Ineffable ꕥ Joost Klein ꕥ

22.

The man turned with raised eyebrows but at the sight of Elke, his gaze softened.

'Elke. It's good to see you,' Nathan said, stepping out of the thin crowd that passed the pizza shop. 'How are you doing?'

'I'm okay... I'm still getting through it.'

Nathan nodded thoughtfully. He pressed his lips together, telling Elke that he was sympathetic towards her. They both knew Roan and his passing was obviously going to linger over their conversation. Elke barely knew the Belgian besides their talk at the car meet and when he turned up at her apartment with Roan. Other than that, Elke had forgotten about the man who had only been on the scene recently.

'What are you doing out tonight?' she decided to ask. She walked back to where Arabella sat on the curb and handed her the napkins. Her friend's inquisitive stare flickered to the Belgian who walked with her.

'Hey, Arabella,' Nathan greeted the girl and she waved while chewing. They had only met in Roan's garage a few months ago but Nathan's seemed to have a tendency to remember everyone's names. This was a trait that made him stand out from the rest of Roan's friends.

'I was on my way to a meet, actually,' he said while standing on the curb's edge.

'A car meet? With no car?'

'I like walking through the city. I don't do it much back home.'

Elke had forgotten that the man wasn't even from The Netherlands. When she thought about it more, she realised that Nathan had been in the country for months. She pondered the idea that he was on a visa of some sort, but at the recent turn of events, Elke was confused.

'When are you heading home, exactly?' she asked and Nathan shrugged.

'When I feel like it. I've got some things to sort out first,' he said casually. 'What are you guys doing?'

'Just having this and heading home.'

'Did you want to come to the meet? I'm sure I could get someone to drop you guys home afterwards?'

Elke joined Arabella in thinking that literally anything would be better than going to a car meet tonight.

'That's nice, but we're okay,' Elke said politely. 'It was never my thing. It was always Roan who wanted to go.'

Elke's face showed a grimace and Nathan read it. The street continued to bustle beside them and Arabella finished her pizza. Not wanting to interrupt the two, she pulled out her phone to wait for their conversation to finish.

'What about the guy who lives on your floor? Isn't he into cars?'

The topic must have been well-known amongst Roan's friends, Elke thought. Men like Roan tended to boast about those they hated and those they knew were the first to hear about them.

'Joost? Yeah, he is, but I'm not sure if he goes to them anymore. He's working tonight, also, so...'

'Oh, are you guys... together?' Nathan looked at her quizzingly and Elke hesitated.

Would Nathan think that she had moved on too fast? Roan was barely cold, and yet, Elke was 'involved' with Joost, the man she had originally told him to 'not worry about'.

'I hate to interrupt this painfully awkward conversation, but I should be getting home. My keys are at your place, El.'

Arabella appeared beside the two who had been in a brief silence. Having listened to the back and forth, Arabella could tell that Elke was fighting for her life. Talking to the police and running into one of Roan's friends was all too much for one day. To then be questioned about her strange situationship with her neighbour, Arabella was getting overwhelmbed by just listening to all that Elke was dealing with.