Come here, please,” she called to the tall man.
“Joe, this is Jason, one of our new members. I’m sure you’ll want to get acquainted with him.”
The man hurried to them with a wide grin and his hand held out. “Jason, that’s a manly name. We’re glad to have you in our family. Now that you’re one of us, feel free to call on us for anything.”
Jason hardly knew what to say. The couple seemed to be sincere, but he had learned to wait until he knew people before he made a decision. He smiled and thanked them.
Amanda smiled at them. “Excuse us. I’m going to introduce Jason to the staff.” She turned him around and faced a crowd of people. “Now you’ve met the owner, Elaine and Joe Harper, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the staff.
Jason was not really interested in meeting others, but he went with her although he only truly wanted to walk around and observe.
“Jason, you’ve met Corella Swanson, our manager. This is Anthony Petrillo, her assistant. Tony is responsible for organizing our parties.”
The two men greeted each other. Jason noticed that Tony’s smile didn’t show in his eyes. Tony was about five-ten, about one sixty with close cropped black hair and brown eyes. His brown complexion showed a Mediterranean heritage. Jason guessed him to be early thirties. It was obvious Tony thought well of himself. He had on blue dress slacks with a sharp crease in them; a grey silk shirt and a blue and red stripped tie.
“You’ve met Dottie who is responsible for the membership records and you’ve met me. I’m her assistant. Jenny Carson is the Treasurer. This is Andrew Murray her assistant and in charge of publicity. He’ll remind you if you ever forget to pay your dues.”
Jason was cordial to all he met, but knew he’d have trouble keeping them in mind until he got better acquainted.
Andrew Murray, called Drew, attached himself to Jason and encouraged him to return to the refreshment table. “You’ll meet a lot of people tonight and you’ll have trouble keeping them separated. Don’t let it bother you, Jason, just relax and enjoy the evening.”
Jason looked down at Drew, guessing him to be five-eight and about one fifty. His dark brown hair was cut short and Jason smiled to himself thinking that Drew cut it short to keep the curls in control. He had beautiful grey eyes, a wide mouth that smiled a lot and a pleasant face.
Drew excused himself to welcome another new member which relieved Jason. He wandered around looking at the room and observing some of the people. He was startled when someone slapped him on the shoulder and boomed, “Hi there. My name is Gary Beaumont and I’ve been a member since the place opened. I’ve enjoyed dating some lovely women, but I’m not looking for a wife at the present. How about you?”
Gary was the same height as Jason, but not as heavy. In fact, he was very slender even though he looked healthy and quite able to take care of himself. His red sweater with white reindeer and snowflakes around the bottom was just right with his navy slacks. His light brown complexion led Jason to think Gary was African American, at least part because he had dark brown hair and amber eyes.
Jason had observed a mixed crowd, which was good. There was even a couple of Native American and one or two who looked Oriental. He looked at Gary not really wanting to socialize, but was too polite to ignore him. “My name is Jason and I just joined.” They talked for a few minutes.
When Jason saw a couple of women heading in his direction, he excused himself, hurried into the room with the coats and outer wear, grabbed his overcoat and hurried out. He had had all he could take for this one night. No way did he intend to tell his full name and much about himself until he was better acquainted. He thankfully pulled into the underground garage and got out of the car.
“Hey, neighbor.”
Jason whipped around to see an older couple exiting a car near him and beginning to walk toward him.
“Hello,” he called. “Excuse me, but I have to hurry home.”
He was almost breathless when he all but ran into his apartment and firmly shut his door and locked it. Who was that couple? I don’t remember seeing them before. Apparently they live here, but I don’t know anyone in the building yet.
Jason prepared for bed, set his alarm to get up earlier than usual and fell into bed, thankful to be in his own home. He had probably been asleep about an hour when he sat up startled at a loud banging on his door.
“Hey, buddy. Open up and let us in. It’s party time. Don’t be an old stick in the mud.”
“Yeah, don’t stick in the mud,” another voice giggled as only a drunk could do.
Jason didn’t recognize the voices and could not imagine who might be in a drunken state outside his door. He tiptoed into the living room and looked through the peep hole. Two very drunk strangers were staggering around yelling and laughing. He didn’t know either man and did not open his door.
He was relieved when the door across the hall was jerked open and a man stepped out. He recognized him as the man who had spoken in the garage. The man was irate; after all it was eleven.
“What do you men want? Get away from here. There’s no one here that knows you or wants you. You’re waking people that need their sleep.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, our buddy, Frank, knows us and he’ll want to let us in and party with us.” The man speaking began beating on Jason’s door again and yelled. “Frank. Come on out and tell this jerk that we’re going to paaarty, paaarty.”
The man across the hall spoke up again. “There’s no one here by that name. Frank does not live here. You’re at the wrong apartment.”
Apparently the woman had called the police because two officers showed up just then and arrested the two drunks. Jason waited until they were gone and then stepped out in the hall. The man was still standing there looking at the police leaving.
Jason looked at the man. “I’m sorry you were bothered, but I honestly did not know those men.”
“Don’t worry, son. I’ve seen enough of you to know you don’t mix in company like that. My name is Tony Dixon and this is my wife, Betty.” He turned to the woman who was standing in their doorway.
“I’m glad you’re living across from me. I don’t know that I would have done anything about those drunken men other than to ignore them. I’m glad to meet both of you,” he smiled. “My name is Jason and I’ve got to get up early to go to work. If you’ll excuse me I must get back to bed and hope I can sleep some. Thank you again.”
“Oh, I’ve already made hot chocolate. Do please join us,” Betty said with a smile.
Jason reasoned to himself that they were probably lonely and it wouldn’t hurt him to have one cup of hot chocolate. He grinned sheepishly and pointed to himself dressed in pajamas.
“You’re fine,” Tony urged him. “It won’t take long to drink a cup of hot chocolate. We’re in night clothes, too. Come on over for a few minutes.”
Jason shrugged and walked over into a homey, pleasant room. Tony showed Jason to sit on a lovely old-fashioned tan camel back couch. He sat and found it surprisingly comfortable. Betty came in with a tray on which were three mugs of hot
