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42
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Following dinner, the Brinkeys and Woods took part in a fun game of Charades. Ed and Kathy paired as Team 1 and to Nadia's dismay, she and Howard paired as Team 2 even after suggesting that it would be interesting to mix and match the couples. But luckily for Ed, Howard dismissed the idea and stuck to simple partnering.
After a few rounds of puzzle guessing, Ed and Kathy proved to be the stronger couple of the two, leading 4:2.
Ed's turn came up again and he got up happily, enjoying the fun in the simplicity of the common little game. He drew a subject card from the deck that lay on the coffee table, glanced at it, then raised his eyebrows and smiled, anxious to dig his paws into the chosen subject.
He got up in front of his audience and began by holding up three fingers.
"Three words!" Kathy yelled out.
Ed nodded and held up a finger.
"First word!"
Ed nodded. He put his fists to his face and pretended to cry.
"Sad!" Kathy shouted.
Ed shook his head, and put more emphasis into his performance.
"Crying!"
Ed shook his head harder and continued to bawl, drying his fake tears with his fists.
"Blue!" Kathy yelled out.
Ed pointed at her and nodded vigorously. Then he held up two fingers.
"Second word!"
Ed nodded, then looked around the room. He paused and looked at Mr. Brinkley. He pointed at him.
"Mr. Brinkley! Blue Mr. Brinkley!"
Ed shook his head and pointed at Mr. Brinkley's upper body.
"Mr. Brinkley's torso!"
Ed shook his head and pointed with both hands.
"Jacket! Blue Mr. Brinkey's jacket!"
Ed sighed and continued pointing.
Kathy looked at Howard's jacket, thought a moment, and then yelled "Suede!"
Ed nodded happily then held up three fingers.
"Third word!"
Ed nodded and pointed at his feet.
"Feet! Toes! Blue Suede Feet! Blue Swede Toes!"
Ed shook his head and lifted up a leg. He pointed over and over again at his shoe.
"Shoe! Blue Suede Shoe! Shoe! Blue Swede Shoes!" She yelled.
"Yes!" Ed yelled, happy at their triumph. They really did work well together as a couple, he thought and ran over to Kathy. She jumped up from her seat on the couch and he took her up in his arms and spun her around, hugging her. Then he put her down and turned to Howard. "Hah! 5:2, Mr. Brinkley. Beat that!"
Mr. Brinkley stood up from his seat as Ed and Kathy sat down. He drew a card, looked at it with indifference, then put it away. He stood in front of his audience, ready to perform but was interrupted by Nadia saying, "I don't want to play."
"What?" Howard asked.
"I'm not in the mood. I don't want to play anymore. You can continue without me, but I'm not playing anymore," she said, playing around with a lock of her hair.
"You're a spoilsport. We have company over. Why can't you--"
"I can double up as your partner too," Ed interrupted, not wanting a fight to break out between Howard and Nadia.
Howard considered the idea, then nodded. "Well, okay. I was just going to suggest we stop playing, but if you really want to..."
"Yes. I do. Now... let's see some Charades, Mr. Brinkley!"
Nadia continued to play with her hair, completely oblivious to her surroundings. She found the game a menial task and didn't want anything to do with it. She'd much rather prefer taking Ed back to her bedroom to show him a more pleasing game or two.
Brinkley held up two fingers.
"Two words!" Ed yelled cheerfully, enjoying the game just as much as always.
Brinkley nodded and held up a finger.
"First word!"
Mr. Brinkley nodded, then placed his hands near his head and moved them up and down some inches back and forth.
"Head! Skull!" Ed yelled.
Brinkley shook his head and continued to do the action, then began to rub his head.
"Hair! No hair! ... Bald! I'm bald! Oh, that's it! That's two words! 'I'm bald!' Is it 'I'm bald?'"
Howard stopped his motions and stared at Ed with an open mouth, gaping at him. Ed looked at Kathy and she was gaping at him as well. He looked to Nadia and she had her hand over her mouth, snickering.
"It's not 'I'm bald' I'm assuming, then..." Ed said, embarrassedly.
All of a sudden, Nadia could suppress her snickers no more and burst into a fit of laughter.
Ignoring her, Ed looked at Mr. Brinkley, worried about what was to happen.
Finally, Howard spoke. "Top hat, Edward! Top hat! How does this mean 'I'm b-- what you thought it meant! How!"
Ed inched away backward into the cushioning of the couch he was sitting on. "I'm sorry, Mr. Brinkley," he said nervously, cowering. "I'm so sorry."
Mr. Brinkley looked at Ed and frowned. Then he looked at his wife who was still laughing like there was no tomorrow, his frown grew deeper, she looked up at him and her laughing stopped abruptly. Howard looked back to Ed, still frowning, and mumbled under his breath.
"What was that, Mr. Brinkley?" Ed asked nervously, having not heard what he had mumbled.
"I said: 'I'm not bald. I'm BALDING. There's a difference.'," He repeated, softly.
Ed gave Howard a strange look, Kathy was still gaping, and Nadia immediately burst into fits of laughter once again.