Free Chocolate Reality by Steena Holmes Page A

kitten. I have no idea where it has gone to, but I’ll let them deal with it for now. Right now I have to face the mess in my office.
    The site that greets me as I open the door is definitely one that will stay in my memory forever. If I had time to scrapbook, this is a sight that I would have taken a picture of. I have a thought in my head for a label, but it’s not one that should be spoken out loud.
    The glass sound that I heard was of my lamp being knocked over and crashing to the ground. Any papers that were on my desk have mysteriously disappeared, and somehow ended up all over my floor. My seat cushion is in shreds. My bottle of water is all over my desk; obviously I had forgotten to snap on the lid when I last used it. The dish of little candies that I like to keep on my desk is scattered about, the dish is on the floor unbroken, but the candies are everywhere. Ribbon that had been originally rolled up is now unrolled, and I’m not sure if the little puddles of water on my floor are actually water or something else unmentionable. What happened to my sweet little kittens that were supposed to sleep all day?
    Heather glances around me and begins to giggle. I turn to look at her and give her one of those ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ type of looks. She just keeps on giggling. It’s hard to stay stern when she giggles, so I smile. I try to keep it in, but it’s so hard to do, so eventually I find myself giggling as well. There’s nothing like two girls giggling to attract attention. Up walks Tracey, holding the other kitten in her arms. She peeks inside the office, gasps and then the tell tale signs of a smile begin to show on her face as well.
    Soon all three of us are giggling. I leave Heather and Tracey holding the offending criminals while I walk inside to search for evidence of the crate being left unlocked. Amazingly I find it unlatched. I glare at Heather accusingly, but she just shrugs her shoulders unable to speak due to her giggling. Tracey then winks at me, and points. I’m standing in a wet puddle. I groan. They giggle even harder. The kittens are wiggling in their captor’s hands, trying to get free. I grab each offender and place them in the crate, making sure I lock it soundly this time. They are making sure I hear their outrage in tiny little meows, but at this point I’m mute to their cries. My sanctuary has been destroyed, and my designer shoe is wet with what, I really don’t want to guess at, and my friends are just standing there giggling. This is now officially a crisis. I definitely need more coffee and chocolate.
    *****
    With my office cleaned up and the supposedly ‘angelic’ kittens finally sleeping, I find myself back at the table trying to make plans for the engagement party I mistakenly offered to throw. Armed with enough chocolate to satisfy any pre-menopausal woman we got down to business.
    We finally came to the conclusion that we would hold the party in our church basement. Tracey loves to make homemade cards, so she will create invitations to the party. Heather would create her delicious masterpieces – desserts only, and I would be in charge of the decorating.
    Now this will be fun. I’ll have to find out what type of things Stacey likes so I can turn the versatile basement of the church into a beautiful room. In my head I have visions of pink lace, tulle and ribbon all over the place. Not a pretty vision. I’m hoping she will like soft colors, but not too girly. After all, this isn’t just for the bride to be.
    Perhaps some heavy cream-colored tablecloths with classic black napkins. For the centerpieces we can fill assorted vases with water and clear cellophane wrapping paper, and sprinkle some pink sparkles throughout the water. I’ll place a floater candle on top of the vases and add some tea light candles around each vase. Not too girly, or masculine. Simple but elegant. Oh, and some Gerbera flowers all over the room as well. Since it’s winter, I might have to