Chapter 6: The Party
It was the morning of Liz's birthday and Liz had put on her nicest dress before going downstairs to have breakfast.
When she entered the kitchen, Sam and Ray were already waiting for her.
"Happy Birthday!", They said in unison and both got up to congratulate her.
"Happy birthday, Butterball" Sam whispered in Liz's ear as he held her tight, "I can't believe my little girl is 28 already"
"Aaww, dad, I'll always be your little girl" Liz said while kissing her dad on his cheek.
It was Ray's turn to congratulate the birthday girl and he kissed Liz on both cheeks "Happy birthday, Elizabeth" he said before giving her a small package.
"You bought me a present?" Liz asked surprised, "You shouldn't have, Ray. And please, it's time you started calling me Liz" she said with a smile.
She quickly opened her gift and it was a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana's 'Pour Femme'. "Oh, thank you so much", Liz said before giving Ray a hug.
It was clear the two men had tried their best to make Liz a special breakfast. Instead of the usual cereal and milk, there were warm cinnamon rolls, croissants and donuts and freshly squeezed orange juice.
"Oh, this looks really good guys" Liz said before she took a big bite out of a donut with sprinkles.
While they were eating away, Liz asked Sam curiously "So, dad, where is your present?"
"Hahaha, I already wondered how long it would take for you to ask me that" Sam laughed, "To be honest I had a hard time thinking of something until Ray and I got talking" he said mysteriously.
Liz looked from her dad to Ray and back again "And?" she asked impatiently.
"Well, I thought that maybe you would like to take a few helicopter flying lessons?"
Liz eyes grew big "What? Are you for real? That's awesome!" she yelped as she threw herself around her dad's neck. "Thank you, dad!"
"You're welcome, pumpkin" Sam smiled at his daughter.
"But wait…. whose idea was this?" Liz asked, looking at her father and then at Ray again.
"I guess it was both of ours" Sam said "Because can you guess who is going to give you the lessons?"
"Ehm, no, cause I don't know anybody who can fly a helicopter"
Ray gave her a big smile "I'll teach you"
"Wait, what? You know how to fly a helicopter?" Liz asked in disbelief.
"Yes I do. Before I was in the Secret Service I served with the Marines and I was a helicopter pilot for a couple of years"
"Wow, that is so cool…." Liz looked at him in awe.
"Yes, it was. I had a great time serving our country" Ray said with pride.
After breakfast they started to clean up "Dad, don't you have to go to work now?"
Sam looked at Liz and smiled "No, sweetie, I took the day off so I could spend some time with you. I was hoping we could play some tennis now. It has been ages that we played"
"You have the day off? That's great! And yes, I would love to beat you at tennis again" Liz laughed.
"Beat me? Oh, we'll see about that! Go get changed and I'll see you on the court in 15 minutes"
Liz ran upstairs to get changed and just before doing the same Sam said "This should buy you some time to bake that cake for her"
"Yes, thank you for that. I hope she likes Red Velvet" Ray said.
"Oh, yes she does" Sam said as he walked out of the kitchen.
While Liz and Sam were going head to head on the tennis court, Ray was busy baking his speciality cake for Liz. He loved being in the kitchen and wished he could cook more often.
He had made this cake several times for family reunions and it was always a big hit. He made this one bigger than his usual one and decided to decorate it accordingly.
Liz had invited about 15 people. Her closest friends and some people from school that she was still in touch with. So therefore the cake had to be for at least 20 people if he counted them and the security at the gate. They deserved a piece of cake as well.
He thought about having security at the house and he spoke about it with Sam, but they decided against it since the party would be at the house and only people with an invitation were allowed in.
Ray himself would be there of course and he thought that would be enough.
After finishing the cake, he cleaned up and was just on time because he heard Sam and Liz enter the house through the side doors. They were talking and laughing.
"I told you I would beat you" Ray heard Liz say and Sam responded, "Yeah, well, you cheated and that's the only reason you won"
"I did not!" Liz exclaimed and he heard them laugh as he came out of the kitchen.
"Elizabeth, er, Liz, you wanted to have the party outside as well, right? Because I just realised that there are no decorations in the pool area yet, only on the inside" Ray asked Liz, swallowing hard as he noticed her tennis outfit and sweaty appearance.
"Well, yeah, of course I want to have decorations there. What good is a pool party without decorations at the pool? I'm going to take a shower now" she said before turning on her heels and going for the stairs.
Ray looked at Sam, his eyebrows raised "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, you didn't. Liz is just used to having everything done for her. Martha usually helps me decorating everything but I wanted to give her the day off, so I guess you and I didn't do as good a job as Martha does"
"Okay, well, then I guess I better get started" Ray said, "We still have loads of decorations left so it will look great once we're done"
"Great, I'll go upstairs and have a quick shower and change and I'll be back to help you" Sam said, slapping Ray on his shoulder, "Thank you for doing all this Ray, I know this isn't part of your job description"
"Hey, no problem. I'm happy to do it" Ray smiled.
"Oh, and please don't take Liz's behaviour personally. She sometimes behaves like a spoiled kid. I guess I have myself to blame for that" Sam said with a wry smile, "She doesn't mean it, she just doesn't know better"
"That's okay, Sam. I understand"
While Sam went upstairs for a shower, Ray got the ladder out, dug up a bag with some more decorations and headed outside to the pool area.
He used a pump to blow up some balloons before putting a string around them and attaching them from one side of the pool to the other.
He was just up the ladder trying to fix the string around a palm tree when Liz walked outside, back in her gorgeous dress. She walked towards the ladder and stopped a few feet away to take a look at what Ray was doing.
But while looking at what Ray's hands were doing, her eyes drifted to his ass.
He had one foot one step up from the other, as he leaned over to attach the string, so his pants were pulled tight and his lovely, round butt was showing beautifully.
Man, Liz thought, that is a fine ass for an older guy. And her mind started to drift off about her hands cupping and squeezing it.
"Hey there" Ray said when his eye caught Liz, "After I hang these balloons, I'll hang some more decorations over there and there", he pointed.
Ray's voice startled Liz and she started blushing, afraid that she had gotten caught staring. "Ehh, that's fine," she said as she quickly walked off, too embarrassed to stay any longer.
On her way in she almost bumped into her father "Woah, what's the rush?" Sam asked when he saw Liz scurry inside.
"Oh, nothing" she said but when she was out of her dad's sight, she practically ran upstairs.
Sam shook his head. What was wrong with his little girl today, he wondered.
When Liz got to her room, she sat on her bed, her head in her hands and feeling very confused. What was wrong with her? How could she be looking at Ray like that? No way was she falling for a guy almost 20 years her senior? It must be because of the things Meera and Samar had been saying about Ray...
She let out a heavy sigh and let herself fall back on her bed. It will pass, she thought. Maybe it's just because he took care of Tom for her, she decided as she told herself to get a grip.
Sam and Ray had finished decorating and they looked at the pool with satisfied smiles. "I think we did one hell of a job, my friend" Sam said to Ray, while looking at their work with pride.
"Oh yes, it looks great. And tonight it will look even better when all the little lights are switched on" Ray smiled.
They also prepared a small room near the side entrance, where people could get changed into their swimming gear if they wanted to get into the pool.
Just after 5pm the first guests started to arrive. Ray got introduced to everybody so he would know exactly who was attending the party and who Liz's closest friends were. When everyone had arrived, Sam told Liz to gather them around the pool.
He went inside and came back minutes later, carrying a 2 tiered white cake with beautiful decorations and a '28' in candles on top.
Liz couldn't believe her eyes. Where had that come from?
They all sang 'Happy Birthday' as Sam walked the cake over to the big table next to the pool.
Liz blew out the candles and took another good look at the cake. Sam handed her a big knife and she whispered a quick "Thanks dad"
"Don't thank me, thank Ray. He's the one who made it" Sam whispered back.
Liz looked over her shoulder. Ray was standing in the doorway, staying out of sight as usual. She decided she would thank him later and she returned her attention to the cake and made the first cut. When she noticed it was Red Velvet she got even more excited. He had made her favourite cake…
After giving all of the guests a piece, Liz took a slice and walked over to Ray. "Thank you so much for making this cake" Liz said, a bit teary eyed, "I don't know if my dad told you, but my mum used to make this for me on my birthdays" she said while handing Ray the plate.
"No, I didn't know… It just happens to be one of my specialities" he smiled warmly.
"Well, either way, thank you. And please come stand outside with the rest of us"
The party was a success and soon Sam and Ray got the BBQ fired up. Sam had insisted that he would do the cooking himself instead of hiring someone. They only had one waiter walking around, serving drinks and fetching empty glasses.
Ray had put some speakers outside so they had some nice music on in the background that was turned up after the BBQ.
Everyone was in a good mood and the later it got the more intoxicated people became. They were all dancing around the pool and drinking and laughing.
Ray and Sam were standing, leant against the wall of the house. Shaking their heads and laughing at the scene before them.
"God, I remember when I was that young", Sam said "Although I never had my own pool to have such a party"
"Haha, me neither, but I definitely enjoyed a pool party or two" Ray laughed.
Two guys were having words and starting to push each other. Ray saw it and walked over to calm them down but before he got there, one of the guys had already landed in the pool.
Of course it didn't take long before the next person got pushed in and in no time there were more people inside the pool than out. The situation between the fighting guys seemed resolved so Ray was about to walk back to Sam when Liz got pushed by someone, hoping she would end up in the pool as well.
Liz grabbed Ray in the hope to keep herself from falling, but Ray wasn't prepared for it so they both tumbled in. As they fell into the water, Ray felt Liz grab him even tighter and they both were kicking their legs to get to the surface.
They were pushed in at the deep end so even Ray couldn't stand there. As they both came up for air, Liz looked at Ray in shock, afraid that he would be mad as hell. He looked back at her and after having had an equal look of shock, a broad smile appeared on his face.
This took Liz by surprise and she started laughing nervously. He wasn't even mad after getting dragged into the pool, she thought as she still held on to him without realising it. When Ray started laughing she relaxed and started laughing with him.
"Well, I hope this didn't ruin your dress?" Ray said, still holding Liz up by her waist.
"Or your suit" she smiled at him.
When she realised that they were still holding each other, she suddenly let go and swam to the side to pull herself out.
Ray swam to the other side to get out there, a bit confused about what just happened. Sam was already waiting for him with a towel after just bringing one to Liz.
"Wow, didn't think you were the kind of guy to join in" he chuckled.
"Very funny, Sam. You better watch it before I let you join them as well" Ray said while taking the towel and drying his face and hair.
Liz looked at him from across the pool. What just happened? Damn, why did it feel so good to have his hands on me? And why does he look so adorable? Liz looked back at her friends in the pool and then back to Ray again. He must think I'm such a child for having friends like this, she thought.
Liz suddenly had enough of it all and was pretty upset that they had pushed her in the pool, wearing her best dress. She angrily marched inside to get out of her wet clothes.
Everyone had brought their swim gear, so why push people in the pool wearing their good clothes? It had been obvious that the other girls didn't like it either.
Who started this childish behaviour anyway? Who had to ruin her party like that? It must have been one of the guys. Maybe Donald? Or Aram? She got changed and went back downstairs.
People were still in the pool and as some of them got drunk, their behaviour got worse and worse. They started splashing water out of the pool onto the table and decorations and even got the poor waiter wet from head to toe.
Plastic cups and plates were floating in the pool and things only seemed to get worse.
After Liz stood and observed the whole scene for a while she took her dad aside.
"Dad, can you please tell them the party is over? It's getting out of hand and I've just had enough.
"Yes, sweetie, Ray is already talking to some of them. When you were upstairs we already asked a few of the guys to keep it together but now that alcohol is taking effect, some of them seem to have lost control of themselves".
All and all it took Ray and Sam about 20 minutes to get everyone out of the pool, dried off and on their way.
Samar and Meera spoke to Liz before heading off.
"So, I hope you had a good time Liz. Even though the guys decided to make a big mess", Meera said before giving Liz a big hug. Samar did the same.
"Thanks for coming, girls. And yes I had a good time, until the guys decided to ruin it. I didn't mind them jumping in the pool but pushing everyone else in while still fully clothed and making a big mess really wasn't fun"
After everyone had left, the three of them stood there, looking at the chaos in and around the pool. Ray had turned off the music and the lights were next.
"Let's clean up tomorrow" Sam said as he kissed Liz on her cheek, "I hope you had a good time anyway pumpkin"
"Yes, thank you. Thank you both" she said hugging her father and smiling at Ray.
"You're very welcome, Liz" Ray said, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm off to bed"
Ray had just finished brushing his teeth when he heard yet another scream from Liz's room. He ran over, hoping that it was just another spider. And indeed it was.
"Look, over there!" Liz pointed to the ceiling. Right next to the light there was another spider. Ray took the chair again and just as he wanted to scoop up the spider, the creepy crawly decided he wasn't going to let Ray catch him that easily.
He crawled to the side, towards the fitting. Ray had to move the chair first before having another attempt at catching the spider.
He was about to grab it when he saw something strange inside the fitting. Something that shouldn't be there. He wasn't sure what it was, so he decided to grab the spider first and have a look after.
"I'll take it out again. Spiders are usually are in pairs, so this should be it. I'll be right back though, cause I just want to have a quick look at something if you don't mind"
"Er, okay… Thank you again, Spiderman" she said giggling. She had been drinking and she was feeling the effects of it. Don't do anything stupid though, she told herself.
When Ray came back he got back on the chair. He carefully opened the fitting and he couldn't believe what he saw. It was a tiny camera. He took it out, together with a small transmitter. Oh my god, how long has this been there, Ray wondered. Did someone place it there tonight? Someone from the party? Or had this been here for a while?
"What is that?" Liz asked when she saw Ray holding something small.
He could lie to her but she would find out anyway.
"Ehm, this is a small camera", he said, hoping she wouldn't freak out.
She didn't. She just stared at his hands, not quite believing what she was looking at.
"Sweetie, I need to take this to your dad, okay? He needs to see this"
Liz just nodded slowly not taking her eyes off the small camera.
"Come, just walk with me, I don't want to leave you here on your own" Ray carefully took her arm and guided her with him. Liz seemed in shock over the discovery and her eyes were fixated on the thing in Ray's hand.
The only question running through Liz's head was: How long had that camera been there?