Harold was screwed. Jasper and Tracy did their best to make Rayne feel comfortable around them. So far, they successfully did so as she was slowly warming up to the pair. However, he knew that his friends had an ulterior motive in inviting her for lunch.
Harold wished for the floor to open and swallow him right now. He had never felt this mortified in his whole life. No, that may be an understatement when he remembered how his parents showed his baby pictures to his high school crush, which left her giggling and him humiliated.
Harold wanted to yell that he had no plans of having Rayne as his girlfriend. Not yet, anyway.
Wait what? He thought. What was going on with him? Just because she made physical contact with him does not mean that was a signal to ask her out on a date. It seemed that she had forgotten that incident at the pool. It was like the skin-to-skin contact did not affect her. Was she apathetic, or does she only see him as a neighbor and a minor inconvenience?
Harold mentally shook his head, trying to shake off the chaotic thoughts, and glanced at the pasta bowl he was holding. It was the second time he had received food from her, but this was the first time she had cooked for him. Who knew she could be this thoughtful?
"Okay, guys, time to eat." He said as he went to the dining room and placed the food on the table.
"I'll set the table," Tracy said as she nearly bounced towards the kitchen.
"And I will have to go to the convenience store to buy drinks because, Harold, my man, you have nothing drinkable in your fridge," Jasper said.
"There's water…!" Harold protested.
"I know, but some of us like to taste our drinks unless you plan to serve us your protein shakes?"
"Leave those alone."
"Fine, you two, I'll be back in a bit."
Jasper gave them a playful smile and left the unit. Harold sighed. "I'm sorry…!"
Rayne cuts him off. "Nah, they're cool. They destroyed my impression that professors are such sticks in the mud."
"Must be because we're younger?"
"Psh. I had trainers younger than I am, and they're so uptight I feel like I'm back in high school."
"You don't have any good experiences with teachers, huh?"
Rayne looked thoughtful for a moment, then made a face. "Well…my fourth-grade history teacher made me write my notes so many times I have to buy a new notebook."
"That was kind of severe. Why did you make so many revisions?"
"My handwriting was horrible; you know the type of penmanship that would be perfect for a doctor."
"You didn't become one, though."
"I'm terrified of the sight of blood."
Harold raised an eyebrow, skeptical that Rayne was afraid of blood, and his skepticism was evident.
Rayne crossed her arms on her chest and met his gaze straight on. She had a crooked grin as if daring him to contradict her.
Somehow, they could hardly take their eyes off each other. Harold felt compelled to get closer to her. He took one step towards her.
"I'm done with setting the table. So are you two still making googly eyes? And where's Jasper?"
Harold and Rayne jumped at the sound of Tracy's voice. Harold ran a hand along his hair and tugged at it while Rayne looked at the tiled floor as if it was the most exciting thing she had ever seen.
"Out. He was craving fizzy drinks, so he bought a few." Harold answered.
"Ugh, that guy's hankering for sugar." Tracy groaned. "Well, time to eat. I again took liberties in your kitchen and made some garlic bread."
"Thanks, Tracy. You didn't have to, but thanks."
"Hey, what are friends for?"
Jasper returned a few minutes later, carrying three 1.5 liter bottles of lime soda, which launched an argument between him and Tracy about not including orange soda. Harold and Rayne watched the pair in amusement.
Harold then began to serve the pasta to Rayne. She stared at him in surprise, then murmured her thanks. He also did the same thing to Jasper's and Tracy's plates at the same time, telling them to stop bickering like children and deal with drinking lime soda.
The four ate in relative silence, with occasional chatter about general topics and the recent lifting of restrictions in the city. Rayne watched them in silence as she ate.
It was the first time in a while since Rayne was in a group setting. It was not that she was socially awkward. Still, due to her unusual working schedule, she had difficulty fitting into her friends' schedules as most of them already have families, and she was one of the few single ones left.
Her social life online, however, was as active as a game of basketball. She does have more friends online than offline. This had been an ongoing theme for her from the moment she worked as a virtual assistant. When the pandemic hit the globe, she spent so much time in cyberspace that she swore she would make the cloistered nuns from her high school proud of her forced isolation.
This was one factor why she has had difficulty with face-to-face interactions lately. She either had forgotten she could talk, or if she did speak, she was so starved for an actual human being that she would be more than willing to tell her life story to a stranger, such as a cab driver.
Harold was the first person she considered a friend. While she nearly smacked his face, she calmed down and got to know him better. He does not run out of patience when she occasionally pokes fun at him for being a professor, even if he looks like an underwear model.
Rayne does acknowledge he has the looks to kill for; she never misses the opportunity to the point that out more than once. Still, she was grateful to have a neighbor who bothered to interact with her beyond the usual hello.
Now, she met his friends and could not help but like them. Tracy was a ball of energy, while Jasper loved to take jabs at Harold and the other man was more than willing to counter that. The pair were friendly and receptive to her, ensuring she would never feel out of place or uneasy around them. They made her feel welcome.
"Do you think we can start on actually seeing our students in person?" Tracy asked as she was munching on a piece of garlic bread.
Jasper shook his head. "With how strict the new mayor is? Unlikely, I can understand why he won't completely open the city to outsiders."
"Right, especially with how fast the cases in the capital increased during these last few months," Harold said.
Tracy snuck a glance at Rayne. "Say, Rayne, how's working from home treating you?"
Rayne jumped a little at being addressed so suddenly. "Not too bad. I've been working from home even before the pandemic."
"Hoo, that's interesting. What do you do?"
"Vampire." Harold butted in.
Rayne rolled her eyes at him. "Ignore him. I'm a VA, so I'm mostly up at night."
"Ah, that explains why you got so mad when Harold was having his classes during the day," Jasper said. "You must be used to the remoteness of your work."
"Yeah, but it has its setbacks."
Jasper looked thoughtful. "I can see what you mean. It's like being locked in a cave, right?"
Rayne nodded. "Exactly. I mean I don't like going out much, but that doesn't mean I love being cooped in all the time." Then she looked pensive. "Though it did give me time to play some games I had been putting off for a while."
Jasper's face lit up. "What games do you play?"
That began a lively conversation between Jasper and Rayne about video games. It led to a point where they ended up exchanging contact information and meeting up some time to swap games.
Tracy found their conversation amusing and eventually joined in their discussion. Harold, however, was not too pleased watching Rayne being charmed by his best friend.