Chapter 1 part 1 of 2 Jason was getting frustrated.Chapter 1 part 1 of 2 Jason was getting frustrated. The embroidered jacket was chafing, the bar scotch he'd ordered was watery, and he was sweating in the rubber pants. What the hell he thought, I may as well enjoy my drinking, if I can't enjoy the bloody party. He poured his drink into an abandoned margarita, and caught the bartender's eye. "Double shot of Macallan, neat," he ordered. The bartender, a bored-looking gorilla in a nun's habit, said, "Top shelf is four bucks a shot," waited for his reaction, and when he said nothing, turned to pour. Jason had come to the Hallowe'en party alone, as a last resort, knowing full well he would most likely remain alone. He looked around the party, noting the many couples that had formed since the masquerade dance had begun. It looked like yet another lonely night out of years of lonely nights. Earlier, things had looked promising as several attractive women had shown interest in his flashy costume. But right on cue, his insecurity had caused him to stammer, to blurt meaningless and silly things, and one by one, they had disappeared into the crowd, only to be glimpsed later hanging on the arm of another, apparently more confident man, or in some cases, woman. It was hard to tell, with some of the costumes. Shit, why couldn't I have been born gay, he thought. At least, there seem to be a lot more men here than women with a fetishistic bent. His hopes rose again when a young woman in an outrageous blonde wig and 1920's flapper dress walked up to him with two glasses of champaign. She looked like a gangster's moll from a movie. "Hoy they-uh," she said. He grinned. She even had the accent down pat. "Hey, baby doll," he said in his best imitation of Al Capone. She frowned slightly then brightened. "Oi loik ya cawstume, where'd ja foind it?" Once again, he tried to concentrate on what he would say. She was a knockout, he just _had_ to get it right this time. For the seventeenth time tonight, he heard a friends advice in his mind. "Just be yourself. People can sense when you're putting on an act." He tried to relax. He dropped the "gangster" accent and smiled in what he hoped was a winning manner. |