Page 53 of See You at the Sunset

“Would you look at that! It’s a goddamn Christmas party in the middle of summer,” Dennis hollered over the music.

Henry barked out a laugh when he realized it as well.

“Dennis, Henry, you made it! Isn’t it fabulous? A midyear holiday seniors’ prom! Go figure!” Mimi walked up and gave Dennis a hug and Henry a kiss on the cheek.

A man with white hair and a full, matching beard walked in the door wearing a red sweatsuit with a white T-shirt peeking out from the top and bottom of the sweatshirt barely covering his large round midsection. He looked around at the decorations and down at himself. “Well, shit,” he said and walked back out the door.

Henry raised his eyebrows, and Dennis shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh, that’s Chris. He’s gotten mistaken for Santa Claus for decades. Probably going home to change into something a little less obvious considering the last-minute theme.”

Henry didn’t know what to say to that.

“Henry, be a doll and go help Jia at the snacks table? She won’t let any of us do any work and insists we get to dancing. Maybe you’ll have better luck.”

“Sure, of course. I’ll be back, Granddad,” he said.

“I’ll be on the dance floor. Let’s go, Mimi. Tell me they spiked the punch in that bowl,” he said.

“This isn’t amateur hour, Dennis,” she said back.

Henry hoped this wouldn’t quite be the shit show that his own prom had been. But no one needed to know that Henry had been dumped by his high school girlfriend who’d rather have spent the dance with the runner up for prom king. Henry had been pushed into taking a picture by himself, drinking too much spiked punch, and throwing up into the school’s prized possession, their 1985 football state championship trophy.

Henry found Jia pouring a bag of chips into a large bowl.

“Hey there, I was relegated to the snacks table so as not to embarrass myself on the dance floor. What can I do?”

“Hey there,” Jia greeted. Her face lit up when she saw Henry, and his heartbeat picked up like a fifteen-year-old boy. What the fuck? Get a grip, Shin.

But she was beautiful.

Jia had on what looked like a white nightgown with lace around the neckline and the hem. Over it, she wore an oversized red cardigan with her hair tied up in a ponytail with curls.

“It looks amazing in here,” Henry said as he leaned in, placed his hand on her hip, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “And you look incredible,” he whispered into her ear. He didn’t know what had gotten into him. He wasn’t a public-display kind of guy, and this wasn’t even his girlfriend. Maybe it was the surprise holiday spirit. Or maybe it was just the magic of Jia.

Jia’s cheeks pinkened.

“Thanks. It’s one of Mimi’s nightgowns. I just thought it looked so pretty and romantic, I wore it as a dress,” she said. She was surprisingly shy, and it honestly was a huge turn-on for Henry. He squeezed her hip before letting go and moving back.

They stood there at the snacks table passing out cups of spiked punch to the residents. Everyone who walked up gave Jia a hug and thanked her for such a nice party.

Henry had felt pretty proud of his accomplishments in his life thus far but hadn’t had reason to feel proud for anyone else. Until now. He loved every genuine and warm compliment people came to give Jia.

“You know, you did a really great job here,” Henry commented.

“Yeah? Thanks. It’s fun seeing everyone having such a good time,” she said.

“Where’d the Christmas theme come from? You didn’t mention it with the invite,” he commented.

She laughed. “We had a limited budget. So it was either the extra liquor for the punch or the decorations. I made an executive decision and got top shelf at the wine store, and the sale bin at the party store. This was the best I could pull off. And who doesn’t love an ironic theme?”

“Clearly this crowd does,” he said. “It never ceases to amaze me how well you know the people here and what they want and need. I feel like your coming here added something special to this place.”

“Well, I think I needed this place as much as it might’ve needed me,” Jia admitted.

Henry raised an eyebrow, hoping to encourage her to go on.

He’d never really heard from her what she wanted, what she hoped to get out of being here, what she was going to do next. And all of these things suddenly seemed to matter to him.