Garden Party
I stepped out of my parked car, and walked up the driveway of a large adobe house. I checked the number on the side of the house against the address on my invitation; it was the right place. A note on the front door, a cast iron gate backed by a glass door, said, "Come in."
Walking through the gate, I found myself in a small tile-floored entryway. To my right a tile stairway headed upward and curved to the left. Next to the staircase was a rustic wooden door. To my left was a set large double doors, the same rustic design as the door next to the stairs. Directly ahead of me were double glass doors, through which I could see a large patio and a pool, in which the other guests were already swimming or standing.
I walked outside, was greeted by the hosts, and without much delay took off my T-shirt and shoes and climbed into the pool.
After a while, not knowing any of the guests my own age, I ended up playing with the younger kids in the shallow end of the pool.
After a couple of hours, a person designated as the lifeguard blew his whistle, said that the pool party was over, and instructed everyone to exit the pool via the shallow end, where I was still standing. As a wave of kids passed by, I heard a mischievous giggle behind me, and one of the kids quickly yanked off my swim trunks, threw them out of the pool, and climbed out with his friends and stood on the patio laughing with them about what they'd done.
Looking the other way, I saw my towel not far from the edge of the pool. Stretching my arm out I was able to pull it toward me. I formulated my strategy for a few seconds, and, with one swift motion jumped out of the pool and wrapped my towel around me without being seen.
* * *
Presumably having found my clothes and changed back into them, I was now walking through the glass doors into the entryway. I stepped out into the driveway and clicked my car keys. The wrong car (a black BMW) blinked its lights. I examined the keys in my hand and confirmed that I'd somehow wound up with the wrong keys.
Hurrying back inside, I saw that the wooden double doors were now open, and the party had moved to a large game room inside. The host and hostess were standing beside a table with a basket full of keys, so I approached and explained my key mix-up. The host and hostess found my keys in the basket, but begged me to stay for a while.
Conceding, I began mingling with the other guests, but, having little to say, still felt a little out of place. One girl whom I didn't recognize called my name, walked up to me, and thanked me for the email I'd sent her. I said she was welcome, and tried my best to hide the fact that I had no idea who she was.
A few minutes later I noticed a Japanese suit of armor next to one wall of the room. I walked over to it, and began examining the various pieces. The host noticed my interest, and began talking about the suit, how he'd recently bought it in an auction, and how the variety of decorative aspects of it, including steel scales, animal teeth, and jade carvings, made it very rare. He asked if I was staying for the rest of the party, and offered me a drink.
Not long afterward, a film screen descended along the far wall of the room, and a video began showing. The guests gathered around on the various couches and chairs in the center of the room. The video depicted one of the girls from the party doing a gymnastics routine while wearing a swimsuit. Several of the guests giggled. During the recovery from a cartwheel, the girl's biking top slipped to the side a little, exposing one of her breasts. A caption across the picture on the video said "Oops!"
The girl in question, now in the middle of the couch, became mockingly upset, shouting at several of the guys in the group for having shown the video, but obviously smiling too much to have been too disturbed by it.
At that point the video switched to showing several of the other girls from the party in the poolhouse shower together. The girls screamed and ran after the person holding the camera, but once again their embarrassment seemed staged, and the whole party crowd laughed enthusiastically.
Walking through the gate, I found myself in a small tile-floored entryway. To my right a tile stairway headed upward and curved to the left. Next to the staircase was a rustic wooden door. To my left was a set large double doors, the same rustic design as the door next to the stairs. Directly ahead of me were double glass doors, through which I could see a large patio and a pool, in which the other guests were already swimming or standing.
I walked outside, was greeted by the hosts, and without much delay took off my T-shirt and shoes and climbed into the pool.
After a while, not knowing any of the guests my own age, I ended up playing with the younger kids in the shallow end of the pool.
After a couple of hours, a person designated as the lifeguard blew his whistle, said that the pool party was over, and instructed everyone to exit the pool via the shallow end, where I was still standing. As a wave of kids passed by, I heard a mischievous giggle behind me, and one of the kids quickly yanked off my swim trunks, threw them out of the pool, and climbed out with his friends and stood on the patio laughing with them about what they'd done.
Looking the other way, I saw my towel not far from the edge of the pool. Stretching my arm out I was able to pull it toward me. I formulated my strategy for a few seconds, and, with one swift motion jumped out of the pool and wrapped my towel around me without being seen.
* * *
Presumably having found my clothes and changed back into them, I was now walking through the glass doors into the entryway. I stepped out into the driveway and clicked my car keys. The wrong car (a black BMW) blinked its lights. I examined the keys in my hand and confirmed that I'd somehow wound up with the wrong keys.
Hurrying back inside, I saw that the wooden double doors were now open, and the party had moved to a large game room inside. The host and hostess were standing beside a table with a basket full of keys, so I approached and explained my key mix-up. The host and hostess found my keys in the basket, but begged me to stay for a while.
Conceding, I began mingling with the other guests, but, having little to say, still felt a little out of place. One girl whom I didn't recognize called my name, walked up to me, and thanked me for the email I'd sent her. I said she was welcome, and tried my best to hide the fact that I had no idea who she was.
A few minutes later I noticed a Japanese suit of armor next to one wall of the room. I walked over to it, and began examining the various pieces. The host noticed my interest, and began talking about the suit, how he'd recently bought it in an auction, and how the variety of decorative aspects of it, including steel scales, animal teeth, and jade carvings, made it very rare. He asked if I was staying for the rest of the party, and offered me a drink.
Not long afterward, a film screen descended along the far wall of the room, and a video began showing. The guests gathered around on the various couches and chairs in the center of the room. The video depicted one of the girls from the party doing a gymnastics routine while wearing a swimsuit. Several of the guests giggled. During the recovery from a cartwheel, the girl's biking top slipped to the side a little, exposing one of her breasts. A caption across the picture on the video said "Oops!"
The girl in question, now in the middle of the couch, became mockingly upset, shouting at several of the guys in the group for having shown the video, but obviously smiling too much to have been too disturbed by it.
At that point the video switched to showing several of the other girls from the party in the poolhouse shower together. The girls screamed and ran after the person holding the camera, but once again their embarrassment seemed staged, and the whole party crowd laughed enthusiastically.