Toga Party
We’ve had toga parties before. This was nothing new. Usually they were thrown at Jay’s house. This time it was Mark that was hosting, possibly because he was a ‘wet blanket’ at the last one, almost to a cartoonish degree. The last Toga party we had, Mark showed up in a black turtle neck, a cross necklace and a Bible in his hand. He knew that his ex-girlfriend Dana was going to be there and thought this image of him atoning for his sins and resisting temptation would win her back or something. We just mocked him.
This time around he was in a relationship with Priscilla and she bought a leopard bra she was dying to show off for just this occasion. And Mark was more than happy to show her off.
Meanwhile, a girl named Cathy that had been working in our department with George and I was moving to Washington State. We promised her a goodbye party, so this worked out well. We were really sorry to see Cathy go, she was older than us, but really fun loving and cool. But on top of that, rumors were spreading that management was going to move a girl named Mary into our department to replace her. I had never met her, but she quickly got a reputation around the store that she was really weird.
Usually, George and I would subtly tell all the cool people around work we would like to attend. Priscilla was telling everyone around work that her boyfriend was throwing a huge toga in a most obnoxious bragging tone, almost like it was an elitist event.
The week of the party it became official that Mary was indeed going to replace Cathy. The Saturday of the party I worked the morning shift, as did Priscilla. George would work the long 12:30 to close with Cathy and then go straight to the party. We were told that Mary would join them for the last 4 hours. I had still not met Mary yet but she was on the first floor for a ‘sidewalk sale’ in the afternoon so I found an excuse to go downstairs by bringing down some clothing so I could see what this girl looked like. I was told I couldn’t miss her. She was the blonde with ‘crazy eyes’. When I went down there I didn’t see her right away, so I put the shirts I had on the rack and turned to head back upstairs. Just as I turned she was right there staring at me with her ‘crazy eyes.’
“Do I have peanut butter on my face?” she asked.
“Ummm.. what?”
“Hi, I’m Mary. I figured I should introduce myself because I’m going to be working with you in the boys department.” She said in a voice deeper than you’d expect from a petite, skinny girl.
“Yeah…. Hi. You should have opened up with that rather than that peanut butter thing” was all I’d say. She was weird.
When I got back upstairs I conceded that she was weird. Earlier in the week, Mary was working with George and overheard Priscilla and George talking about the party. She was recently dumped by a long term boyfriend and wanted to go to the party, but they had mentioned it was a private party. Since then, Mary had tried to score an invite by being George’s date. I spent the rest of the day teasing George about having to take her to the party. The last thing he said as I left was “Over my dead body.”
The party had a huge turnout. It seemed that every one of my friends brought their own contingent of people. I won second place with my motorcycle motif Toga. (At least I think it was this party. I’ll have to consult my pics.)
Sure enough, Mary did come and George was stuck in a back room dealing with her drama and her confessing her love for him. George was having none of it. He was missing out on the party and was interested in another girl that may show up later. George was not a fan. Overall, the party was fun for the rest of us.
Naturally, my relationship with George dictated that I had to give him a hard time. The three of us all worked together the next day. Mary came in and told us that she had a good time and that if we have another party that we should call her beeper. I took her beeper number, but George said “don’t count on it..”
I reasoned that she only came off as weird because she tried too hard to make friends. The following weekend, Erin was hosting a ‘70’s Party and I called Mary’s beeper as a nice gesture. Unfortunately, she had my phone number from that moment on. George told me it would be a big mistake and I sho
t back “you invited her to the toga party after you swore you wouldn’t, and it wasn’t so bad (for the rest of us), why did you do it?”
He proceeded to tell me how she hounded him. “Can I go to the party with you?”
“No. It’s a private party.”
“Can I go as your date?”
“No. I already have a date.”
“Can I go as one of your friend’s dates?”
“No. They already have dates.”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“If Joe (our Manager) is looking for me, tell him I’m… somewhere….” As she burst into tears and ran to the rest room. George said he was holding four hangers and broke them in his hands because in that moment he knew she would end up going. Cathy felt so bad for her, she said that she would take her.
Hmmm… that is an odd reaction to not being invited to a party in which you know no one. But I reasoned she was new to the area and didn’t really know anyone, she was desperate.
Because I was without my own car, I got a ride with Priscilla and we picked up Mary. The party went well, and my friends seemed to accept Mary into the fold well enough. When Pricilla was supposed to leave, I felt obligated to leave and take Mary with me as she was my responsibility, but Mark offered to take her home later and Erin told me I could crash there. So we stayed. After everyone left it was just Erin and I chatting and really getting to know each other. We talked about everything and anything. She made us stalk her ex and Dena that night by driving past their houses. I hadn’t thought about Dena in months, but here we were. It was a fun night. I completely forgot the uneasy feeling I got when Mark offered to drive Mary home.