As soon as we were permitted to enter the building, there were beautiful boys with long skirts slit up to their thighs offering drinks of The Willing Gentleman or The Queen's Bush. Soon, one of our friends was whisked away by a butler who cried, "Oh there you are!" Another butler asked who was brave. I started to step away but another friend clutched my hand. "Don't you leave me!" The second butler slowly made her way up the stairs and we locked eyes. "You," she said, pulling me away. "You are brave." She took me into pantry that we had to crawl into. It was covered in newspaper clippings and small statuary.
What's the bravest thing you've ever done? She asked me, pen poised to take down the notes.
I've survived --- I paused. Everything. Divorce. Death. Rejection. Yes, everything.
She nodded and scrawled notes.
Are you brave tonight?
Yes.
Are you mischievous?
Perhaps a little.
She pressed a waiter's ticket into my hand. Come back when the clock chimes 37. Complete all of your tasks or earn the Queen's wrath.
Well, that sounded about right for The Summer Solstice as I had been working closely with my always intractable Muse whose encouragement is decidedly of a severe nature.
One. Ask a bartender what the sexiest thing he's seen here.
(The Queen's sexy mostly naked dance)
Two. Find two strangers and tell them a story
(Hi strangers! I'm Deb. Let me tell you a story. When I met Jow, I was the reigning tequila queen . . .)
Three. What happens to the walls in the bathroom?
(The wallpaper changes from snakes to pomegranates)
Four. Do a butler a favor
(Slowly, I peeled his jacket off of him while he watched me)
Five. Earn a kiss from a butler
(I offered him my wedding lipstick, Jow and I kissed him and then a girl we had never met)
I met her back in the pantry just as "37" was intoned.
We were seated and huge joints of lamb, soft salmon and tender chicken were placed at our tables. We ran from table to table, a