The Morning After

"How's your head this morning?" said the woman who sat down next to Estelle.

"Good morning Janet." Estelle said to her younger co-worker. "And to answer the question, I'd have to say my head is fine."

"Then you must have a lot stronger constitution than I do." Janet said, "Either that or you've suddenly discovered a miracle cure for hangovers."

"Maybe something like that." Estelle smiled as she took another sip of coffee.

"Well good, cause I just wanted to tell you that it wasn't my idea." Janet said.

"What are you talking about?" Estelle asked. "What wasn't your idea?"

"It was Maria's idea," the blonde went on. "She thought it would be funny, and I guess about midnight, plastered as we all were, it seemed like a funny thing to do."

"I still have no idea what you are talking about."

"The busboy," Janet explained. "That Mexican kid, Tomás."

Estelle suddenly turned deadly pale. Had they seen her pick him up? Drunk as she was, who knows what she did in public.

"Janet," Estelle said, trying to control the fear in her voice. "What about the busboy?"

"Well maybe I should start all over."

"I think that maybe you should." Estelle replied.

"Well it was about midnight," Janet began, starting her narrative at a point Estelle couldn't remember. "You were so drunk that we had to carry you back to your room. And I have to tell you in all honestly, honey, you could loose a few pounds."

"Never mind that," the older woman interrupted. "Where does the bellboy come into all of this."

"I'm getting to that," Janet went on. "Like I was saying, we had to carry you back to your room, but you were too much for the two of us to handle. Especially since we weren't in much better shape. So Maria got the busboy, who was just finishing up for the night, to carry you for us."

"Well that explains how he got to my room," Estelle thought. "If not into my pants."

It was after we got you out of your clothes and into bed that Maria got the idea that it would be funny to have you wake up with the kid in your bed. Especially since you'd have no idea how he got there. She explained the joke to the kid in Spanish and even gave him $20 to play along."

"So it was all a practical joke?" Estelle asked in disbelief.

"Of course," Janet said with a broad smile. "Maria said that the look on your face when you woke up and saw him would be priceless."

"Oh it was priceless all right." Estelle laughed loudly as she realized what she had done. "You'll never know how priceless it was."

END