I’ve never been much of a cocktail party girl – but this place was really impressive. There were a lot of great things in it. This wasn’t something that a poor person (like me) would expect. Not at all.

I’ll start with the food. First of all, this wasn’t a place just to go and get some light snacks. It was an insane party of pretty much anything that had ever lived. I was a little bit dizzied at how many choices there were. I figured I would be in a good shape with just a burger and some macaroni and cheese.

That’s not what was there, though. It would be hard to describe absolutely everything, so I’ll just talk about my favorite thing that I had. It rocked my world. In fact, I mean that in a literal way.

They had these mussels en scene that were just amazing. First, they were cooked in this neat oven. It was basically a giant steel barrel with large rocks in it. The rocks were covered with sea weed, and then a variety of clams, lobster, and other seafood were cooked on top of the seaweed. I suspect that’s where the delicious, salty taste might have come from.

The mussels were cooked at a low heat until the jaws slowly cracked open. When the jaws were cracked open, a garlic-infused buttery sauce was injected into each one, and then minced garlic was inserted.

The mussels were then cooked a little longer – so the sauce could sink in. Now, here’s the clever part. Each shell was rubbed with oil prior to being cooked. The oil would keep both the clam, and the inside of the claim, moist while cooking.

I tried just one and fell in love. It was just great. “Wow! I’ve never had anything like this before” I said as I sucked and then gently ate the claim meat.

“Yeah? Hobbs is a great cook. I heard that he’s got his own cooking show. I’m not surprised because his food is great” said Tyler as he took a buttered scallop and ingested it. The scallops looked good, too.

“How much did all this cost?” I wondered as I kept scanning up and down the long table. To be truthful, I was almost afraid to ask.

“Last year it cost us about $50,000. Keep in mind that the people can eat and drink all they want free of charge. This just goes to show that the old saying is true: ‘There is no such thing as a free lunch’” he said with a shoulder shrug. He looked like it was no big deal. As if, $50,000 was just pocket change.

I was floored. $50,000? Was he being serious? I put it into perspective for myself, and knew that wasn’t an amount of money that I would earn with a year’s salary. To try and steady off my stunned brain, I took another sip of my margarita.

The place had some sweet décor, too. Before the food was served, a presentation was made for an ice sculpture that looked sharply like the little bald Monopoly guy. The carver of the sculpture said that it took him about six hours to carve and shape it. If that was me, I think I would have gotten frozen to the bone before finishing it.

There was some art for sale at the ‘discount’ (said the price tags) prices of between $10,000 to $50,000. And they say that artists are poor? Not the artists from this outfit.

What really made the party were the people there. Some were strange, but some were cool. It seems that all of them were important one way or another. Maybe that’s why many were so rich and influential.

I met one guy who was a crazy inventor. He called his invention ‘Zoomers’. Basically, he invented a pair of high heels that would retract with the push of a small button. Then, the person wearing the shoes could walk much faster, or even run. If the button was pushed again, the heels would return for any need to be highly formal.

I think that’s a simple, but ingenious invention that would help a lot people who wanted to make high heels more usable. If I had high heels like that, I could actually wear them without tripping over myself.

He just waved his hand at me, and told me that it was something he just ‘threw around’ in his head. He made it sound like a trivial matter. I wouldn’t consider inventing something that millions of people could use a ‘trivial matter’.

The most important people I was able to meet (according to Tyler) were two members of the board – Frank and Charlotte. He went out of his way to point them out, and stated several times that I was his girlfriend. I think it’s safe to say that he wanted it very clear to them that we were dating.

Even though it was total horseshit, that’s what he wanted them to think. To his credit, it indeed worked. Now, that doesn’t mean they would give him a free pass, but at the very least, it was a step in the right direction. “Hi, I’m Maya. Nice to meet you.”

Frank was a jolly guy who was very whitely bearded and haired, because of obvious age. He smiled and laughed deeply as he interacted. His beard was long, and his stomach was huge. In a way, he kind of reminded me of Santa Claus. “It’s nice to meet you too, Maya. I appreciate you coming out here to join us.”

Charlotte smiled, but was much more quiet. She’s the type of lady who only speaks when she is spoken too. It was too early for me to tell if she was just one of those people who really likes to listen and watch her environment. Or, maybe she just wasn’t the talkative type. When I spoke to her, she smiled and shook my hand. “Hi, Maya. Thank you for coming out here to see us. We hope that you enjoy your stay and have a wonderful time.”

I traded the pleasantries and then Tyler began to gently pull me in another direction. He saw something that he wanted to do, but I couldn’t quite see over or around him. “What’s going on? What do you see?” I asked him as I tried to look over his head.

While walking quickly ahead, he pointed to what looked like a game that was being played. I could see people standing around and cheering. “We’re going to play craps. I haven’t played it in a while. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

I watched the game grow bigger in size as we got closer to it. I didn’t know anything about craps, so that’s exactly what I told him. “I really don’t know anything about craps. I don’t even know the rules. I can’t play” I said in protest because I don’t like trying new things that are hard. Sounds weird, but I like the safety of doing things I am only familiar with – that have few risks.

“I’ll coach you. Just watch because it’s fairly straightforward” he said as we finally reached the table.

I looked over and saw the action that was going on. There were dice that were bouncing around that a gentleman had thrown in. Sometimes, there would be cheering, sometimes, there would not be. It felt like it was a game of high pressure that was intense.

“Lemon drop martini and scotch, please” he said while he was waving and snapping his fingers at a man who was delivering drinks to the table. He was moving fast, and working hard. I didn’t know if it was polite or proper to tip him, but I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to feel like an idiot.

To make a long story short, Tyler lied to me because he didn’t really coach me. He just had me sporadically jump in and help him with his game. There were some parts I was able to figure out on my own, though.

For example, Tyler had $1,000 in chips. I could tell that, because it was just basic counting. The amount of chips around greatly varied. It was $1000 worth of chips, which I didn’t think was much for a multimillionaire like him. Hence, I didn’t see the need to protest or give advice.

I just watched him get the chips, and then he suddenly asked me to do something I had never done before. “Here. Blow on these dice” he said to me as he held the dice up to my lips.

Blow on them? What for? It didn’t really matter to me. He was only $1,000 in, and it wasn’t my money anyway. So, I puckered up my lips and blew onto them.

He rolled the dice onto the board, and the dice bounced around and stopped rolling. He started cheering along with a few others in the group. “He won? Did he win?!” I asked excitedly with confusion.

Within just a matter of minutes, he racked up $2,000 in winnings. Honest to God, it’s almost like money follows this guy around and begs to be put in his wallet. That’s how much money he seems to have.

He raised me up into the air and gave me a big hug. Then, he kissed me on the cheek. I didn’t have a mirror looking right at me, but I’m sure I was blushing. I didn’t expect him to do that. Not at all.

The funny thing is that I didn’t mind him doing that to me. Deep down in the depths of my heart, I have a crush on him and want his love and attention. In short, I’m attracted to him. I can’t even understand how I got to this level, but I really like him.

They say that women often like the bad boys. That’s often true. Maybe it was true on my case. Tyler is by no means a saint, but he’s not a demon either. I just wondered how hard it would be to get deep into his heart. Would it be tough? Could I do it?

I thought he would keep playing, but he eventually stopped. He was on such a hot streak, that I figured that he couldn’t lose. I mean, money always finds him. “You’re quitting? Why are you stopping?” I asked him as he pulled away from the table.

He shook his head and kept walking away, while he was holding my hand and pulling me along. “The winning will eventually stop. We’re far ahead, so we need to quit now.”