3 The Party

The party that night was in celebration of the birth of another heir apparent to the Lee's. The mood was festive. Family friends were invited, even children.

" Where is the baby to celebrate, mommy?" asked Charlotte, a ten-year old neighbor of the Lee's.

"Shush… wait," Sophia answered, worried that she might make a scene. She peed at times, unable to control her bladder at her age, and didn't tell her mom. Sophia came alone because husband was working. James was an information technology expert.

The mansion was where she and James met. They were one of the original friends of the Lee's. James was an associate.

Mister and Missus See were there, a middle-age couple who made it in trading. Theirs was a story of hardship and diligence until they made it to a big corporation. Their sons, Evan, 19, and Yuri, 18, were friends of Suzy, 19, and Josh, 18, Mr. and Mrs. Lee's children.

"Fancy how they could have a baby at this stage; loving couple," Mrs. See whispered to her husband.

"Yes, ha ha …" Mr. See was cheerful, too, like Mrs. See.

Amalia was there. Isabella Lee and hers was a sentimental friendship because they were high school friends. Amalia was married once to a very virile man she met at their school.

They brushed cheeks like women did when they met.

Isabella recalled the guy. Amalia loved him totis viribus, running after him whenever he would call it a quit. No child, big wonder. They were together until five years ago, and she had said that she was happier.

During the party, Isabella said that she was happy to see her and that she was prettier, alone.

"I'll take it as a compliment," Amalia nodded her head at the hosts who went around entertaining the guests.

"Where is the baby?" she asked.

"Upstairs, taking a nap."

"What's the name?"

"Michael."

"Angel Michael."

"Yes."

"After eighteen years?" Amalia's eyes widened, her mouth, open.

"Yes." Isabella was in a jovial mood.

"That's a miracle. I'm too happy for you."

Then, the couple saw Alfred, Aaron's executive secretary. Alfred was a gay many thought because he liked his life being alone.

"What time did you finish?" Aaron asked, referring to the meeting.

"We were done at 3p.m."

"Come Alfred, may I introduce you to Amalia," Isabella pulled his hand toward where Amalia was seated. "Amalia, this is Alfred."

Like any gay, Alfred was friendly.

"Hello."

"Hi."

"How did you two meet?" Alfred asked, curiously.

"High school." Isabella said.

"High school?" Alfred said, surprised. "How come you're both pretty? In fairness, at your age, you look young." He was kidding. He meant to please them—he was a pleaser.

Amalia and Isabella laughed.

"We don't have headaches," Amalia quipped.

"My boss is good, I know. He is one in a million," Alfred said.

Everybody had a good laugh. Aaron was serious. He smiled a bit.

"Excuse me," Aaron said.

Aaron went around. Parties were a tradition to the Lee's. They had to keep in touch with what was going on. They, too, had to put their nose in the grapevine. In fact, they had been used to entertaining people. In a way, parties were a means by which they shared their blessing whenever they exceeded their target. Once a corporation, they headed what was now a conglomerate so one could imagine the responsibility that was attached to the man of the hour.

But that time, he looked somber. That wasn't the regular Aaron everybody met.

Alfred noticed and asked if he was sick.

"No," Isabella said that perhaps Alfred was giving him a headache.

"Never," Alfred was more amused at Isabella's joke.

Isabella was her usual amiable, charming personality. Aaron picked her as a winner of a local beauty contest. She was even more beautiful now.

Talia, who was married to a corporate executive officer of a large insurance company in the country, was there. She was the most jet-setting of all, travelling around the world every month, to the envy of all her friends on social media. Every travel was posted. Isabella wondered why she had to post all that she did on social media. Was it a publicity stunt? One time, she and Talia were talking over the phone when she overheard the husband complaining that her personal allowance had exceeded the ceiling, he said. Feisty, Talia shot back at him, not minding her talking with Isabella. Isabella told Aaron that. Anyway, Talia brought him to the party. They greeted the couple, and Aaron said, "glad to meet you both."

Jan, a palmist, was there. He looked like an authentic psychic or an astrologer. The couple enjoyed his company because of his soothsaying. He had foretold Aaron's first company would boom because of his charisma to people, he said, and it did boom, to the surprise of the couple. They had only started their first business venture then. Next, he predicted the birth of this baby sure enough to their amazement. Jan wore a coil, like a magician, on his head, where a snake was supposed to pop out. He wore a funny costume, but the couple liked him a lot.

Fr. Robert, a priest, who, on the contrary, did not believe fortune tellers, psychics, palmists, alchemists, or whatchamacallit, was conversing with Jan, proclaiming the kingdom of God, to which every word he said, Jan conformed. He was a friend of the family, too.

The teen-agers, Evan, Yuri, Suzy, and Josh, were in one corner. Yuri seemed to like Suzy a lot. Josh liked Yuri. Yuri was good, he said. Evan was good. People were all good for Josh.

Oh, there was William and Natasha, the Romeo and Juliet of the group in one corner who past met in the mansion and since then had always been together in the place they worked, in social gatherings, in malls—everywhere.

There was the staff of the Zion Group at the poolside. The swimming pool was just outside the banquet hall.

There were more, all dressed to the nines, so that there were around close to a hundred guests.

The mansion was decorated like it was Christmas, all bright and clear.

I was a visitor, too. I was thrilled to see the baby so I did not want to leave.