Chapter 35: Friends

"So, you're the girlfriend," one of his friends, a man with a very animated voice, exclaimed as he leaned in over his breakfast of dried fish, tomatoes and salted eggs. "We've been pestering Sean to take you on the climb with us for the longest time."

"And he always gives some vague answer like, 'one of these days,' and, 'soon,'" added another, who was a sporty looking girl with short hair. She leaned in towards Dell to whisper conspiratorially, "He just wanted you all to himself, didn't he?"

"W-well, it's not really..." Dell shifted uncomfortably in her seat on the picnic mat.

"That or he was embarrassed of you," said a third friend, who was thin and lanky and wore glasses. His words sounded demeaning, but the way he said it so matter-of-factly made her feel that he had no malice in his words... He simply had very poor tact.

"Hey, Dell is the vice president of business loans for Kelly Bank," Sean said as he handed her his promised cake. "She's not someone one would be embarrassed of."

Dell had to smile as heat emanated from her chest at his words.

"So, you were keeping her to yourself," the only other girl in their party said.

"She didn't like climbing. I had to take time to slowly convince her."

Convince me, my foot! She thought. He just sprung this trip on her this morning!

His female friend moved to kneel excitedly before where Dell sat. "I'm Aura," she said as she leaned in towards Dell. "I work as a freelance graphic artist but my advocacy is supporting creative communities all over the country."

"That's admirable." Dell inched back on her seat on the picnic mat. This girl was too close. "I work in a bank, as Sean said." But Aura inched forward.

"That's so awesome! What did you like about Sean?"

Dell inched back, but Aura just inched forward again. The girl had no concept for personal space! "He's..." Cute? But that would sound too superficial, wouldn't it? And judging by the sound of it, his friends didn't know that this relationship was fake.

"Aura babe, don't be too forceful on Dell," said the animated man. Turning to Dell, he added, "I'm Macks."

Dell smiled. "Good to meet you. One of my best friends is named Max, too. She's a artist."

"Awesome! Sounds like my kind! I'm a voice actor. You've probably heard my voice somewhere. Ahem... Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!"

"Yes! You voiced that ad?"

"You bet, I did!"

The last guy, the tactless but guileless one, reached his hand towards her. "Rick."

Dell shook his outstretched hand. "Hi Rick. What do you do?"

"I research the relationship between God, man and machine."

And she thought Sean was already a little weird.

"So?" Aura prompted her. "What did you like about Sean?"

And she thought she had dodged that bullet. Apparently not since everyone was looking expectantly towards her. What else did she like about Sean? The truth is... "He's refreshing."

"Refreshing, huh?" Rick said thoughtfully. "Expound."

Expound? What was this? Class? But again, as she looked at Rick, she saw no malice or ill-will on his expression. He really just spoke that way.

She looked to Sean and saw that he made no move to help her out here, and was also waiting for her reply.

"Well," Dell began. "He's different from the guys I see in the bank."

He smiled bitterly. "I'm not ambitious," he said, more to her than to his friends.

"Nor do you want to be." She looked down and decided to answer truthfully. "I like ambition. It's my way of life. But the corporate rat race can get tiring. And when I look at you, I see someone I sometimes secretly long to be: free of the pressures of the world and the need to be successful."

"Just because I choose not to conform with how the world defines success doesn't mean I'm free of its pressures."

"That makes it even more impressive, doesn't it?"

She saw a hint of red creep its way to Sean's cheeks.

"Enough with the mush!" Macks said as he pulled Aura to him. "I'll get jealous and start being all sweet to Aura, and Rick will be left out!"

"You shouldn't be like that to Rick!" Aura laughed as she hit Macks playfully on the arm.

"I don't mind," Rick replied. "It was my decision not to be involved in any relationship until I finish my PhD in Robot Morality. You don't have to suffer on my account."

Sean stood up while his friends continued to fool around, and sat next to Dell. "If only your words were true," he said in barely a whisper.

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