Mrs. Claus walked up the hill to the park where the group of owners and their dogs were drinking champagne and eating farm-to-table organic snacks.
“Hi Peanut. Who did you bring with you today to the dog party?” asked a woman with reading glasses pushed up on her head.
Mrs. Claus was hoping that no one would talk to her but with the champagne flowing that was apparently not an option.
“Rosemary. I’m Peanut’s mom for my sins,” answered Mrs. Claus.
“I’m Aileen and my dog is Cujo. The medium brown one over there chasing the basketball players.”
“At least he’s not starring in a creepy movie,” said Mrs. Claus.
“That’s’ just ‘cause there is no little kid with a frisbee,” said Aileen.
“Would you like a glass?” asked a younger man with a neatly trimmed beard and a bottle of champagne in his hand.
“Do you have any bourbon?”
“Not today. But we could have a dive bar theme tomorrow,” he said with a sincere smile.
“Speaking of which,” said Mrs. Claus as she took her cigarettes out of her bag.
“We normally see your partner here with Peanut,” said the man.
“So true. Hey, is it happy hour every day in the dog park?” asked Mrs. Claus.
“Not normally but it’s the first day of December and that brings us to lots of holiday celebrations. So thought I would bring some bubbly and snacks to the dog party today. I’m Tony, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you- and here I thought it was all about the dogs and everyone would know the dogs’ names but none of the owners,” said Mrs. Claus.
“It depends a bit on the people involved,” said Tony.
“Tony and I are here every day so we know the core group. Some are just here once in a while- like your partner,” added Aileen.
Mrs. Claus had no clue how often her husband showed up to the dog party and thought it would be too weird if she asked about him. She already felt very much like Peanut was the real guest and that she was just the chauffeur who delivered her.
“He speaks highly of you,” said Mrs. Claus.
“That’s kind. I hope to see you both with Peanut even more often,” said Aileen.
“I’ll have a chat with him,” said Mrs. Claus and took a sip of champagne.
Truth be told she didn’t know where Mr. Claus was and it was starting to worry her. He left before Thanksgiving to take in the World Cup in Qatar but hadn’t written to her at all.
