Friar's was dimly lit and crowded as usual. Asher and Goose arrived first, downing two rounds of shots before Rachel arrived, Asif and Jane following her within a few minutes.
"Thanks for inviting us." Asif smiled and put his arm around Jane's shoulders comfortably. "This is my girlfriend Jane."
"Hi Jane," Goose said too loudly, and Asher kicked him under the table.
Jane waved awkwardly and sat down next to Rachel, who made a subtle face at Asher. Asif sat in the other empty seat, between Jane and Asher.
Rachel eyed Asif, one eyebrow perked up. "Asif, did I hear an accent?"
He nodded, pouring himself a beer from the pitcher in the middle of the table. "I'm from Lebanon originally."
Asher could just hear it if he focused on Asif's voice. He had never noticed before. It had a smooth, musical quality, the accent just a hint at the edges of his words.
"What brought you here?" Asher asked over his glass, watching Asif.
"Well, my whole family moved here when I was really young. But they went back after 9/11, and I stayed for college. I went to Columbia." He smiled at his girlfriend. "That's where I met Jane."
She shot him a quick smile.
Asher was impressed. "Columbia, wow. Good grades." He laughed. "Lucky."
Asif chuckled. "Did you go to college?"
Asher scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I did, for a few months. I was there on a baseball scholarship, but it didn't work out."
Jane leaned forward, showing her first sign of listening since she sat down. "What happened?"
Asif nudged her. "Jane, don't pry," he chided.
Goose took a swig of beer and set his glass down loudly. "He beat the shit out of a homophobic racist. It was awesome." He grinned. "Sorry, bro."
Asher looked embarrassed, but laughed anyway. He wanted to be a good sport.
"What was your major, Jane?" asked Rachel, obviously changing the subject.
"Business. I work in HR now," she replied.
Rachel tried and failed to hide a grimace. She was working in environmental journalism, the idea of sitting in a cubicle every day surely made her sick.
Goose sniggered over his beer at Rachel, who glared back at him.
Jane turned in her seat. "What about you, uh-" she faltered, not knowing Goose's name.
"Goose." He grinned.
"Goose?" she repeated dully.
"Like Top Gun." His grin widened.
Asher rolled his eyes.
"So what do you do, Goose?" Jane asked.
Goose took the opportunity to dive into a ten minute speech about his work in engineering. Rachel pulled out her phone while Jane listened, nodding but obviously bored.
Asif turned in his seat to face Asher, leaning one arm on the table. "I like your friends." He smiled.
Asher turned around toward Asif, grinning. "Yeah, they're alright." He rested his chin on his fist. "So, you work in a mailroom. What else do you do?"
Asif refilled his glass from the pitcher, glancing at Goose who was still chattering away. "I have a band, but-" he laughed. "We aren't very good."
Asher grinned. "That's awesome. What's the band called?"
Asif laughed and gave Asher an embarrassed smile. "Teenage Dracula."
Asher laughed, setting his beer down to not spill. "I love it. Punk?"
"Kind of," Asif chuckled. "We really aren't very good," he emphasized.
Asher shook his head, dismissing the notion. "I'd love to hear you sometime."
Asif visibly blushed. "Well, we don't do many shows. But we practice every week in my drummer Zack's basement, you can come sometime if you really want." He leaned forward. "But I cannot stress this enough. We are not good."
Asher laughed louder.
Goose finally finished his engineering speech and turned back to Asher and Asif. "What's so funny?"
"My band sucks," Asif explained plainly.
Goose snorted. "Bummer."
