Fooled around, but we haven't... you know... done it yet," he stammered."Nothing wrong with that. Can I ask why not?" So far I only had Sammi's side o... the story, second hand through Amy; I thought it might not hurt to have Eric's side. Yeah, incurably. Nosey I mean."Well, neither one of us wants to be the other's first time," he explained. I looked at him quickly, to see if he was really naïve enough to think he would be Sammi's first. The grin on his face and the twinkle in his eyes told me. You look over at me and use your index finger to point at me and then curl it up, telling me to come over. As I walk over, you are sitting at an open booth. You look at me and say “Look what happens Mattie when you’re not focused on me. I was going to have drinks with you tonight but you were late.” I hang my head as you scold me in front of Laura. I see you like the reaction and say “God, my feet are killing me from these heels and dancing all night” and then you point down to your feet. I. ..I...or...You?" I groaned, not quite sure of what Iwas going to say before I started to speak."It's okay" said Emma putting her hand on my shoulder "I'll explain,Sue and I are sorceresses and once a year we have to pay respects to aman, kind of acknowledging them as a superior being despite our powers,and we chose you."I responded with a kind of anger but in truth I felt bewildered,"Sorry, but I don't find your methods to be very hospitable so far,what happens if I refuse?" Then... e die, it's. This story was originally entered for the 2002 Xmas Competition, but didn’t make the top three (booo!) despite all efforts to rig the voting. I think I had the first two days written at the time (before Xmas). It’s my intention to post the additional chapters every couple of days or so. Chapter Seven is almost complete as I type this. Be warned, it’s already 23,000+ words long. Any similarity to any persons living, loving or otherwise – well – you know who you are. The Twelve Lays of Xmas by.