Free Dinner at Mine by Chris Smyth

level. It definitely would have been worth extra points. Would it mean the difference
between winning and losing, though?
    The problem was that there was no way of knowing how well the others had scored her. The question had been hovering there all week. She was worried now that when she saw them later on, she
wouldn’t be able to think of anything else. It was going to be torture.
    ‘Yes, yes!’ she said, to Stephen’s muffled shout.
    Marcus would have been stingy with his score. She could tell that immediately. It perhaps wasn’t even so much to do with the food as a way of asserting his superiority,
or making it more likely that he would win. She knew he fancied himself as a foodie, but God, he had been annoying, hadn’t he? Did he think she hadn’t noticed the notebook? Well, that
would be repaid.
    Was she being uncharitable? No. That was the point of the game, wasn’t it? To win. Was that why she had suggested it in the first place? The thought struck her. Was she just looking for a
socially acceptable way to prove she was a better cook than her friends? No, surely it was just a way to have some nice evenings, and make a bit of a change from a normal dinner party?
    And even if it wasn’t, what was so wrong with that? Everyone had agreed to the rules.
    Rosie ran her hand through her hair.
    And Matt? Well, he probably wanted to win without trying, didn’t he? Gliding along like a swan while everyone else was paddling furiously underwater. That wasn’t
quite right, was it? But it would be just like Matt.
    Take the menu for the night. Peruvian Ceviche. Well, that sounded great, didn’t it? Exotic, fresh, a hint of culinary danger with the raw fish. But, actually, you just needed to get some
very nice fish and squeeze some lemon on it. Easy, really. It would be tasty, though, that was the thing. Same with the main course. Navajo Roast Lamb. Navajo! How unexpected and intriguing. The
thing was, it was probably just roast lamb. With a few strange spices. All you had to do was buy the right things and set the timer on the oven. Was that cheating or was it just clever? That was
the thing with Matt – it was so hard to tell.
    Still, Rosie was confident. The vegetarians would swing it for her. Marcus would be mean with everyone and Rosie herself was unlikely to give Matt a better score than he had given her. So it
would come down to Justin and Barbara. They had really enjoyed the last meal. And then there was Charlotte. Had she ever actually cooked anything? Rosie had never seen any evidence that her
culinary skills went any further than adjusting the settings on the microwave. If she was making something tonight, it would be the NY Espresso Chocolate Cake. Very hard to get chocolate cake
wrong, but maybe Charlotte could manage it.
    ‘Mmmmm!’ she said.
    That was mean. There was no reason to think Charlotte was a bad cook, was there? True, Rosie had never eaten a meal prepared by her, but then most of their socializing had been
done after work. She could actually be quite good.
    Why hadn’t she mentioned Matt to Charlotte before last week? In her head, it had seemed much less of a set-up. Just because two people were single, it didn’t mean they couldn’t
have dinner together, did it? With six other people there!
    Yes, all right, it was the cooking together. That did look like a date. But there was nothing to be done about it. The rules were the rules. Both of them were adult enough to see that,
surely?
    Still, she should have asked them properly. Charlotte, particularly. She always got very defensive about the suggestion of set-ups, as if they were an insult to her pride, a sign that people
thought she should be the object of pity. Rosie couldn’t see it. It was just a practical way of looking for a partner, wasn’t it?
    Maybe she should have invited Mike and Tony. Things would have been much more relaxed. There wouldn’t have been the tension with Charlotte, and now Stephen was upset at