'Its not like Jasper to be late' said Olivia. Ian was sitting across from her looking around at the place.
'The angry burrito seems more mellow than angry' he said. 'Also, I dont think he is late, I saw he is over there' Ian said, pointing at Jasper at the corner talking to the lead singer of the band that was about to play. The lady wore a black dress , and some spike necklace, and definitely knew how to do her make up. Whoever can do a smokey-eyes look that does not appear to be exaggerated cant be a novice.
'why is she more important than us? I am his sister' Olivia asked annyoed.
Jasper laughed sarcastically 'Exactly.'
Olivia kicked him under the table. She turned back again to see his brother speaking with the mysterious lady. Olivia was slowly realizing she seemed familiar.
Jasper seemed to finish talking to her, the show was about to start in a couple of minutes. He spotted Olivia and Jasper on the table. He waved, and headed towards them.
'Do you even know her name this time, or will she be like the lady you once took to Starbucks because you couldn't remember it?' Olivia attacked Jasper the moment he sat.
Ian exploded laughing.
'child' Jasper accused her in defense. Olivia raised an eyebrow. 'her name is Amber' he continued. 'he is my girlfriend.' At those words, Olivia turned to look at amber. She was apparently part of the band that was about to start playing that night, and she seemed to be the guitarrist and lead singer.
'wait I know her.' Olivia mentioned. 'I think I saw her today at the interview. She was in the waiting room. Didn't stop looking at me.'
'That's probably because we look alike.' Jasper said. 'She knows off you. She knew you would be there today, at the clinic.'
'Wait, so is she a patient in the clinic I applied for today?'
'I mean yeah. She goes there in order to improve her anger management.'
The baterist marked the timing, and they started playing. It started like a slow rock song, and it quickly advanced to something that leaned towards metal. Olivia raised both eyebrows, trying to grasp the situation.
Ian laughed to himself. 'Never mind the mellow burrito. The name of the place fits right.' Japser shot him a look, but could not help but laguh. Ian was so naturally carefree. For a moment, Jasper thought that it was nice to have them there with him, but would never admit it. At that moment his phone started ringing. It was the office. 'Just one moment. I need to take this.' he excused himself and took the call. One day, he would quit his job, but not today.
Olivia looked around confussed, and tried to find any degree of reason within Ian who was smiling at the beer Jasper got him. 'Chill' he told her. Just one word. 'Don't make a fuzz.'
'Don't make a fuzz? Everything here is kind of highly dysfunctional' Jasper is a workaholic who just left the restaurant to answer a work call when his girlfriend is playing aggressive rock music because she has anger management problems. He is not supposed to do that, and she is definitely not who I pegged for the future Mrs. Jasper Smith.
'yeah' said Ian calmly, as if that was alright and normal. 'If you dont learn to pick your fights, you'll burn. This is not a fight worth picking. Your brother is alright - he'll eventually realize work is not the only thing that matters - we'll get to know his girlfriend, who is, by the way, probably perfectly alright, and you'll eventually open up about why the hell you decided to switch you path so abruptly.'
Olivia starred at him. She had found the peace she had looked for in him just a second ago. She was wondering what she would do without him. 'I hate you' she said annoyingly.
Ian laughed. 'I think you and Amber will get along just right.'
'what is that supposed to mean?'
Ian laughed even further with that. Olivia turned to look Amber's band play. It really wasn't too bad. She was waring black, and definitely had an edgy style, but she could somehow pull it off. Things were going to be different. But alright. Different could also work.
Jasper came back a couple of minutes after with the phone pressed against his chest. He had not hanged up yet. 'I'm sorry guys, I have to leave.' He pointed lazily at his phone. Did not need to give further explanations. Olivia gave him an annoyed look, but let it be.
'If I was Amber I would break up with him' she told Ian once Jasper was out of sight. Ian shrugged 'Maybe Amber just has different priorities.' Olivia thought for a second. That was. good point. She turned back again to see the lead singer. She was hot, for sure. What _were_ her priorities. What was her personality. How much of her life would she now need to share with this complete stranger. More importantly, how much would she be obligated to entertain her now that Jasper had left for the office. How often did Jasper did this to her? How much would it bother her. Looking at it from a different perspective, Olivia started being a bit grateful that Jasper left. It would give her an opportunity to really test who this Amber girl was without her having Jasper to neutralize all interactions.
When the band finished playing, Amber grabed the microphone and thanked the audience. A few people at the pub raised their beers in response. She gulped talked with the rest of the band members for a couple of minutes, gupled and approached Olivia's table.
"Hiii' she said with the friendliest of voices as she approached. If she had noticed seeing Olivia earlier in the day she didn't show it. 'You must be Jasper's sister, and you are Ian aren't you?' she asked smiling.
The honey in this woman's voice was all Olivia needed to go all in. She loved her automatically. Her pupils went all round and big as she replied that she was, and started engaging in very small talk. How long since you play? What got you into playing int the first place? How did you meet Jasper? How long have you been together? Olivia did this more often that she cared to admit. She could not - would not - have a middle inflection point. She could go from 0 to 100 in any relationship and automatically invest emotionally if it felt right t do so. Ian noticed the interaction with some reserves. Something about this woman had was engaging Olivia. Considering Ian remembered seeing that Olivia did not decide to take any of her belongings from the PhD with her, it seemed to him that engaging them was not really an easy thing to do as of recent. Was it Jasper? Was it empathy? He just hoped whatever she was finding to hold on to, was reliable in the long term. He missed childish, silly Olivia. Would not like to look at the void she got a glimpse on earlier that day.