[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 671 & 672.

Chapter 671: Intermission - Checking in on some guests.

Diana and Grace walked into Maria’s coffee shop that Monday afternoon. There were six customers inside, all already drinking or eating something. The smell of coffee was refreshing to Diana after getting used to the bar, but it was a smell she knew she would get tired of soon if she had to live with it. Maria had to REALLY love coffee.

Speaking of, the owner and one of her employees were talking behind the counter, taking full advantage of the lull in customers to just rest for a bit. Maria and Fernanda looked their way, and while the younger girl seemed surprised, Maria frowned at them.

“Hey, you two. Good thing you’re here. Where’s your boyfriend? I need to have words with him.”

“What? What did he do?” Grace asked as she and Diana went to sit at the counter, across from the two other women.

“He’s getting weird ideas inside my man’s head,” Maria said.

“Whatever Oliver said to Thomas,” Diana began, “I bet Thomas asked for it.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that. I just want to know what exactly he told him.” Maria sighed, shaking her head. “He came up to me one day asking if he could work here with me.”

“Oh, that’s sweet,” Grace said. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him no, obviously,” Maria said, unhesitantly, leaving both Grace and Fernanda very confused.

“Yeah, I figured…” Diana said.

“But why?” Fernanda asked. “Thomas seems like a guy who’d be a good fit here.”

“How do I put it?” Maria crossed her arms and gave it some thought. “It was like he didn’t ask because he wanted a job. He asked because he wanted to help me, or be here with me. And yeah, it’s sweet, but I don’t need that and neither does he. He’s also going to start university soon and I have no doubt he’ll be in the basketball team. He should use his time there, to study and practice. I’ve been worried Oliver told him to do it because it’s working out for you two,” she told Diana.

“I doubt that’s what he said,” Grace said. “If anything, these two were super nervous about working together.”

“Well, whatever, I’ll catch him one of these days. But now that he’s a big shot working at some fancy hotel he’s forgotten about us.” Maria crossed her arms and pouted.

Fernanda chuckled. “She’s mad he hadn’t come to visit.”

“There’s a non-zero chance he’d walk into the kitchen and start washing dishes if he did,” Diana said.

“True,” Maria admitted. “Well, anyway. What are you two doing here? Have something to discuss? Want to use the table behind the screen?”

“We do have something to discuss, but it’s with you two,” Diana said.

“We want to formally invite you to Oliver’s birthday party. Don’t tell him, though,” Grace said.

Fernanda’s eyes went wide. “Me? R-Really?”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, but yeah, we’d love to have you there,” Diana told her, smiling.

“So it’s a surprise?” Maria asked.

“Yep. We’re making reservations at a nice restaurant and inviting all his friends,” Grace said.

Maria nodded. “You told Thomas already, didn’t you?”

“Yes. He agrees that having dinner is better than throwing a normal party,” Grace answered.

“Alright, I’ll chip in. Tell me how much it is.”

Diana sighed. “I wish we could tell you not to, but… It’ll be a lot of people.”

“Wait…” Fernanda interrupted, brow furrowed in thought. “Oliver’s birthday… is also Isabelle’s birthday, isn’t it?”

“Oh, you’ve met her?” Grace asked. “I thought you two had different shifts.”

“We work together on Saturdays,” Fernanda clarified. “So… How’s that gonna work?”

“Part of the reason we want to throw him a big party with all his friends is that Isabelle told us Oliver isn’t used to celebrating his birthday beyond having his mom cook him something special,” Grace said.

“Really? But… If they’re twins…”

“There was a period of time when those two had a… strained relationship,” Maria said. “Let me guess. Isabelle started celebrating on her own while Oliver stayed in his room?”

“Pretty much,” Diana said. “Really, we don’t know if he’ll be a big fan of us inviting all his friends, but… We want to do it at least this year.”

“Mila, Sarah, Alice, Noelle, Diana and I make six,” Grace said. “Thomas, Kevin, Ben and Mark make ten. We’re inviting Lena and Amanda, too, so that’s twelve. Ms. Brooks and Isabelle make it fourteen. And we don’t know if we should invite Mr. Allen.”

Fernanda tilted her head in confusion. “Mr. Allen?”

“Our boss,” Diana said. “He’s become fond of Oliver, so we want to invite him, but… He’s undeniably the odd one out in this whole group.”

“That IS a lot of people…” Maria said.

“Actually… Oliver is friends with your dad, isn’t he, Fernanda?” Grace asked the girl. “Do you think we should invite him?”

Fernanda smiled. “I… don’t know? I can ask him, but I think he would rather not intrude.”

“The invitation is there. Ask him, but we’ll understand if it’s weird.”

“But seriously, that is A LOT of people…” Maria said. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“It’s kind of the point,” Grace said. “Last year, Oliver had distanced himself from his sister and could only call Thomas an acquaintance. Now all these people are willing to attend his birthday party. We want to show him that.”

“I’m sure he’s very aware of how much his life has changed, but… Even so, we want to do this,” Diana said. “Will you go, Fernanda?”

“Yes, I’d love to. Thank you for inviting me.”

“I’ll text you the details soon,” Grace told her.

Diana and Grace had a cup of coffee before leaving. Then, as they walked out the door, Fernanda came running after them. “H-Hey…!”

“Hm? Did we forget something?” Grace asked her.

“No… It’s just… I wanted to ask you a favor,” Fernanda said. “Well, your opinion AND a favor.”

Diana and Grace listened to a very nervous Fernanda… and very much liked what they heard.

************

Chapter 672: Helping Thomas move out.

Tuesday had me all sorts of conflicted for a very simple reason. I knew the construction crew would start moving and installing furniture in the house, and I wanted to be there. After all, it’s my house. I wanted to be part of the process, if at least at the end instead of only paying to have it all done (and even then I technically wasn’t doing that, either), but Mr. Moore had his trade secrets to keep. It was part of the contract. And besides, they promised to have the house ready in a few days and I’d only slow them down.

Thankfully, it seems that my good friend Thomas sensed my desire to move stuff around and asked me if I could help him move some stuff to Maria’s house. I promised I’d help and I had nothing else to do, so I was at his place in 20 minutes. Ben was there as well.

“Hey dude,” he greeted me with a handshake and a hug as I stepped out of the van.

I stepped away after that, frowning and looking him up and down. “Hey, are you… bigger?” I meant his arms and shoulders. His legs, too. Thicker muscles.

He smirked, reached into his pocket and handed me a ticket. “My debut fight is coming up. I’m on weight control, but I’m doing fine. Lost some fat, gained some more muscle mass. It’s in two weeks. Think you can make it?”

“On a Sunday? It’s perfect,” I said, looking at the ticket and grinning excitedly. “Do I need to be there for emotional support if you lose, though?”

“Fuck you, I’m not losing. Even if I have to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher, I’ll get out of there a winner.”

“Just don’t die, man.”

“I’ll try.”

We fist bumped just as Thomas was coming out of his house with a couple of boxes in his arms. I opened the door of the van.

“So, what? I have to pay for my own ticket?” Thomas asked, setting the boxes on the floor of the van.

“You’re lucky I love you,” Ben told him, getting another ticket from his pocket and giving it to him.

Thomas took it and the two hugged as well. “And? Who’s the guy you’ve got to beat up?”

“A dude with one match of experience over me. He won it, too.”

“Relax, you’ll be fine,” I told him.

“No, don’t relax,” Thomas said. “Stick to your training and diet, have confidence, but don’t relax. A healthy amount of nerves keeps you aware while diligent training gives you what you need to go out there and do what you have to do.”

Huh. Shit, that was good.

“Oh wow. Look at you, actually saying something wise for once,” Ben said, teasing him.

Thomas smirked. “You guys like to give me shit, but you forget Kevin and I have played at a national level. You’re both still babies in your fields.”

“Fine, you’re right. Now, what do you have to move?” Ben asked.

“Just a few boxes and a shelf I already disassembled. You know, clothes and other things. I’m not moving in just yet, but Maria said I could take my stuff already.”

“Your parents are still against it?” Ben asked.

“They’ve never been against it. Just… They don’t think it’s gonna work out and that I’ll be back in a few months. Oh, and by the way, thanks for the advice, Oliver. I got scolded because of you.”

“What? What did I do?” I asked as we went into the house to get more boxes.

“I did what you told me. I tried to get more involved in the things she cares about and she told me I’d better use my time focusing on my own thing.”

“But… What DID you try to involve yourself in?” I asked.

“I asked if I could work with her at the coffee shop.”

“Oh, brother…” Ben muttered.

I winced. “You… might have gone a little too far there.”

“What? How come? You work with Diana, don’t you?”

“That’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“I started working there because of some talks with Luke Allen. Diana had nothing to do with it. Besides, I don’t have a sport I decided to dedicate my life to.”

“I could work and practice at the same time. Plenty of athletes do it.”

“But do you need to?” Ben asked him. “You know it’d be hard to balance university, serious practice and work. I bet Maria doesn’t want to put more burdens on you.”

“Think about it like this. Would YOU want her to take time to help you with basketball practice even though you’re doing just fine on your own?” I asked him.

“I don’t know how she’d help there, but… no, I wouldn’t want her to.” Thomas sighed. “Alright, I think I get it.”

We loaded the back of the van with ten boxes and the panels of a wooden shelf, then I drove us to Maria’s house with the help of the GPS. God bless the GPS, by the way. I’d be so lost without it.

“Oh, and by the way, Oliver. Isn’t your birthday coming up?” Ben asked me. “What are you gonna do?”

Hah? I raised an eyebrow and looked back at him through the rearview mirror. “How did you know my birthday is coming up?”

“Um…”

“I know Isabelle’s birthday, so unless you two were born minutes apart at midnight…” Thomas said.

“Ah.” Yeah, that makes sense. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I’d rather do nothing, but I get the feeling the girls won’t let me.”

“Really? You don’t want to do anything special?” Ben asked.

“Look, for years all my birthday has been is getting a cake from my mom and watching Isabelle go out to party with her own friends. Before that, all the guests we had as kids were her guests. I’m not trying to fish for pity, I’m just saying I don’t feel as strongly about my birthday as everyone else does about theirs. Besides, you guys know parties aren’t my thing. I end up bringing the mood down every time.”

“But what if the girls throw you a surprise party?” Thomas asked me.

“I’ll be sure to be on my best behaviour,” I said. “Thanks for the head’s up, by the way.”

“What are you talking about? It’s just a hypothetical case,” Thomas said.

“Yeah, you’re forgetting how good I am at telling lie from truth.”

“Fuck…” Thomas grumbled. “Not telling you what it is, though.”

“And act surprised, at least,” Ben told me.

“I’ll try.”

My birthday… Not a date I resent, but also not one I look forward to. Really, nearly every day this past year has blown any previous birthday out of the water. They’ve been more memorable, too. 

I chuckled. “You know, I have better memories of your birthday last year than do any of mine,” I told Thomas.

“Hah! I bet!”

We laughed.