A Soft Place to land

22

It was snowing.

Frost tinted the large diner window in mesmerizing patterns as Wolf's eyes followed a single snowflake land in front of him, watching it immediately melt from the warmth of the diner. It served as his only form of entertainment as he awaited the arrival of an old acquaintance- friend? Nope. Definitely not a friend. Wolf cringed at the thought and instead opted to stare out the window once again.

Outside, there were warmly lit shops covered in posters promoting the holidays and families doing their Christmas shopping. In one specific shop, Wolf bitterly watched as a mother and her son exited the shop's doors with smiles on their faces.

Reminding him that was almost new years- which only made him feel like digging himself into a hole in the ground.

No, not because of the overwhelming fact that in two more years he'd be in his thirties.. Even though that does scare him; nothing scares him more than the fact that his parents are coming to see him the day right after new years- now that's terrifying. It's all that he's been thinking about for months- it's gotten so bad that he hasn't been able to sleep properly. His eye bags were looking especially bad lately, but hey, at least it added to the washed up aesthetic.

Sighing, Wolf tucked his arms into his long padded jacket that draped over his slumped shoulders and tried to blow away the steam from his black coffee.

It seemed like his 'old acquaintance' was running late -or to be more specific- was running an entire thirty minutes late, Wolf scoffed with his arms crossed. And as if right on cue, just a minute after, Wolf heard the diner door chime and a rush of heavy footsteps speedily approaching his table, he rolled his eyes.

He already knew who it was without having to look back.

"Hey man, sorry about that, I got caught up in winter traffic."

Wow. Speak of the devil.

The rest of the customers in the diner watched as a beefy young man with shaggy orange hair and a wispy goatee made his way to the back where Wolf sat, waving his hand around with a stupid happy-go-lucky smile plastered on his face. Cringing, Wolf momentarily thought of hiding his face and pretending that he didn't know this bozo. But unfortunately his unwanted guest had already taken the seat across from him.

"Jake" Wolf pushed his glasses up, glaring at him.

"You're thirty fucking minutes late. Half an hour. I've been waiting here for half an hour." He said, earning a guilty chuckle from Jake who waved his hand in dismissal with a cheeky grin.

"Better late than never." Jake retorted

As he continued to wave it off, Wolf noticed something on Jake's hand glimmering under the diner lights. Squinting through his glasses, he was able to get a better look at it.

A silver ring worn on Jake's ring finger.

Oh.

Wolf raised his eyebrows in surprise, and it seemed like Jake noticed his change of demeanor.. He followed Wolf's eyes to his ring and smiled even wider.

"Jealous?" Jake joked.

"So you got married huh?"

Raising his hand up to the hanging light above their booth, Jake stared at his ring with adoration.

"You bet I did."

With his reply, Wolf watched him in silence.

Of course, Wolf knew that they were adults now and that the real world was no highschool. But for some reason, he subconsciously thought that his old colleagues were still how he remembered them to be. He hadn't ever truly registered that he wasn't the only one with a job and a future- so hearing about what Jake's been up to, learning that he's a married man that works at a fitness centre, that he has a sick goatee now- it was kind of a shocker. And the biggest kicker:

"and we're expecting twins"

- A fucking sucker punch right in the gut.

Impressive for an Ex-delinquent.

Compared to all the union members, it was safe to assume that Jake was doing the best. Better than Wolf, even. Well technically, Jake wasn't even a Union member, he left right before graduation, right before Donald Na's and the Union's arrest and disbandment.

Wolf was, unfortunately, one of those that were caught up in the mass arrest with the rest of his colleagues and was put into handcuffs as soon as he was legal. The lucky ones were the members that were only charged with violence and public disturbance. Meanwhile, most of them had at least two years in prison under their belts. And for Donald Na, the big bad, he got a whopping eight and a half years behind bars.

No wonder Jake was doing so well, he didn't have to go through that hell.

For a bit Wolf just sat there, in semi-understanding and semi-disbelief, somehow getting through the conversation with nods and 'oh's. They continued on for an entire forty-minutes, until Jake eventually turned the question on him, snapping out of his daze.

"So, how've you been?" Jake asked

"I've been.." Wolf paused mid-way. He didn't know how to respond.

Well he could say that he's been doing good, that he has a stable job and his own apartment- but on the other hand, saying that felt off for him. Like he was lying or something like that; was he really doing good? Sure, he was good on the money front, but he lived on instant food and felt like absolute shit every morning. So what was he exactly?

"Okay.. I've been okay."

In turn, Wolf was met with silence from Jake and he had no idea whether it was good or bad. He didn't want to look up at him. But thankfully, soon after, Jake decided to break the silence.

"Ah- well, that's good!" He let out a hearty chuckle. "So.."

An awkward air filled their booth.

"So.." Wolf repeated, still keeping his eyes on the table.

Jake cleared his throat. "Have you heard?.. It looks like the Union might come back together. Since, y'know, Donald's gonna be released from prison next month."