Their burgers arrived soon after, and as they were eating, the trivia host came around to give them pencils and paper and asked them what their team name was.
“I hadn’t thought about that. What should we call ourselves?” Jared asked.
Gina thought for a moment. “Well, we both work at Mimi’s Place, so let’s go with that?”
“Sounds good.”
They finished eating just as trivia began and the theme for the week was Christmas. There were close to twenty teams playing, some with just one or two people and others with large groups of eight or more. Gina had played before with large teams. It was always fun but didn’t necessarily give an advantage when people didn’t agree on an answer.
“Okay everyone, here’s our first question…In the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas, what three words best describe the Grinch?”
Jared stared at Gina who was drawing a total blank. She knew this. She’d seen the movie a million times.
Jared’s eyes lit up. “Stink…”
“Stank, Stunk!” Gina said and laughed. As soon as he said the first word the others came to her. They turned their answer in and were happy when the host announced the answer. But, based on the cheers going up around them, she guessed that most teams got it right. They usually started out with an easy question.
It was fun playing with Jared because they usually either agreed or one of them knew the right answer easily when the other had no idea at all, so it balanced out. They were actually doing really well and coming into the last question they were in third place overall.
The trivia host addressed the room. “Okay, for the final question I need your wagers—remember, this time you can wager up to your total points if you wish.” They thought about it and decided to wager all but two points, so if the question was really hard and everyone missed it, they’d still have a few points. Jared wrote their wager down and brought the slip of paper to the host.
Although they were in third place, Gina knew how easy it was to miss the last question and lose everything. The final question was rarely easy.
“Okay, here we go. In the holiday movie A Christmas Story, what was the name of the next-door neighbors whose dog ate the Christmas turkey?”
“Oh, I’m no help at all,” Gina said. “Would you believe that’s the one Christmas movie I haven’t seen?”
“My mother and I watch it every year and I’m still not sure. I want to say the Kravitz’s, but I’m not 100% sure.”
“Well, they say you should always go with your first answer.”
“Part of me is sure that’s the name of the neighbors but something about it seems off. I don’t know.”
“Turn it in and we’ll see.” The top three teams would win Rose and Crown gift cards, which was always nice as they could use it on their next visit.
“Okay, everyone, here’s your final answer. The next-door neighbors in A Christmas Story are not the Kravitz’s. A few of you said that. That’s from Bewitched, by the way. The correct answer is The Bumpuses.”
Jared groaned along with most of the room.
“Only two teams got it right. So, remaining in third place, with two points—Mimi’s Place!”
“Excellent!” Jared high-fived her and went up to collect their gift card.
The bartender dropped off their bill, and Jared threw a credit card down and handed it to him before Gina could even open her wallet.
“Are you sure? We can just split it,” she protested. She hoped he didn’t think she expected him to pay for both of them.
He handed her the gift card. “Hold on to this and we’ll use it next time.”
Gina tucked it in her wallet, and once Jared signed the slip, they left, along with most of the restaurant that was there for trivia.
“You were right by the way—your cookies were great with coffee. I polished off the last one this morning,” Jared said when he pulled into her driveway.
“I love them for breakfast. I have tons more. Come on up and I’ll give you some to take home.”
“Sure. If you have plenty, I’ll gladly take some off your hands.”
They went inside and Gina wrapped up a stack of cookies for Jared. She brought them over to where he was standing, admiring the tree. It looked beautiful, all decorated with the shimmering white lights.
“It really does look nice,” she said.
“Beautiful,” Jared said, but he wasn’t looking at the tree anymore. His eyes met Gina’s and something shifted in the air between them. He leaned toward her and she sucked in her breath, and then there was a loud crash and a howl as Boots toppled off the table beside the tree, taking the ornament that she was batting at with her.