Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Nineteen - Jasper

Chapter Nineteen – Jasper

Cyri was in full event-planner mode, despite having absolutely nothing to do with planning the dinner party. While my mother organised the food, the seating, the table decorations, Cyri had secretly planned the most important part of the night; damage control. We were doing our final checks before everyone arrived.

"Tom they already know, and like," she listed off. "Rory and I will have our phones on loud in case you need help. We know a ton about your parents, and we've matched your friends to them based on shared hobbies. Jenny's a contractor and works on a lot of gardens too - your mum will love hearing about that. Raven is a financial advisor which ties into your dad's job a lot - plus that will keep Raven occupied. Jenny and Lucie in general will be useful because they're an established adult couple, closer in age to your folks than the rest, and they have a child who's gay. That'll help a ton. I don't know much about Harper-"

"We don't have to worry about Harper," I reassured her. "He's kind and subdued."

"And then Edward," she mused. "Well, they're usually the life of the party, and pretty positive, so I think that'll help override any of the negativity that comes from the twins."

"Just Raven," I corrected. "Ross confirmed he can't come. He's working late and then he's going out to Fruits. He wouldn't be seen dead at a dinner party with his sort-of-casual-partner's parents."

"What did he tell you?" Cyri asked, and when I frowned she continued, "I mean, what was his excuse?"

I snorted. "No excuse. He literally said that."

This, hilariously, was not a lie, and I showed her the text he had sent me. As Cyri sighed, and lay down on my bed, I couldn't help but feel slightly relieved. Harper had been right; the more I thought about it, the more I realised it would be way less tense without Ross there. I wanted him there, so that my parents could see how great he was, but I knew that the dinner itself would be a lot less heavy without him. I think my parents were also marginally relieved that they'd be doing this in stages.

"What did your parents say about him not coming?" Cyri asked.

"Not much, to be honest," I replied, playing with her hair; it was a surefire way to relieve stress in Cyri. "They both seemed a bit relieved. We talked about him the other day, but it was so awkward after the safe sex talks. I think they'd rather meet everyone else first."

The doorbell rang, and I groaned. Cyri got off the bed, and dragged me up, straightening out my shirt. "You're going to be fine. Jasper, stop panicking."

I exhaled sharply and lied, "I'm not panicking."

Cyri scoffed and closely followed me down the stairs and through the corridor. "Just think; in a couple of hours, it'll all be over and you won't have to do it again, regardless of what outcome happens."

"Yeah," I said, racing up to the door. I then took a deep breath and put my hand on the door handle. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Cyri laughed, and then I opened the door to reveal Jenny, Lucie and Tom, all stood on my doorstep with huge, terrifying smiles upon their faces.

Cyri and I blinked, and she demanded, "What the hell is wrong with your faces?"

Tom lost his smile immediately and slapped Jenny on the arm. "I told you the smiles were too much, we look like we're going to kill them."

"We were trying to look nice," Lucie apologised quietly. "We've never been to this kind of dinner before."

"We'd feel guilty if we fucked this up - I mean, uhh, messed this up," Jenny elaborated. I eyed her suspiciously; she was wearing black trousers with a floaty, peach top. She looked down and said, "Yeah, I know. I borrowed Lucie's clothes. Apparently dressing like a lumberjack isn't allowed when you're doing adult things."