Abacus

Trevor the postie is still sticking to his diet, eh?”
    “Yeah , he’s lost a heap of weight.”
    Randall pointed at the re-growth. “He must have, the grass is coming back slowly. It always looks better when he’s dieting.”
    “Yeah , he looks good; he’s lost about forty kilos. He’s off the pies and off the beer. Everyone’s lawn is looking heaps better now he is lighter. He was a trench digger at his heaviest.”
    Randall laughed . “Yeah, if he kept going he would’ve disappeared. We would’ve just seen his hand pop up out of the ditch with the mail. We might have had to lower our letter boxes.” Bill laughed as Randall headed back up the driveway. “Oh, Bill, can I ask a favour?”
    “Yep , what’s that?”
    “ I’m going to have a very, very late night tonight, all going well,” he said with a wink. “I’ll feed Arnold before I head out, but do you mind if I send him over for a bit of company. You know what he is like when he is alone. He gets a little distraught.”
    “No problem , Bob, just send him over when you’re ready. He can watch TV with Bev and I.”
    * * *
    It was five minutes to nine and Randall found himself outside a huge, two-storey freestanding terrace house in a darkened Paddington lane in the city’s inner eastern suburbs. He had watched a number of couples walk along the darkened streets and climb the wide marble entry stairs together. The bizarre thing he had noticed was that as people spoke with the well-dressed doorman at the top of the stairs, they pulled on a masquerade mask.
    A bit edgy, but I’m up for a bit of fun tonight. I hope she brings a mask for me. I suppose my face has a bit of character to it so if worst comes to worst I may just wing it without one.
    Randall tried to work out what the soft music was, which could only be heard when people entered through the large front doors. The casement windows on the ground floor of the building were illuminated with soft lighting that shimmered almost like candlelight. As he tried to work out what was creating the light, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
    “Hi , Bob, it is good to see you,” Helen said, pecking him on the cheek.
    “You too ,” he said cheerfully.
    “W e’ll have a great night, you’ll see.”
    He looked her up and down in her tight-fitting red dress. “You look stunning. You know, it might even be more sexy than that nurse’s uniform of yours.”
    “ Why, thank you. Let’s go in and have a drink before Kaz arrives,” she said, interlocking her arm in his and leading him across the street.
    At the top of the wide staircase, they were greeted by an overfamiliar doorman. “Evening, Helen. You look a knockout as always.” She appeared to blush a little. She was no stranger to this venue.
    “You will need this , Bob,” she said, reaching into her bag and handing him a mask with feathers all over it.
    “How did you know I was a bird lover?” he asked playfully.
    “ Just a lucky guess,” she said, pulling on a white porcelain doll mask.
    Randall looked up at a grand marble staircase just beyond the entry door. Masked guests chatted and swayed to the jazz music, all the way up to the first floor. As they walked to the left of the staircase, he saw many small rooms and nooks throughout the ground floor. These rooms were inhabited by all walks of life, including tigers, bears, circus performers, Batmans and Robins and so on. Up until this point, he had not seen any bird life, which made him feel quite unique.
    Hand in hand , Helen led him to the bar, which backed onto the grand staircase. On the opposite side of the bar, he could see plain white masks like the ones worn by the phantom in Phantom of the Opera . Their dark clothing made their white masks appear as though they were levitating like ghosts.
    “ So they must serve spirits here , ” he joked, pointing to the ghost-like figures.
    “I guess they do.” She giggled before leaning on the bar and handed her credit card over. “Can we have a champagne and a…”
    “Bourbon on the rocks, thanks,” he said, feeling a little uncomfortable about not paying. “Helen, please let me get you a drink.”
    “ Don’t worry, there will be plenty of time for you to buy one later.”
    Randall watched the barmaid bend over to reach a small fridge. He could not help but notice her amazing figure, which was accentuated by a tight-fitting body stocking. Returning to the bar, she smiled. “I’ll bring it over to you, just find a