Panel 1: In Frankie's apartment building, Marie is in the lobby, calling up.
Marie: Hi...it's Marie.
Frankie [via the intercom]: Uh. Okay. I'll buzz you up.
Panel 2: Marie is in the elevator.
Marie [thinks]: It's two hours past the start time; there should be plenty of people here. I can sit in a corner and be ignored.
Panel 3: Frankie answers the door, and Marie hands her a gift bag.
Marie: Happy birthday!
Frankie: Thanks. Come on in. You're...actually only the second person here.
Panel 4: Marie enters the apartment and sees Casey sitting on the couch.
Marie [thinks]: Curse you, fashionable lateness.
Frankie [whispers and gestures]: If you need to jump off the balcony, it's that way.
Alt-Text:
This situation would be marginally worse than the more common one
whereby one deliberately arrives at the party two hours late, only to
find that one is STILL only the second person to show up, and the first
is the host's second cousin, who just happens to think that your area
of academic interest is useless and should never be funded by anyone.
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