Before the Party

Manny woke up a bit later than expected. He had found it hard to get a good nights sleep with the excitement brewing. Upon opening his eyes and wiping away the sleep dust, he realized that it was already afternoon. The party would be starting at 4pm so he didn't have long to wait.

Arriving in the kitchen, he struck up a conversation with his mom about what is left to be done for this evenings events.

"I just need you to head to the store and grab some red party cups, a bag of ice, and maybe some cookies or something, you pick out dessert" She told him.

His mother was a nice woman by the name of Melissa. She worked hard at maintaining a nice home, and due to her husband having a cushy office job she was able to work a little less and keep the house and kids clean and running smoothly. That's not to say she didn't work, no, she worked. She was a model in fact for home housekeeping magazines, as she was a beautiful looking mom type. She had a radiant auburn hair color, and still looked great at the age of 43. With a a more robust figure than most younger girls, she still maintained a a slightly thin waist and semi-toned arms and legs. She wasn't the pinnacle of fitness, but there weren't many who would judge that harshly.

"Alright then, who's car am I taking, yours or dad's." Manny was ready to go.

"Just take my car, and here's some extra cash for you."

This was typical of Manny's parents to give extra cash. They were kind parents and enjoyed spoiling their kid on occasion because neither of them grew up particularly wealthy and so this was a way to give Manny what they had gone without. His father, Randolph, worked in insurance with some high-profile businesses, allowing him to attend a lot of corporate functions in which Randy was able to shmooze himself to the top. This was good for business, but not the best for his image. Some people may have viewed him as a bit scummy, but that wouldn't stop him from reaching for more to give his family the most easy life possible.

Grabbing the keys from his mother, he moved into the garage and got in the drivers seat of their Mercedes SUV. He clicked the garage door opener and waited while the whir of the gears unlocked the outside. This is when a familiar vehicle pulled up into their driveway. It was Leena, who quickly hopped out and ran to the passenger side of Manny's vehicle.

"Hey good lookin', where ya goin?" She said in a jovial mood.

"Get in you if you wanna come, I'm just going to the store to grab a few things."

So she did. As they drove to the grocery store they discussed the party attendees.

"Well, everyone who is coming on the cruise will be there, and maybe a few extra friends to say goodbye." Manny explained.

"Okay so that would make you, me, our parents, your aunt and uncle, and Josh and Naomi."

Josh and Naomi were Manny and Leena's best friends respectively. They had grown close to the families over the years of sleepovers and bbq's, so Manny's parents felt great about bringing them along. They truly wanted this trip to be a memory and experience like no other, and thus had been saving for a huge trip like this since Manny entered high school.

"Yeah, exactly, on top of some of our friends from school and a couple of my parents snobby friends" Manny confirmed.

"Will your aunt be bringing her famous chili dip?" Leena asked with a hopeful inflection.

Manny's Aunt and Uncle were the definition of the fun Uncle/Aunt. His uncle Scott had always been very cool to him, picking him up for sports games and buying him video games for Birthdays and Christmas. His aunt Aiko, despite being of a Japanese background, had translated her cooking skills to align with the American taste buds. She loved cooking fried chicken, hamburgers, home made pizza. What she was really loved for was her appetizers, like her stuffed Jalapenos or her "world famous" chili dip.

"It wouldn't be a party without it" Manny quipped.

Arriving at the store, they began searching the aisles for the requested items.

"By the way, your parents do know there is gambling on the boat right?" Manny asked.

"Yeah, my mom wasn't exactly happy about it but my dad sounded like he wanted to join in" She replied.

Her mother Shira, coming from a middle eastern background, did not much care for gambling. She would be where her daughter got so much of her sweetness. She was an overly safe, risk averse, very kind lady. They also shared their mousey features. Her father, Jeffrey on the other hand was loud and abrasive, but not rude. He was confident and enjoyed doing things that gave him a thrill. He had met Shira while on a military tour in Afghanistan, and the two fell in love despite their huge cultural differences.

"Wouldn't mind spending a little time gambling with your dad, he's always liked me"

"Not always" Leena said with disagreement "Don't you remember when you first asked me out? He wasn't too happy with the neighbor kid that always hanging around going after his daughter. But yeah, that didn't last long and he liked you as my boyfriend pretty fast. I'm sure the two of you can bond while watching your money disappear in the slot machines!" she taunted.

They found the items they were looking for(Manny had chosen a a few trays of cheesecake for dessert) and proceeded through the check out lines. They drove home, chatting about nothing and everything to do with the cruise, and made themselves comfortable while they stood by for the party to begin.