crème glacée [the fate of coincidences 1]

13: Glen

It was a quiet rainy Sunday afternoon and Glen was sitting at his tiny dinner table, buried in piles of papers that didn't even need to be reviewed until next week. He heard his front door open and sounds of feet shuffling.

"I knew you'd be working, even at home," said Zack as he came into view.

"Why do you always break into my house?" Glen asked, not even looking up from his work.

"Because you gave me the key that one time you became paranoid that you would fall and wouldn't be able to get up and no one would find your body until weeks later until it's all gross and rotting."

Glen decided not to dignify that with a response as Zack went about exploring the kitchen cupboards and fridge, like he owned the place. Pitter-patter of the rain mixed in with the noise.

"Why do you only have pasta? I only see spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti... And wait, hold on... More spaghetti! Glen, are you trying to slowly kill yourself with spaghetti?"

"If you want other food, you can go somewhere else," he said, ignoring the mess Zack was probably making of his kitchen. "This isn't a restaurant."

"Glen," Zack said as he took a seat at the dining table with a thud. The plastic chair squealed against the linoleum. "When was the last time you went out? You always sit either at home or in the office doing paperwork."

"And that is why our company is running so smoothly." He finally looked up at his best friend who was now sitting across from him, munching on a carrot. "And I went out yesterday."

"To have fun?" Zack asked, raising his eyebrow skeptically.

"I had to meet with the girl who ruined my bumper." He turned back to his work with a huff.

"That's not going out, you moron." He hit Glen's hand with his half-eaten carrot for emphasis.

"Stop eating my carrots," Glen replied in defense.

Zack rolled his eyes. "That's it, I can't watch this anymore. We're going out."

They ended up walking to Chipotle and halfway through, Zack's umbrella broke in half for no reason whatsoever. It wasn't even windy. They ran the rest of the way, and by the time they reached the awning of the restaurant, Glen was gasping for breath. Zack was breathing normal, highlighting Glen's lack of cardio.

Conversation over burritos jumped around at random, like it always did when they hung out like this.

"Overworking yourself is not a healthy way to deal with a break up," Zack mentioned at some point.

Glen rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone need to bring this up recently?"

"I don't know, because we don't want to see you at the hospital anytime soon?"

"You're being overdramatic. I'm doing fine."

Zack took a bite of his burrito, speaking with a full mouth. "Yeah, and the sky is pink."

"Technically it is, at dawn and twilight."

"Don't sass me," Zack said in an imitation of Ella.

Glen sighed. "I promise, I'm doing a lot better."

"Do you remember how you purposely got an A- in one of your classes just so that student council president girl you liked would be valedictorian instead of you?" Zack asked, leaning forward. "I have never seen your mom so angry and disappointed like she was then. And remember how she rejected you because it turned out she was dating a college guy the whole time?"

Glen frowned, not really fond of his high school memories. "Your point being?"

Zack patted his hand. "I'm just saying, it painful to watch. You need to up your game, man."

"Have you been talking to gran?"

"Did she tell you the same thing? If she did, then she's a wise woman, you should listen to her."

"Whatever." Glen took a sip of his soda. "Is your mom still trying to guilt trip you into being a doctor?"

Zack nodded. "Like clockwork. She's resorted to blackmail, but it's not very effective."

"I'm so glad our parents live on the other side of the continent."

"Tell me about it."

They continued eating, letting the conversation fade.

"So," Zack began again, opening a hot sauce packet with his teeth. "How did the meeting for the car accident go? Did you guys solve everything with the insurance?"

"Oh, that." Glen chewed on a mouthful of lettuce for a bit. "There were some issues with insurance so we decided that she will drive me around while my car is in the shop."

"You're going to make some poor girl drive your around back and forth?"

"Hey, she's the one who suggested it," Glen replied defensively. "Plus, it'll be convenient, since we work at the same place," he added, not mentioning that the real reason he agreed to the whole thing was because she looked so hopeful and if he rejected her idea, it would feel like stepping on a puppy.

"It was one of our employees?!" Zack leaned forward sharply, eyes bugging out.

"No, it was Argon's makeup artist." Glen waved his arm about to calm him down. "Jade Emerson?"

Zack's face lit up. "Oh, Jade! I met her, she's really nice."

Glen decided not to mention that she was Levi's sister. Instead, he stuffed his mouth with the rest of the sofritos left in his bowl.

"I'm gonna become friends with her," Zack continued. "So I can get closer to Ria."

At that, Glen raised an eyebrow. "Why would you need to be closer to Ria?"

"Um, because she's extremely hot?" he replied, like it was obvious.

"All models are hot, Zack. It's in their job description."

"Yeah, but Ria is different," Zack began explaining, opting to ignore his food for the time being. "She's drop dead gorgeous even when she's wearing hobo clothes and no makeup. And she has the most amazing super nice personality. Like, you could kidnap her and make her watch as you murder her dog and she would bake you cookies, smile sadly and tell you that she forgives you."

"Uh..." Now Glen was concerned for Zack's mental health.

Zack caught his concerned expression. "Don't worry, I won't actually kill her dog. I don't even know if she has a dog."

"Yes, because that's the real concern here," Glen mumbled into his napkin. "Let's go home, it's cold outside."