5 GOING TO A BARBECUE

It turned out that the meeting with friends would take place in his childhood friend's house, and would be not just a meeting but a barbecue party with further stay overnight so they would return home only Monday evening. Rich people, it seemed, could afford to miss out a Monday working routine if they wished to.

They dressed casually and headed to the meeting place. Marry was a little worried, she had a feeling that this meeting and the impression which she made during it were very important and she could not miss the chance to build a connection with Daniel's friends. If she wanted to be more than just a kept girl, then she should win over at least some of his friends and acquaintances. Except Gabriella of course, it was a lost cause…

They were a bit late and the preparation for barbecue as well the party itself had started already before their arrival.

Daniel's friends (those who could make it to the party) gathered in a garden house near the main building, it was not a big construction, roofed and with floor-to-ceiling glazing. Inside it at each glassed wall there were sofas and in the center there was a big dining table. At this table a company of six was gathered, among them of course Gabriella. The others were: a not-yet-married-couple, two guys (one of them was the owner of the house) and a single girl.

They were leisurely chatting when Angela, a tall and blond female with scrawny figure, asked suddenly:

"I heard Daniel is bringing a girl with him. I couldn't believe my ears! The day has come that he met someone whom he's not ashamed to show to us. I'm excited to meet her!"

A dangerous glint flashed in Gabriella's eyes, "Not ashamed? If I were him I would be very much ashamed! I don't believe he decided to bring that one with him!"

"You've seen her already?" Angela was excited even more.

"Oh, yes, I have! But she's no more than a prostitute! Selling herself for money," Gabriella said.

"I can't believe that he's bringing a prostitute!" another girl, the single one named Brenda, said. She knew Daniel for many years and it was not in his character.

"No way!" Angela exclaimed, on her face there was expression of utter disgust. "Honey, can you believe it?" she turned to her boyfriend, Derek, broad shouldered and indifferent to this girl-talk. He ignored her question and continued drinking, because he did not give a f**k whom Daniel was bringing and why, he just wanted to relax and get well drunk by the end of the evening.

Gabriella continued her attack, "Well, technically she's not a prostitute, she's a sugar baby, a kept girl, but for me it's all the same!" By her side a guy, Jim, was nodding in agreement. He was listening for their conversation very attentively and he looked completely sure that Gabriella was telling the truth. Frankly speaking, it seemed no matter what nonsense she said he would still consider it to be holy writ.

Angela's boyfriend, Derek, could not stand it any longer, "I cannot listen to you anymore, this girl-gossip-talk! I'll go start to prepare the barbecue and grab one more beer. If you want you can join me." And he left the company not willing to know the end of Mary-story.

"Daniel found himself a sugar baby! This is something new! She must be a beauty," the single girl, Brenda, said with irony and curiosity. Brenda was not that prejudiced; a lot of men in their circle acted as sugar daddies, there was nothing new in it.

"She's ordinary; I don't understand what he found in her! Moreover, she's a total stranger; he met her in the bar, she wanted to get drunk in the morning …" Gabriella continued her assault.

"Ordinary? Show me an ordinary girl who can catch Daniel's attention and get him serious and then I'll be really surprised. I'm sure there must be at least something interesting involved," David, the owner of the house, could not hold back from the conversation any longer. He knew Daniel from their childhood years, and he definitely would not bring with him anyone like the girl Gabriella was describing.

"Serious? What a joke! He's just playing! When he's tired she would be a used product and would go to the trash bin where she belongs!" Gabriella said.

"Whoa, sis, you are too harsh! Let us see her first," David said.

At that moment a car approached the fence and was let in by the guard.

"See. Here they are. Let's go meet them!" David stood up and went to the gates.

When they were already approaching the house Mary discovered that her palms were sweaty, she was really worried. Daniel noticed how fidgety she was and took her hand, "Calm down, they're nice people."

"Like hell they are!" Mary thought. But out loud she said, "Of course, how could it be anything different?"

"See the guy coming to meet us; it's David, the owner of the house. He's my childhood friend," Daniel said.

"Oh," Mary squeezed out this one word of response and fell silent.

When they stepped out of the car, David already came up to them and started to introduced himself, "I'm David, nice meet you. Truly speaking we're all surprised and excited! It's a first time Daniel brings a girl to our close-circle meeting."

The guy seemed really nice. Maybe Mary's worry was groundless after all.

"I'm Mary, nice to meet you too." She breathed out and extended her hand.

When they joined the rest of the company and held another introduction, the names came swirling in her head. She had an awful memory for names and already knew that she would need Daniel's help to remember them all during the evening.

The ones who caught her attention were Angela whose expression looked so sour as if she ate a lemon (Mary wondered whether this expression was prepared specially for her or was a constant state of her face) and Gabriella who seemed to be too happy.

Daniel looked around and discovered that someone was missing. Derek, the indifferent guy from the couple, was lying on a lawn chair near the grill and drinking beer. He did not even bother to come and greet them. They had the whole day for that, why hurry?

"And that lazy one is Derek," Daniel said as loudly as possible for Derek to hear him too.

"Come keep me company! There's enough beer for all of us!" was all he replied.

Mary laughed; she liked Derek the most, because no problem could come from him.

Everyone but Derek sat down in the garden house once again to chat and to wait for the meat to be ready.

The first to start conversation was the sour-faced Angela, "Mary, we're so excited that Daniel brought you here today. Pray tell us how you met and clicked together, so to say."

"The girl is a devil with an angel's name," Mary thought.