<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amanda was pleased that her closest friends came for dinner tonight. She looked around the table at each one, their eyes reflecting the soft glow of the overhead crystal chandelier. She rose from her seat to fill the stemware with wine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow have you been, Mike?\u201d she asked as she poured into his glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Crazy as usual.\u201d He took a sip of sparkling wine. \u201c”Mmmm\u2026this is good,\u201d he said, with a nod. \u201cYeah, things are going to slow down after we finish the new tower on Twenty-Second Street.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe too,\u201d said Julie. I\u2019m being crushed by my caseload, but I\u2019m finally digging my way out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David nodded. \u201cI feel your pain,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m so swamped at the office that I brought in a cot to sleep on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amanda chuckled. \u201cFor real?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor real. David replied. I\u2019m practically living there these days. I\u2019m well-stocked with food and beer in my office fridge. Especially beer,\u201d He chuckled. \u201cFor after-hours, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike gave him a wink. \u201cBeing the boss has its privileges, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has a few,\u201d said David, \u201cbut working a hundred hours a week isn\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, no kidding,\u201d chimed Kristi with a laugh. \u201cAt my house, I\u2019m the boss, and I work 24\/7. And I don\u2019t even get paid!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amanda finished pouring the wine, then took her seat. She beamed at each one. \u201cI\u2019m so glad you are all here. We all have such busy lives, but tonight, we can all relax, enjoy good food, and even better company.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She lifted her wine glass. \u201cCheers!\u201d she said. \u201cCheers,\u201d they repeated together. Glasses clinked, and laughter filled the air as they shared food and camaraderie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amanda knew it was a big deal for them to fit this evening into their schedule. Life was not always so busy for everyone. But that\u2019s what friends do; they make time for what\u2019s important. And tonight, there was nothing more important than being in the company of friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amanda was pleased that her closest friends came for dinner tonight. She looked around the table at each one, their eyes reflecting the soft glow of the overhead crystal chandelier. She rose from her seat to fill the stemware with wine. \u201cHow have you been, Mike?\u201d she asked as she poured into his glass. “Crazy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-2270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama-literary","tag-flash-fiction"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/In-the-company-of-friends.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2270"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3910,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions\/3910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}