Sequel: Close Yet Far ›
Anything but Ordinary
Ugly Sweaters and Promotions
(Chris' POV)
I surveyed our apartment filled with our friends and family dressed in horrendous Christmas sweaters as I put out some more food. Beth and I had decided to throw a Christmas/ engagement party. Of course, we had to have an ugly sweater party. It was comical to watch all our friends and family wearing the worst sweaters I had ever seen. If there was one thing our friends knew how to do, it was go all out for a party.
The biggest surprise was that Chad had dressed up for the party too. He was wearing a Hanukah themed sweater. Chad and Kay were hanging out in a corner talking to each other and drinking beers. Bam and Aimee had come to the party in sweaters that they had obviously embellished. You could tell those two had a little too much fun with a glue gun. Bam was in the middle of the room with a shit ton of people surrounding him and Aimee as they told stories from their latest trip.
Beth walked in with more food that she laid on the table we had set up. She was wearing a black sweater with red poinsettias that had once been a plus sized sweater. Beth had cut it up and sewn it so that it now it hugged her body while still covering her enough to be a dress. She was wearing black tights and black ankle boots. Even though it was an ugly sweater party, she still looked sexy.
“Yo Raab! Where is there more beer?” Novak shouted, taking me away from my thoughts. Novak was wearing a sweater with penguins all over it and nothing else.
“There is more beer in the fridge. Help yourself and put on some pants while you’re at it.” I answered him. Beth was still fixing the food table when I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “Let’s go join our friends and have fun. The table looks fine.”
“I know. I just don’t want any of our drunk friends to knock over the food. You know they never clean up their messes.” Beth answered me.
I laughed and dragged Beth over to the group that had gathered around Bam and Aimee.
“So we’re running through the airport trying to make our plane to LA…”
“And two security guards are following behind us…”
“They were such fat fucks that they couldn’t catch us.”
“We made it to our terminal and were on the plane before they even got close to us.”
Aimee and Bam told their story in such sync that it was hard to keep up with who was talking. After they had completed the story, Bam caught my eye and took me aside from the rest of the group.
“This party is awesome! What a great idea for an engagement party!”
“Thanks, but it wasn’t my idea. It was Beth’s.”
“Cool! So have you and Beth thought about the venue for the wedding yet?”
“We’ve looked at a few places, but haven’t found anything we like.”
“Well, I was just thinking that if you want to, you could always use my place. I mean- I have so much room inside and tons of property that I’m sure you guys could make it work. It would save you two money anyway. Not that you’ll need it when I promote Beth to manager of The Note.” Bam said with a smirk.
“You’re promoting Beth?” I asked in shock.
“Yeah. As manager, she will have a normal schedule. She’ll work 9 to 5 except on special occasions. She'll also have to make schedules for employees, schedule bands and order the booze and food.” Bam explained. “Do you think she'll take it? I can tell that she hasn’t been happy bartending for quite some time.”
“She’ll be happy with the change. I also think that we'll take you up on using your house as our wedding venue, but I have to talk to Beth first though.”
“I get it. Aimee would kill me if I made that kind of decision without her. I’m going to go offer her the new job though.”
I stood in the back of the room while I watched Bam go over to Beth and engage her in conversation. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could tell that Beth was listening carefully to what Bam said. As Bam continued talking, Beth's smile grew wider and wider. By the time Bam finished, Beth had wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
It looked like our lives were in for a big change. It would be good for both of us. We've been craving a more normal life and this job would give it to us. I looked up again and caught Beth’s eyes. She had obviously been looking for me in the crowd. I went to go join her and celebrate with my beautiful girlfriend.
A few hours later, Beth and I were getting into bed. Many of our friends were passed out in our living room. Novak was in fetal position on our recliner. Abbey had left him here preferring her own bed instead of finding a corner to sleep in. Bam and Aimee were spread out across our couch in a position that did not look comfortable at all. Red Mohawk and Louie had both found a place to pass out on the floor. Kay and Chad had taken off to Kay’s place sometime ago giving each other the eye.
“So what do you think about getting married at Bam’s? Bam offered it to me tonight.” I asked her with a raised eyebrow.
Beth tapped a finger to her chin. “That would save us a lot of money. We'd have more freedom to make it into what we want. We wouldn’t have to worry about following anyone else’s rules either. That was nice of him to offer.”
“He probably only did offer because he knows that he and Novak would get kicked out if we had the wedding anywhere else.” I admitted with a chuckle.
All of a sudden from the living room, we heard Novak yell, “Jesus, Bam get off me!”
We started laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. When we had finally settled down, Beth said to me, “We better just have it at Bam’s house if we want our friends to actually be there.”
I surveyed our apartment filled with our friends and family dressed in horrendous Christmas sweaters as I put out some more food. Beth and I had decided to throw a Christmas/ engagement party. Of course, we had to have an ugly sweater party. It was comical to watch all our friends and family wearing the worst sweaters I had ever seen. If there was one thing our friends knew how to do, it was go all out for a party.
The biggest surprise was that Chad had dressed up for the party too. He was wearing a Hanukah themed sweater. Chad and Kay were hanging out in a corner talking to each other and drinking beers. Bam and Aimee had come to the party in sweaters that they had obviously embellished. You could tell those two had a little too much fun with a glue gun. Bam was in the middle of the room with a shit ton of people surrounding him and Aimee as they told stories from their latest trip.
Beth walked in with more food that she laid on the table we had set up. She was wearing a black sweater with red poinsettias that had once been a plus sized sweater. Beth had cut it up and sewn it so that it now it hugged her body while still covering her enough to be a dress. She was wearing black tights and black ankle boots. Even though it was an ugly sweater party, she still looked sexy.
“Yo Raab! Where is there more beer?” Novak shouted, taking me away from my thoughts. Novak was wearing a sweater with penguins all over it and nothing else.
“There is more beer in the fridge. Help yourself and put on some pants while you’re at it.” I answered him. Beth was still fixing the food table when I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “Let’s go join our friends and have fun. The table looks fine.”
“I know. I just don’t want any of our drunk friends to knock over the food. You know they never clean up their messes.” Beth answered me.
I laughed and dragged Beth over to the group that had gathered around Bam and Aimee.
“So we’re running through the airport trying to make our plane to LA…”
“And two security guards are following behind us…”
“They were such fat fucks that they couldn’t catch us.”
“We made it to our terminal and were on the plane before they even got close to us.”
Aimee and Bam told their story in such sync that it was hard to keep up with who was talking. After they had completed the story, Bam caught my eye and took me aside from the rest of the group.
“This party is awesome! What a great idea for an engagement party!”
“Thanks, but it wasn’t my idea. It was Beth’s.”
“Cool! So have you and Beth thought about the venue for the wedding yet?”
“We’ve looked at a few places, but haven’t found anything we like.”
“Well, I was just thinking that if you want to, you could always use my place. I mean- I have so much room inside and tons of property that I’m sure you guys could make it work. It would save you two money anyway. Not that you’ll need it when I promote Beth to manager of The Note.” Bam said with a smirk.
“You’re promoting Beth?” I asked in shock.
“Yeah. As manager, she will have a normal schedule. She’ll work 9 to 5 except on special occasions. She'll also have to make schedules for employees, schedule bands and order the booze and food.” Bam explained. “Do you think she'll take it? I can tell that she hasn’t been happy bartending for quite some time.”
“She’ll be happy with the change. I also think that we'll take you up on using your house as our wedding venue, but I have to talk to Beth first though.”
“I get it. Aimee would kill me if I made that kind of decision without her. I’m going to go offer her the new job though.”
I stood in the back of the room while I watched Bam go over to Beth and engage her in conversation. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could tell that Beth was listening carefully to what Bam said. As Bam continued talking, Beth's smile grew wider and wider. By the time Bam finished, Beth had wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
It looked like our lives were in for a big change. It would be good for both of us. We've been craving a more normal life and this job would give it to us. I looked up again and caught Beth’s eyes. She had obviously been looking for me in the crowd. I went to go join her and celebrate with my beautiful girlfriend.
A few hours later, Beth and I were getting into bed. Many of our friends were passed out in our living room. Novak was in fetal position on our recliner. Abbey had left him here preferring her own bed instead of finding a corner to sleep in. Bam and Aimee were spread out across our couch in a position that did not look comfortable at all. Red Mohawk and Louie had both found a place to pass out on the floor. Kay and Chad had taken off to Kay’s place sometime ago giving each other the eye.
“So what do you think about getting married at Bam’s? Bam offered it to me tonight.” I asked her with a raised eyebrow.
Beth tapped a finger to her chin. “That would save us a lot of money. We'd have more freedom to make it into what we want. We wouldn’t have to worry about following anyone else’s rules either. That was nice of him to offer.”
“He probably only did offer because he knows that he and Novak would get kicked out if we had the wedding anywhere else.” I admitted with a chuckle.
All of a sudden from the living room, we heard Novak yell, “Jesus, Bam get off me!”
We started laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. When we had finally settled down, Beth said to me, “We better just have it at Bam’s house if we want our friends to actually be there.”