Holly was throwing one of her lavish parties. About 15 guests were there, including Paul.
At 9:00pm she made an announcement:
"Hi, everyone, could you gather round, please?"
They did this.
"How's the party going?"
They cheered.
"Thank you. Now, I thought I'd try something a little different, this time; I thought I would have a party game. And the game I've chosen is Charades. Is this acceptable to all of you?"
Everyone murmured signs of approval.
"Good. I've prepared slips of paper with various phrases on them. I trust they won't be too difficult. Now, the way I thought I would do this is I'll have all of you do one, then I will be the last to do one. I hope that's acceptable to all of you."
There were more murmurs of approval.
"And let me assure all of you that there will be no pressure; if any of you don't want to do it, I won't force you. Oh, and because I already know all the phrases, I won't participate in the guesses; that's only fair. So without further adieu, let's get started. Who would like to go first?"
No one was willing to be picked!
She smiled. "Now, don't all of you raise your hands at the same time!"
"I'll give it a go," said Paul.
"Excellent, Fred. The slips of paper are all in this dish."
He went over to it, put his hand in, and pulled out one of the slips. He looked at it, thought for a bit, and walked to the middle of the room. First, he showed three of his right-hand fingers.
"Three words," one of the guests said.
He nodded. Then he showed one finger.
"First word."
Again, he nodded. Next, he pointed to himself.
"Me."
"My."
"I."
To this, he nodded. Next, he put two fingers up.
"Second word."
He nodded. Then he hugged himself.
"Hug."
He shook his head. He then made a kissing motion with his lips.
"Kiss."
"Adore."
"Love."
He nodded. Then he put three fingers up.
"Last word."
He nodded. He then walked over to Holly and pointed to her.
"I love Holly?"
The other guests laughed. He shook his head.
"I love you!"
"Yes!" he shouted.
The guests cheered. He and Holly hugged.
A total of 6 guests also played charades. No one else volunteered when they finished.
"Well, since no one else wants to play, I guess it's my turn," said Holly. "Excuse me, just a moment."
She walked to the side of the couch and slipped her shoes off.
"That's a good idea!" said one of the girls.
Holly smiled. "Thank you!"
She went to the dish and picked out a slip of paper. She looked at it for a bit and nodded. Then she held out four fingers.
"Four words."
She nodded. Then she put one finger up.
"First word."
Again, she nodded. She then formed her hand into a cup and put it to her lips.
"Drinking."
She next staggered around for a few seconds.
"Drunk."
She nodded. Then she put four fingers up.
"Fourth word."
She nodded. Then she got on her arms and knees and began walking back and forth.
"Animal."
"Dog."
"Cat."
She got up. She held onto her nose.
"Bad smell."
"Smelly."
Again, she walked on all fours. This time, she swished her rear end back and forth.
"Smelly animal."
"Skunk."
She nodded and got up.
"Drunk skunk?"
"Drunk as a skunk!" shouted Paul.
"Yes!" she said.
She and Paul hugged again, and the guests cheered.
She remained shoeless-in black stockings-for the rest of the party. The guests left and she and Paul cleanned up. Afterwards, they sat on the couch together.
"Your charades was a good idea."
"Thank you, Fred. I think I'll do that again, for my next party."
"And I must say, seeing you do it was a real highlight."
"It was?"
"You looked like a dancer!"
She smiled. "Thanks!"
"Perhaps it was the fact that you were barefooted."
"Yes, perhaps it was."
She put her feet in his lap, and he began massaging them. They sat contentedly for a few minutes.
Suddenly, she smiled. "Guess what this is, Fred."
She began unbuttoning her dress!
He smiled. "Seduction!"
"You won, Fred!"