Confessions of a Fag Hag - Chapter 12 Diana Wimples
I picked Jess up and we rushed over to Alex and Evan's place. When we pulled up, I noted that Drew had already arrived. He was following the advice he often gave me, "Early is on time, and on time is late." I smiled, knowing he had particular interest in being early. He had someone to impress, and I knew we'd find him in the kitchen, which we did, after Alex let us in, helping Evan with whatever he could, and learning his techniques. Drew, like Alex, was a master at desserts, but he could also whip up a mean main course as well.
As we walked into the kitchen, Alex and Jess were already introducing themselves. Drew and Evan were engrossed in . . . the food, and other subjects, so they didn't notice us at first. We sat at the kitchen table and a few seconds later, my image of tall, dark, and handsome walked in. Jess was immediately captivated, you could see it in her deep blue eyes, which were rivited to the dark-haired, 6-foot 2'ish fellow who came in from the back porch, bringing a breeze of cool air and a the scent of snow with him. He pulled down the fur-lined parka hood that surrounded his face and you could see a slight tinge of grey in the long braid that he had flipped over his shoulder.
"Hi," he walked over to us, holding out a hand. Both of us stood up to greet this handsome arrival. "I'm Michael. You must be Diana, Alex has been telling me about you. And you are?" He first shook my hand, then immediately turned to Jess. Though he had been outside, his hands were quite warm. He had the smell of cold on him, but also a whiff of wood smoke.
"Hi, nice to meet you Michael. I'm Jess," she practically beamed at him. There was an open seat at the table, and he joined us there, scootching in a little closer, moving towards Jess just a fraction with the motion.
By this point, Drew and Evan had finally noticed our arrival. They in turn greeted us, then turned back to cooking, leaving us to converse with Alex and Michael. We soon learned that Michael was actually Michael White Eagle from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. He went on to explain that he was a Sioux, but a member of the Blackfoot tribe of Sioux, which was to be distinguished from the Blackfoot tribe of the Asiniboine in Montana and Canada. I was getting a little confused, but Jess was keeping right up with him, asking very good questions that kept him talking. It was easy to forget, feeling like she had been around forever, that she had just come from a Bureau of Indian Affairs office on a reservation. Therefore, she knew exactly what types of questions to ask.
Soon enough, Alex stood up to excuse himself, with the reason of working on his Yule log being the excuse. I asked, not knowing much about Yule logs except that they were burned in hearths long ago, then turned into table decorations, if I could see what went into making one edible, and he and I walked over to the refrigerator together, where he pulled out the makings of the dessert. That left Jess and Michael at the table, but they didn't seem to mind, as they immediately continued their conversation. When Alex put the log up on the counter, I asked if he would mind if I pulled up a chair, and he went to the pantry and pulled out their step stool. How handy, and soon we were discussing the merits of an edible Yule log, which was, except for looks, in no way related to the wooden form. I learned that the Yule log dessert, or buche de noel, is a French tradition (and, upon inquiring how a fellow from Thunder Bay, Ontario, had a tradition of making a French dessert, learned that Alex and Evan's mother is an Acadian from New Brunswick, descending directly from the French who settled the Canadian Maritimes). He explained how the traditional Yule log is a vanilla cake with chocolate rum filling. What we had before us was the flat white cake, rolled up in wax paper. It was our job to get the filling inside the rolled up cake! Laughing, we unrolled the cake and iced it, then carefully rolled it up again (this time sans paper, or it would be a bit chewy upon eating) and it went a lot easier than I expected. By the time dinner was ready, we were just finishing up the last final touches that made the cake look like an actual log. Alex informed me that they had invited Ms. Gwen to join us for dessert, so she'd be driving over later. This was going to be an adventure!
We thoroughly enjoyed Evan (and Drew's, as he had helped) Portobello mushroom burgers. As delicious as it all was, we knew we had to hold back some room for dessert. Just as we were finishing, the doorbell rang and Evan rose to answer. We heard Ms. Gwen's voice as she cooed over Evan and admired their house. Jess and Michael were quickly clearing the table as Alex rose to get his dessert, and I pulled up a chair for Ms. Gwen to join us. Jess set out dessert plates and Alex presented the very log-like dessert, which soon was being quickly consumed by all. Ms. Gwen oozed compliments, as did we all, for it was a delicious and fun dessert. Maybe a little early for the holiday, but with our Yule Ball coming up the next night, we complimented Alex on his timing. Speaking of the Yule Ball, Jess got brave and asked Michael if he would join us. He blushed and we all began begging him to join us, so he eventually gave in and the smile on Jess's face was to beat the band.
After all was cleaned up we sat around for a bit just chatting. We learned more about Alex and Evan, about Michael, and they learned more about us. And of course, Ms. Gwen was smack dab in the middle of it all, trying to set up her favorite boys (new and old, Drew as well as Evan and Alex), and trying to get us girls in on the fun too. We all left in high spirits and as Jess and I drove home we kept bantering back and forth about how much fun the guys had been, and about how much fun it looked like one or the other of us seemed to be having with our respective conversation partner. It was silly to bug each other about it, but so silly it made it fun. I am not interested in a relationship right now, this Matt thing has me sour, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy Alex's company. Now Jess, on the other hand, I know she wouldn't rush into something, but she wouldn't mind having a male companion to spend some quality time with as well. It'll be interesting to see how the friendships progress. This is one reason I truly am now looking forward to the dance, when before, I was even hesitant to go, knowing Matt wouldn't be there. Now, there was no need for him to be! As I stopped by her house to let her out, Jess did mention one curious thing that has me wondering. She feels like she knows Michael from somewhere, and knowing where he came from, wonders if they might have crossed paths. Jess will ask him soon, I'm sure, for she can't let something like that go for long. Now, to get a good night's sleep so I can be ready to cut a rug tomorrow evening! I called Julia and told her about our fun evening, not forgetting to add how handsome Michael was and the fun that he and Jess seemed to be having together, and told her I just wanted to sleep at home tonight, just me and the cats. We promised to meet for lunch tomorrow afternoon and I crawled into bed. The warm fuzzies immediately joined me, and soon we were all dreaming our respective dreams, and snoring our respective snores. I think I even through in a few practice dance moves, for I remember once a yowl as a cat thudded to the floor, waking all of us up momentarily . . . hmm, sorry to whoever that was!