Today’s writing prompt and my response.
Day two of the story. The challenge is to turn the week’s worth of prompts into one tale. To read from the beginning, go here.
I won’t lie to you. Elly had grown accustomed to good company.
This was about the time my friend and housemate Elly met this group. Elly worked in marketing for a major PR firm, and I won’t lie to you, she had grown accustomed to good company. Which is why I found it strange she had begun to hang out with what I considered a bit of an average crew.
She’d taken me along to a pub quiz night this group frequented. I’m not into pub quizzes, having a lifelong aversion to sport and soap operas and an inability to recall famous pop groups and their songs. So I’m no asset to any poor team lumbered with me. It didn’t matter this night. The rest of them knew their stuff and I could simply watch and learn.
What did I learn?
That Sarah and Gill knew a lot of trivia, impressive.
That the guy, Alan, an accountant, did too, but he also glared a lot at the pretty, freckle-nosed Patty, which I found odd given her charming laugh. And her knowledge of modern music which saved their backsides several times.
That this Patty never offered to pay for a round and the others accepted this. Oh, not correct – right at the end, when the quiz was over and we were gathering our things to leave, she said, brightly, ‘I seem to have missed buying. Sorry! Next time, guys!’ At which everyone laughed.
I asked Elly about it as I drove us home. She laughed too. ‘It seems this Patty has a way of not spending any money, but they all love her and just deal with it.’ She turned to face me, grinned. ‘Nice if you can get away with it, right?’
I snorted. ‘No, that’s like stealing from your friends.’
Sitting in the lounge with mugs of cocoa before heading off to bed, I asked again about this motley crew.
‘How do you know them? And why are you hanging out with them, given your normal evenings out are film premieres and glittering product launches.’
She peered at me over the rim of her mug, eyes dancing. ‘That Alan guy, the accountant? And Sarah? They work for our new big account, and while they’re relative small fry, I’ve been asked to get close to them. Especially Alan.’
‘The glaring one?’
‘Yes, but he only glared at Patty.’
‘Hmm. Mysterious. Don’t ever recall this happening before, so why now?’
Elly shrugged. ‘Not mine to reason why. Just obeying orders.’ And smiled in a way which told me she did know why, and she rather liked these orders.
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