Lunch With a Friend
Jasper was ready for this verbal battle, they had lots of evidence and had even hired a private investigator to follow their client's ex-wife in order to have evidence that she was not the mom she presented herself to be to the court. It had barely been a battle when the ex-wife started accusing them of lying, screaming in the courtroom. Their client ended that day with full custody of his kids, and they ended with a nice paycheck and knowing they helped the right person. It was about noon when they got out of the courtroom, which was earlier the anyone thought they’d be out.
For a celebration Jasper decided to get a nice lunch at Oliver Garden, they felt like they deserved it for dealing with such a terrible and loud person in court. They had invited Jessica and Nathan to lunch with them, they couldn’t have been this successful without either of them, and they both agreed. Jessica might have just agreed to get free food and possibly free alcohol but they’re fine with that. The three of them got seated quickly for lunchtime, considering it was a Friday. After a thirty-minute wait, they were seated and with menus, then the three were left to talk for a bit.
“I wouldn’t have won this case without the pictures and video you took for me Jess, so thank you,” Jasper said, smiling while looking at their menu.
Nathan looked up from his menu and piped in, “You you would have, it just would have taken longer than you like.” Nathan was right, Jasper didn’t need Jess’ help, but it made his job ten times easier. Jasper hid their giggles behind their menu but tried to hide the giggling with a small cough. Jess rolled her eyes at the two of them. She had been hired by them a few times, they were actually one of her first clients and her most consistent clients. It’s thanks to them that she was able to afford her place at first.
They had been in comfortable silence when the waiter came to get their drink orders, Jasper asked for a rosé the table and a sprite for themselves, Nathan ordered a Shirley Temple for himself, and Jess said she’d just take a glass of the rosé the table was getting. Nathan was the only one getting soup, and that was the only thing he was getting for his lunch. He didn’t really feel up to eating much. Jasper got a salad with the house special dressing for an appetizer and a fettuccine Alfredo for their entrée. Jess didn’t want an appetizer at all but did get two spaghetti marinara. One for here and one to go. With the group's orders in mind, the waiter went to get everything in and left them for the moment.
“Have any new jobs for me to do next?” Jess asked her friends. If anyone asked, she would deny that they were friends, but they had grown on her over time.
“Not yet,” Nathan responded, but Jess disregarded him for a moment. Often Jasper would hire her even if Nathan didn’t think they needed to. When she looked over to Jasper and they just shrugged she knew she wouldn’t be getting a job from them for at least a few days, which she could use to work on another job she had taken on. After a moment more of silence their drinks arrived and Jess downed her glass right after it was poured. It wasn’t what she normally drank, but it would work for her. They chatted about nothing for a bit, Jess mostly passing time till she got her entrée and Jasper happy to talk about some of the random stuff they’d been doing. Jasper had avoided telling her that they had interfered with “the incident” as it was being called, she didn’t need to know about that. She didn’t know that they were an Avatar to a god or that Nathan was a vampire. She never talked about her super strength or how she got her pictures, though she thought that Jasper didn’t know about her powers. There were just some things they didn’t talk about. Jasper ended up starting to tell a story from when they were in college and visiting a museum that had an Egyptology exhibit for a bit. The entrees came during the story, but they continues while Jess ate. They didn’t have anything time sensitive to do later that day so they could take their time eating.
“So I said ‘If you really know what you’re talking about then what does this mean’, and I had just drawn something random, not an actual hieroglyph, and he said it was the name of an extinct animal in front of a professional! After that he was asked to leave,” Jasper concluded, their two friends had heard that story a few times before, but knew it was one of Jasper’s favorites to tell. Nathan gave a small hum, acknowledging the story’s conclusion. Jess wouldn’t admit it, but the story grew on her a bit more each time she heard it. If she ever asked questions about it she would get an answer, and if she’d ask the same question in the future it would always be the same answer. She eventually contacted a few of the people in the story just to confirm its validity, and all of them said that it was true. That was probably one of her favorite parts of the story, and even though it seemed a bit far-fetched, it was true.
Taking the space while Jasper eats some of their pasts Nathan asks, “Hey Jess, you got any other plans for the day?” She almost definitely did, but he wanted to ask. Even if she didn’t, they wouldn’t push her if she said that she did, her time was her own.
“Yeah, a wife suspects her husband of cheating and has hired me to get evidence, so I have my day packed,” she responds. Maybe ‘packed’ isn’t quite the right word, but she wanted some time to herself before he had to get to work. Jess had just finished her meal when Jasper handed her an envelope with a smiley face sticker on it. They almost always put a cute sticker on the envelope with her payment on it. She sighed good naturally while taking it.
“If you ever need us, or want to hang out, you know where to find us,” Jasper said happily, knowing that Jess was probably going to excuse herself soon. They might only be half done with their food, but they were the only one at the table. They flagged down their waiter, giving her their card and asking for their friend's to-go order, which she went quickly to get. A few minutes later all the food was paid for and Jess was on her way home.