*all characters are over the age of 30*
*****
The doorbell rang. He called out that he would get it. This was no surprise. He was the master of the house and the most social. It would be a safe assumption that he would be the one to go and welcome more guests into their quiet little party. As he approached the door he could not think of anyone that was missing. He looked at his watch and realized it was fairly late; they would be thinking about champagne and a count down soon. He opened the door.
It was her.
Although not expected at the party - or his home - it was the woman that was always welcome in this thoughts. His sweet treasure. His secret. HIS SECRET! His face ran the gamut of emotions from surprise to joy to alarm in a matter of seconds.
She put a finger to her lips and held out a notepad. It read: "Tell them it was a pizza delivery and that they had the wrong address. Meet me in the upstairs bathroom in 5 min." She watched him read it and then she brazenly stepped past him and ran up the front hall stairs.
He stood with the door in his hand, his mouth open, his body stunned with the number of emotions bombarding him at once. He recovered and closed the door. He glanced up at a now empty staircase. He looked again at his watch. He adjusted his pants. The key element surfaced in this brain: 5 minutes.
Returning to the party, he gave the provided excuse. It was accepted immediately and sponsored a round of discussion of the many changes to modern life: "Who orders pizza delivered anymore?". He nodded and tried to remain aware of the conversation around him while another part of his mind raced with this extraordinary development: His mistress was hiding upstairs in his house - his house where he was hosting visitors - less than an hour from the beginning of the New Year.
His mind had captured every detail of her standing on the front step and he reviewed the image now. Snowflakes had glinted on her blonde hair. Mischief had glinted in her eyes. She had been wearing make-up - she didn't often - and it had glittered as well. She had been wearing a coat. A dark, long coat - and boots that had disappeared under the hem. He easily returned the appropriate remark to the mundane comment his nearest party guest made.
It must have been more than 5 minutes he thought. He looked at his watch. It had only been 3.
Mind feverishly working, he did a small circuit of the room, filling glasses and grabbing a few empty dishes to give him a reason to head back to the kitchen. Emptying his hands - and then his glass of wine - he carefully made his way out the other door and down the short hall to the stairs. He gazed up them again for a moment, savouring the thought: She is up there.
He barely kept himself from taking the stairs two at a time.
The bathroom door: It was closed, with light coming from beneath. He reflexively looked around him to ensure the coast was clear - then knocked twice. He heard her voice: "Come in"