Chapter 83: Meeting

FieryKathy

“Oh, I see my girlfriend is having fun.” Sam’s voice makes me look up, her and Max are walking up to the bench we are sitting on. I could smell Sam’s shampoo and conditioner from where I was laying. It smelt so good. 

“Hope you don’t mind.” Hailey smiles.

“Not at all, as long as she’s happy I’m happy.” Sam returns her smile.

I slowly sit upright and stretch my arms and legs. “Mhmm. Is everyone ready to go to my house?” 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Carol nods and gets off the bench, so does Hailey.

“Max too?” 

“Definitely.” She swings her sports bag over her shoulder. “Lead the way.” 

Sam comes and takes my hand and together we lead the group towards the tram station. “It’s not that long of a ride, so don’t take a nap.” 

“Awh, not even a little? Napping on public transport is my favourite pastime.” Carol jokes.

“Better stop joking and check if you got your PT-pass ready for when we get in.” Hailey taps Carol on the head. 

“Yass ma’am!” She fakely saluted her friend and got her pass out of her bag. 

A short wait for the tram later we were all seated at the back of the tram, luckily this line never was that busy so there was plenty of space for us to sit together. 

“I didn’t know this line still used the old tram models.” Max comments, looking around the tram. 

“Are there new ones?” I ask. 

“Yes, those are the ones I generally take when I come to uni. These ones are still really nice though.” 

“Max got something for trams.” Sam explains. “You should’ve heard her when she went on holiday overseas and the big rant about the underuse of trams there.”

“That’s because trams together with monorail are the best modes of transport, why use anything else?” 

“Monorail… I don’t think I’ve ever been on a monorail before.”

“Oh no, Ami, please don’t get her started.” 

But it was too late, Max began her rant about the misuse of monorail and why they are, according to her, the best thing ever since sliced bread. Her rant continued right until we reached our destination. 

“... and that’s why I think nations should invest more into monorails.”

“Oooh.” Is the only thing I could say in reply but I saw Carol nodding along enthusiastically.

“I think you are one-hundred percent correct!”

“Anyhow.” I giggle. “Let’s get off the tram before we miss our stop. 

The group follows me and Sam in the apartment building and up the staircase as the elevator is too small for a group this size with two sports bags as well. Once I open the door we immediately get greeted by Nikki and Élise who’d already prepared some snacks for us on the living room table.

“Welcome home Ami. And hey everyone!” My sister waves at the group with a friendly and inviting wave. 

“Hey sis.” I let the others walk inside behind me and then introduce them one by one.

“Nice meeting you all, my name is Élise, I’m Amicia’s beautifully handsome sister and that there is my partner Nikki.”

“Hello. Don’t mind Lise too much, she’s always like that” Nikki smiles friendly at my friends while I take the time to undo my choker and put it in its place.

“Anyway, let’s get this meeting started.” My sister calls everyone around the table as she starts talking about future challenges that might arise.

“So, since you might soon have two people with this ‘problem’ we thought it would be in everyone’s best interest to hold this meeting.” 

“In short, just keep an eye on these two in the future and if something is wrong take them to a safe place.” Max summarises what has been talked about the last half hour. 

“Basically.” My sister nods.

“That should be okay, thank you for trusting us.” Hailey replies.

“Of course, if Ami felt comfy enough to confide in you, even though it was mostly because she’s a clumsy cat, it does mean you probably are good people.” Lise smiles.

Carol raises her hand to say something. “I haven’t decided yet though… Why does everyone think I have.”

“We’ll see, let’s write it down as a hypothetical for now then.” Nikki smiles. “But does anyone have any more questions? Because me and Élise should probably get ready to leave soon.” 

The rest of the table looks at each other and then in group they all shake their heads. “I think everything is pretty clear.” Max comments. “The only thing I kind of still want to know is what food we are ordering today.”

“Ah, that’s an important discussion that we’ll leave up to you.” My sis laughs. “Me and Nikki will go and get ready, just make sure you don’t start fighting.” 

“We’ll try.” Sam pats Max on the back. 

With Nikki and Élise out of the room the food discussion starts with the first couple of suggestions immediately getting shot down.

“Hmm, what about the Vietnamese restaurant that just opened up? I heard it was pretty good, my parents already ordered from it.” Sam looks at the group’s reaction. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever eaten Vietnamese before…” Max brings her hand to her chin. “But I am open to trying it though.” 

“It’s new for me as well, but I want to try it too.” Carol replies.

“Me too!” Hailey confirms the group’s decisions. 

“What about you, Ami?” Sam looks at me next.

“I don’t know anything about it, but if you’ll help me pick I’m fine with it.”

Sam smiles and pats my head. “Of course I’ll help you. So it’s decided then.”

“Finally managed to get a consensus?” My sister walks into the room wearing a tuxedo, followed by Nikki who’s wearing a beautiful red dress. 

“Wow.” 

“Impressed sis?” 

I nod enthusiastically. 

“Now that’s a power couple if I’ve ever seen one.” Max smiles happily. “Although Sam and Amicia aren’t far behind. When are you going to go out with her like that, Sam?” 

Sam starts to blush. “When we’re ready.”

The thought of the two of us going on a fancy date like that makes me blush too, I’ve not worn many dresses yet and seeing Nikki like that does make me want to try…

“So, what are you ordering?” My sister asks. 

“Vietnamese.” Sam quickly replies.

“Oh cool, from the new place?” 

“Yeah. Do you know it too?”

“I heard some good things about it. Here’s some money for the food.” She puts down a couple of bills which should cover the costs easily enough.

“Are you sure? We can pay for it ourselves.” Hailey protests. 

“Don’t worry about it, see it as a little thank you for keeping an eye out for Ami.” Lise winks and then proceeds to head over to me, petting me on the head. “You can give Pocky and Mochi a baggy of chicken, I’ve already put it on the kitchen counter.” 

“Oki!” 

She smiles and leads Nikki to the door “Girls, have a nice evening. I know I will.” 

“Thank you!” Our group waves them goodbye as they leave the apartment.

Deciding what we were actually going to order from the Vietnamese restaurant was also quite a challenge as no one really has any experience with the Vientamese cuisine. So we resort to looking up all the dishes on the internet’s image search.

“This Pho looks pretty tasty, doesn’t it?” Carol shows a picture to Hailey who nods in agreement. 

“It does, I think I will go for that and Cha Gio.”

“Those are basically spring rolls, right?”

Hailey nods. “Yeah, I think so.” 

“I’ll take that too then.”

“Cao Lầu for me please.” Max decides and helps Sam fill in the order. 

“I can’t decide Saaaaam.” I whine.

“Hmm, what about we both order Com Chien, it’s like Vietnamese fried rice. And then some Gỏi cuốn.”

“What’s that?” 

“Similar to spring rolls but not fried and it has shrimps and other meats.” 

“Oh! Yes! Let’s order that!” 

“Alright.” My girlfriend smiles and fills in our order on her phone after which she repeats the entire order list so everyone knows their order is on it. “Ok, we should still have plenty of cash left so we can give that back to your sister afterwards.”

“When are they bringing the food?” Carol asks. 

“They are still confirming the order - ah, there it is. Should take 50 minutes.”

“That long?” 

“It’s Friday evening, so yeah. People don’t like to cook on fridays.”

“Oh yeah. I totally didn’t forget it was the end of the week.” Carol whistles as the group starts laughing. 

“We can play a couple of games while we are waiting...” I propose.

“Mhmm.” Sam nods. “But first let’s get the plates ready so we can start eating immediately when it arrives.” 

“I like my food best when it’s hot.” Max nods in agreement. 

“And your girls too.” 

“Heck yeah.” She gives a flirtatious wink to Carol who immediately melts in her seat because of it.

“Poor Carol.” I giggle and start helping Sam and Max with setting the table. 

And with that done,

Let’s go play some games! 

FieryKathy