“Happy to be here.” I gesture to Lissa. “This is my plus one, Lissa Granger.”
They shake hands and exchange pleasantries.
“Well, come on then. Let’s introduce you to the others.” As we follow her to the table, she tells us, “Our girl Leyana brings our little circle together once a month for an alfresco. We get all caught up with day-to-day work and family stuff, so this monthly ritual keeps us connected. Also, the food isamazing.”
We spend the next fifteen minutes getting acquainted with the others, each one more outrageously attractive than the next. There are few familiar faces though, like the anime looking chick who runs The Metal House Auto Repair Shop—Kendra. And this one tall, blond, Viking-looking guy who gets major eye-fucks from the girls when he walks into Cookie’s Treat. Turns out he’s Toni’s husband. Homegirl hit the jackpot with that one.
Just as we’re about to take a seat at the table, the double French doors to the mansion opens and Cookie walks out carrying a large wooden tray laden with food.
A familiar Hispanic woman walks out behind her, also with a large tray of food. It takes me a minute to place her—she’s the owner of that big breakfast restaurant down the street from the pastry shop. I don’t know her by name, but as superficial as it sounds, she’s known for turning heads because of her looks. She’s a smoke show.
After safely depositing the food tray on the table, Cookie glances up at everyone and notices me. "Pia. Glad you could make it.” She gives me a chin jerk. “Got here okay?"
"Kinda. The GPS lost us twice."
Everyone laughs, though it’s not meant to be a joke. We got so lost on our way here I almost gave up and went back home.
“Is there anything I can help with in the kitchen?" I ask, taking in the trays already on the table. “I’m guessing there’s a lot of these…”
"Oh, yeah, we could use a hand," the pretty Hispanic perks up. She offers her hand. "I’m Leyana. Cookie has told me so much about you. It’s great to have you here."
"Ley’s an exaggerator," Cookie says as I shake Leyana’s hand. "Mentioned you a time or two, tops. That’s about it."
Leyana laughs. "Whatever. C’mon, Pia.”
I follow them into the house, and together we transfer trays of aromatic food from the humongous gourmet kitchen to the outdoor set up, all while Leyana and Cookie shamelessly pry into my life.
How long have you been in the food industry?
Do you have siblings? How many?
What do you enjoy?
Are you a family person?
Do you have kids?
Have you ever been married?
Would you consider yourself to be a loyal person?
Are you single?
Such personal, intrusive questions. Fortunately for them, it doesn’t bother me. I’m not secretive or enigmatic. My life is an open book. Theyareinviting me to eat with them, so it’s natural that they’d want to get to know me better.
Eventually, the not-so-subtle grilling ends, and Leyana declares, "So, yeah, Ilikeyou."
Cookie mutters, "Second that."
~
Laughter, cocktails, storytelling, inside jokes and damn good food.
Lissa and I do our best to keep up, but despite some of the jokes going right over our heads, we’re not made to feel like outsiders. We’re constantly reminded that our presence is more than welcome.
We also get to meet Leyana’s super-hot husband, Scratch, who comes out every fifteen minutes for a couple minutes at a time; he’s on babysitting duty, thus unable to join us for longer than those short intervals.
Sometime around my third glass of cocktail, I’m laughing hard at something Kendra’s husband, Alec, is saying when I hear, “Sorry we’re late.”
