Look at all this food we've already cooked...and we have plenty of snacks and have you seen the bar lately? We could keep a small army happy with our stocks" said Summer.
Travis thought. "Well, I don't have any objections. Do you, Libs?"
Liberty finished a mouthful of fruit. "Nope. A party sounds good...I need a complete break from work"
"Then a party we shall have! Travis...you go and let everyone know there's going to be a party at our place this afternoon and evening...I'll make sure we've got all our food, snacks and drinks ready and Liberty...."
"I'll smarten the place up" said Liberty, finishing Summer's sentence.
Travis went and told the neighbours that there would be a party at their house starting at 4pm. As it was a Sunday, everyone had a day off and could come. Liberty cleaned the house up and rearranged some furniture to make it more of a party place. Summer laid the food and drink out. Afterwards they went to their rooms to change into party clothes which gave them time to think about their hopes for their party.
Summer opened up her closet to see which outfit she wanted to wear. She had a blue strappy dress which was one she'd had for over a year now but it was made of silk and felt so nice to wear and was flattering for her figure so even though it wasn't the height of fashion, it made her feel good. She was hoping to make a good impression on Travis as well...and not knowing exactly where he was in terms of dating and what he was looking for in a woman...she thought he might like this blue dress.
Meanwhile Travis was putting the finishing touches to his outfit. He had recently purchased a black, military style Nehru jacket which was all the rage. He liked its smartness and thought about the people who were coming to the party: Jeremy, his best friend. John Action, the man he wanted to be more like. Suzy, waaaay out of his league. Barbara, Jeremy's cute girlfriend and Julia, the rather serious girl from across the road who he hadn't got to know very well. Travis would never hit on Barbara, Suzy was rumoured to have a boyfriend now and Julia? Travis hadn't worked out in his mind whether she was cute or not.
Liberty was very excited about the party. She had been working so hard in a job which was male dominated...she spent so much time around male engineers, scientists and astronauts that she had forgotten how to unwind and feel more feminine. This party was a great chance to do just that. She put on a brand new pink minidress, purple tights and white knee boots which she matched with a pair of brilliant white plastic shades. She looked every inch a mod girl; which was contrary to her everyday image. She then styled her hair to be more funky. Looking in the mirror she was very satisfied with her appearance.
They emerged from their rooms and Travis did a few last minute checks to see if everything was alright for the party. Liberty and Summer sat down to have a chat.
"Liberty, oh my gosh, you look amazing!" said Summer.
"I'm glad you like it...it's not my normal thing but, hey, I like it too" replied Liberty.
"Now I've realised I've not invited any cute, single guys...I mean, is it going to be awkward between you and Action?"
"Oh no!" said Liberty, calmly. "Action and I went on a couple of dates and, well, we slept together once but we both knew it was a fleeting bit of fun and not the start of anything serious. He's got the new girlfriend and he seems happy with her"
"Phew! Glad to hear it. I only realised about Action after we agreed to throw the party. Well, we won't worry about the guy situation then"
But both girls knew there was an elephant in the room...Travis. Both fancied him, Summer especially so, but nothing had happened and he didn't seem keen on either of them romantically. But Liberty and Summer never talked about their feelings towards Travis and did everything they could to avoid talking about it.
The guests had started to arrive and Summer rushed to turn their new stereo system on as Liberty answered the door to greet the guests.
The first to arrive were Jeremy and Barbara. They said their greetings to the girls but went to seek out Travis, who was lurking in his room.
Travis smiled enthusiastically at them when they arrived. "Hey, Jeremy...cool shirt!" he said.
"Barbara chose it for me...do you like?" replied Jeremy.
"Yeah, man, it's cool. Barbara...are you going to get our main man here to loosen up and get with it?" said Travis.
"That's my plan" said Barbara, smiling at her nattily dressed boyfriend.
Summer entered the room. "Isn't it a bit cramped in here? The others are here and we're doing the first round of drinks" she said.
They left Travis' room and headed to the open plan kitchen/lounge area where, indeed, the party was starting to swing. Action was there, as well as Suzy. and they were all grabbing a bite to eat and something to drink.
Then menfolk all congregated on the sofa in the living room. "Cool pad you've got here" said Action.
"Thanks" replied Travis. "We've recently made improvements since that break in..."
"What the hell's wrong with you, man?" interrupted Action.
"What?" replied Travis.
"You live with those two and you haven't made a move on either of them? Back me up here, Jeremy, my man Travis here is a fool!"
"You're a fool, Travis" said Jeremy.
"Hey! That's not fair! You know, well, Summer and Liberty are....Summer and Liberty, man! I...I...can't!"
"Why not? Are you related to them?" said Action.
"No!"
"Then what's the matter with you?" said Jeremy. "Look at me; I'm the biggest square around and look at Barbara over there. How did a guy like me land a girl like her?"
"I've wondered that myself" said Action. "But Jezza's right. You're always talking to us about how you like to play it cool with the ladies and how much of a chick magnet you are and look at you: No date and you live with two hot chicks."
"But if I were to make a move..." replied a very defensive Travis "...that would be like crossing the Rubicon. It might upset the delicate balance of the cosmos! But, look, I will prove to you that I'm not a fool."
The party continued and people were starting to hit the dance floor when it was noticed that Julia Epstein had arrived at some point but didn't announce herself, thus her presence caught everyone by surprise.
"Julia! I'm so glad you're here!" said Suzy, pumped up on adrenaline and the spicy punch that Barbara and Summer had concocted earlier. She ran over to the new arrival and gave her a big hug. Julia, unsure of how to respond, awkwardly gave Suzy a hug in return.
"You look great!" said Suzy "Doesn't she look great, Travis?"
Travis had a look of a rabbit trapped in a car's headlights. "Erm...yes." he replied.
Julia looked around the room, looking stiff and uncomfortable. "That food looks good...I'll grab a plate" she said. Julia looked at all the different social groupings at the party...the boys were in one corner, the girls were mostly at the bar having a gossip about people and places she was unfamiliar with.
She took her plate and sat down on the couch. Travis soon flopped down next to her. There was an awkward silence.
"Hi" said Travis.
"Hello" said Julia.
"So.......how's work?"
"It's fine. And yours?"
"Yeah, good" Travis' eyes darted around the room. He looked into Julia's face but he found it intimidating in a strange way: He noticed that it was a beautiful one...which surprised him because he always thought of her pigtails and big glasses but her eyes, that pouty mouth, the cheekbones...she was actually quite hot! So he glanced down to avoid having to make eye contact with her and becoming a gibbering fool and noticed that her dress revealed a nice cleavage...again, he was used to her wearing thick sweaters. And then her legs were nice, her figure was nice....he felt nervous so instead he looked around the room.
"Did you get the recipe right?" asked Liberty to Barbara. "The punch is a bit strong"
"Yeah, 1 part pineapple juice, 3 parts vodka..." replied Barbara.
"NO! It's the other way around!"
"Oops!"
"No wonder I'm feeling so light headed!" said Liberty.
"You're my best friend, Jeremy" said a tipsy Travis.
"No...you're MY best friend" replied an even tipsier Jeremy.
"I tell you what...this punch goes down so easily...I think I'll have another one" said Barbara.
"Let's all dance!" said Suzy.
Travis went to get another drink and Liberty, spotting him, decided to sit down next to him. She was feeling very light headed and threw caution to the wind.
"Hello handsome" she said, giving him a little flirtatious wave.
"Hi there" said Travis, too drunk to care about upsetting the cosmos.
"I saw you there...looking at me" said Liberty. "Would you like to dance?"
Travis smiled and said "I promised Summer...." and at that he looked around and noticed that Summer was standing right next to them and she'd seen and heard it all.
"Oh...Summer. No, you and Travis go ahead" said Liberty, suddenly back peddling when she saw how hurt Summer looked.
"No....that's alright...I'll just....tidy up! *sob*" and with that Summer suddenly left.
"Hey guys..." said Jeremy. "I'd better get Barbara home...she's on the point of collapsing". Jeremy was propping up a very drunk Barbara and was trying to escort her out the door. "Great party"
"Yeah, it was groovy" said Action, who looked none the worse for wear even though he'd drunk as much as everyone else"
"I...enjoyed myself" said Julia, honestly. Despite her social awkwardness she had enjoyed herself, in her own way, and was pleased the group accepted her as a friend. As she departed she looked back at Travis, and gave him a little smile.
"The headache I'm going to have tomorrow...." said Suzy, grabbing her handbag. "Still, wouldn't have missed this for the world."
Summer had already gone to bed. Travis was staggering towards his. Liberty was left, still buzzing. She went to her room and took a look at herself in the mirror.
"You know...if I wanted Travis I could" she thought to herself. "He'd make a good boyfriend. But at what cost? Do I like him more than Summer does? Does he like me in that way? Do I risk my friendship with both of them? Is it worth it?"
She thought some more. "Do I believe in fate, or working towards an outcome because at this moment if I went for Travis it wouldn't be fate...it'd be me working at making him my boyfriend. We'd go on a date, move things along, take it to the next level. That's how I work...that's how I've always done everything. Or do I not pursue the easy, workable option and trust to fate, something I've never done before? Do I abandon any ideas of getting together with Travis and seeing what random men come into my life? Which path?"
Liberty sighed and went to take out the trash. She brushed her dress and reflected on how many compliments she'd received about her outfit. After putting the trash in the bin, she turned around to see a young, well dressed man looking completely lost.
"Excuse me, can I help you?" she asked.
The man turned around and took one look at Liberty...he was paralysed for a moment before speaking. "Oh, yes, sorry to bother you but I'm looking for the Stovall hotel"
"Oh you're not far from it at all" she said. "You turn right here, go down to the end of the road where you'll see a path and continue down that for a quarter mile and you'll see it on your right" Liberty noticed that there were quite a few very smartly dressed people doing in that direction; some of the women in fancy evening gowns.
"Is there a big event going on at the Stovall?" she asked the young man.
"Oh yes, a prizegiving event for a charity" he replied. "I'm representing my company. I'm dreading it a bit because I don't know anyone"
"Well...that could be an opportunity to meet someone interesting" said Liberty.
"Could be...are you going to this thing as well? I notice you're dressed very nicely, for a smart occasion"
"No...I've just had a party with some friends." said Liberty.
"Well...you look lovely if I may say so" said the young man.
"You may say so....by the way, my name's Liberty"
"That's a lovely name...my name's Gary. Say, do you believe in fate?"
Liberty paused. "I'm starting to warm to the idea" she replied.
"Because if I hadn't stopped here to wonder what direction I should be going in at precisely the same time you stepped out of your house then I would still be lost and we wouldn't have met."
"Very true" said Liberty, smiling.
"Would you like to meet me one day for coffee?" said Gary.
"I'd like that a lot" she replied.
"OK then...well, I guess I'd better get to this event. When would it be OK to call around?"
"This time next week" said Liberty.
"I'll see you then, Liberty"
"I look forward to it, Gary"
Gary waved goodbye and Liberty watched him walk off for a bit before heading indoors. "Fate" she thought. "Could be...."
