Chapter Eleven
Jasper was surprised to get called for interview almost immediately. It led to a rush for Matt to borrow clothes from Drew while he tried to familiarize himself with the hospital’s layout and the names of all the departments. Matt didn’t seem worried about it, but Jasper was anxious.
The day of his interview dawned, and he got a ride with Matt to the hospital. He felt like a fraud in the pressed pants, shirt, and tie that he wore. Not to mention the borrowed pair of shoes, polished to a fine shine.
“Just remember, they’re desperate. What they mostly want to know is that you’re a normal person who isn’t a danger to anyone or going to give them grief. They’ve done the normal checks on you, they’ve read the glowing references Betty and George gave you, and they’ve called you to interview. You’re halfway there already. Just stay calm, answer what they ask, and be confident. More than that, be honest, to a point. Tell them about your GED course if they ask. If they question where you’re living now, don’t be afraid to drop my name in there. I’m pretty sure Jesse has already spoken to them.”
Matt had introduced him to Jesse in the hospital’s cafeteria the day before. She was nice, if a little intense.
“What if they ask about my past, about school…”
“Just be honest. Tell them you were in and out of foster care, moved around a lot, and didn’t settle. It’s not a crime and not a reason they should discount you.”
But Jasper couldn’t shake the fear that they would.
Matt waited outside with him until they called him in, promising he’d be there when he got out. He wasn’t working that day, so they’d go home together.
It was a long forty minutes before he stumbled out the door. Matt was at the other end of the corridor, sitting beside a window, doing something on his phone. He looked up as the door closed behind Jasper and jogged over to meet him.
“Hey. Are you ready to go?”
Wordlessly, Jasper nodded, following Matt down to the staff parking lot.
“That bad, huh?” Matt asked as they got to the car and he still hadn’t managed a word.
“They offered me the job,” he said, still not quite able to believe it.
“They did what?” Despite his words, Matt didn’t seem so surprised.
“When they finished asking questions, they got me to step outside while they spoke amongst themselves, then they called me back in and offered me the job.”
“Yes!” Matt punched the air. “Congratulations.” He pulled Jasper into a hug. “You did fantastically, kicked it out of the ballpark. First interview and everything.” He paused. “You did say yes, right?”
“Of course. I just… I can’t believe this is really happening. Maybe you should pinch me?”
Matt cocked his head to the side, regarding him with warm eyes. Then he leaned in, reaching for Jasper, and Jasper closed his eyes in anticipation of the pinch. What he got was a kiss, soft lips on his, there and gone in a moment.
“Does it feel real now?” Matt asked. Jasper laughed. “Yeah, yeah, it does.”
That weekend, Matt’s friends came over. Jasper again offered to be out of the apartment while they were there but Matt would have none of it.
“You can help me cook dinner. I’m making tikka masala.”
What followed was an afternoon of goofing around in the kitchen while Matt showed him some of the rudimentaries of cooking.
“So the most important rule when it comes to cooking meat is to cook it all the way through and not give yourself food poisoning. The exception to that is steak, because people eat steak rare, very rare sometimes.”
“Is rare like raw?”
“It means cooked but not for long. In some places, it’s a delicacy.”
“Like caviar,” Jasper said with a smile.
“Exactly.”
“People are weird.”
“Wait ‘til you hear about sushi.”
Once they had everything prepared for the main meal, Matt grabbed some bowls. “And now, for the most important part of dinner, the dessert.”
Jasper peered eagerly over his shoulder as Matt looked up the recipe. “What are you making?”
“Nothing special. I’m not much of a baker. Oatmeal cookies are my limit.”
Matt let him do all the mixing, adding the flour, oats, and sugar to the egg and butter. “And lastly, the chopped chocolate.”
Once the dough was made, they used an ice-cream scoop to divide out the mixture across a tray.
“We’ll stick them in the fridge for a bit to firm up and then we’ll bake them.”
They were both starving by the time dinner was ready. So much so that Jasper nearly forgot to be nervous about meeting Matt’s friends. What if they thought badly of him? What if they thought that he was using Matt?
But Matt didn’t seem concerned in the least, introducing Sam and Drew to him as if it was the most natural thing in the world to acquire a roommate in your one bedroom flat over the holidays.
“Hi, Jasper. It’s nice to meet you.” Drew was all friendly smiles coupled with a warm handshake. Sam was different, scanning him carefully before offering a more cautious hello and a firm handshake.
They sat down to eat, Jasper mostly listening as the others talked about their holiday plans.
“What about you, Jasper? Are you seeing your family over the holidays?” Drew asked, trying to draw him into the conversation.
“I don’t really have family that I’m close to. And I don’t know many people here in the city.”
“Well, you know Matt. And now you know us.” Drew smiled again and Jasper smiled back, liking his friendly nature.
“And I hear congratulations are in order. Matt was telling us you got a job at the hospital?” Sam said.
Jasper nodded. “With Matt’s help. It’s just over the holidays, they were short staffed.”
“That’s great. When do you start?” Drew asked.
“Monday. Thanks for lending me the clothes. It really helped that I looked the part.”
Drew waved that off. “It was no trouble.”
Jasper could sense there was a bit of tension around the table but wasn’t certain of the cause. Was it him, his presence? Or something between Matt and Sam?
“So, are you guys together?” Sam asked out of nowhere. Jasper choked on a mouthful of water, coughing into his fist.
“Sam!” Drew exclaimed, patting Jasper gently on the back.
“It’s just you seem very close but you’ve only known each other, what, a week or two?”
“Technically, we met over a month ago. And no, like I told you already, Sam, we’re not together. I know you cops like asking the same question over and over to see if it produces a different answer but, in this case, it wasn’t necessary.”
Sam was a cop? Jasper went still at that. Did that mean Sam knew? If he’d looked Jasper up, he’d see his name in the system, the reports he’d made against Phillipe.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Matt. I’m sorry, Jasper. I’m just worried about you Matt, that’s all.”
“I get it,” Matt said quietly. “I do. And yes, Jasper and I both like each other and we’ve talked about that. But I want him to be in a more secure position, so he doesn’t feel trapped.”
Jasper felt himself blush and Matt, glancing over at him, noticed. “Shit, sorry, Jas. I shouldn’t be just sharing our personal conversations out like that. Sam is my best friend and Drew one of my dearest friends. They just care, that’s all.”
“Exactly,” Sam said. “We don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”
“But isn’t that part of life?” Jasper asked them. “You take risks, hoping things will work out, but knowing they might not and you might be hurt in the process?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t minimize the risk. Like if you’re crossing the road, you look both ways and cross at a safe place. It’s still a risk, but you make it less risky by being careful. All I’m saying is, the two of you should be careful.” Sam turned his attention back to his meal.
“Yeah, I’d hate to wind up pregnant,” Jasper joked. The suddenness and unexpectedness shocked the others into silence before Drew started to giggle, then outright laugh. Matt followed and it even brought a smile to Sam’s face.
“If only,” he said, with a wistful glance at Drew.
The conversation turned to other things, people he didn’t know, places he hadn’t seen, but he was happy to listen.
After dessert and coffee, their guests offered to help with the washing up, but Matt sent them on their way. As soon as the door was closed, he sank onto the sofa. Jasper sat next to him.
“That was fun,” Matt said. “I hope you had a good time. I know it got a little awkward with Sam but he’s just trying to protect me. We’ve always had each other’s backs.”
“It’s okay. It’s good you have friends to look out for you.” He felt a little ache of loneliness that he’d never had anyone he was that close to.