It's Only a Matter of Time

Chapter 2

"So you were so busy talking with the boys you forgot all about me?" Nina put a hand to her heart in mock offense, then glanced at the table where Jesper and Kaz sat, talking quietly. Under the table, Kaz's gloved fingers drummed a nervous rhythm on his knees.
"They aren't even that hot, in my opinion, but whatever floats your boat."

"Nina!" Inej blushed and rolled her eyes at her best friend. "It's not like that. It's just that..." she cursed herself for the pause in her voice, especially as Nina's smirk grew. "They're nice, that's all. And anyway, let's talk about you. How have you been?"

"Oh, just getting by. Living life to the fullest." Nina shrugged, and her raised eyebrow hinted to Inej that she had noted the not-so-subtle change in topic. "But I've been meaning to tell you, and just remembered! There's this boy at my school who's just such a sweetheart. I think he liiiiikes me."

Now it was Inej's turn to raise an eyebrow. Her best friend had a reputation of being a heartbreaker at any school she went to. It wasn't Nina's fault, really. She just had been dealt the combination of a very hot body and a belief that soulmates were a stupid idea and you should just love who you want to.
Her own soulmate timer, like Inej's was covered. But instead of favoring the traditional scarf, Nina liked to hide hers with a wide golden bracelet that matched her golden hoop earrings.

"Still haven't met 'the one'?" Teased Inej, fiddling with her scarf. It was a nervous tell of hers, to fiddle with the dark blue scarf on her wrist whenever the topic of soulmates came up.

Nina shoved her best friend playfully, but Inej lost her balance on the chair and fell off. She and Nina stared at each other for a second in silence, then burst into laughter.

"Why are we even like this?" Inej asked when Nina helped her up.

Before Nina could reply, a male voice came from the other side of the room. "And why are we not?"

"Because, Jesper. We have actual things to do in life besides sit around and gossip." Kaz replied.

"Excuse you!" Nina let go of Inej's hand and marched angrily towards the boys. Oh no. "We do a lot of things besides sit around and gossip. You try serving a heavy tray full of drinks for once, like our poor Inej does every day!"

"Nina..." Inej tried to interfere as all the gazes in the sparsely populated cafe turned to her. However, Nina was on a roll and wouldn't stop.

"And her boss is just a snake! Forcing her to work as long as the cafe stays open, which it does almost all the hours of the day!"

At Nina's first argument, Jesper had actually looked taken back, while Kaz had just sat there, grumpy as ever. At the second argument, Jesper jumped up from his seating position.
"What a-...a-" He struggled to find a good word, then settled for the one Nina had used. "...a snake! Inej, is this true?"

Inej nodded mutely, surprised at how protective he seemed of her after just a few seconds' meeting.
Then, Jesper turned to Kaz and asked the most peculiar thing. "Can we adopt her?"

The whole room froze and turned to look at Jesper, who clarified quickly.
"Not like that! I mean, that would be fun, but
1- I'm pretty sure we're too young to adopt
2- We've only known Inej for a few minutes-" His eyes darted to Kaz's for a second, then back to Inej. Or maybe she had just imagined it. It was hard to see, as Jesper stood a good distance away.

"and 3- I meant can she come work for us? There's always room for more people at the Club!"

Kaz, who had stood up while everything was happening, tapped the top of his cane thoughtfully. Inej hadn't even noticed the crow's-head topped cane, leaning against his chair.
"What an odd coincidence. Rosalinda, our main bartender, quit this morning. Her position is open, right when you suggest Inej take the job."

There had been a slight pause in Kaz's words, right before he had said Inej's name. Or maybe she had just imagined it...

"Ah yes, what a coincidence." Jesper grinned. "But that doesn't matter now! All that does is that my evil plan worked!

"Now all we need to do is get you fired!"