Bunny Party (1/7)

Keith let out a sigh of relief as he set the last case of wine on the counter. He knew his wife, Rebecca, was working just as hard as he was, but he always felt like he'd drawn the short stick when he got stuck with the heavy lifting. Still, he couldn't complain. Becky had planned the entire party, all he had to do was move things and show up. He was never quite sure which of those was worse, though. Keith always got nervous before hosting parties like this. It wasn't the parties specifically that he minded, not entirely, he just liked being able to leave whenever he wanted. Between plus-ones and all of Becky's friends, he rarely knew more than a quarter of the people at these things, and things started to get stale quickly after they'd all caught up. He'd have to stick it out tonight, though.
Becky poked her head into the room from around the corner. “Thanks so much for carrying those in, sweetie. Next could you unpack the bottles and set a couple out here? The rest can go in the cabinet in the next room. I'm going to finish setting out the little bowls of candy then I'm going to slip upstairs to start getting my costume on. Do you mind trying to stay available for when the bunnies come? They're supposed to be here soon.”
“Sure thing, honey, sounds good.”
Keith was excited about the bunnies. He and Becky had been hosting a Halloween party every year since they moved in together, and each year it got a bit bigger. Last October, they'd spent so much time topping off drinks, directing people to sandwiches and candies, and collecting trash that this year, they'd decided to hire some help. After doing some research, they'd found a company that specialized in bunny girls, and came very highly recommended. Both Keith and Becky thought they'd be a perfect for Halloween. This was all doubly good for Keith, who was equally excited by the prospect of women in sexy outfits and the fact that, with less attention on him, maybe he would be able to duck out and hide from the crowds for a bit.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Keith jogged to the door, only to see Becky get there first. She must not have finished setting out the candy, Keith noted. She opened the door to reveal a very attractive woman with a phone in one hand, and a garment bag slung over her shoulder in the other.
“Hi there,” the woman said. “You must be Rebecca.”
“Please, Becky,” she responded. “Come on in.”
“Thanks so much,” said the woman, stepping inside. “I'm Ann.”
“Nice to meet you, Ann. This is my husband, Keith.”
“Hi there, nice to meet you,” Ann said, reaching out to shake Keith's hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Keith said, smiling. “Sorry, but I thought the confirmation said that Sandra and Jennifer would be working tonight?”
“We are! Well, sort of. Sorry, Ann's my actual name, but I'm Sandra when I'm working. Sandy, actually. I've been texting with Jennifer though, she says there's been an accident on the express way and she's stuck in the traffic behind it, total gridlock. She's hoping that things will get moving soon, but who knows. On the upside, she's been on the phone with the agency, and they're trying to find another girl to send over instead. I hope that's okay?”
“Absolutely,” Becky said. “That's awful about the accident, I hope everybody's okay.”
“Yeah, me too. Luckily, I've got all the costumes, so the other girl just needs to get here. I've even got a couple extras in different sizes, so we'll be covered no matter what. Speaking of which, is there somewhere I can set up?”
“Sure, why don't you go ahead and use our room? Just up the stairs, then the end of the hall on your right. There's an attached bathroom and my vanity's in there, feel free to use whatever you need.”
“Thanks so much, that sounds perfect. I'll put this up there, then I'll need a couple more runs out to my car and I should be all set.”
The three split up again to go about completing their preparations, leaving the door unlocked so that Ann could get back in later. Keith went back to setting out the wine, thinking about the prospect of Ann in a bunny costume. Which was perfectly normal. It wasn't like he wasn't attracted to his wife, he told himself, knowing it was only half true. He and Becky had been married for just over 5 years now, and they were still very much in love, but he was coming to understand all the jokes his friends had made to him back when they'd announced their engagement. He and Becky had been having plenty of sex since getting married, but he couldn't help but feel like it was getting old. They had a handful of things they kept going back to, and they never really strayed from them. It was like having a favorite restaurant that never changes its menu. No matter how much you like the food, there are only so many times you can eat the same half dozen things before you start thinking about something a bit different.
Keith was shaken from his daydreaming by the sound of the door opening and shutting again behind him, followed by Ann's voice.
“Um, excuse me? Becky? Are you around?”
Keith stuck his head around the corner into the front hall. “Hey, can I help?”
Ann looked up from her phone, a worried expression on her face. She had another two garment bags over her shoulder, and an impressive looking makeup kit sat on the floor, just under the hand with the phone. “Probably, but Becky should probably be here too. There's an update from the agency about the next girl.”
“Ah, gotcha. I'm sure she's around, I'll go look for her.”
“No need, I'm here,” said Becky, her voice coming from the hallway behind Keith. “Sorry, I was in the back, what's up?”
“Well, it's the other girl. Jennifer's officially stuck, and the agency found someone else to take her spot tonight, Fiona, but she's coming in from pretty far away. She doesn't think she'll be able to get here until the party's been going for at least an hour.”
“Well shit...” said Rebecca.
“Yeah,” said Ann. “So, we have a few options. If you don't mind just having me for the beginning of the party, I can go get ready, and Fiona'll start when she gets here. On the other hand, if you want the two of us coming in together, I can wait upstairs until everything's ready.”
Becky frowned. “That's a tough choice. Neither's a particularly appealing option.”
“Exactly. There's one other alternative though, but it's a bit out there.”
“What's that?”
“Well, if you don't mind working your own party for a bit, you could do it. I've got these extra outfits, and plenty of makeup. You and I could kick the party off together, then when Fiona gets here, we'll whisk her upstairs, I'll help you out of her costume and into yours, and we'll sneak you back into the party and pretend you'd been there all along. I know what Fiona looks like and how she does her makeup when she's working, and we all wear wigs anyway, so you'd be totally disguised. Nobody would ever know. Of course, it's your call in the end.”
Becky thought about Ann's proposal for a moment before turning to Keith. “What do you think, honey?” She asked.
“I'm never going to say no to you in a bunny outfit,” said Keith, “but it's your call. It'd be nice to know how convincing the makeup will be. Not that I don't think you can do it, Ann, just that it would be really awkward if Becky got recognized.”
“Of course, I understand. If it helps, I don't think that's going to happen, but even if it does, this is a Halloween party after all. She can always say that it's just her costume. It's a bit revealing, sure, but I doubt it'll be the sexiest one here. If you end up needing to borrow it for the night to keep up an act, you're welcome to it.”
“What do you want to do, Becky?”
“I'm not sure, Keith. I'm actually thinking about going for it. I mean, it kind of sounds like fun.”
“Yeah, I bet it would be. When else are you going to get a chance like this, right? And it sounds like Ann's got a pretty fool proof contingency plan.”
Rebecca nodded and turned to Ann. “Alright, let's do it!”
“Yes! I'm not going to lie, I was hoping you'd say that. I love giving makeovers, and I think you'd make a great bunny. This is going to be a lot of fun!”
The two women laughed. “Well, I'm glad you're excited.” Rebecca said.
“Very,” Ann said with a smile. “We'd better head upstairs though. People will be arriving soon, and we might need to try a few different sizes on you. A girl's bunny outfit size isn't usually something she knows off the top of her head.” Rebecca agreed, and gave Keith some last-minute instructions about things to set up while Ann was getting her dressed. He happily agreed, and once again the three set off to complete their preparations.