She was invited to a costume murder-mystery party. And she couldn’t think of a good reason not to go. Also, it’s her boss’s house. So there’s that. When she arrives, she runs into a cute guy, pretty much right away. Then, she finds herself bumping into him, once inside. And again, as the murder mystery begins. Then “dying” right next to him on the floor, where they share a cold Stella Artois, some laughs, and a few flirtatious minutes. When they run out of beer, and patience, they decide to leave. Together. Which was the plan of the hosts all along.

Roja walks up to the large house on Longwood Drive in Chicago. She’d only been to Niles and Anders’s place once, and that was back when she was Niles’s assistant. She hadn’t made it past the front steps.

She sees a man dressed like a Chef. Really? Out of all the costumes?

The man turns around, and he’s actually pretty cute. He makes a joke about there being too many cooks in the kitchen, but she doesn’t hear it because she knows exactly what Niles will say when he opens the door—

“So much for originality!” cries Niles as he throws the door open. Two Chefs stare back at him, one amused, the other…not so much.

Niles, dressed to the nines as a “professional party goer”, leads them inside where guests mingle, dressed in various themed attire.

Niles calls over to his husband, Anders, who’s having trouble moving in his full snow-suit. He asks Anders to get his lovely guests some drinks, and what would they like?

Roja asks for a Stella. The Man will have that, too. Niles looks at them, “Do you know each other?” Roja and the Man quickly reply that they definitely do not.

For a Dream Job Murder Mystery, there’s not a lot of variety. Niles loves a themed party, and this summer is no exception. But people weren’t really “dreaming big” with their dream jobs. There’s a few more chefs, a couple doctors, one woman in a suit (President of the US of course), and remarkably, one more person dressed in a full snow suit. Two people dreaming of being professional skiers? What are the odds?

Niles takes his place in the center of the living room.

“Hello everyone! You all look magnificent. Not the most creative year we’ve had, I’m ac-tually quite stunned at the lack of imagination here, but you look beautiful nonetheless. Thank you for celebrating Anders and my 22nd year together. We’re so grateful to be surrounded by you all.”

Everyone cheers. As Roja eyes an easy exit to take a tour of the house, a woman dressed as a mime runs in. She waves her hands wildly.

The crowd tries to make out what she’s saying without luck. It goes on like that for a few minutes until the mime sheepishly whispers that there’s been…a murder! The crowd lets out a collective “ohhhhhhh”

Niles ushers the group to follow him out into the hallway. There, lying on the ground in a pool of blood is…another Chef. Seriously?

The mime turns him over. The crowd gasps! A broken bottle of Stella pokes out from his back! It crumbles in the mime’s hands. “It’s sugar glass,” whispers Anders to no one in particular.

There’s been a murder, and they must solve it! Niles goes on to explain the rules of the game. If you find a red tag on you, you’re dead, and you have to lay on the ground until the game is over.

Roja sneaks off into the library. As she smells the dusty tomes, she hears a man clearing his throat behind her. Of course, it’s that cute Chef from earlier.

“You’re that guy who’s been following me all night.”

The Man argues that arriving at the same time, splitting up, and then seeing each other just one other time at a party does not a “following” make. Touché.

The Man notices that she’s been tagged.

What?! Roja tries to look at her back. She spins around a couple times. The Man takes a picture with his phone. There it is. A red tag. Roja begs the Man to take it off of her, but he refuses to cheat. This guy is getting more annoying by the second.

Niles pops his head in, sees her tag and demands she get on the floor. They look at her, waiting. Guess there’s no getting out of this.

The Man smirks. Guess he can’t “follow” her anymore.

As he turns to leave, Roja notices a red tag! “YOU’RE DEAD!” she screams.

“What? Ah dang.” There it is, right on his shoulder. Down he goes.

Roja sighs. At least she got to see two rooms. The two of them lie there in pleasant si-lence. Roja didn’t expect to be so comfortable lying down next to a stranger, but he has this odd ease to him.

The man finally breaks the silence to share that Niles and him used to play in the library as kids. This house has been in Niles’s family for three generations. It’s probably haunt-ed.

They start to debate the validity of ghosts & if they did exist, are more of them nice or vengeful? The First Female President of the United States step over them.

“What’s your name?” asks Roja. “If you told earlier, I’d forget it immediately, but now that we’re both lying on the floor dressed as our dream jobs, I feel like I have enough shared experience with you to remember your name.”

And that’s how Roja learned the man’s name is Keval.

Roja asks Keval if he wants a drink. Keval nods, but he’s not about to break the rules.

Roja asks the President to give them her Stella. Roja explains that Madame President could get herself a beer anytime she wants, but Roja and her friend here are fated to lie on the floor until everyone else at this party dies.

The woman gives them her beer.

I don’t know if you’ve tried drinking lying down, but it’s not the easiest thing. Lucky for them, Keval brought his own metal straw. He’s that type of guy.

Roja and Keval stay like that, talking for hours, their conversation interrupted by the oc-casional scream of a guest dropping dead.

Finally, it seems like no one has passed by for hours. Should they just leave? Keval knows a secret back entrance they can sneak out of. He recommends that she get a tour of the place one day. Roja rolls her eyes; she’s been trying to!

And just like that, the two of them get up, and stretch their legs.

They sneak a few more Stellas and head out the back. “I wonder who the murderer was,” whispers Roja. Keval shrugs, and they worm their way through a little porthole that spits them out into the driveway.

As they make their exit into the dead of night, Niles and Anders watch from their bed-room window.

Tonight went just as they had planned.