Bets and Wagers

Six

I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, distracted entirely from the document I was reading as my brain shut down.

"Huh?"

"You heard me," he repeated with a soft sigh, "I was wondering if you're accompany me to a party this Friday."

"What? But you don't even like parties."

"No," he said slowly with a small nod, "but it's different when they're being held in my honour for an astounding mission."

Two idle weeks had passed by as if he had never left, everyone was focused on working their asses off to finalise the mission details and get everything sorted so that baddies could be caught and interrogated further.

Once things had settled, congratulations were in place for everyone who had played their part in sealing the information that finally brought down a long-standing threat to many governments.

I smiled and rolled my eyes, looking back to the loaded document.

"In your honour, huh? How can I possibly say no?"

"Infallible logic, so I shall pick you up and seven? Or would a little later be better?"

"I didn't even say yes," I laughed.

"No, but I assumed you'd wish to join, so be sure to wear something fancy but still casual."

Even though I was shaking my head, I couldn't fight down a smile that made my cheeks ache.

"Yeah, yeah, I have a smart suit I wear to hearings where I have to give evidence and claims over the doc-"

"I said fancy, not boring," he sighed, "I wish to see you with some flair, it's a party, not a board room meeting."

"Okay," I said, throwing my hands up while flopping back in my seat, "I'll see what I can do by Friday, but can you please let me focus on this? It's urgent, according to Tony's voice message."

"Of course, now you've agreed I have no reason to bother you."

He smiled at me in a way that screamed 'victory' and turned back towards his usual seat, hands held behind his back in his usual scheming way.

Silence befell us once again as he picked up his borrowed book, which he seemed to be taking a longer time than usual with and continued reading as I carried on with my editing.

Once again, time passed far too quickly for my liking now that I had company at work that I enjoyed and all too soon it was time to part ways once again, giving our usual farewells and going our separate ways.

We hadn't been apart for long before my phone rang, a rare occurrence in itself.

It wasn't Loki, not that I had expected it to be, but a small part of me had hoped that maybe he had spontaneously decided that he wished to meet outside of a work function, not that I remembered ever sharing numbers with him.

In fact, I wasn't entirely sure he even knew how to work his company provided phone beyond basic functions.

With a fond smile, I swiped to the 'answer' option and lifted my phone to my ear.

"It's been a while, stranger."

"I know, I'm super sorry, life just grabbed me by the balls and wouldn't let go."

I laughed, shaking my head as I scuffed my feet against some loose stones as I walked.

"Not bad for someone who doesn't have any."

"I'm borrowing Gabe's."

"Ah, be sure to give them back as you found them."

"He won't miss them."

I scoffed another laugh and smiled widely.

It had been a while since I'd heard from her and even longer since I'd seen her, especially now that she had moved back to her hometown.

We would occasionally get a chance to visit one another when work and life wasn't hectic, but the occurrence was becoming rarer and rarer as we got older.

Adult life sucked sometimes.

"It's been way too long," she said wistfully, clicking into my thoughts in a way only she ever could.

"Well yeah, you went off and got married, so rude."

"I know, I'm so sorry."

My walk home consisted of long catch-up conversations and laughter as we shared stories, making time fly by in a way that had become so familiar since I had befriended Loki.

It seemed that what they said was true, time does fly when you're having fun.

Before I knew it, I was stepping up to my front door and fishing out the keys from my pocket with my free hand.

"Well, it's been fun," I sighed, juggling through the collection to find the right one, "I don't wish to take up anymore of your precious marriage time."

"Please," she scoffed, "I have years stuck with him, I want to hear about my little muffin."

I laughed, twisting the key in the lock and stepped into my home, my warm and welcoming sanctuary.

"I don't know why, I haven't change since the last time you called."

"Come on," she whined down the line, sounding like a child, "you must have something for me, you work for THE Tony Stark, Iron Man himself!"

"It sounds more impressive than it actually is, I spend more time looking at a screen than I do him."

"Pfft, please, there must be something."

I scoffed another laugh, cradling the phone between my ear and shoulder as I worked to kick my shoes off after dropping my bag by the door.

Only one face sprung to mind as she continued to beg and I just knew that the minute I started talking, she would eat it up and beg for every last detail she could possibly get.

But she was my best friend and it didn't seem right to keep any progression from her, no matter how small.

Padding my way to the kitchen, I grab hold of the phone in my hand one more and give a long and dramatic sigh, flicking the kettle on with my free hand before leaning against the counter.

"Well," I said, sounding worn to add to the effect of her begging, "I guess I could tell you about Loki."