Thanks Leonardo
Greetings! Here is the sequel to Hey Leonardo. If you haven't read it, I would suggest you read it first before reading this one or you may be lost regarding some of the details. I hope you enjoy it and I appreciate your reviews and your reading! Just a fair warning this one may be a little more intense in places but not enough to drive the rating up.
New Years Eve in Nevassa was the party of the year. The entire city celebrated with passion and fervor. It was the one night that the city didn't shut down at all. New Year's Eve in Nevassa was nothing short of a spectacle. Whether it be the enormous fireworks display that exploded at midnight, or the fact that the entire city crowded the streets to celebrate the night away; Nevassa was the place to be.
Leonardo walked in to Edward's house without even knocking. His hands were full of bags and he struggled to open the door. "Hey, I got everything on the list."
"Where have you been!?" Edward shouted.
"Getting everything on the list, which by the way there was way too much alcohol on the list. We are so not drinking nearly as much this year as we did last year." Leonardo warned.
"Yes we are! I love drunk Leonardo! Drunk Leonardo tells EVERYTHING!" Edward said excitedly.
"Exactly! Which is why I have a limit." Leonardo said unloading the bags. "Edward, this is way, way too much; are you insane!?
"No! It's perfect! You're going to drink…a lot and then you're going to tell Noelle how much you love her and then….finally you're going to kiss her!" Edward said helping unload the bags.
"We'll see, Edward. But I'm telling you now, I'm not drinking with you like I did last year because that's when I told you about Noelle for the first time." Leonardo said. "And by the way, when is Mia going to get here?"
"Sometime this afternoon, she's going to your girl's house first." Edward said.
"She's not MY girl yet." Leonardo said.
"I've seen the way she holds on to you, the way she hugs you and doesn't let go until you let go of her. She's yours…she's your girlfriend and it didn't happen the way you had it planned." Edward observed.
"That's so not fair, you're supposed to be the one that things happen to in an unplanned fashion." Leonardo said laughing.
"Here's my advice to you…since you've given so much good advice to me. You introduce her to someone as your girlfriend…anyone…it doesn't matter who it is and you see how she reacts." Edward said.
A few blocks away from Edward's house Mia had just made her arrival. "Happy New Year's Eve!" she shouted greeting Noelle with open arms. Noelle hugged her and returned her enthusiasm.
"Come in, get unpacked! Pardon the wedding gown in the middle of the room. I had to spread the train out. I have to have this finished and delivered by 10:00 tomorrow morning!" Noelle said.
"Oh my…I can't believe you made that! That is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! She's getting married on New Year's Day? That's unique!" Mia said admiring Noelle's precise work.
"I'm going to work on it while you unpack. I'd be done with it but at the last minute the bride changed her mind about the train and wanted it embellished. It's okay though, she's paying me double the labor to do the work." Noelle said as Mia unpacked in the other room.
"Hey, are we supposed to take anything to Edward's tonight?" Mia asked from the other room. Noelle's eyes shot open. She had been so absorbed in getting this gown completed that she hadn't gotten anything she had promised she would bring to Edward's tonight.
"Mia…you're going to need to go get some things." Mia's head popped out of the extra room where she had stayed only three weeks earlier when she met Noelle. They had been writing back and forth for these past three weeks.
"You forgot to get the stuff didn't you?" Mia asked grinning all over.
"I forgot to get the stuff…I can't stop working on this gown or it won't get done. Do you care to go into town? There's not much to get but I can't stop now." Noelle asked of Mia.
"I'd love to get the stuff on the list!" Mia said.
"It's over there on the table." Noelle said. Mia went over to the table and looked at the piece of paper laying there. "This isn't a hard list. I won't be long. By the way what are these bourbon balls that we're making?" Mia asked.
"It's kind of like a truffle only they have bourbon in them. I make them ever New Year's. Don't worry, you can hardly taste the bourbon in them." Noelle reassured her.
"Then we'll just drink the rest!" Mia said, her eyes on fire.
"That is the stupidest idea you've had since you got here!" Noelle said laughing at her.
"That's the only idea I've had since I got here. Don't worry, I'll come up with at least five other ideas while I'm gone. I'll be back!" Mia said bouncing out the door. Noelle just smiled and shook her head. Knowing Mia, she probably would have at least five other ideas by the time she came back.
Back on Edward's street, Edward was dragging pieces of chicken through a flour mixture. They had three hours before Nolan would arrive. Nolan was always the first to show up…oh wait….that wouldn't be the case. Mia would show up first, Noelle would get as much done as possible on her gown and then show up. THEN, Nolan would show up. What a difference a year can make.
"Edward, your job this year is to sit between Sothe and Micaiah all night." Leonardo said.
"Not at all! I'm going to make that Nolan's job." Edward said.
"You know he won't go for that for a minute. It's Nolan, he's going to drink too much wander off into town and hit on someone." Leonardo said. "Come on Edward, you know if someone isn't between them Micaiah will end up on Sothe's lap. Where's the apple cider?"
"Um…I put it in that cabinet over there." Edward would have gotten it but he was covered in flour.
"Okay, instead of sitting between Micaiah and Sothe your job will be to make sure Nolan doesn't spike this apple cider with something…." Leonardo paused and smiled. "Mia can sit between Sothe and Micaiah." He knew that would get a reaction.
"No! No! Mia will absolutely not do that…we'll make Laura do it. She's going to be here!" Edward said knowing he had arrived at the perfect solution. Leonardo thought a moment.
"It's cruel but it will work." Leonardo said.
Mia had just returned with the list that Noelle had forgotten to get.
"Got everything! Wow was it busy down there today!" Mia said.
"I should have warned you, that place is nuts on New Year's Eve. What time is it?" Noelle asked a little nervous that she wouldn't get this done before she and Mia would leave for Edward's.
"It's 4:30." Mia said looking at the clock. Noelle sighed.
"So…do you cook Mia?" she knew there was no way she could get those bourbon balls done.
"Oh, I'm a terrible cook! But I'd be willing to try and do it right! Do you want me to make the bourbon balls?" Mia asked.
"That would be great!" Noelle said. 'The recipe is over there on the stove."
"Let's see…powdered sugar, chocolate, pecans, bourbon, butter…yeah! I can do this." Mia feared she would mess this up. She couldn't cook…poor girl…she meant well but she just didn't have a knack for it. "Um….Noelle…I'm really embarrassed but…what does…sift sugar mean?" Oh, Mia…
"This one?" Edward asked holding up a pan.
"No, the other one." Leonardo said.
"This one?" Edward picked up something else.
"No, the glass one!" Leonardo was about to drop lots of chicken parts in the floor. Edward of course got sidetracked from what he was doing and didn't finish his chicken project.
"This one?" Edward showed him another pan.
"No, Edward! The big glass pan! I'm going to drop chicken in your floor!" Leonardo wondered what was so hard about this. Edward, being who he was pulled every single pan out of the cabinet resulting in a lovely crash in the middle of his floor. Leonardo shook his head.
"This one!" Edward said taking the pan over to the pile of chicken that Leonardo was holding. "Hey, why didn't we have this at your house this year? Your house is bigger than mine.
"Because you insisted on having this at your house this year." Leonardo reminded him.
"Oh yeah! I did." Edward was so happy. Back at Noelle's things weren't exactly going so smoothly with Mia and these bourbon balls. She looked at the recipe.
"Four ounces of bourbon…" she said out loud but mostly to herself. She thought for a moment. "Eight ounces of bourbon…" Mia said thrilled with the decision she had made as she doubled the amount of bourbon in the recipe. Noelle had one side of the train on the gown done but there was still another side to go.
"How's it going over there?" she asked of Mia.
"Terrific! I'm so good at this!" Mia said pleased with herself even though it looked like she left something out of the mixture.
"Finally! I'm done with this side. I'm going to get dressed. Are you okay to finish those?" Noelle asked.
"Sure! I'll do a great job, I promise!" Mia said….she probably would not do a great job but she would certainly have fun doing it.