Chapter Five Downtime Summary

Nan is at her dad's fiftieth birthday party/New Year's Eve party at her grandma's house. Her grandmother's house has been transformed with a band, room for dancing and catered food. Nan's father is hanging out in the closet and Nan is in there complaining to him about her Christmas present from the X family, the earmuffs. Nan's grandma waltzes in, literally, and berates them both for not enjoying the lovely party. She coaxes them out of the closet and they enjoy the evening.

Mrs. X repeatedly calls Nan on what is supposed to be her vacation. When Nan finally answers the call, Mrs.X asks Nan to go the house to check and make sure all of the humidifiers have enough water in them. Nan reluctantly agrees. When she gets to the apartment, Ms. Chicago, Mr. X's mistress is there. Ms.Chicago...