Here comes the guests

Pulling his pants up, Jake made a half-hearted attempt to clean up the vestiges of the nightmarish encounter. With shaking hands, he tidied up as best as he could, attempting to regain some semblance of normalcy.

The door creaked open, and in stepped Daisy, a flamboyant brunette with a laugh that could fill a room. “Jake! Darling!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him, “I brought the cranberry sauce, and you won't believe the trouble I had to go through to get it!”

“Daisy, good to see you,” Jake managed to stammer out, “Juniper’s in the back, had a bit of a pumpkin pie mishap, so she's just freshening up. You can set the food in the kitchen.”

Following Daisy, Ethan sauntered in, a cocky grin etched on his chiseled face. He clapped Jake's shoulder, a six-pack of craft beer in his other hand. “Hey Jake, saved some IPA for us,” he declared, “and don't worry, it's none of that pumpkin spice nonsense.”

“Thanks, Ethan,” Jake replied, pushing back his lingering fear and confusion, “just drop it off in the kitchen. Juniper will join us shortly.”

Next came shy, bespectacled Iris, clutching a book of poetry. Her eyes darted around the room nervously. “Jake,” she murmured, “I found this new anthology I thought Juniper might enjoy...”

“I'm sure she will, Iris,” Jake said, taking the book gently. “Why don’t you wait in the kitchen with the others?”

Finally, boisterous Liam made his appearance, a tray of homemade rolls in his hands. “Jake! Ready to get stuffed? Wait, that came out wrong...” he snickered at his own joke, his cheeks reddening.

Jake had to suppress a grimace at Liam's choice of words, given what he had just experienced. “Sure, Liam,” he replied, “why don't you take those rolls to the kitchen?”