Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Twenty - Ross

Chapter Twenty – Ross

The dinner actually hadn't been that bad. I'd been sat with Tom and Jenny, so I could easily pass off conversation to them when I was getting drained. I mostly treated it like one of my client meetings; I was polite, courteous, and basically stamped down every single one of my natural instincts. Except complimenting the food, which was legitimate because it was exceptionally delicious.

Afterwards, once everyone had had a couple of glasses of wine, everyone seemed much more relaxed. The party split into smaller groups, and I had managed to avoid Jasper's parents smoothly, while also keeping my distance from Jasper himself so I didn't grab their attention. Jasper caught what I was doing and shot me a wink every now and then, and I couldn't help smiling.

Jenny and Lucie had charmed Catherine and Simon within minutes of being there, that much was obvious. They also liked Tom. I was glad that regardless of what happened, it was at least good that they liked Tom.

"Well, Catherine," Sapphire said, as everyone put on their coats. "This has been a lovely evening. Thank you so much for the meal - I don't remember the last time I got to eat a roast dinner that I didn't order from a pub."

"It's absolutely no problem," Catherine said, smiling warmly at her. I tried to hide a smile; she'd really taken to Edward above everyone else. It'd be hilarious to see her face when she saw him dressed in his classic show drag, all sequins and hair bigger than his own head.

"Who's getting a lift with me?" Harper enquired.

"Me," Sapphire said, lifting her hand.

Raven sighed, struggling to get her coat on in the narrow hallway. "I'll go back with Ross, we've got to discuss the carer situation."

I nodded, and helped her with her coat. "Lucie is trialling a new later closing time for the cafe, so I'm dropping her off there. Jenny, Tom, you need a lift?"

"No, we drove here," Jenny replied, and eyed her wife. "Are you sure you want to go to work now?"

"It's fine," Lucie said dismissively. "Cherry needs someone to cover – she deserves a day off, the poor dear. She's exhausted after this week - it's been so busy since Pride."

"You'll be the one exhausted if you're not careful," Tom sighed, clearly fretting over his mother.

Lucie batted his face. "Stop worrying about me, baby; I'm absolutely fine."

"Mm," Jenny said, obviously not convinced. "Come on, Tom, let's get you home."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Tom said, and then turned to Jasper's parents. "Nice seeing you again, Mr and Mrs Meyers. Thanks for dinner, it was so good. That pie was incredible."

"Thank you, Tom," Catherine said, and then said to Lucie and Jenny, "We'll probably see you at the final awards day, I imagine?"

Jenny grinned. "If I haven't fallen asleep within the first half hour, yes. I'll call you about the rooms next Monday, Simon."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jasper said to Tom, kissing him goodbye, then kissing Jenny and Lucie on their cheeks. "I'll see you...when I see you, I suppose."

Jenny smiled and ruffled his hair, and Lucie demurely said, "See you at the café, Twinkie. Right, come on, you two. Ross, keys?"

I threw her the keys and they left, Jenny and Tom heading to their car and Lucie and Raven heading to mine. Sapphire turned to me and kissed Jasper quickly. "I'd better go warm the car up," she said, and took the keys from Harper's hand. "See you out front, baby."