Page 78 of Chaos Theory
They all look around at JP. He is standing silently beside Trish while she speaks to 3 other colleagues. I hear her repeat the words ‘a good fit for my JP’.
‘I mean – it would explain a lot,’ Julia says.
1830
Shane tells me that the party is now in a state known as ‘full swing’. I ask Shane if there is such a condition as ‘semi-swing’. His response is to laugh and then repeat my question to David, who then laughs and repeats it to Julia. Sandra Smith asks Shane what he’s laughing at, but I intervene and relate the sequence of events. I enquire about the source of humour, but no one provides a satisfactory answer.
This, in my limited experience, is the essence of a party. Many conversations begin with a particular topic but quickly leap to another, unrelated topic. Unhumorous statements are greeted with laughter. Two or more people often speak at the same time. There are frequent misunderstandings, and not just due to auditory issues, I postulate.
A dance floor of sorts has been established. Shane was correct; the chairs around the perimeter of the dance floor hold many women’s cardigans. I point at the chairs and ask Shane if a discarded cardigan is known as a ‘discardigan’. He laughs and pats me on the back. Then he tells me that now is a perfect time for us to speak to JP and Trish. He leads me over to them.
‘Well, Trish,’ Shane says. ‘What do you think of our costumes?’
I try to be helpful. ‘Shane, Trish already said she considers Dorothy’s friends to be – quote – “brainless fools”.’
Trish laughs. ‘Ah, that was before I saw your costumes.’
Shane also laughs. He asks Sandra Smith to take a photograph of the 4 of us together. Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man.
‘All we’re missing is the lion,’ JP says.
‘Just one more fool, isn’t that right, Trish?’ Shane says, in a voice that might be considered too loud.
Then he shouts, ‘Hey! Hey! Is anyone here a brainless fool?’ I believe he is addressing the room as a whole – not easy to do, with the music at volume 7. He turns his voice up more, although I predict that the song will end in approximately 3 seconds. ‘Who here is a brainless fool?’
The song ends and a voice answers clearly in the silence. ‘I am!’
Everyone turns to see who has entered the room. It is Maeve.
I am very pleased to observe her joining the party. She is an unexpected but most welcome guest. I will tell her that I have missed her as soon as possible.
‘Maeve!’ Shane calls. ‘Get over here.’
As she approaches, my face detectors register an anomaly.
‘Maeve,’ I say. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Kobi!’ she says. ‘Oh, Kobi!’
She puts her arms around me and presses her face to my chest plate. I believe it is known as a hug.
‘What’s wrong?’ Shane says. ‘I thought you were at the thingymabob, being all fancy and outgrowing us all.’
When she looks up at me, Maeve’s face displays distress.
‘What’s going on?’ JP says.
Maeve looks JP up and down. ‘Oh! JP! You’re… what are you…? Oh! Hi, Trish. You’re…’
‘It’sThe Wizard of Oz,’Shane says. ‘He’s the dog.’
Maeve shakes her head. ‘I feel like I’m in a dream.’
‘Maeve, is the conference over then? Did you meet Ron Tron?’ JP asks.
‘Yes, I met Ron Tron.’ She looks at each of us and exhales loudly. ‘Okay, it’s good that you’re all here, actually. I can tell you all together, I suppose.’
‘Tell us what?’ JP says.
