Misconstrue

"five, SIX, gonna get your kicks."

"Yeah, he was at your party." I scroll through his pictures mindlessly. I'm not really interested in his outfits, or where he has been over the past few weeks. 

It's just that his reaction to me walking in on him doing drugs has left quite the impression on me. Samantha's low whistle catches my attention, and so I follow her gaze.

"How many years do you think I'll have to work for the government before I can afford one of those?" I remain silent as the car's quite familiar. "Wait, why is it slowing down?"

I clear my throat awkwardly as Emilio's sleek Aston Martin pulls up to the curb. Samantha eyes the car with both hands stuffed in the pockets of her deep blue scrubs. "How much does a liver go for on the black market?"

I can't even react to her fawning over the luxury car as Emilio has already opened his passenger door. I smile at him as our eyes meet, his presence catches Samantha's attention and she pulls her eyes away from his car.

"Hello." He outstretches his hand to Samantha. "I'm Emilio."

Samantha flashes me a look then quickly shakes his hand. "Samantha, nice to meet you."

Emilio gets the passenger door for me and I cringe as I know Samantha is currently analyzing his every move. I offer her a small wave as I get in and Emilio closes the door behind me. 

As soon as his back's turned Samantha mouths the words call me as I look at her. I sigh softly as I know that won't be an easy conversation. 

The engine rumbles, and we drive away from the curb.

Don't worry, my friends are pretty normal.

Those are the words Emilio muttered to me once we pulled up at this fancy-looking bistro close to the Spitalfields Market. Of course, there are no words that could be said to deter me from being a nervous wreck.

Like I said, Emilio sprang this lunch thing on me last minute, and by last minute I mean a few minutes before I left the apartment for my overnight shift. I didn't really get to sit and think about the fact that I would be sitting at a table with people worth a couple billions combined.

But the footballer was right, his friends are indeed normal. They crack jokes, talk smack about their colleagues, and bitch about having to put in the necessary training that comes with their jobs. 

One unique thing about this group of friends, is that they're all foreigners like Emilio. The quintet consists of a Croatian, an Argentinian, a German, an Egyptian, a Japanese and Emilio the Catalan.

"...yeah, whenever we get together people say the United Nations has gathered." 

I giggle at that as Jost the German explains the group's dynamic to me. "That's an interesting way to put it."

Emilio shrugs at me with a small smile on his face as I look over at him. "Homura's on a probationary period though."

I shake my head at him then look back at the Japanese seated before me. "Last one to join the group?"

He nods. "Now I'm beginning to question my decision."

The others disapprove of his choice of words by booing at him. Homura flashes me a look which translates to see what I mean?

"What's it like..." I look over at Stjepan the Croatian as he utters the beginning of a question. "...working at a hospital?"

I cast my eyes to the ceiling as I try to find an appropriate answer. "There are a lot of challenges." I look back at him. "And of course every job comes with a challenge, but being a doctor means that I'm responsible for someone's life. So, it's pretty serious work."