Daddy Issues

59 - Hot

The night is a lot of fun. After dinner, everyone sticks around and we all just laugh, talk, play some games and have some drinks. Quite a lot of drinks. I'm a little tipsy.

Yuki hasn't made any more comments, for which I'm very thankful. Maybe it's because Jamal is here too. I'm glad to see him again, I always liked him a lot. Or maybe it's because of that conversation she had with Dan that I overheard. Either way, I'm happy about it.

'I win again,' Pete tells os triumphantly when we put our piles of cards together. It's a quick reaction game where you can grab a card if you can match it to your own card. I suck at it.

'Boo, you suck,' Avery says. 'I'm done. Wanna hang out over there, Emma?'

We've been playing the game with Yuki, Pete and Jamal at the kitchen table. But I'm happy to join Avery in the sitting area where Dan, Carlos and the new drummer, Lindsey, are hanging out. Getting beaten at every game is only fun for so long.

Avery and I sit down on Dan's armchairs, since the couch is already occupied. Dan, Carlos and Lindsey seem to be in some heated debate over musical instruments, but Dan still looks up for a moment to smile at us. Before he gets dragged back into it.

'So, Emma,' Avery asks me, pulling my attention back to her. 'Are you seeing anyone?'

'What?' I ask, caught off-guard by the question. 'Oh, no. No, you don't want to know what kind of guys are out there. It's not worth it.'

'Tell me about it,' she says, rolling her eyes. 'I've had dates I still have nightmares about. Before I met Pete.'

'How long have you guys been together?'

'Almost 6 years now,' she tells me happily.

'Oh, wow.'

I certainly never managed to keep up a relationship for that long. Not that I wanted to.

'How did you meet?'

'He was actually my manager.'

'Really?' I ask, intrigued. 'And you were very eager for a promotion?'

She laughs loudly when I wiggle my eyebrows at her.

'Oh yeah, I did it all for those 2 extra dollars at Mc Donald's.'

I snort and take a look over at Pete, still fanatically playing a game over at the kitchen table. He's a nice guy, and though he never lets her win at any game, he's clearly crazy about Avery. That's nothing I've ever experienced.

'I was still in college then. Pete had just finished his studies and was looking for a job in accounting. A lot has changed since then. Before you know it, you're boring adults, working full-time jobs, and you're worrying about stuff like a mortgage.'

I laugh when she sighs deeply and sinks down in her chair.

'I don't know,' I say. 'I kind of wish I had it together like you guys. I don't think I'll be able to get my own place anytime soon.'

'You'll get there,' Avery says. 'There's no rush, is there?'

'Well, I mean, I don't get along that great with my mother, so I wouldn't mind my own space.'

That's an understatement. But I don't know Avery well enough to just pour out everything about my mom just yet.

'I can understand that,' she says, looking over at Dan. I look over too and find him still engaged in deep conversation with the others. Though he glances over for a second when he feels our eyes on him.

'Did you ever meet her?' I ask Avery. I remember Yuki complaining that my mom never wanted to hang out with them when I first met them. But they must have seen her a couple of times at least, right?