Jess knew her plan was likely to fail. Chase felt it was his job to uphold party decorum and the rules of polite society. If you broke one of these rules, Chase would give you a lecture and maybe a punitive job. This made Chase’s parties a tricky affair. The number one rule, of course, was that you always needed to bring something for the host.
When Jess approached Chase’s front door empty-handed, she saw Chase’s eyes narrow.
“Hello Jessica,” Chase said—using her full name as an admonishment.
“Hello Chester,” Jess responded. Chase’s name was not short for Chester.
“Thank you for coming,” Chase said, his tone terse. Jess felt she could see Chase’s mental clipboard writing out a speech for later.
“Thank you for inviting me,” Jess said. “Now before you say anything, I did bring something.”
“What did you bring?” Chase asked. “As you should know, you should not bring cash as an offering for a host.”
“Chase, I have something that is going to transform this party,” Jess said. “I have a story called the watermelon incitement. It’s a story so good that this party will be known as the first-time people heard the story when they retell it over the years.”
“It’s that good?” Chase asked. Jess saw he was at least considering it. “Well, having a great story does help a party.”
Jess could hear the doubt in Chase’s voice. “But?”
“But it’s not proper party etiquette to just bring a story, Jessica.”
“Even if it’s this good?”
Chase made a pained look.
“Alright, Chester,” Jess said. “I have a backup plan in my car.”
As Jess started to walk back to her car, Chase called after her, “You can still bring the story too!”
“I’m bringing cookies, Chase,” Jess said. “I’ll save the story for another time.”
Chase brought an appropriate bottle of wine to the party where Jess finally told the watermelon incitement. Years later, people remembered the party where Jess told the story. No one really touched the cookies at Chase’s party.