Costume Party...

They both sat at the same time.

"Oh, excuse me, did I bump you?" He was balancing a plate of snacks and a drink and the bench was fairly small. 

"No, did I bump you?" She had been teetering on much too high heels and had just needed to sit. 

The empty bench had probably been meant for one but there weren't a lot of options around the room for sitting so neither one of them really wanted to move. 

"Here, if I turn and sit on the end facing away a little I think we can both fit easily." He straddled the end of the bench giving her just a little bit more room to get both butt cheeks on the seat. 

"Thank you. This is great." She smiled at him and then, "What are you?"

He'd been waiting for the question. "I'm 'That Guy'."

She looked confused. She wasn't sure if that was some meme or TV show, she wasn't really good at keeping up with pop culture. Work took a lot out of her. "Sorry?"

"'That Guy' you know the one. That guy who had no plans to go to a Halloween party so he didn't bother with a costume and then his friends all shamed him in to going and said it was fine there would for sure be other people who didn't dress up and..." He waved around the room at the party. Where every single person was in an elaborate costume. "Well, I'm 'That Guy' the worst thing to be at a Halloween party."

"Oh, I don't know about that. Ask me what I am." 

He looked at her, "I was thinking Vanna White?"

"Nope, but I might steal that. I'm a Magician's Assistant."

Now it was his turn to look confused. He scanned the crowd a little bit.

"Don't bother, you won't find him. He pulled a great trick and disappeared right after we got here. Along with his Playboy Bunny ex-girlfriend. So no, 'That Guy' isn't the worst thing to be at a party. The worst thing to be is one half of a  no longer couple's costume."

"Ouch." 

"Yep." 

"OH MY GOD! LOOK AT YOU!" The squeal came from the crowd and made its way toward them. The crowd parted to reveal their host Julianne, "You look so good!" 

She stood up and gave the hug that was expected. He smiled and nodded.

"I didn't know you two knew each other! What a small world!" Julianna was always very enthusiastic and right now hosting her party and a few drinks into the night she was on full. "What are you?"

She sighed and started to talk when he put his hand on her arm, "Allow me to explain. She's a Magician's Assistant and I'm the audience member that was pulled up on stage for the trick. We're now hiding back stage waiting for the big reveal."

Julianne put her hand over her mouth for a second, "Oh my gosh, a concept costume! That's so fun!"
There was a crashing noise from the kitchen, "Oh no! I'd better go check that out! So glad you guys could make it! And really bummed I hadn't ever thought to fix you up before. This really works!"

"Oh no we aren't...." she started to explain but Julianne was already making her way toward the kitchen. 

"I'd say I'm sorry about that but it kept me from facing Julianne throwing together a costume for me."

She laughed, "Oh god, yes, she totally would have done that! Painted whiskers on you or something!"

He held out his hand, "Well now that we are part of a concept couples costume I guess I should introduce myself, I'm Andrew."

"I'm Lauren."

"Nice to meet you, Lauren. Can I get you a refill on that drink? Those shoes look nice with your outfit but they don't look comfortable for walking."

"That would be great. Thanks."

"Save my spot, such as it is." He smiled at her and took her empty glass toward the makeshift bar. 

She smiled, it might not be such a terrible night after all.