The private room, adorned with elegant wooden paneling, was approximately 8 meters wide and 3.6 meters tall. The round table in the center of the room was surrounded by seven plush, high-backed chairs.
And from my position, Micheal was to my right and Derrick to my left.
Ronald was right beside Micheal, and Jackson beside Derrick.
Camila was on Jackson's left and the seat to Ronald's left was empty.
Since most of us were already here, we begun to order with the go ahead from Awesome who said she was going to be late.
And it was during our order that Micheal told me that Derrick and Jackson fought.
Of course it wasn't anything huge but their terrible relationship worsened even more.
He even added, "But there's nothing for you to worry about, just act clueless and don't say certain things that reminds them of what happened so they don't ruin this dinner, okay?"
"Okay but-"
"Cool, I just told you 'cause you didn't seem to know and I didn't want you to feel left out so don't sweat it."
And Ronald overhearing our conversation, further added, "Don't worry it actually not that big of a deal, and it's even less of a reason to feel uncomfortable. They'll cheer up in due time."
Those words didn't calm me down, but instead made me wonder what really happened and how such a fight came about.
And Although Ronald said it wasn't that big a deal, the tension lingering in the air due to their clashing moods, was ruining the warm atmosphere caused by our carefully planned reunion.
But of course, all that was something for me to worry about later, because right now I was still caught in the midst of their silent showdown, none the wiser.
…
"Cough cough"
Jackson cleared his throat and turned to Camila, who was stunned by the sudden shift in attention.
Although it was a dinner party, there wasn't any food on the table, but the dinner table had quietly been turned into a worktable.
She had put her laptop on the table and had some scattered sheets of paper around it, scribbling notes on them whenever the need arose.
And while the guys fought or engaged in pointless arguments, she silently worked on her work, and had been so quiet since she didn't want to draw unwanted attention to herself.
But who knew it was this silence, that made her get called out?
She had paused awkwardly and slowly closed her laptop, adjusting her glasses, she packed the scattered sheets while responding to me.
"Oh me? I'm fine, as you can see I'm still busy. But thankfully Jackie came to pick me up, so I was able to get away smoothly. Oh and my team offered to help in extending the deadline so I think I have an extra day or two. So in essence, I'll manage. But how have you been Sil? I heard you made a breakthrough in your project. But what was it again, bio programming? Bio Ai?"
She spoke quickly, opening up her laptop once more, and began to work on it.
"It's kinda confidential but since I mentioned it before I'll just say it again. It's a new biotech which is more computer science than tech, and involves Artificial intelligence and reprogramming. That's all I'll say for now."
I responded smoothly, filled with pride that someone other than Micheal understood the awesomeness of my project.
"Wow, seriously? It's been a while but you're already working on that!? Hey do you think there's space in your lab for one more?"
She asked, visibly enthusiastic.
"Ho ho, now you understand the…"
And just like that, I continued my conversation about Computer science and it's analysis with Camila. Disrupting whatever tense atmosphere was in the air, because everyone had the same feelings.
They shouldn't have let these two get together and start a conversation!
Camila was no workaholic like me, she was just extremely busy because she had a lot of school work, and a lot of curricular activities to do.
So she often did things according to their deadlines, and more often than not, ends up getting too close to them.
"Hey guys, less chatter and more ordering. Aren't you hungry?", Derrick suddenly disrupted their conversation, clearly irritated.
Although he was bored with no one to talk to and nothing to do, that didn't mean he was going to sit here and listen to these two run their mouths.
"Yeah, I rushed all the way here. And it wasn't to hear you talk Spanish."
And Jackson overtly supported him.
"Spanish?"
Camila asked as she turned her attention back to the laptop.
"But we're not all here yet, we can't order without everyone.", Micheal seemed to have been enjoying whatever was going on, as he didn't want it to end.
"Don't worry, I just asked her and she said it's okay, she's already on her way."
Ronald put his phone away as he spoke.
"Tch"
And Micheal's loud sound of displeasure covered up Derrick and Jackson's relieved sighs.
Just like that everyone picked up the menus and begun to order.
…
After inputting our order into the system, Camila was forced to put her work away, and began to bicker with Jackson who supported Derrick's demand.
Micheal had earlier excused himself, and Derrick was just giving off a weird vibe because of his unusual silence, to which Ronald had told me was because he was in a bad mood.
But that was when I cared enough to spare some attention to my surroundings, because Ronald had asked me once again about my chosen hobby.
And I was telling him all about the novel I discovered, the people I met and my problem with the author.
He listened intently and sometimes asked me questions about the novel, just as he had said he would.
"To think you could like something other than academics this much…"
Ronald mumbled, still surprised from my enthusiasm.
"Huh?", I paused when I noticed him speaking.
"What was that?", I asked, wondering if he was speaking to me or not.
"Oh it's nothing. How to find the female lead, right? I'll give it a read sometime, and as for the author why don't you just give them and their character a chance?"
Ronald spoke in a low voice, he appeared disinterested, but I knew he was just tired.
"I will, I planned on reading the side story later today. And if I really can't read it that's when I'll complain."
"Alright then, oh as for online friends you need to be more careful-", He said, moving his gaze towards Camila, who was stealthily typing on her phone.
"Yeah, why do you even need computer people anyway?"
Micheal suddenly chimed in from beside him, and it was then I noticed he was back.
"Hey when did you get back?"
I asked back, surprised at his quiet entry.
"And what's wrong with computer people?", Ronald asked from beside him, clearly curious.
"Nothing I guess, but you know they're not really people. It's just a persona, a front! A face they use to deceive other people…!"
Micheal replied first, seemingly in a bad mood, and ready to vent his frustration elsewhere.
He seemed really vexed at the mention of "Computer people", but after he was done exaggerating, he quietly added.
"And I came in a while ago."
"I think we're talking about the wrong computer people here.", Ronald suddenly interrupted with a twitching smile on his face.
He had a confused expression on his face, but he seemed more entertained than confused.
"Psycho.", I muttered feeling sympathy for Micheal who was now the subject of Ronald's interest.
Just a moment ago, he was so lethargic acting as though he was boredom personified, but now he was eager to take a jab at Micheal.
It always surprised me how he thought so quickly and managed to keep his expressions in line with his thoughts.
But I wasn't interested in Ronald's efficient control over his emotions, instead I wondered why Micheal looked sulky.
"Did something happen when you went out?"
"No… my mum called but it's okay."
"Is she coming to pick you up?", I asked jokingly, but…
"No she's sending a babysitter…", Micheal said with a strange expression.
"What…?"
"Ah it's nothing. By the way, what's the name of that novel again?"
Micheal changed the topic but he still appeared disturbed.
"How To Find The Female Lead, by Jupiter."
"Okay, I'll try it later.", He said softly then added, "Or now"
And brought out his phone.
I left him alone and turned to mine, but just then someone opened the door and walked in.
She wore a long black overcoat over a light blue knee length dress, and a surgical mask that covered her nose and mouth.
There were two shopping bags in her hands and her light brown coloured eyes took a full sweep of everyone in the room.
She gently closed the door, approached the one empty seat. With a soft clunk, she dropped the bags from her hands, then slowly reached up to remove her mask, revealing a bright, cheerful smile.
I stared at her in a pure shock. I had a vague idea of who she was, but what had my complete attention was her bright emerald green hair.
On removing her mask, she smiled at those who cared enough to pay attention to her.
"Ah sorry, I'm late right?"