Jellyfish

2. A Change of Plans

There was coffee waiting when I woke up, much to my surprise. Our room was empty so I assumed Blair would have drank it all by now, but that was not the case today. When I got to the kitchen, Winter was sitting there with an artificially sweet smile on his face and a coffee mug reserved just for me. That was the first indication that something was up. The second, was Eddy sitting down at the table for a meal with us. Blair and I made eye contact across the table both knowing that something was going on here. While he took to suspiciously staring down Diego, I turned to Winter and took my mug. He said nothing, just stared back with a look that said he was barely containing whatever information they had to share. That was enough for me to ask, "what's going on here?"

"Glad you asked pip squeak," Oliver cheered, making his way in with something akin to a suit on his arm. "Can I perhaps convince the two of you to take the night off?"

Confused, I shook my head. "It's not exactly easy to get a night off Oliver, especially on short notice."

"You don't work today," Blair muttered into his coffee. He was a bit bitter considering he never got the time off, but I only barely remembered when I did. Today, for instance, I would've gone in anyway like I had last time had he not said anything. "Why do you want us off anyway?"

"Another great question, sunshine. My boss invited myself and my housemates, you heathens, to a dinner tonight." The confusion on my face was clearly visible as Oliver took a seat to explain. "Look, I've been working for them for years and they're an old family friend, so they sort of know about this situation. My boss recently got promoted to head of the district and, since we're close and all, invited me- plus you rats- to celebrate."

"Why did he invite us?" I asked. I wouldn't invite a bunch of strangers to my celebratory dinner.

"I might talk about you guys a lot. He just wants to meet you," Oliver smiled sheepishly and it would be a lie to say I wasn't a little happy to know that he talked about us.

Oliver's affection was always very clear to see, and I had never doubted for a day that he loved us all, but to know he actually mentioned us to others was a pleasant feeling. I was a bit surprised to find out he worked with a family friend though. I'd sort of assumed we all wanted to get away from family, but an assumption was all that was. Oliver obviously wasn't about to cut any ties; he was trying his best to make new ones and I wasn't opposed to it. We could all probably benefit from an expense free night out, though it was a tad presumptuous to assume they'd be paying. Then again, if they knew about Oliver's situation I doubt they'd invite a bunch of poor people to dinner and expect us to pay. At least, I'd hope not.

"I'll be happy to come, Oliver," I decided.

He grinned brightly at me before setting his sights on Blair. "Blair? Any chance you want to pull for a night off? Please?"

"I can't Oliver," Blair rolled his eyes. "You know the club is sus as fuck, I can't just take the night off."

"Say you have an STD," Eddy casually suggested as he ate his oatmeal.

We all stopped to look at him, waiting for the man to look up and realize what he'd said. He stopped chewing and looked back, unapologetic. "What? He's basically a prostitute. I thought we'd all accepted that."

Blair said nothing, but something told me he wanted to throw his coffee in Eddy's lap. It was Diego who came to his defense. "Eddy, he's not a prostitute. Don't say shit like that."

"He's right," Blair stopped suddenly. "And the STD thing will probably work but it will lose me half my pay for a week or two. You guys willing to lose that for a dinner?"

"I think we'd survive the one week," Oliver shrugged.

"Alright," Blair took the cell phone we shared and walked out back, likely to call whoever managed his side of the business. We worked under different people, and different contracts, and really the only thing our jobs had in common was where they took place. I frowned long after he'd gone from view, but Winter wasted no time in swiping his coffee and downing the rest, unconcerned.