30 Days of Writing: (29) Simple
To say his life was a mess was an understatement.
It was a disaster.
According to Drew at least.
The two of them were very alike in many ways, such as the way they didn’t think of the consequences when they did something. But it was because they were so alike that they often clashed.
Which was why they have been having lunch every Wednesday, at Drew’s suggestion. He agreed because there were no reasons to not to.
“Seriously,” she stated, cutting up her steak. “You haven’t shaved in days, the bags under your eyes are darker, your hand is trembling, and you really need a haircut. You, enemy of mine, are going downhill.”
“Maybe,” he admitted, swirling his coffee. Before, he would have denied it, but seeing how they could at least be called ‘friends’ (somewhat), he decided to be somewhat truthful. “You look better.”
“I happen to have friends who are also grieving and so we’re all miserable together but refuse to let each other get too miserable. Although Jace could be a bit better.” She shrugged, eating a bite of her steak. “You need a support system, obviously. How’s your bro?”
“He is busy.” Being the one with invisibility, Neil was often sent on infiltration or assassination missions. This one involved assassinating the vice-president of a weapons company, so that Lustrei could have one of his be the appointed replacement. “I haven’t seen him in a month.”
Drew hummed thoughtfully, sipping on her milk tea tapioca. She probably understood what it implied. “Well~ don’t you two communicate via emails or phone calls or something?”
“He’s not allowed distractions.” Neil wasn’t supposed to contact anyone in Nemesis unless it was an emergency, just in case. It was rather frustrating. “So I haven’t talked to him since he left.”
She nodded absentmindedly, eating some of her fries. “Well, in that case, the answer to your problem is obvious.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What?”
She grinned. “You free this Saturday?”
He thought about his schedule as he poured more sugar into his drink. “Yeah. Why?”
“You wanna play some video games over at my place? Well, technically, it’s also Vince, Stephen, and Jace’s, but you know.”
“…what?”
“I’m inviting you to hang out with us, gosh.” She rolled her eyes as she chewed on the tapioca balls. “You need friends so you won’t keep heading down this path to destruction. Support system, yes? And Maddy wouldn’t be happy about what you’re doing.”
“I know that.” When he had gone home the other day after a long exhausting mission, he thought he had heard her voice right before he collapsed onto the bed, telling him that she hated seeing him like this. He didn’t know if that was just him hallucinating, but due to his line of work, where magic was real… Hard to tell. “What time are you guys meeting?”
Drew’s face lit up, the smile on her face almost blinding. “Really?! Great! I really didn’t think it would be so easy to-ah, uh, we normally meet up around 11am and we would order delivery for lunch. Luce, Nina, and Jen will be coming too. Oh, do you need the address?”
“I can look it up.” A lie. He already knew it, but it was probably best she didn’t know that. “Do I need to bring anything?”
“Not really, unless you own some games. We have an Xbox, Playstation, and Wii, so yeah.”
“Alright.” He sipped his coffee, deciding it needed another bag of sugar. “Are you sure your friends will welcome me to your fold?”
She laughed like she knew something. “Don’t worry about it.”
It seemed she was rather confident in it. That was reassuring, as he didn’t want to walk into a place full of people who would kill him. “If you say so.”
“Of course. It won’t take much to convince them to let you into our weekly get-together. You might have to watch out for Jace though. He still doesn’t like you,” she stated, amused.
“Feeling is mutual,” he grumbled. The fire brat was way too close to Maddy for his taste. She had assured him over and over again that they were merely close friends, but the way they acted around each other made him jealous. Urgh, he needed to stop thinking about that bastard. He looked at the time. “Lunch time is over. I need to head back now.”
She finished her milk tea quickly as she took out her wallet to pay for her share of the bill. “Good point. I’m gonna be late for the meeting. I’ll see you soon then!”
He nodded, putting his money on the tray and getting up. “Bye then, Drew.”
She continued waving at him as they both split ways.