Bonus story : More than just colleagues : Part 25 : Saturday
The following Saturday, shortly before noon, Aldric finished his shopping at a supermarket. He had planned a quick trip to pick up some vegetables, rice, chicken, bread, and enough food to prepare his meals for the next two days. By now, he knew the store well enough that he no longer needed to examine every aisle as carefully as he had during his first visits. He simply went to the products he needed, checked the labels out of habit, and placed them in his basket.
When he reached the drinks aisle, he picked up a bottle of soda before continuing on his way. A few yards later, he added a bag of chips, then stopped by the desserts and chose several small pastries. It was only after placing the last package in his basket that he stopped and looked at what he had bought. The chicken, vegetables, rice, and bread were exactly what he had planned to get, but the soda, chips, and desserts served no purpose.
“I only planned to buy food for myself.”
A woman walking past turned her head, probably surprised to hear him talking to himself. The group was meeting in a little over an hour at the same café they had visited the previous week. No one had asked anyone to bring anything, and the café already served both food and drinks.
He looked at the bag of chips again and imagined what would happen when he put it on the table. Lucas would try to open it before anyone else. Patrick would order a coffee first. Karim would only take a few chips if he had already eaten with his family, and Emma would almost certainly prefer the pastries.
At the checkout, he placed his purchases on the conveyor belt, paid, and packed everything into two separate bags. Once home, he set aside the soda, pastries, and chips he had bought for later, then put everything else away in his cupboards and refrigerator. After checking the time, he took a shower and changed his clothes.
The café was about twenty minutes away by metro. When Aldric arrived, he spotted Lucas already sitting on the terrace. The sight was unusual enough that Aldric immediately took out his phone.
Lucas looked up.
“Don’t check the time.”
“It is twelve fifty-six. We agreed to meet at one.”
“I’m early. I even got here before you.”
Lucas gestured toward the chair across from him.
“Sit down before this historic moment ends.”
Aldric placed his bag beside the table and sat down.
“Have you been here long?”
“Two minutes.”
“Then you were actually six minutes early.”
The terrace looked almost exactly as it had the previous week. The same small round tables lined the sidewalk, several potted plants separated the customers from the street, and the same waiter was preparing orders behind the counter.
Patrick appeared carrying two takeaway coffees.
“You brought coffee to a café?”
Patrick placed one of the cups on the table.
“I got one for Karim.”
“You knew he would arrive now?”
Patrick looked past Lucas. Karim was just crossing the street.
“Yes.”
Lucas turned around, then sighed.
“You two are seriously starting to worry me.”
Karim reached the table, and Patrick handed him the coffee. He took it and sat down in the chair to Patrick’s right.
“Thanks.”
Lucas finally looked at the bag beside Aldric.
“What have you got in there?”
“Some food.”
“For yourself?”
“Not only for myself.”
Aldric pulled out the bag of chips.
“Aldric, you know I’ve always liked you, right?”
“He’s planning ahead for the group now,” Patrick said.
Karim smiled as Aldric pulled out the bottle of soda.
Lucas placed a hand over his heart.
“He’s becoming perfect…”
Aldric finished emptying the bag by taking out a package of pastries.
“Emma will like those,” Karim said.
“That was my intention.”
Lucas slowly turned his head toward Aldric.
“You actually picked out desserts for Emma?”
“She generally prefers this kind of pastry.”
Lucas shook his head.
“One day, he’ll know our orders better than we do.”
“You almost always order a burger when there is one,” Aldric replied. “And you always choose the hottest sauce before regretting it.”
“That only happened once…”
“Once was enough,” Aldric replied.
Emma arrived with a shoulder bag, her hair tied back. When she spotted the group, she headed toward them. Lucas raised a hand as soon as she approached.
“Finally.”
Emma checked the time on her phone.
“It’s one-oh-two.”
“Two minutes late…”
“And you were on time?”
“I was early.”
“Seriously?”
Patrick nodded.
“I checked.”
She turned toward Aldric.
“You too?”
“Yes.”
Lucas threw his arms up indignantly.
“Why does no one ever believe me?”
Emma sat down in the chair beside Aldric.
“What did I miss?”
Lucas pointed to the bag beside Aldric.
“Aldric feeds us now.”
He pointed to the pastries.
“I stopped by a supermarket. I thought you might want some.”
“That’s really sweet, but we can’t eat those here.”
“Why?” Aldric asked.
“Because we’re at a café-restaurant. They sell their own food, so they generally don’t allow customers to bring in food bought somewhere else.”
“Patrick brought coffee.”
“We already finished it,” Patrick replied. “It was just something to drink while we waited.”
“You drank it at this table?” Emma asked.
“Yes,” Patrick admitted. “I thought we’d have to wait at least thirty minutes for Lucas.”
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Lucas’s eyes widened.
“Thirty minutes?…”
“You’re late a lot.”
“Not thirty minutes late…”
“Twenty-five last time,” Karim said.
“No one asked you to be that specific…”
Emma held back a laugh.
“Technically, you weren’t supposed to drink your own coffee here either.”
Patrick pointed at Lucas.
“It was a precautionary measure.”
“And completely unnecessary,” Lucas reminded him. “I got here early…”
“That’s rare,” Patrick replied.
“This moment should be celebrated, not used against me…”
Emma shook her head before turning her attention back to Aldric.
“Either way, you’ve already finished the coffee. As for the pastries, it’s better to put them away and eat them afterward.”
“I understand.”
Emma smiled at him.
“But it was really sweet of you to think of us.”
Aldric put the package back into his bag.
“That solution works for me.”
Lucas looked at Emma.
“Good thing you got here before he laid everything out on the table.”
“I thought this area was intended for eating,” Aldric replied.
“It is. Just for food bought here.”
When the waiter approached with the menus, Lucas raised a hand.
“I already know what I’m having.”
The waiter took out his notepad.
“Go ahead.”
“A burger with fries and the hottest sauce you have.”
Patrick turned toward him.
“You’re going to regret it again.”
“That happened once.”
The waiter wrote down his order, then looked at Karim.
“And for you?”
Karim glanced over the menu.
“A chicken sandwich and a coffee, please.”
Patrick ordered a croque-monsieur with a black coffee. When the waiter turned to Emma, she was still looking through the menu.
“I’ll have a salad.”
“You start with a salad, but give it a few visits and you’ll be ordering burgers like me…”
“This is my first time here and you’re already predicting what I’ll order next time?”
“I know this place. No one resists the burgers for long.”
“We’ll see,” Emma replied.
Aldric looked at the picture of the salad on the menu.
“Don’t say anything…” Lucas said.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Your face was.”
“He’s probably wondering why I’m paying for something I could make myself in a few minutes.”
“That was indeed what I was wondering.”
Patrick held back a laugh as Aldric chose a ribeye steak with potatoes. The waiter wrote down the last of their orders, collected the menus, and headed back toward the counter.
Emma explained that she was thinking about taking a few days off before the end of autumn.
“Where do you want to go?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t know yet. Maybe spend a few days by the sea.”
“In France?” Karim asked.
“Probably.”
“Brittany?”
“Maybe. But my mother loves that area. If she finds out I’m there, she’ll want to come see me and stay for several weeks.”
“That sounds like a threat…”
“It’s not. But it wouldn’t really be a vacation anymore.”
“You don’t enjoy seeing your parents?” Aldric asked.
“I do. But you know how it goes. You come for three days and your mother starts planning your entire week.”
“I do not know how that goes,” Aldric said.
“Imagine someone deciding your schedule for you.”
“I served under several commanders.”
Patrick burst out laughing as Emma shook her head.
“That’s not exactly the same thing.”
The conversation continued on the subject of vacations. Lucas explained that he had dreamed of visiting Thailand for several years, but his plans almost always fell through because of his lack of organization.
“You could book it now,” Karim said.
“For when?”
“This summer.”
“Summer’s coming up soon… And I still need to apply for a passport…”
“Exactly. If you want to go, maybe you should start getting organized.”
Patrick shook his head.
“That’s probably why he never goes anywhere.”
“Excuse me?…”
“You heard me perfectly well.”
“I thought we were friends…”
“We are.”
“And you attack me like this in front of everyone?”
“He does have a point,” Karim said.
“You too?…”
“I’m simply stating the facts.”
Lucas looked at Emma.
“I hope there’s at least one person here I can count on.”
Emma shrugged.
“How long have you been talking about going?”
“This is unbelievable. I’m discovering my friends’ true colors tonight…”
Patrick burst out laughing.
“Just apply for your passport.”
“I will.”
“When?”
Lucas picked up his glass.
“I refuse to answer that question in such a hostile environment.”
Patrick smiled as Lucas defended himself by claiming that he preferred making spontaneous decisions.
“Your previous spontaneous trips involved a forgotten wallet and a booking in the wrong city,” Aldric said.
“You really do keep everything I tell you to use against me…”
“I remember it. Whether I use it depends on the context.”
The waiter brought their food. Lucas immediately looked at Emma’s salad.
“You’re going to regret that…”
Emma took a bite.
“Why?”
“Because my burger is better.”
“You haven’t even tasted it yet.”
Lucas took a bite.
“Now I have.”
Karim smiled as Aldric tried his ribeye.
“Is it good?” Patrick asked.
“Very good.”
The subject changed when Emma mentioned a new series one of her coworkers had recommended. Lucas had already seen it and said he didn’t like it.
“Why?” Emma asked.
“The main character annoys me.”
“How many episodes did you watch?”
“Two.”
“You can’t judge an entire series after two episodes.”
“That depends on the nature of the problem,” Aldric said.
“Don’t take his side,” Emma said.
“I am not taking anyone’s side.”
“Thanks for defending me, Aldric…”
“If the problem concerns a central aspect of the character that remains consistent, two episodes may be enough to determine that he probably won’t enjoy the series.”
“Thank you…”
The conversation then shifted to movies, and Lucas suggested going to the cinema the following week. Patrick asked what movie he wanted to see, but Lucas admitted he hadn’t picked one yet.
“As always,” Karim said.
Lucas raised his hands.
“I come up with the concept.”
“And the details come later,” Emma said.
“Exactly.”
Aldric looked at Lucas.
“This method continues to work surprisingly often.”
Lucas raised his glass.
“Finally, someone respects my talent.”
The subject changed again when Emma showed them a photo of her plants. One of them had grown several new leaves.
Karim looked at the screen.
“Is that the one in the living room?”
“How do you know that?” Lucas asked.
Karim shrugged.
“She’s shown me pictures before.”
Emma smiled as Aldric took a closer look at the photo.
“It has grown. Did you move it?”
“How do you know?”
“The light appears to be coming from a different direction.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“Of course…”
“I moved it closer to the window.”
“That seems to be working.”
Patrick looked at Aldric.
“You’re becoming a plant expert now?”
Emma put her phone away.
“He mostly knows mine.”
Lucas leaned toward Aldric’s bag beside the table. He pulled out the bag of chips and tried to open it. The crinkling plastic immediately made Emma turn toward him.
“Lucas, what are you doing?”
He froze, his fingers still gripping the bag.
“Nothing.”
“You’re opening the chips Aldric put away after I explained that we couldn’t eat our own food in here…”
Lucas looked at the empty plates.
“But we’re finished.”
“We’re still in the restaurant.”
“I was going to be discreet…”
Patrick looked at the bag.
“That didn’t work.”
Lucas was about to put it back when Aldric spoke.
“You have also taken something that belongs to me.”
“I was going to share…”
“You did not ask for permission.”
Emma burst out laughing as Lucas held the bag out to Aldric.
“Fine. I admit to two mistakes: the location and the lack of permission…”
Aldric took the chips and put them back in his bag.
“We will eat them after we leave.”
Lucas sighed.
The next topic was a new store that would soon be opening in Emma’s neighborhood. She had passed the construction work several times and thought it was going to be a specialty grocery store.
“Do you want to go when it opens?” Lucas asked.
“Why not?”
“When?” Karim asked.
“In two weeks, I think.”
Lucas took out his phone.
“I’m writing that down.”
Patrick raised an eyebrow.
“You’re seriously making a note of when a store opens?”
“We can go together.”
“To do what?” Emma asked.
“I don’t know. Check it out…”
Aldric looked at Emma.
“That sounds similar to my first visits to the supermarket.”
Emma burst out laughing.
“A little.”
“Perfect. We’ll recreate the experience with all of us…”
Patrick shook his head.
“You’re planning a group outing to a grocery store now.”
Karim smiled.
“We’ve done worse.”
“Karaoke?” Patrick asked.
“The Olympics.”
“The Olympics were excellent…”
Aldric took a sip before answering.
“They were interesting.”
Lucas raised a finger.
“Thank you.”
Patrick looked at Aldric.
“You’re giving him hope again.”
Patrick had moved on to discussing an Italian restaurant that had opened near his home with Karim when Lucas interrupted them to say that he had already eaten at a place with almost the same name.
“Was that another wrong-address situation?” Emma asked.
“No!”
Lucas checked his phone because he wanted to show Karim a photo, but stopped when he saw the time.
“It’s four twenty…”
“More than three hours,” Karim said.
Lucas looked around the table.
“We’re getting old. We can sit around talking for three hours.”
“You’re the one doing most of the talking,” Patrick said.
“Someone has to keep things going.”
“Periods of silence no longer seem to be a problem,” Aldric said.
“That’s deep…”
“It is mostly just true.”
“So what do we do now?”
Patrick raised an eyebrow.
“Do we have to do something?”
“Good question…”
“I’ll probably head home soon,” Karim said.
Emma nodded.
“Same.”
Lucas sighed.
“Fine.”
They continued talking for another twenty minutes or so. Karim mentioned that Yanis kept asking when Aldric would come back to play with him, Lucas suggested another day at the park, Emma proposed a picnic, and Patrick added that he knew a quieter place they could go.
By the time they finally left the terrace, it was almost five. The waiter said goodbye as they passed.
“See you next time.”
“See? Even he knows…”
Patrick was the first to leave the group when they reached his car.
“Have a good evening.”
“You too,” the others replied together.
Patrick got into his car while Emma, Aldric, Karim, and Lucas continued on foot. A few streets later, they reached the metro station and headed down to the platforms together. Karim needed a different line and stopped at the entrance to one of the corridors.
“I’m going this way. See you Monday.”
The others said goodbye before continuing. A little farther on, Lucas checked the signs and pointed toward a connecting line on their right.
“I’m taking this one.”
“We’re going the other way,” Emma replied.
Lucas raised a hand as he was already backing toward his corridor.
“Then see you Monday, Aldric, and see you soon, Emma.”
“Have a good evening,” she replied.
Aldric inclined his head.
“Have a good evening.”
Lucas walked away, leaving Aldric and Emma to continue toward their platform alone. They had not even reached the stairs when both their phones buzzed. Emma checked hers and burst out laughing.
“He didn’t wait long.”
Aldric opened the group chat.
Lucas: Same time next Saturday?
Patrick: 👍
Karim: 👍
Emma: Yes 😊
Aldric: I’ll be there.
On Sunday morning, Aldric cleaned his apartment, put on a load of laundry, and tidied every room before preparing several meals for the week. Once the containers were lined up in the refrigerator, he settled down by the window with The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. He picked up where he had left off a few days earlier and did not close the book again until he reached the final page.
That afternoon, he exchanged a few messages with Emma about a recipe she had recommended, then replied to a photo Karim had sent of Yanis sitting at his desk in his new bedroom. Lucas, meanwhile, sent several messages about his football match.
It was not until Sunday evening, shortly after nine, that another notification appeared on Aldric’s phone. He opened the group chat and saw a message from Patrick.
Patrick: Huge move tomorrow. Be ready.
Lucas: Bigger than the last one?
Patrick: Yes.
Karim: Got it.
Aldric: I’ll be ready.
Then he locked his phone, set it down on the table, and went back to enjoying his evening. Tomorrow, they would be back at the truck.