The Party

The day of the party, Saturday, a dozen girls from the school, including Tess and Sam, were going to the local residence the Lindholm family purchased specifically to have a home near the school. Tess’s invitation indicated the day would begin with a gathering poolside, weather permitting, and the day was indeed gorgeous, followed by a casual dinner and topped off with a private concert by a world class surprise musical guest.

Getting ready for the party, Tess chose her deep burgundy dress, jewelry matching in color, and black shoes, while Sam chose light tan colored tones. They each packed a separate tote with swimsuits, suntan lotion, shorts, halter top, flip flops and sunglasses.

The Lindholms arranged transportation for all the girls attending, sending three different vehicles to collect the girls at two minute intervals.

Being in the first group, Sam left just before Tess. Once Sam was gone, Tess got Tom out of his box, and set him on her bed.

“You look good,” Tom said, whistling.

She smiled, “Coming from my brother, my heart goes pitter-patter,” she said, patting her left breast with her right hand.

“What about me? Do I look good in my birthday suit?” he asked, spreading arms and turning slowly.

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” she said, shaking her head.

“What about my hair?” he asked

She reached down and tussled his hair with a fingertip.

“It is going to be awesome,” he said, getting out from under her finger and grinning from ear to ear. “What did you get her as a gift?” he asked.

“An annoying miniature version of my brother, just going wrap a little pink bow around your midsection and dangle you from a key chain,” she quipped.

He grinned.

She shook her head, “I got her a lapis lazuli pendant, to match her eyes,” she provided.

Tom nodded, “She does have amazing eyes,” he said, a faraway look on his tiny face.

“Please,” she said derisively.

When she was ready, she picked up her small elegant black colored purse from the desk. Inside contained a few sundries, lipstick, chapstick, and Kleenex. She pick Tom up carefully and put him inside. Pushing as gently as she could, she clicked the snap into place to keep the purse closed, before looping the thin strap over her shoulder.

Purse slung over her shoulder and tote secured under her arm, little present in her other hand, she went to the front of the school to catch her ride to the Lindholm residence.

The house was an older sedate building, not far from school property. When the van with the four girls wheeled up, they were greeted by a formally dressed manservant, who re-directed the young women up the path toward the house. At the large set of doors leading into the house, they were welcomed by a stunning blonde haired woman in her middle years.

“I’m Karolina, Janine’s mother,” she said, first taking Tess by the hand, then each of the others in turn.

“Pleased to meet you,“ Tess replied politely, smiling, copied by each girl.

“The others that have arrived just before you are straight through the double doors and down the hall to the left, you can’t miss it,” she said.

Tess let the other three girls with her, including Milly Bradbury move ahead of her.

“You need to behave yourself,” she cautioned as she walked slowly, craning her head down to her purse so he might better hear.

“Mrs. Lindholm, what a MILF,” he said, peering out from the opening in the end of the purse.

“Really?” she asked, “You’re getting all hot for Janine, and now her mom?”

“Just saying, wow, she’s still a remarkably beautiful woman, with whom I might like to establish some conjugal relations,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders without considering his body language was lost on Tess.

“Shh, be quiet,” she said irritated, shaking the purse a little as she rounded the hall as it opened into an overlook above the gathering room a level below the main floor. Stairs with brass partitions and glass panels descended downward, a great stone fireplace against the far wall, windows lined the room.

From his concealment, Tom could see Janine, dressed nicely in a medium blue sapphire colored dress, polite smile on her face.

“Tess,” she said, leaning in for the polite cheek to cheek kiss. “I’m so glad you could come. Presents were not necessary,” she smiled, noting the small box in Tess’s hand.

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Tess replied handing the small box over Janine before taking a seat on one of the plush couches, resting her purse gently on her lap.

When the last group of girls arrived, after the typical you have a nice home stuff, “Shall we move out to the pool?” Janine asked.

“Where can we change?” Tess asked.

“Either of the bathrooms, or there’s a spare room downstairs,” Janine advised pointing toward the hall leading out of the room.

Gathering purse and tote, Tess made her way to the upstairs bathroom and locked the door. Setting the purse on the counter, she opened it, Tom crawled out.

Brushing himself off, he looked up at her as she removed her swimsuit from the tote.

She held out the dark violet string bikini. “There is absolutely nowhere for you to hide in this thing,” she said, shaking her head slowly.

“I’ll stay in your purse,” he said.

“I can’t bring my purse out to the pool, it’d be weird,” she said, a frown on her face.

He frowned back, pausing a moment to look at the stack of towels on the counter. Snapping his fingers, he pointed at the towels, “In a towel.”

She looked at the towels and frowned. “I think you’ll be safer in here,” she said, patting her purse.

“The whole point of coming to the party was to get to see Janine, I can’t do that from in here, Tess c’mon,” he said, trying to sway her to his way of thinking. “Janine Lindholm, bathing suit.”

She scowled. Picking up a towel she shook it open. Placing him in the middle of the fluffy linen, she rolled it up, burying him in it. While he fussed trying to find an end in the towel, she hastily undressed and put on her swimsuit. Poking her fingers in one end, she created a path for him.

“Good?” she asked, placing her sunglasses atop her head.

“Perfect,” he replied, nestled securely in the towel, but able to peer out of one end. Tucking her tote on the bathroom shelf, she made her way back downstairs and out onto the stone patio surrounding the large kidney shaped pool, where there were a number of reclining sunchairs arranged in a semi-circular fashion around one end, a few already occupied. Selecting one of the vacant ones, Tess sat down and set the towel down beside her hip, the end hiding Tom pointing out toward the other girls. Soon all of the girls were seated around the pool.

“I heard you and Tom went home for the holidays, but he didn’t make the trip back, is he okay?” he heard the voice of Milly Bradbury ask.

“Yes,” said another girl, Astrid, “How is Tom?”

“Nothing major, just a little something, you know, hopefully he’ll be back to himself soon,” Tess replied, unconsciously patting the towel at her side and smiling inwardly at her wordplay.

“That’s good,” replied Tatiana Terasova, slight accent in her voice, niece of the powerful Russian oligarch Sergei Cherysenko. Tom smiled, eyes lingering on the cute little Russian girl wearing an off white swimsuit, legs crossed. If he didn’t have it so bad for Janine, he could easily see himself trying to put the moves on the dark haired Slavic beauty.

“Am I the only one, or is he like a babe or what?” asked Milly, looking around the pool at the others.

“It’s those eyes, like chipped emeralds,” Samira said from somewhere out of his view.

“You can tell he works out,” commented Astrid.

“Talking about my brother’s hotness or not-ness isn’t awkward at all,” Tess interjected with a slight chuckle in her voice she shook her head wished for the subject to change.

Tatiana laughed, “Forbidden fruit for you, sweet fruit for us, no?” she said, raising a perfect threaded eyebrow. “I could just eat him up.”

Tess shook her head, thinking as tiny as he is, Tatiana could probably swallow him whole. She nodded and smiled politely back at her, unaware her grip on the towel was tightening. Tom squirmed under the additional pressure of her hand but continued to enjoy being the topic of conversation.

“He seeing anybody back home, a special someone?” asked Astrid, big grin on her pretty face.

Tess slowly shook her head. “No one there, but there are a few girls here I’m sure he’s got his eyes on,” she said, knowing that he was peeping as she spoke.

“Oh?” asked Tatiana, “Has he said something about some of us?”

“It would be improper of me to say, other than he said there’s a number of crazy beautiful girls at the school, that’s all,” Tess advised, aware of the several sets of eyes on her were very curious to know whom he might have his eye on.

“Tease,” said Astrid, grinning.

Tess shrugged.

A maid arrived carrying a tray with refreshing drinks, something citrusy with a slice of orange around the top. Tom remained tucked away in his towel, watching, mentally undressing the statuesque Janine. He hadn’t known what to expect at the party, he had certainly hoped for some aquatic shenanigans out by the pool, maybe topless action, something other than the chick babble that seemed to dominate the conversation.

From within the towel, he was grateful heard Mrs. Lindholm’s voice announcing supper would be being served soon and inviting the girls to get themselves changed and settled at the table in the dining room. He watched as the girls were getting to their feet.

“That went relatively well,” he heard Tess say mostly under her breath, feeling the sensation of being elevated as she rose to her feet. As she was turning, Tom caught sight of the stage being erected on the back lawn of the property beyond the pool, ‘Injustice’ emblazoned on the banner at the back of the stage complete with a miniaturized version of the band’s scantily clad Themis holding a set of scales.

“Injustice? That’s frigging sweet,” he blurted from within the towel, loud enough for Tess to clearly hear. She froze, eyes darting from face to face of the girls near her, fearing for a moment maybe one of them might also have heard.

When nobody said anything or raised any awkward questions, she let out a soft breath and shook her head, squeezing the towel slightly to convey her displeasure.

Inside the house, Tess returned to the upstairs bathroom. One inside, she locked the door. Setting the towel down on the counter top, he wiggled his way out and stood up as she grabbed her tote from the shelf.

“I can’t believe she got Injustice to come and play at her house. That is awesome!” he said.

Tess nodded, she knew the band was one of Tom’s favorites. “You almost announced your presence to everybody at the party,” she said, minor irritation in her voice.

“Certainly would have livened up the conversation,” he quipped, nodding his head to the side as if falling asleep.

“I don’t know what deluded fantasy you were harboring by coming here,” she teased.

“Hair whipping, pajamas, maybe a pillow fight,” he answered.

She shook her head. “It’s not going to get much better,” she said. “So, I’m going to put you back in my purse for the time being.”

“Are you going to take me out to the concert?”

“Dragging a purse around is not something usually done when attending someone’s house, you put your purse down and just enjoy the party. Packing it around makes it look like you’re a shoplifter or something. So when we go back out, I’ll try and put my purse somewhere with a strategic view, but you have to stay in it. Is that understood?” she asked directly, pointing a finger at him.

He mutely nodded, frowning.

Tucking him into her purse, again careful in how she closed it, she turned her back to him and removed her bathing suit top before pulling her halter down over her head.

He watched. When she turned her back to get changed, he snuck out of the purse and onto the bathroom counter. Trying to move quickly and undetected by Tess, he pulled himself up onto a multi-colored box of bathroom tissue and slipped through the split in the plastic and into the box as she pulled up her aqua blue shorts.

Tess turned to look at the purse, fastening the button on her shorts.

Picking up her tote and purse, “I’ll see if I can’t get you some food a little later,” she said as she left the bathroom.