New Year Night in Aintisar - Chapter 1: The Invitation
25th December,2020 - 20:25
Christmas. The day when everyone commemorating this public holiday can experience joy and goodwill for their friends and families,nations and humans alike. From cookie jars to Christmas trees,it's a festivity which can turn enemies into friends and make everyone forget about bad and stressful things occurring around them,even if it's only for a day.
In particular,the one who's going to enjoy it the most is Anisah Zaman. She won 800000$ on a lottery at early December last year to pay the construction of an elaborate hotel in the middle of Mount Hermon in tribute to her victory against ISIS and Alfred Jones,on 19th October 2019. The hotel's name is Aintisar,or "Victory" in Arabic,and it was the place where she and her siblings celebrated and partied. From last New Year Celebrations until today,it got closed and was kept in secret from the public.
Unlike 2019,Anisah has opted to make her project into a massive international event for the World to join the party and have fun. She did so by making hundreds to thousands of posters displaying this building and herself with plastered date of the re-opening. Her siblings,mainly Yasser Kader,helped her doing until its completion. After that,on 24th December,the day prior to Christmas,Anisah called for an UN meeting to deliver a 'special' announcement.
Her plan was successful.
24th December,UN Headquarters - 14:00
Anisah entered the room where the current UNSC members excepted her to appear. Before she appeared, most of the 15 waited patiently and did some things like doodling on their notebooks or chattering,while some of them asked Chris Hlakanyana (with his winter Safari uniform),the current President of the Security Council for December,to let them leave under the suspicion that she's just trolling them. She was supposed to arrive at twelve o' clock.
After another hour of waiting and Chris' efforts to entertain some of its impatient members into staying with telling jokes,she finally arrived and opened the door.
"Salam alaikum,folks! What's up?" Anisah cheerfully asked,holding an average-sized stack of posters with both hands. She sighed in tiredness,after traveling all the way to New York via airplane,despite feeling as if she's wasting her time.
"Nice to see you so joyful,Аниса." Arisha greeted from the seats,smiling.
Anisah winked at her in response.
Chris then turned,as well as the rest of the members moving their faces at her,to see Anisah putting the posters on the floor and taking her winter jacket off onto stand. Most of them were curious over her presence.
"Nothing much,Anisah." he said,in that recognizable Anglo-Dutch accent "We've been waiting for you to show up. We were worried,jy weet."
"Nem,nem,I know." Anisah said,dismissively. She then paused "I've invited you to announce something special. In the name of Christmas."
Alfred repeated her last sentence,mockingly. It made Chris turn to him for three seconds and turn back,rolling his eyes.
"And what's that?" Chris said,pointing at the stack.
Anisah smiled and walked towards the stack and walked back to place them on the desk.
"Here you go."
Everyone leaned forward from their chairs,except Chris and Alfred. Chris was standing while Alfred sat on his chair with his arms crossed,frowning and giving her a hateful look.
"What are those papers?" Chris asked further.
"Those aren't 'papers',silly. They're posters." she replied,still smiling "Go on,take one of them."
He took the top poster and examined it. The front page of the poster was purple and decorated with light blue-white snowflakes and sprinkles,which showed a picture of Anisah with all of its information surrounding the image. The back page was similar to the first part except that it showed the mountain-based hotel covered with snow and decorations,with the Syrian flag ascending above it.
"An invitation poster?"
Anisah nodded.
"Everyone!" Chris called the members "Anisah wants to show us something great!"
With the exception of Alfred,everybody got up to see the posters. After reading,every last one of them was fascinated.
"'New Year's Party in Aintisar,Mount Hebron. All-day-'n'-night party at 12:00 of New Years Eve. Come one,come all!'" Adele read the letters,with a small smile,congratulating her "Oh là là,this poster sounds quite convincing,Nisie." and then giving back the poster to Anisah "You must've worked so hard to construct and arrange such a grandiose event. You can count me in."
"Jah,same for me." Eduard von Bock added "I can't wait to participate in this event!"
"We're all desperate to wait." Anisah said,hugging the Estonian teen by his neck with her arm "After all,you may want to dance,play and oth-"
"'WE'?! This stupid meeting we've been ALL waited for was for her PUNY PARTY?!" Alfred finally spoke up,getting up abruptly,shouting angrily "I don't know about you,but I'm NOT going to participate in it! I'm not that stupid,just look at her hair! It looks like a black toilet brush!"
Some of the members have started laughing over his words. Chris on the other hand,after seeing Alfred advancing towards the members and Anisah in particular,Chris advanced back and,knowing that Alfred's slightly shorter than him,he took by the collar of his shirt.
"Nobody asked your opinion,Amerikaner teef..." Chris snapped at him,severely.
"Don't speak to me like that! Do you know who the fuck I am,you runt!?" Alfred shouted,still angrily.
Chris ignored him and kept his grip on his collar whilst walking towards his seat. He moved the chair backwards and released him down violently. It almost made Alfred fall off his chair.
"An insolent pest!..." Chris spat,in a normal but loud enough tone to make them hear him,going back towards the group.
It made most of the group to have a laughting fit,especially Arisha and Anisah,making Alfred feel slightly humiliated.
"Well then,Anisah,before you explain your party description,can you give that kaffir the invitation poster?"
She made a grimace of disgust over his question. She knew that Alfred's is her enemy and otherwise,for known reasons.
"Well,alright then,fine,sure,okay...of course..." she nervously mumbled every agreeing words,massaging her nape and making a small grin.
She then went to the seat where Alfred sat. Anisah was firstly embarrassed,but since he hated her more than she does with him,she smirked.
"Here you go,darling." Anisah said in a trolling manner,leaving him.
He grabbed the poster and then looked at her walking away,grimly.
"Don't call me 'darling',desert bitch!" Alfred shouted,slamming the poster on the desk.
"Yeah,yeah,whatever." Anisah replied,showing her unconcern. It made Alfred growl.
After this,Anisah started explaining everything,from features to party schedule. It lasted for fifteen minutes,but at the first three minutes,Alfred was sick of hearing her talk and got up.
"I'm off to the bathroom!" Alfred retorted in disgust,leaving the room "You're all bunch of immature idiots..."
After she finished her explanation,Chris ended the meeting and all of the UNSC members accepted to join the event and left the UN Headquarters to go back to their homes.
And now here she is,finishing what was left of decorating her party hotel's interior,after arriving there from her hometown in Latakia. Far from hating to finish her job,she wasn't lazy,but was nevertheless tired and wanted to end this. Even before her visit to the UN yesterday,she and her siblings have already decorating and assembling their decorations all around and within the hotel since two weeks ago,filled with wreaths,garlands,candles and ornaments.
Mount Hermon,the place where she chose as the Aintisar's location,was snowy white and hardened with its strength coming from stones and rocks. Night was already in almost-complete darkness in Syria. Anisah didn't give a damn if her hotel was in a disputed territory called Golan Heights,which she's fighting and arguing over against her sworn rival Anna Goldhirsch (and no,it's not,necessarily,because she's Jewish). At least in her case,its her land,not Anna's,whether she likes it or not. Plus,this same mountain has an UN base nominally known as "Hermon Hotel",located northeast away from Aintisar.
She remembered her struggles against the Jihadist brutes,the 'Democratic' Opposition,Kurds and now Turks,who collectively wanted her,her President which she's always loyal to,and her people,dead. They fled like ostriches when Anisah recaptured Aleppo in December 2016,making her exhausted,but was filled with joy and pride for slowly reuniting her lands with countless efforts. Over time,she sometimes finds some time to organize festivities with her people in liberated areas where they can breathe the essence of victory and gratitude as they played around,and she wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for the help of the Braginskys,Dastan (her best friend) and Bachir.
Anisah is currently at the top of the ladder to place one giant dark green star on the Aintisar's Christmas tree inside a wide cafeteria. Yasser held the ladder so as to not have his older sister trip and fall.
"Are you holding it?" Anisah shouted,adjusting the star.
"I'm keeping it intact,Anisah!" Yasser shouted back.
Once she adjusted the star,she called her older twin brother Ikram to hand one last star over to her. He did so and she climbed down to take the star and climbed back up. Despite feeling the pain around her arms,she took a deep breath and smiled.
"I'm almost done!"
She released her tongue and bit it mildly to stay focused and after ten seconds,the star was put in place at the top of the lower star. Anisah climbed down to the floor and thanked both of her brothers for helping her.
"There. It's finished." Anisah concluded,shaking her arms to relieve her potential cramps. She then placed her hands on her hips,looking at the tree "How does it look?"
Yasser and Ikram looked at it. Their Christmas tree had red,white and black tinsels spreading over the tree,with those two stars resembling her flag. Anisah excepted one of the both to answer,but she heard no response.
"There's one thing missing." Ikram pointed out,placing his hand on his chin.
Ikram turned and went to switch off the room's lights. With a click,everything went dark,except the lights from wreaths and ornaments. They shone like bright stars in the dark sky,with random colors laying within the light.
"Beautiful!" Yasser complimented,joyfully "This is by far the greatest Christmas tree we ever had! Just look at the colors!"
"Indeed,Yas." Ikram replied,raising his eyebrows in melancholy.
"Merry Christmas!" she exclaimed,to which her two brothers repeated in kind.
Feeling they have no more else to do,they went to sit on individual sofas,one per each. Three of them wore Christmas jumpers and their iconic Keffiyeh scarves. Bonfire crackled the silence as they rested and observed everything around them,soothingly.
During this period of silence,Anisah was in thoughts and was cozying herself up,remembering the aftermath of her victory against her enemies. Crispy sounds cleared her ears and she was tapping her fingers on the sofa. It remained silent for some time until Ikram spoke up,starting the night conversation.
"Anisah!" Ikram called out,cutting hear thoughts and leaning towards the desk to pick a cookie from a jar,while he held a cigar on his other hand as the smokes soared close to his large scar stretching from his right cheek to his forehead,connected on the bridge of his nose.
She shrugged her head in surprise.
"Yes?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Anisah sighed through her nose. She had lots of thoughts and she had to pick one of them.
"The Party." Anisah replied,after deciding the answer "I can't imagine how great would our event be,with so much fun. I hope it's going to be better than the first time."
Both Yasser and Ikram nodded their heads.
"Who would you invite,my sister?" Yasser asked,kindly.
"A lot of people. I'll certainly invite Dastan,Malik,Khenti,Tahira,Bachir,Sarah and Axlam again."
"That's already known." Yasser said,crossing his arms "Aside of our brothers and sisters,who else would you want to invite?"
"Adele,Maria,Arisha,Athene,Ivan,Vuk,Hyuk,Gavriella,etc..." Anisah listed "Anyone who's friends with and supports us...but I'm not sure if I cou-"
She cut herself off. She knew that a name she'll about to say would upset them greatly.
"W-who?" Ikram said.
"Ehh...Anna..."
Both of them were shocked at hearing the Israeli girl's name. Yasser made a sour face,while Ikram swiftly got up.
"Anna?!" Ikram objected angrily,dropping his cigar out of his mouth down the floor "Why in Allah's name would you invite that spoiled hook-nosed Yahud in our festivities?! You might cause outrage among our family!"
There was some truth with his words,Anisah thought. Anna was recognized,up until recently,by herself and every single of her family as a 'tumor' of the Arab World that must be wiped from the map. They've often blamed all their problems on Anna and her caretaker Alfred Jones,usually for good reasons,mainly over how much she's healthy in contrast to her neighbors who still hold grudges against her. However,on this year alone,Karim,Abu and Aisha have normalized relations with Anna thanks to Donald Trump. And even before that,because of the Arab Spring and Anisah's Civil War,many of their members have mellowed down on Anna and instead focused on Alfred.
"That's absolutely true,but..." Anisah agreed,feeling uneasy "Remember the time when I,Yasser,Dastan and Bachir were in the UN cafeteria three years ago?"
"What happened?" Ikram asked.
"Anna was with us."
Ikram lowered his head with an opened mouth,believing that her sister's making something up,much less knowing that Anisah had never got along with her rival ever.
"Are you tripping?"
"No really,this event happened,Ikie." Anisah told him,in a serious tone.
"I wasn't in the UN at that time..."
"But I was." Yasser spoke up,turning his head at him,holding a Santa doll in his hands.
Ikram sat down and turned back.
"I offered her to sit on our part of the cafeteria after she had an argument with Alfred over her trust to him. It made him jump from his seat to take her away until Arisha stopped him in his tracks and pushed him to the seat." Yasser explained,in a shy but hearable tone "It was our rarest moment in our lives,letting one of our greatest enemies relax on our side."
Anisah felt her stomach rise in suspense,hearing the name of her biggest hater,enemy and loser. She felt fear. Not because she feared him (it's in fact the opposite),but because of the thought of him attending the party,and she didn't liked it at all.
"In a way,I kinda feel slightly sorry for her." she said,tightening her lips "The way that that American 'overprotective' psychopath treats her behind the scenes is cruel. Behind foreign aid he's giving to her every day,Alfred doesn't want to let her be with us during peace and war time. It may seem I'm now defending her,but...no matter how much it hurts to admit it,Anna went through a lot before 1948. I mean,Alfred doesn't let her go anywhere near his enemy nations without his permission! The UN incident of 2017 is one such example."
Yasser too knows how Anna feels. She wants peace since her inception as an independent nation,and he did plenty of demonstrations for peace with her,but Alfred and many others don't care. In fact,two years ago in May 2018,Anna was with him after the Hamas terrorists predictably attacked Gaza,while he got injured greatly by the bomb. He heard her tears and they cried together.
"Had Anna got a different protector and influencer like Arisha or Dastan,instead of Alfred,we would've had an altered course of history. We wouldn't have witnessed the rise of Jihadists in late 20th Century." Anisah concluded. It was the first time she spoke about Anna in a good light.
"I stand by her words." Yasser got up "Anna told us in the UN that once we get to know Alfred,he can be nice. She was wrong. He'll never respect us,much less me."
"Sahih. I would consider inviting her."
Yasser sat back. A ten-second silence sufficed.
"Interesting." Ikram dismissed. He then slapped the chair,commenting "And so,if you invite Anna,how would Alfred react? Would there be any chance for him to also appear there?"
Anisah laughed with closed mouth.
"Him?! Don't make me laugh,bro! Alfred HATES us,'terrorist savages',with burning passion!" she replied,loudly "Alfred would rather want to nuke us all into oblivion than to set his foot into Aintisar. Not to mention that it's also UN sponsored."
"Then why did you send the poster to him yesterday?"
"IT WAS JUST A TROLL,OK?! I wanted him to become jealous! And anyway,it was Chris' idea,not mine!" Anisah rose from her seat,annoyed,nearly angry. Then she sat back. "I told you,he won't come in and,even if oil is around,which is the only thing he cares about us,he gets mad when he doesn't get oil and same goes if he DOES get the oil,like when I dumped him with it on April Fools! I mean,dude,make up your mind!"
They instantly bursted into laughter,for one minute. It was so funny that Ikram fell from the sofa.
"He wants our blood!" Yasser added,between laughter.
After they calmed down,everything was quiet again.
"Let's be clear. Alfred hates anyone who doesn't lick his turd. Or in non-vulgar sense,anyone who isn't like him and more accurately,who isn't HIM!"
"As if we ever liked him in the first place..." Yasser said,grumpily.
"Yeah." Anisah said,after taking a deep breath. She then got concerned "If Alfred comes in,we'll have a bad time. Who knows what he'll do to Aintisar for his gain."
"He best not go there,and if he does,we must watch him closely before we get ourselves fucked." Ikram warned.
"Let's hope Alfred doesn't also bring in ISIS whom he takes selfies with every now and then."
All of them giggled after her words. Another ten-second silence came in.
"Yasser,Ikram,do you want to play slides on the snow?" Anisah proposed,inviting them "We won't just sit on our asses doing nothing but talk."
"Tbea!" Both of them shouted in excitement.
"Nem! Let's do it before the midnight approaches!"
After dressing their wintersuits and picked their bum sliders,they got outside to slide down the mountain,often hitting each other's bodies when getting near themselves. They went up to the starting point to the hill and repeated until they finally got exhausted.
"Watch where you're going!" Anisah shouted,trying to giggle in the midst of stopping the slide,after getting hit by Yasser.
Then,after leaving the slides to play with snowballs for half an hour,they went to the cable car ride on the Hermon Ski Resort. Early fireworks have been launched despite being one hour until midnight (some Syrians were too excited to celebrate that holiday),mimicking the stars. Riding together up and down from their cable car,snow covered their faces and bodies and they weren't angry for getting messy. They were happy. And more so for what is to come for their upcoming party.
Merry Christmas,indeed.
28th December - 13:30,Meanwhile in America...
Mick Jefferson was driving casually on the snow-covered streets of Washington DC. The atmosphere and environment was evidently cold and chilly,and the winter mists covered much of the roads,outskirts and the Capitol itself. There was no Sun to be seen,how gloomy this final week will be. He wore the winter jacket and the Christmas jumper underneath it,like pretty much every resident of the US.
He wondered why his employer Alfred Jones hadn't called him to visit him on Christmas. He didn't knew why,but the last new he had received from his boss was four days ago,telling him through his phone that he's free not to work at the bar in his mansion,located in the Forest Hills. Alfred hadn't even wished him "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". It made Mick concerned.
He felt goosebumps for daring to head towards the Fessenden House. He knew what possibilities might happen to him once he enters the mansion. Would Alfred beat him up for the former having a shitty day? Would he get mad at him for doing the opposite of what Alfred had told him? Perhaps Alfred did had a bad day as the main reason,or not. Mick could've just stayed with his family to watch New Year movies or WWE,but he wasn't sure. He notified his family of one wife and two children after breakfast that he's going to check his boss before he went to do so. They,as usual,wished him good luck.
Mick looked at the rear mirror when the red light flashed from the semaphore. He did aged well,being Alfred's only employee since 1998 when he accepted the job offer from him as his personal barman. Over the last 22 years of active service,he often wishes there were more employees to have jobs for that immortal young man. Alfred had occasionally told him why,but he barely remembers his explanation. Furthermore,working for someone like Alfred Jones or any earthling for each country of the World is a privilege...to work for the literal nation.
When he reached the Forest Hills' borders to the north,Mick,instead of directly parking his car near the Fessenden House,he parked it nearby a candy shop to buy two lollypops,one for him and one for his boss. "That should cheer him up!" he thought,with a hopeful smile. He wasn't that far from Alfred's mansion,just half a kilometer from where his car was parked,thus deciding to take a walk towards it,carrying those two candies with his right arm.
Opening the gate of the mansion,he got ready for the inevitable. How would Alfred react to his appearance is uncertain. When Mick approached the door,he took a deep breath to firstly knock trice on the door,check if Alfred would respond. Nothing had happened after twenty seconds had passed. He then gulped and closed his eyes,grabbing the eagle door handle and pushed it forward. Mick was incredibly surprised when the door creaked open with ease,opening his one eye to see if he's just hallucinating.
Complete and uncomfortable silence warped the main hall once he closed the door shut. Before pinning his winter jacket into the stand,he observed the room. Lights,except the Christmas bulbs,were out. Nobody was there except Griff standing on the other stand,the obvious Christmas tree and Alfred's loud ranting which was solidly heard from the distance. For now,he only heard mumbling,but he now knew that Alfred was very,very angry.
After pinning it,he looked up and turned to a trash can. He saw a poster inside this object and,out of curiosity,he picked it up and read it. It was the Aintisar invitation poster,showing the date,Anisah on the front and the Hotel with Syrian flag on the back. He didn't knew her nor her name,but Mick smiled at her face,looking so attractive and beautiful in her promotional clothing.
He moved his lips rightwards,folded and put the poster behind his back.
"Hey,Griff!" Mick called the eagle,quietly but with a loud tone,approaching him "Do you know where's your owner?"
Griff blinked twice and starred at him as if he was ignoring him. Mick tried to repeat the question,but he was cut off by Alfred's raised voice. Griff heard it and moved his head to the left.
"On the left corridor? Thanks!"
He left the hall after giving him the pet food which stood on the floor near the stand,bitting Mick's finger parts,making him to giggle. After each step,Alfred's voice got more clearer and clearer. He followed and listened to the shouts and rants as he walked.
"Wretched UN,Anisah and Arisha,always ruining festivities and holidays! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS!?" Alfred ranted,enraged,with semi-gritted teeth "They ruined WW1 Celebrations,April Fools and now they ruined the fucking Christmas! They're now ruining the New Years Eve and it's only a matter of time before they go after Halloween,Thanksgiving and my Birthday! If they do,THE WORLD WOULD LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER,RIGHT!?" He screamed this out of sarcasm "D-d...dumping me with crude oil...GRRRRR! THE MIDDLE EAST WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER PLACE WITHOUT ANISAH AND HER SAVAGE BROOD! No...THE ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT THE SAVAGE TERRORIST-RIDDEN PESTELANCE CALLED THE MIDDLE FUCKING EAST!"
Unknown to Mick,Alfred had a hard time trying to celebrate Christmas. He's among the very few,if not the only one,who enjoyed Christmas the least. After leaving the UN meeting and taking the invitation poster with him and then re-reading the poster,in jealousy and burning hatred towards Anisah,it destroyed his mood and made him irritated since. He can't stand seeing,hearing and being in the UN since 1994. And the mere mention of those two letters increases his blood pressure.
Additionally,because he didn't celebrated Christmas,Alfred got overworked out of spite with little to no rest and ranted for Christmas to this day. He tried his best to calm himself down and forget about the invitation letter,Anisah and the UN,but it only worsened his mood,temper and sanity. He,despite already being an unhinged insomniac,barely slept due to hearing voices and laughter in his head every time he closed his eyes and kept them shut for more than one minute,mocking and making fun of him. The inner laughter came from Anisah and everyone who hates him,remembering what Anisah did to him in October last year and,with the help and participation of Arisha and Vuk,the April Fools in 2020.
By the time Mick entered the Kitchen,his boss was near the kitchen table cutting chicken breasts for the Chicken Enchilada Casserole.
"Here goes nothing." Mick said to himself,after snorting.
Mick walked slowly and hid those lollypops behind his back and holding the poster with them,all in his left hand. When he was six feet away from him,Alfred turned to him,leaving the knife by stabbing the cooking table,angrily.
The second he turned at him,Mick analyzed Alfred. Alfred's face was partially red as pepper,every part of him was visibly shaking and trembling in constant anger,his skin was shining in sweat,his hair was unkempt,his hands got few cuts from cutting and he wore his standard uniform except that his upper part of the uniform was replaced with a simple black tanktop. And upon glancing to his left side,he spotted a cracked wall behind his boss,having a average-sized hole by the punch.
Alfred was THAT pissed.
"H-he...Hello?" Mick stuttered,feeling uncomfortable for the upcoming Alfred's response.
Alfred,as cynical and frustrated as ever,rolled his shoulders and walked very slowly at him.
"The fuck are you doing here,Mick?!" he shouted,angrily,lowering his tone "Weren't you supposed NOT to come and work as I'd told you shouldn't?!"
Mick breathed in through his moustache.
"M-m-merry Crist-thmas?" he stuttered again.
Alfred no longer frowned and took a deep and loud breath.
"Not merry..."
"Why?"
"Ugh!...You caught me on a bad mood!..." Alfred retorted,trying to be calm,putting his hand through his messy hair,closing his eyes "Why did you come?"
"Well,I wondered why haven't you called me for work and why you hadn't wished me Christmas?" Mick replied,getting honest.
Alfred let out a tired sigh.
"Why should I? The entire fucking year was,with few exceptions,full of shit!" he complained,crossing his arms "From Kung Flu,Bolivia,ANISAH," he screamed this particular word "Belarus,ANTIFA,George fucking Floyd and his BLM to this stupid election,I want nothing to do with this dying year which sucked ass!"
Mick didn't reply back,until he moved his left elbow to give him candy.
"Mr. Jones,I've brought something for you to cheer yourself up."
Alfred raised his eyebrow.
"What?"
He released his left arm and shown two lollypops. Alfred released his arms and picked one of them.
"One of the two is for me?"
"Yes."
He shrugged his shoulders,picked the lollypop and licked it.
"Hmm,cherry. Nice." Alfred complimented with a small smile. It calmed him down a little.
Both of them stood licking their treat for a minute. During this minute,Alfred fixed his hair into relative normalcy while Mick starred at the young adult,smiling. In responce,he gave Mick a "What are you looking at?" look and after that minute had passed,he placed the lollypop on a plate and growled.
"Motherfucking shit..." Alfred spat,seething.
Two seconds of silence.
"Tell me,Alfred." Mick asked,noticing he's still enraged,though he hides it for now "What's making you so angry?"
Alfred snorted.
"'Angry'...Hmph,it's an understatement..." he said,turning at him "Me ending up suffering in agony while that savage harpy called AniSLUT won 800000$ on lottery!" he then growled "She then opened the so-called "Aintisar" Hotel just to spite me! And the way she smeared my face with jealousy and her sassy 'DaRlInG' is outrageous!"
Mick noticed his boss' furious and grudgeful tone. He felt like sweating. That young lady from this poster is 'Anisah' he's been ranting so hatefully over?
Mick inhaled again,and Alfred asked him.
"Do you think this is normal to you?"
"Of course not,Alfred. No one in the right mind."
Alfred's small smile got slightly wider and went to the sink to wash his hands and refresh his face. Mick sat on a chair,halfway to finish licking that candy to the full.
"Have you heard of Joe Biden winning the election?" Mick asked,after Alfred went back to sit in front of him.
"Yes,Captain Obvious,I did." Alfred replied,rolling his eyes and taking a rag to clean his forehead. "Who's to blame for his victory but ourselves..."
"You voted for Trump?"
"TRUMP?! I loathe that fucking orange baboon with its fake hair and his MAGA maggots!" he answered,crossing his arms again "Who did you voted for,Mick?"
Mick voted for Bernie on the Presidential Primary,but knowing his experience with his boss,he preferred not to reveal his true answer. He knew it would cost him head if he did.
"No one. I stayed out of it." he lied.
"That's real talk,Mickey! Voting is for the sheeple unlike you and me." Alfred said in a friendly tone,placing his hand on Mick's shoulder "Why should we care every wasteful four years which side,inbred Leftists or retarded Republlicans,won when both of them are corrupt,incompetent,immature and useless?" he released his shoulder "Besides,Donald Drumpf,his family and the family before them have brought nothing but chaos in our greatest country and degeneracy into our people,invoking and unleashing ANTIFA brats and the BLM niggers against us. They're all a cancer on America and I dearly hope that all of them choke in their own blood and have their skull bashed. Hell,even cancers have cancer because of them!"
No matter how normal Alfred had sounded,he didn't knew that he talks like a hateful psychopath (and he IS one,but Mick haven't dared to tell this to his face) even when clamed.
"What system would you prefer,sir?" Mick asked again,no longer feeling uncomfortable.
Twenty seconds of silence.
"I'll rather not talk about it."
Mick asked why not,but Alfred dismissed him and told him that he didn't need him anymore,under the reason to continue preparing lunch for both of them and his two siblings. He hadn't told him who are they.
He shrugged his shoulders and walked away...until Alfred noticed a folded paper sticking out of Mick's slacks,as he was about to start adding cheese onto chicken.
"Hold up."
Mick turned. He just reached the door.
"What?"
"Turn back."
He stopped and Alfred walked towards him to take that thing. He unfolded the paper and it was that poster he threw into the bin after coming back from the UN. It made the once-ceasing shiverings and vibratings to return.
"W-w-where did you f-found this?..." Alfred asked,frowning,with his voice and hands trembling in regrowing anger. He no longer smiled.
"Out of the trashcan,Mr. Jones." he casually said,not spotting Alfred's mood swing.
"Why did you picked it up?!" Alfred asked again,quietly but angrily,with gritted teeth.
"I don't know. I just stumbled upon this poster and it seems to me that this event could be promising,don't you think?" Mick said,feeling uneasy,grabbing the poster from Alfred's hands.
Alfred was silent and his eye was twitching in disbelief as his employee flipped the poster.
"Well,look at this,sir,that 'Anisah' babe looks so attractive! Her eyes are sparkling!" Mick said,pointing at Anisah "If I was you,I would instantly go there and party for the New Years eve! I don't know why did you threw that poster to begin with..."
His boss' face had started to turn red,fumed and slowly took his glasses off. They were bloodshot and the concealer hasn't been used.
It made him gulp. His stare brought chill down his spine.
"Oh,come on now. Anisah can't be THAT bad,can she?" he made an uneasy smile "Surely,you would like to enjoy the fun she arranged...R-r-right?...Ah?..."
Alfred's eye pupils looked down and then reverted.
"Anisah is an 'attractive babe'..." Alfred seethed,emotionlessly,tightening his grip over the poster "And I'm not attractive and good-looking?..."
"If you want me to be hon-"
He slapped Mick's face hard with the folded poster in rage,cutting him off. While Mick got his hand near the radiating cheek near his mouth where Alfred had hit him,the latter forcefully unfolded it.
"You see this?! It's the symbol of the UN!" Alfred snapped at him enraged,swiftly shown the poster to him,pointing at a text on the left part of the Aintisar building,positioned upside-down. He sees next to nothing without his glasses on "It's the root,trunk and branch of every and all problems I have in my fucking life! EVERYTHING SPONSORED BY AND FOR THE UN IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM! I WAS IN THE UN FUCKING MEETING,YOU MORON!"
Maybe he shouldn't have done it. He's fucked.
"And do you see this!? That's the savage mongrel who embitters my life and twerks her freaking butt in victory in sleep!" he pointed again,in a same wrong manner,still enraged but with a twisted smirk "Anislut is no 'babe','lady' or even a 'princess',she's an Arab bitch who was responsible for sending me to insanity and for dumping me with crude oil! I stank like urine-spilled garbage bag because of her!"
Not like you tried to destroy and ruin her life with sanctions,bombs,ISIS backery and demonizations beforehand,you posh punk! Mick thought,getting really annoyed over his boss' tant-he meant,outburst. He thanked God he wasn't in Alfred's mansion after he came back from Syria after April Fools incident. His skin mattered,after all.
During his thoughts,Alfred has barely managed to grab the rag and bite it in frustration.
"The only worse Arab savage than Anisah is her younger spawn Yasser!" Alfred kept on ragingly ranting unconsciously,throwing the poster loudly on the floor,releasing his teeth from the rag "As bad as that Genocidal Brat Vuk Misic is,he's a little cupid compared to that shitty imp! He's the ultimate spoiled brat-child who represents the complete manifestation of those savage cunts who,at very best,deserve COAL FOR PRESENTS!"
"Why using such strong words?" Mick was finally able to gather much courage to reply to his boiling boss.
"I call them what they are,Michael! Arabs are the spoiled subhumans who pretend to pray for 'peace' while in reality they screech "PEACE,PEACE,PEACE!" and then fly a plane into building!" Alfred at this point is revealing his true face. He finally lost it "Their entire purpose in their worthless and parasitic lives is to whine like toddlers in the UN to blame me over human rights 'violations' without any sense of responsibility after they get deservedly bombed to bits and invaded for BEHAVING like savages they are! They teach their children to act like bombs,throw stones and launch against Jews and others they hate a lot so that they can pass their candy in celebration,and the only sentence those sand-rats always scream every other day is ALLAH...AKBAR! IT'S...IN...THEIR...BLOOOOOOOOOD!"
Mick was appalled at Alfred's demon-like speech. He covered his mouth with his hand. And Alfred,after finishing his shrieking,panted heavily and placed his left hand over his now-disheveled-again hair,with his left elbow and right hand on the desk,trying to calm down.
"I swear...I'm on the brink of getting a breakdown...the World is driving me nuts..." he panted,with a silent voice volume. Then,he turned his head and snapped at him,shouting "LIKE YOU!"
Having no other option,he quietly got out of Alfred's sights,picked up the poster and walking towards the trash can his picked that poster from,leaving his boss to shiver and tremble in silence,with his hand still within his hair.
After an hour had passed,in which Alfred continued to rant desperately but in more lower tone,Mick heard the cooker's sound of the lunch cooking. It signaled him to avoid Alfred from seeing him while also staying in his mansion until he the lunch is finished. Its best for him to let his boss stay alone.
19:00
Alfred called him and those two unknown siblings through the radio transmitter,shouting "Lunch Time!". Those devices were,and still are,attached within every single room,including his office and bedroom (those two rooms are treated as one room,according to Alfred).
When Mick got to the buffet table,he saw Alfred sitting on the front chair,wiggling his fork on the table without touching his food. He hadn't changed his clothes. And when his boss noticed Mick's presence,he placed his other hand on his face,as if excepting him to break something.
"Why don't you eat?" Mick asked,quietly,sitting in front of him.
Alfred let out a frustrated sigh.
"Leave me alone..."
Mick took the knife and fork to cut and eat a bite.
"Can you think about something positive?" Mick asked again,after swallowing it,trying to find a solution to his boss' current mental state.
"I can't...not when those bastards ruined Christmas." Alfred said,irritated.
"W-why not?"
Alfred went on to explain why. He said that he tried many ways to try to forget about the invitation letter,the voices in his head and everything what happened four days ago. On Christmas,he barely ate anything. The next day,he took an injection in hopes of ceasing them,and it failed. The day after,Alfred hadn't taken his medications,under the reason that he forgot where were they,how preoccupied and stressed out he was over these few days. And today,he told him he still didn't found them,from which he,before Mick entered his mansion,used Dalmaine's Tilia Infusion which he got from Emily the day after his birthday in 1999,as an alternative and it didn't helped him much. That's how he ended up.
"Still,you're not a psychiatrist,Mick!" Alfred concluded,annoyed "No matter WHAT I'll use,they won't go away. They may say I need to shut the hell up and move on,but I don't want to commit drug overdose over it. They're only making me WORSE,which is their ultimate goal!"
Mick listened to his distressed boss,halfway done with eating his lunch. Alfred still hadn't started eating.
"Isn't there any recent day you miss the most?"
Alfred sighed.
"I miss Halloween..."
Thirty seconds of silence came after his words. After they passed,he growled once more.
"All my life I've worked my ass to decorate and wait for Christmas,but no,they..." Alfred cut his complaining off,taking a deep breath "I'm so miserable..."
"And we're more miserable for not joinin' that girl's party,rather to waste our time doin' nothin' but freeze our butts. Right,Al?"
Mick and Alfred turned. The one who spoke out was Bill Houston,approaching them with her rival sister Carly Barbara. Both of them wore winter variations of their standard uniforms of cowboy uniform (the former) and pink jacket (the latter). Bill had a tiny moustache and both of them have Hispanic skin tones for their Pre-US heritage.
While Mick already knows they're Alfred's best siblings,he didn't knew (and he hadn't got told) that they were invited to have a sleepover in Alfred's home. They were the ones who briefly made Alfred feel better for making him a company,but he had little time to spend time with them for a long period,for goddamn obvious reasons.
"We've been looking for you two." Carly added,crossing her arms "What's going on?"
Mick and Alfred looked at each other and then looked back at them,in surprise.
"You informed them about the party?" Mick said,raising his eyebrow.
Alfred sighed.
"Yes...It was a big mistake on my part."
They sat on the remaining two chairs to start eating,as Mick finished the meal and got up to stand next to Alfred and Carly on the right side. The middle closed his eyes to contain anger over his Texan sibling's comment.
"I'll tell you only once,Bill..." he quietly seethed,opening his eyes. Then,he swiftly stood up,yelling "I DON'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PARTY,BULLFACE! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"
"N-n-nothin',Al!..." Bill raised his hands,smiling nervously "It was jus' a suggestion! I swear!"
"Then watch your filthy language!"
"He's right,Bill." Mick warned him,giving him a cold look,after Alfred sat back "I advise you not to provoke him. He has a mental crisis."
"Understood."
Five seconds later.
"How are you doing,Alfie?" Carly asked him,placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Having a shitty day,Carly." Alfred replied,with little calmness he had "The World's just fucking me over."
"We already know that." Mick said,telling him in effect that he no longer wants to hear his boss' complaints.
"Did someone asked you?! No one!" Alfred snapped at him,angrily. He's taking it,but his trembling and shaking is growing once more.
Mick cleared his throat and sighed at the same time.
"All of you should know that I don't have enough money to afford the visit to that stupid party,even if I wanted to!" Alfred abruptly retorted,again remembering that poster "We don't have much,but it's all ours,accomplished with ten of my fingers!"
"Yeah,we saw how much you've accomplished in yo life,Al." Bill said,in a trolling tone.
"AGAIN!?" Alfred snapped at him again,even more angrier than the previous time,slamming the desk.
"You know you have more cash than the entire Russian GDP." Carly informed,making Alfred turn to her "No,the entire PLANET!"
Alfred fumed in fast pace.
"Are you two trying to fuck with me,assholes?!" Alfred gritted his teeth.
Two of them shut their mouths. Alfred closed his eyes and sighed in relief until after one minute,his grip over his limit has ended.
"On second thought,they're kind of right. I would love to see all of you in Aintisar to celebrate,and wish Anisah New Year and congratulate her for winning the lottery and opening the hotel."
ET TU,MICK!? Alfred thought,feeling his brain's going to crack and explode.
And he did. He couldn't take it anymore and stood up to head towards Mick,slowly raising his fist to give him a hard punch in the mouth. Mick awaited it and as soon as he swung his fist at him,Carly jumped up to stand in front of Mick and Bill grabbed Alfred's arm,preventing him to strike.
Alfred,seeing that he failed to retaliate,he cracked hard and released his arm violently at Bill from behind.
"NO!" Alfred shrieked from his lungs,breaking down and grabbing his plate and throwing it at the wall,causing the plate to shatter and the wall to have a big stain "NO,NO,NO,NO! PERIOOOOOOD!"
His face became red and lips and eyes were trembling,lowering his head. He was shaking and vibrating vigorously and he let his knees fall on the floor. Alfred then placed his hands on his face,sobbing.
"M-m...may An-Anislut-t wi-wish me...m-merry fuck-k-king C-c-christ-t-mas..." Alfred whimpered,crying.
Now that Alfred finally got a mental breakdown,Carly decided to grab Alfred to carry him towards his room while Bill and Mick chose to go somewhere and have a nice night conversation.
"Go kill yourselves..." Alfred spat,in a hateful and vile tone.
Carly,after going to his room,placed his father-brother into bed without taking his black shoes off and sat on a chair near him,tucking him down.
"There,there,Alfie. Everything is going to be ok." She said sweetly and quietly,conforting him and petting his cheek "You need to take some decent rest. You overworked yourself."
Alfred said nothing,but he gave her a small smile.
"Ha-have you found my m-meds?" Alfred asked,in an exhausted and hopeful tone,looking at her with tired eyes.
"I will. Just sleep as much as you can."
She moved her hand near his face from forehead to his chin,closing his eyes effectively. Carly then took his glasses of to put them near the mattress,put a cold wet rag on his sweaty forehead and kissed his cheek,leaving him to rest and find his medicines,so that she can return to him to open his mouth and give him a glass of water to swallow them.
In all her honesty,she thought,her intention wasn't meant to troll or mock him into cracking. On the contrary,she only wanted to know how's his mental condition and how to help him. She found that invitation poster from the trash can two days ago to examine it,and she even liked the features Aintisar has shown within it,but she and Bill didn't knew Alfred's opinion and feelings about it up until now,because they hadn't dared to tell him that.
"Sleep tight,sunshine." she whispered to him before going to sleep in one of the mansion's bedrooms.
30th December - 22:00
Everybody was officially ready to go to Aintisar,after Carly and Bill have successfully convinced their main sibling to do so. Alfred fiercely objected and retorted about it yesterday and today morning,and he even made few scenes of attempting to hit and shout at them every time they talked about it,but in the end he agreed,only because his two children-siblings wanted to go there and because they were the most favorite siblings,despite their flaws.
The way in which they succeeded is by allowing Alfred to play with snow and have fun with them outside Fessenden,including Mick,without any attempts to bother him like they accidentally did two days ago.
Carly,Bill and Alfred were dressed up into long winter boots and comfy jackets for the arrival. All of them,plus Mick,took showers to become clean for the party (one per each. Fessenden has 14 bathrooms).
They're now waiting for Alfred to finish his clean up in the bathroom. Alfred was having a quite long footbath and,in order not to get bored,he played Fruit Ninja and Subway Surfers on his Apple phone,sitting on the closed toilet seat. From 21:00 they waited for him,and now they started wondering what could he be doing for so many minutes.
"What is he doing in the Bathroom?" Carly asked,getting impatient.
"I don't know,probably defecating." Mick answered,with his hands on his pockets.
"With so many minutes?! Defecation should last for at least ten minutes,not this much. Who knows what he's doing there."
"MR. JONES!" Mick called him,shouting "WILL YOU GET OUT?! THEY'RE WAITING FOR YOU!"
"HOLD UP FOR A MOMENT!" Alfred replied by yelling out to make them hear him.
After a minute had passed,they heard the sound of a throwing water. Alfred threw the used water out of the window and put his clean socks and boots back on,while throwing his dirty ones into the laundry. He then came back from the bathroom,smiling.
"Sorry for being late,I had a footbath. And I'm sorry for not telling you this." Alfred said,tempting to blush,placing his Apple phone into his bag.
"I see." Bill said "You should've at least informed us earlier."
"Yes,I know."
"How do we look?"
"You two look perfect." Alfred said,smiling brightly. He then looked down at his attire "Me?"
"Like a real hero." Clary complimented.
It made Alfred giggle and tickle their noses,only to revert it into a frown in order to inspect his siblings. Carly and Bill stood like two poles. Alfred ordered them to close their legs and move their heads upwards.
"That's better,as any soldier should." Alfred said,still smiling.
Both of them stopped standing still and moved towards Alfred. As also ordered by Alfred,they walked with him behind his back.
"Hey,Al!" Mick called him again "Can I join you?"
"No. You'll stay with Griff until I come back." Alfred explained "Besides,you don't want to have a normal human being exposed to a nations-only festivity,do you? Either way,I don't want you to embarrass me in front of the public."
"Ok."
Mick waved them goodbye as three of them were about to leave the mansion,but what he then said made them pause.
"Have a good time with Anisah!"
It instantly ticked Alfred off by the mere mention of her. He told Carly and Bill to wait and marched towards him to grab his suit collar.
"If anything disastrous happens to me after I come back,you'll be a dead meat!" Alfred snapped at him,clearly angered "You hear me? DEAD. MEAT."
"Did I said anything wrong?"
"YES! Don't speak her fucking name,FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE!" he shouted at him,releasing him forcibly and punching the wall "It was your idea! YOU STARTED IT ALL!"
Mick felt goosebumps after his words,but they faded away after they left and went on to play with Griff. He kinda took Alfred's last words seriously,making him have a bad feeling.
31st December - 04:30,near the shores of Portugal
Bill and Carly were sleeping on the Helicopter's back seat. Alfred is still riding his vehicle and,as a result of not sleeping and knowing that in several hours he's going to see Anisah and her family's faces,he grew angrier and angrier after each passing hour. Unlike three days prior,he kept his anger with a calming facade. Although,it did made Alfred sometimes smash the monitors in frustration. The oceans and skies were calm and dark,filling the outgoing atmosphere.
Bill didn't knew why did his dad-bro behaved like a hostile maniac almost a week ago. He knew that Alfred's always been extremely unhinged thanks to his defeat in Vietnam War,Nighthawk,9/11 and his defeat in Syria last year,but he hasn't remembered the last time he acted like this. He was usually kind,caring and playful most of the time,remembering the times he and Alfred rode horses on the Texan plains or played Cowboys and Indians with Chuck Wright whom Alfred doesn't like him very much.
The UN is indeed bugging his main sibling to death for decades.
He was woken up by a loud German roaring speech coming from the radio standing at the top of the monitors behind the front window. It was deep and thunderous,with loud applauses following that man's words after every end of his segment. He wasn't familiar who's speaking,but he sure as hell was disturbed by what Alfred was listening for half an hour.
"A-Al..." he asked him,yawning and slowly waking up "What are you listenin' to? Aren't those the Nazis?
Alfred has immediately turned the radio off,blushing.
"Don't bring political questions up at New Year's Eve,Bill!" Alfred retorted,in a quiet but angry tone "Keep sleeping! We haven't got there!"
"I know,but-"
He was cut off by his sister Carly,who was also woken up by the radio. After refreshing here eyes,she spoke up.
"Billy,Alfie," Carly said,taking three small plastic bottles of Coca-Cola below the front seat in front of her "let's cheer for this day."
Bill and Alfred turned to her.
"With what?" Alfred asked.
"With Coca-Cola."
"Great,Carly!" Alfred replied in a happy tone,taking one of the three bottles.
"Thanks for the Coke!" Bill added,smiling.
"You're welcome."
They drank their drinks for a while and stopped when they thought they drank enough. Alfred on the other hand,ten minutes after he left his Coke bottle,slammed the same in frustration,again remembering that he's heading to Syria.
"Grrr...Why am I doing this?! I should've stayed in my house to celebrate alone and not being with those savage brats!" Alfred complained to himself,angrily "WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING?!"
"It's too late to go back." Bill reminded him.
It made Alfred scream with closed mouth.
"It's all Mick's fault. If he hadn't arrived in my mansion three days ago,none of this shit would've happened!" Alfred growled "I should've killed him on the spot when I had the chance..."
"Don't act so furious,Alfie. It's not his fault for wanting to vis-"
"I DON'T CARE!" he screamed,slamming the monitors again "Just look at Anisah,the Mick's sudden obsession,how ungrateful that show-off bitch is doing. She doesn't allow us to wait for 2021 in peace!" he then gritted his teeth "Fuck,how Mick is sometimes breaking my nerves. It's outRAGEous!"
Twenty seconds of silence had passed.
"Maybe Anisah has some babes partying with her." Bill commented,contemplating.
Alfred's face got slightly red for hearing the Syrian girl's name,feeling offended.
"Ugh,it would be pitiful if she's brining in females like Arishit,Madele and Mariac! They're the last things we want us to see!" Alfred replied,still angrily "In this situation,we shouldn't THINK about women like these..."
"Except when it comes to Liu." Carly added,mentioning his long-time crush.
"She's a different case,Carly. This isn't Valentine's Day. It's you-know-what." Alfred said,annoyed.
Yet another twenty seconds of silence and Alfred shouted again.
"I would rather kill myself right now than to have Anislut sweeten her ego!"
"Wanna do it now? I would lend you my hand." Bill said,jokingly.
He slammed the monitors for the sixth time with full force and with both arms. He quickly turned to him and removed his glasses.
"Do you want me to kick you out of the helicopter,cretin?!"
"N-"
"I DIDN'T LITERALLY MEAN IT,YOU MORON!" Alfred screamed at him,provoked "SLEEP THE FUCK NOW BEFO-"
The helicopter was suddenly falling down into the sea,making them scream. When Alfred realized it,he put his glasses back on in a second and grabbed the controls to fly upwards. He and his siblings were equally frightened.
"HERE,WILLIAM,WE COULD'VE DROWNED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC BECAUSE OF YOU!" Alfred yelled and glanced at him,and demanded "START KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT!"
He then panted after yelling,and mumbled that he's riding 'two infants' and not 'two grown-ups'.
Bill started sleeping again to not intervene and cause any trouble with Alfred. However,instead of also sleeping,Carly said something which restored Alfred's temper.
"Al,have you thought about creating a masterplan to,like,troll and humiliate Anisah and ruin her celebration? Yadadamean?"
Alfred felt a sparkling click inside his brain. It made him chuckle heavily and then laugh outloud,rhythmically.
"Excellent,EXCELLENT! For once you said something brilliant!" Alfred thanked her,grinning menacingly "You've made my hour for giving me an idea,Carly. I have to develop it. Anislut,and the rest of her family and guests,will pay for all the filth she has flung at me. Or better,to kill her outright!"
He then leaned at the other front seat to take the medicine bottles and boxes and take seven pills in one go with the Coke drink.
"Brace yourselves,the time to repay my humiliations is about to begin. It's going to be a wild ride..."
11:00
Anisah held her checklist to review if everything was set in place. Bar and Cafeteria? Checked. Game room? Checked. Disco club? Checked. Kitchen,Casinos,private rooms and ski complex? Checked,checked and checked!
"There's only one thing missing..." she said,tapping the paper with her pen.
She closed her notebook and headed towards somewhere,passing through lots of pathways into the Game room. When she did,she found his best brother Yasser playing foosbal with himself. Anisah sneaked in behind him and once she got near him,she kissed the top of his head.
"Checked!" Anisah shouted,hugging him.
Yasser gasped in surprise and shock after she kissed him. He hugged her as well,and they went back to the bar where Ikram,the Waiter,was waiting.
The first guests have entered,namely Malik,Dastan,Khenti and Bachir. Like with the future guests,they underwent the procedure to check if they hadn't brought any weapon,thus gaining guest tickets in return. Lots of guardsmen coming from her military,private and public,came to protect Aintisar from dangers,infiltrations and sabotages. They were well-armed.
Aintisar has so far taken few people who are her brothers and sisters and,with the sole exception of Chris,none of the new guests were foreign,for now. Chris was obliged to get there early because Anisah wanted him to be a Santa for the rest of the party because of his stature. He agreed with "Fair enough.".
Anisah and Yasser got inside the bar.
"You got dressed?" Ikram asked,fascinated,just noticing his two siblings dressed up in the morning. He was busy being the waiter,cleaning the cups with a rag. And of course,he won't start the day without a cigar inserted at his mouth smoking.
"Well,DUH!" Anisah said "You also look nice."
Ikram looked in the mirror behind him. He fixed his now-slicked hair and corrected his bow.
"Shukr!" Ikram said,after doing so.
All of them have dressed themselves elegantly,the most being Anisah,which she dressed herself up into a glamorous Syrian traditional clothing,looking exactly like her from the poster,with the makeup. Her inspiration for the dress was akin to Scheherazade,one of the two main characters from the book called 'One Thousand and One Nights',her favorite.
"Are you ok,Nisie?" Yasser asked.
"Better than ever,Yas."
"Same with me." Ikram added,smiling.
They all stood in silence as their first female guest entered the main room (the Bar). It was Sarah Senussi of Libya,a black Arab girl who hasn't dressed up as elegantly like Malik and Dastan due to her current war-stricken condition,but she was nevertheless dressed up into a modest (not burka,dumbasses) but fancy white clothing.
"Sabah alkhyr,Anisah!" Sarah greeted her,kissing their cheeks two times,one per each.
"W'ant aydaan,Sarah!" Anisah greeted her back. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Sure!"
As Sarah went to sit on a chair,Ikram opted to go to her and ask what drink would she take,but he changed his mind when he came up with a question to ask Anisah about. Because of this,Yasser went to Sarah instead.
"Anisah,have you banned Berfin,Nayirah,Ece and Jorgen?"
Ikram had many reasons why. He hates Befrin of Kurdistan for her constant secessionist wars against him (and because he's basically a dick towards her),Nayirah because of the Gulf War,Kerem because he launched a military campaign against his sister a year earlier,and Jorgen because he made those two songs called 'Reign of Terror' and 'Panzer Battalion' which demonized him in both of his wars against Alfred. It triggers his PTSD and becomes berserk every time those two songs are being played. Jorgen is seen by Ikram as his Persona non Grata.
"Of course I did,Ikie. I'm a woman of my words."
"I'm still disappointed for choosing to invite that kike anyway,Anisah." he said,crossing his arms in irritation.
"Don't worry,Ikram. I'll make sure she's going to get well...'guarded',if you know what I mean." Anisah assured him.
Ikram nodded. Anisah then went to see Yasser who was sitting on a chair in the Bar,and had a nice conversation between one another for seven minutes,about their feelings over their event and the general talk over personal stuff. On the seventh minute,a guardsman rushed to the main room.
"Mrs. Zaman," he called out,shouting "there's a military helicopter passing nearby!"
"What's the matter?"
"Someone anonymous is approaching Aintisar!" he explained,throwing binoculars to her "Come on,it's urgent!"
Anisah sighed.
"Alright! I'll check it out!" Anisah replied.
She got up and told Yasser to wait for her until she comes back. When she got outside,she went to the edge of the hill where the fence blocked Aintisar's slope. Anisah put her binoculars on and looked at the helicopter her guardsman has referred to. The helicopter's rotors grew louder the more it got near this place.
"La...it can't be..."
Anisah was having a bad feeling. What she saw had shocked to the core: That helicopter was none other than Alfred Jones' Apache helicopter,as recognized by its model and design. She and the rest of the World knew that Alfred's the only nation-human who uses helicopter as his transport vehicle.
She stopped looking through her binoculars,shocked and surprised. She closed and squeaked her eyes to verify is she's hallucinating. After she reopened them,the helicopter was still present,now slightly closer and visible.
She couldn't believe it. For what reason has that jerk had to go there? He couldn't have possibly decided to go to Aintisar without some bullshit excuse,not after he hates being in the UN and her? Maybe he got forced to do so? Does he want revenge on her? And there's no telling what would the guests' reaction look like,when they find out that their most hated person on the planet has arrived as the first foreign guest,especially Dastan and Sarah?
So many questions with so little answers...
Anisah rapidly rushed inside to inform her brothers what she has seen,after giving back the binoculars to that guardsman.
"Ikram,Yasser,Alfred's coming!" Anisah shouted when she got near them,panting and feeling the cold sweat sliding down her forehead.
"Say WHAT?!" both of them exclaimed,apalled at her words.
"Don't believe me,guys. It's true. I saw his helicopter."
"Maybe it has something to do with that poster you've sent him a week ago." Ikram said,rubbing his nose.
"I know,I know,but that's impossible!" she complained,panicking "He would normally never attend anywhere near anyone he loathes like us,unless he got forced into it."
"We're going to get fucked!" Yasser said,in the same tone as his older sister.
"Indeed."
"What should we do now?!" Yasser asked.
"Nothing,you and Ikram will inform the guests that Alfred's arriving and that they should evacuate into Cafeteria. Further orders will be sent to you after he enters the Pub." Anisah explained,then moaned "By Allah,Aintisar will INDEED have a very bad time and ruined by Alfred's would-be schemes,and we would largely do nothing about it. I can smell it by kilometers."
Yasser and Ikram went to do so without a word,but the latter stopped his moves abruptly to turn to her.
"That's what happens when you allow an enemy into the party. We wouldn't have gotten into this situation if it wasn't for this fact." he warned her with a grumpy face,crossing his arms.
Anisah was finally fed up getting reminded about her recent mistakes by Ikram. She took Ikram's past warnings as a sort of words which were showed down on her throat,because she saw Ikram as though he tried to act like a smart guy. Telling him that it was a trolling act had no use.
"FINE! IT WAS MY FAULT!" she snapped at him,yelling,clearly angered. Anisah raised her arms up downwards to display her anger "STOP PESTERNING ME ALREADY AND DO WHAT I'VE JUST SAID!" Anisah then headed near the door,turning again and lowered her voice "Maybe I shouldn't have invited you. Aintisar would've been better off with you sacrificing goats and minorities for your God Saddam and his Blood Quran,stupid warlock..."
That hurt Ikram a lot. He stood silent for some seconds and went to join Yasser. And before he went to do so,he was like "What the fuck?",snorted and gave her a confused look. She brushed her sights from his own to go outside.
In short,it made Ikram fell like shit.
Now that she left and slammed the door closed behind her,the helicopter has already landed at the edge of the hill. Anisah let out an angry deep breath and saw Alfred with his two companions she doesn't know or heard of,heading towards her. She was ready for the encounter.
"Salam alaikum!" Anisah welcomed them,smiling "Welcome to Aintisar! The place where excitement and fun is boun-"
"Yeah,yeah,whatever,Anislut. We don't need to hear your useless greetings!" Alfred retorted,annoyed,with his arms placed on his hips.
"He's rude by nature,that's what the World knows for a long time." She said to herself.
Alfred,Bill and Carly stood in front of her,face to face. They glared at each other for less than a minute. The weather was colder than on Christmas and the winds whitened their faces. Everything around them was relatively white,even the skies. For a brief moment,they turned to see few children (who are Anisah's little siblings) sliding down the hill and going up to repeat again.
The calm but tense silence ended when Bill leaned his upper body leftwards to see Anisah's clothes,having himself and Carly to stand behind Alfred. He liked her looks.
"YEAH,GIRL!" Bill shouted,whistling at her "YOU LOO-OWW!"
Bill was cut off by Alfred's strong jostle at his left arm,giving him an angry look. He rolled his arm to ease the pain.
"Even though you got there too early,you three are among the first foreigners who joined the party." Anisah stated in a thanking manner "Congrats!"
"Sadly..." Alfred replied,in a disgusted tone.
Yep,he was forced into this.
"Who are those two fellows behind you,Alfie?" Anisah asked,trying to act sassy towards him.
Alfred let out an "Ugh!..." for calling him like that.
"That doesn't concern you!"
"Howdy,girl! My name's Bill Houston!"
"I'm Carly Barbara! Here's my hand."
Both of Alfred's siblings ignored his words and shook their hands with Anisah,making Alfred to facepalm himself.
"And I'm Anisah Zaman! Nice to meet you!"
After they walked backwards towards Alfred,he growled with his mouth closed.
"Why did you came here,Alfred? Do you want to take some oil from me?" Anisah asked,excepting Alfred to jump at hearing the word 'oil' "I have a lot of them inside Aintisar."
"Cut your bullshit,Mrs. Smartass! I haven't come here for 'oil',and much less with the Earth's worst abortion failure and the scum of humanity called Anisah Zaman."
She rolled her eyes and moaned annoyingly for getting insulted in the most intense way. He still remembers what happened on April Fools,and most probably wants revenge on her over it,including the earned victory over him.
He continued.
"I came here to...party and dance,in Aintisuck. What more of a proper explanation should I give you?"
"There's no need to,Al-fee-fee boy. Everyone will play around and spend their time enjoying this event."
He blushed at getting adressed as if he was a baby. Bill and Carly giggled quietly.
"We hadn't herd cows together to call me like that,you fucking flirt!" Alfred snapped at her,offended.
"We certainly didn't,but you herded them yourself." Anisah replied,with a mischievous smile.
All of them except Alfred have broke in the fits of laughter for half a minute,making him shake and tremble like a sensitive moron he is.
"SHUT UP!" Alfred screamed,ending their laughter.
Anisah still grinned at the sight of her enemy's look on his face.
"So then,do you want to enter and have a drink,and comfort yourselves inside?" Anisah suggested them,talking like a host.
"Oh,Anisah,that would totally be rad!" Carly said,hugging her back "And if there's Marijuana or Tacos' involved,the better!"
"Sure,sure,we could make some of them,yes."
"I can and WILL eat five tacos at once,gurl!" Carly bragged,smiling.
"You're worse than Bill!" Alfred shouted at her,still angrily "Having a Hispanic middle name is one thing,but this is intolerable."
"Don't care."
Anisah and Bill giggled with their mouths covered with their hand,and Alfred growled in frustration.
"Anyways,you three will go to the procedure before you start anything else. Enjoy yourselves."
Once his two siblings were heading to the entry,Anisah was going to follow them,but Alfred,who hasn't followed his siblings,stopped in her tracks by grabbing her shoulder,making her turn to him.
"Are you hiding something to launch a prank one me,Anisah?" he asked,raising his tone and starred firmly at her.
She didn't brought oil or sewage barrels to dump him with,unfortunately.
"Why are you acting so paranoid,Alfred?" Anisah replied,rolling her eyes "There are no setbacks or gossips against you...YET!"
Alfred let out a small laugh,smirking.
"You're ruining my life and psyche for months,Anisah. You should've noticed it after you dumped me with oil,succubus." Alfred lowered his volume,widening his smirk "No matter how much you'll lie to my face,I can smell something fishy going on in your entire 'event'."
He released his grip.
"Or maybe it's you."
After pushing her shoulder with his own,Anisah sighed and moved her head left and right out of how ridiculous this encounter turned out in the end. The moment she turned at Aintisar,Alfred smashed her face with a large chunk of snow in anger,after taking out that much portion from its soil. It took him five seconds.
When Alfred finally left her alone,with her face covered with snow,she used her hand to swipe it down and fall on the lower edge of her dress and on her boots. She wasn't angry having her face smashed. In fact,she made her chuckle,reinforcing her belief that Alfred's an immature brat.
Anisah adjusted her earphones.
"Ikram,Yasser,we're going to have an emergence meeting inside the Bar,starting now." Anisah called them,before going back inside.
Here's my second Non-SW related Story,this time about Christmas and the New Year of 2021. It's based on two drawings - slytherinroja/art/APH-No-hard-feelings-817356201 and slytherinroja/art/GotW-April-Fools-836083474 and one fanfic (which was basically about Israel's revelation over Alfred's trust on her and causing a short incident against him for daring to be with the people he despises with every fiber of his being - 959682954-nv-inseguridad-y-alianzas-cap-
Yes,yes,it's posted days after Christmas and the New Years Eve had happened,but I came up with this idea at the beginning of December 2020. There're going to be two parts. One part,which you've finished,is about Pre-Party Events while the second part will be about the party itself.
Also,as you may noticed,the new Characters called Carly (Califoria) and Bill (Texas) have been introduced. Mick and Griff were introduced on my SW Chapter 12. California and Texas are America's most favorite siblings. They're often with him when he's outside of International Stage,and they act like independent nations despite not being independent (they want autonomy from America,at least). They also tend to make jokes with America,and America often gladly joins in and plays with them,but when it comes to putting up with his enemies,and much less after each UN meeting,he won't tolerate them making fun of him,at all.
Thanks for reading.