A Moment With You

CHAPTER 9 | Words, Life, and Love

You are the unspoken word
deeply spoken by my being.
You are someone I expected
to one day would come unexpectedly.
And your smile gave me peacemaking my heart beat wildly.

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"Eddie was soooo cheesy with that email. I'll show you sometime." Alice excitedly chimed to Ray as she clasped Crystal's hands.

"Ouch Alice, you're squeezing my hand too hard."

"Oops, sorry." Alice apologized.

Crystal immediately pulled her hand and shook the pain away. "It was actually very very cheesy." She suddenly seconded which made Alice beam up nodding to Ray.

Ray let out a small laugh. The girls have been sharing to him about the time Eddie sent them an email about welcoming Irene, making it too obvious how he felt for her.

The idea of Eddie being cheesy seemed funny indeed. But Ray found the girls' bickering affection to be funnier.

"Hey, stop hugging Ray to yourselves. We're here too, you know." Jake suddenly interrupted, giving Ray a can of beer.

"Would it be okay?" Ray asked considering what the gathering was for. Wasn't book club meetings supposed to be formal? Plus there were kids there. But Jake nodded.

"It'll keep you warm and confident at least. It's just one can of beer."

"He's right." Mr. Bubbles --err-- Mr.Rogers raised his own beer can to Ray. "It's good these kids are not kids anymore." and clink cans with Jake before taking another sip.

"I may still be a kid Mr. Rogers, but I'm more of a teen now." a young 14 year-old they call Jasper cheerfully clarified to whom Mr. Rogers and Jake nodded understandably.

"Yup, and soon you'll be drinking with us." Jake added.

"Ei, watch your tongue Jake, Jasper is still a baby for us." Joy scolded her husband who nodded in apology. They all laughed.

The gang was finally complete. This was the Midnight Society--the group Irene had prepared to meet this evening. Meeting them now made him realize he had read about them in Eddie's journal. It was the group he would meet every first and third Friday of every month. They would enjoy a good laugh, roasted nuts, warm oat meals, and a few beers if the older men decided to stay a bit more.

Like what was mentioned in the journal, the Midnight Society was a mixture of both young and old, the quiet and clever, and also the super optimist and overly excited Alice. The group presented both warmth and ruckus and it reminded Ray of his own friends back in the city -- when they were still starting and were still a bunch of nobodies trying to make something out of the world they live in.

After the long chats and laughs, the group finally settled on their chairs as they formed a circle, each holding a book or a magazine or a newspaper clipping--The pieces they were to share.

"We're all finally here." Aunt Emma began while the rest nodded in agreement.

"It feels so warm and fuzzy." Jasper followed which made them all laugh.

"Ah, we miss your cuteness Jasper." Mr. Roger complimented, patting Jasper's shoulder. "You've grown up so fast too, don't you agree "grandpa"?"

"Wow, one grandpa spoke to another." Jake commented which made everyone laugh some more.