New Year Surprises
December 31, 1978, Sunday, New Paltz, NY
A light snow fell as Conor walked out of the wine shop with bottles of champagne. His fake ID had been accepted for the past two years. In a few weeks, he’d turn eighteen and be a legal buyer. He laughed to himself thinking what the store would say when they viewed his real ID.
A foot of snow was expected, and with few sober drivers on New Year’s Eve, it was a good night to stay off the roads. Kai’s dad and girlfriend had gone to the City to celebrate and weren’t expected back for a few days. Her sister had an overnight pajama party, and they’d have the house to themselves. Kai told Conor to supply the champagne, and she’d supply the entertainment.
Conor was greeted at the front door of the house by Kai in a beautiful thigh-length sleeveless green cocktail dress. It was tight fitting, low cut in the front, and fit her perfectly. Her hair was up, and she wore sparkling earrings that hung down accentuating her perfect neckline. Rarely wearing make-up, tonight she didn’t hold back. She accented her eyes making them incredibly sexy. Her high cheekbones stood out with a touch of rouge, and she had a light scent of Chanel. Kai looked sensational and would have been at home on the cover of any fashion magazine.
Conor felt a bit awkward with jeans and a sweater until Kai embraced him with a seductive long kiss that put any inadequacies to bed. She put one of the champagne bottles in an ice bucket and set out two glasses. Conor thinking a night of hot sex awaited, wondered what Kai was up to when she led him to the sofa in the living room and had him sit down. She stood in front of him with an expectant expression.
“O.K., are you doing a strip tease?” Conor asked.
“And take off this amazing dress, wasting my sexy look, no way! Well at least not yet,” Kai giggled. “What do you see in the living room?”
Conor scanned the room with a confused expression looking for something out of place or missing. There didn’t seem to be anything.
“Uh, a coffee table, a lamp, wine glasses, an ice bucket, the fireplace, a TV –“
“You’re getting hotter.”
“TV? We’re going to watch a TV show?” Conor asked confused.
“Not exactly, do you notice anything about the TV?” she said with a sly smile.
Conor got up to take a closer look. The TV had several wires connected to it, and they seemed to all thread into the back of the large cabinet the TV sat on. He opened the cabinet door and saw a machine that he recognized at once.
“What the hell, this is a video cassette machine. We saw several of these at Ithaca College on our studio tour. Though this one seems a bit smaller” Conor said like a kid on Christmas morning opening his favorite gift.
“My dad bought it a few months ago and he has barely touched it. He won’t let on that he doesn’t know how to use it,” Kai said.
She handed him a package covered in wrapping paper. There was a card that said, “Surprise #1.”
“I thought you might be able to figure out how it works.”
He quickly unwrapped it, uncovering three video cassette tapes, and looked at Kai speechless. He pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her, and said quietly overcome with excitement, “This is one of the best surprises ever, you’re incredible.”
“I wasn’t sure what to order, they had over 100 titles to choose from,” Kai said.
“Did you buy them?”
“No silly, you can rent them now,” she replied.
“If I had done the choosing Kai, I can’t imagine getting anything better. How did you know what to get, I mean these are amazing!”
“In the order catalog, each listing has a little description. Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night” and Bogies “Casablanca,” both won the Oscar for Best Picture, and “To Catch a Thief” was the only Alfred Hitchcock movie they offered. It seemed an easy choice.”
“This is crazy. A year ago there was no way you could watch any of these movies, and tonight we’ll watch all three. I’m blown away Kai,” Conor exclaimed.
“I’ll start some popcorn while you figure out how to play the movies, first though,” she handed him a smaller package to open.
Conor gave her a look as if to say, “More?”
There was a note attached to this package too, it read, “Surprise #2 out of 3.” He opened the package to find one more movie and a toothbrush. He flashed an expectant smile.
“After all these romantic movies, there’s no way I’m letting you leave. You’re making love to me all night long. Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up in your arms and we’ll usher in the new year with a glass of champagne and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Kai gushed.
“I don’t know what to say,” turning the movies over and scanning the titles. “Hitchcock, Capra, Bogey, Grace Kelly, Carey Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, and my favorite Audrey Hepburn for breakfast, you’ve thought of everything,” Conor beamed.
“Not quite everything – yet. Remember the note said there were three surprises? Well, before you get caught up in Hollywood bliss…”
Kai reached around behind her, unzipped her dress, and it fell to the floor. She had the most seductive sexy smile, a huge red bow tied around her waist, and nothing else except a pair of high heels.
“Surprise #3, Me!”