Bonus story : More than just colleagues : Part 23 : Memories

“What do you mean by the first photos of the group?” she asked.

“The early ones,” Lucas repeated. “Before you all started judging me.”

“We were already judging you,” Patrick said.

“Yeah, but you didn’t know me well enough to do it properly yet.”

Lucas scrolled through several pictures, went back through an old conversation, then opened a folder.

“Found one,” he finally announced.

He placed his phone in the middle of the table.

The picture had been taken in a bar a few weeks earlier. The lighting was dim, and the photo was slightly blurry. Patrick sat in the background with a drink in his hand. Karim was looking off to the side, as though someone had called out to him at the exact moment Lucas took the picture. Lucas took up most of the foreground, while Aldric sat perfectly straight at the far end of the table.

Emma pulled the phone closer.

“Was that your first time having a drink together?”

“First time outside of work,” Karim confirmed.

“I suggested we grab a drink after work,” Lucas explained. “Patrick said no.”

“I said I wasn’t staying long.”

“And then he stayed for almost two hours.”

Patrick shrugged.

“The conversation was less painful than I expected.”

“Thanks,” Lucas replied. “That means a lot.”

Emma zoomed in on the picture with two fingers and looked at Aldric.

“Look at your face.”

Aldric leaned closer.

“What is unusual about it?”

“You look like you’re in the middle of diplomatic negotiations.”

“I was still trying to understand the purpose of the establishment.”

Lucas looked up at her.

“He actually asked us why people paid money to sit somewhere noisier than their own homes.”

“I still consider that a valid question.”

“And you tasted Lucas’s beer like you were checking it for poison,” Karim recalled.

Lucas took his phone back.

“Wait, I’ve got another one.”

He scrolled through the pictures until he found one taken at Patrick’s house.

This time, Lucas had taken the photo from the living room, catching Aldric and Emma just as they were handing over their gifts. Emma was giving Patrick the two bottles of juice, while Aldric held out the packages of coffee and the spices for the barbecue.

Patrick pulled the phone closer to get a better look.

“When did you take this?”

“When you were still in the entryway.”

“I didn’t even see you take out your phone.”

“That’s because I know how to be discreet.”

“Only when it suits you,” Karim said.

“You really did look surprised,” Emma said.

“I wasn’t expecting gifts.”

“You invited us. It would have been improper to arrive empty-handed,” Aldric said.

Patrick handed the phone back to Lucas.

“That still doesn’t explain why you were secretly taking pictures of us.”

“I knew this picture would come in handy someday…”

“No. You just take pictures of everything and come up with a reason afterward.”

Lucas resumed his search. He went past several pictures of food, a screenshot of a route, and one photo so blurry that none of them could tell what it was supposed to be.

“What’s that?” Patrick asked.

“I think it was your backyard.”

“It looks like a fire.”

“It was dark.”

“You’d had two beers,” Karim reminded him.

“That doesn’t stop a phone from doing its job properly.”

He stopped on another photo. Patrick was leaning over the barbecue, turning the meat with a pair of tongs in one hand. Karim was getting the plates ready. Emma was laughing by the table, while Lucas stood behind her with his arms full of bread. Off to the side, Aldric was watching Patrick.

“This one’s good,” Emma said.

“Except for Patrick,” Lucas replied. “He looks like he’s defusing a bomb.”

“Cooking requires concentration.”

“You wouldn’t even let me touch the grill…”

“You tried to turn a sausage with your fingers.”

“I wanted to check if it was hot…”

“It was sitting over hot coals…”

Karim shook his head as Emma took the phone back. She swiped across the screen and stopped on another picture from the same day. Aldric and Patrick were carrying the garden table together, while Lucas stood on the patio pointing them in the right direction without offering the slightest bit of help.

“This one sums up how you guys work pretty well,” she said.

Lucas looked at the picture.

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“I was coordinating.”

“You were pointing to a spot less than six feet away.”

“Someone still had to decide where it went.”

“He also appears to be holding a piece of bread,” Aldric pointed out.

“I had to keep my strength up.”

“The barbecue hadn’t even started yet,” Patrick said.

Lucas took his phone back before the others could continue and opened another set of pictures.

“My place now.”

The first photo showed his apartment before they had cleaned it up. Clothes covered a chair. Several boxes were stacked against the wall, plates were scattered across the table, and various objects took up almost the entire couch.

A second picture showed Aldric standing in the middle of the living room with a box in his arms. Behind him, Karim was holding a trash bag while Patrick moved a piece of furniture.

Emma burst out laughing.

“You look like you’ve just discovered a city after a battle.”

“That wasn’t far off,” Patrick said.

Lucas looked at the picture.

“My apartment wasn’t that messy.”

Karim pointed to the boxes and clothes piled up behind Aldric.

“You couldn’t even see the floor.”

“You’d already started moving everything around. It makes it look worse than it was…”

“We did indeed have to restore a certain degree of order,” Aldric said.

Lucas turned toward him.

“You too?”

“I am merely describing the situation.”

Emma smiled.

“And the situation says you’re wrong.”

Lucas took his phone back.

“Moving on. This picture is clearly missing context.”

The next photo had been taken several hours later. The living room was tidy, the boxes were gone, and the table had been cleared. Patrick sat in the armchair by the window, while Karim occupied one end of the couch. Lucas sat in the middle, and Aldric had taken a seat beside Emma at the other end. Each of them was holding a slice of pizza.

“Movie night,” Emma recalled.

“That movie was terrible,” Patrick said.

“The movie was perfectly fine,” Lucas protested.

“The defenders of the fortress ignored three obvious opportunities to slow the enemy’s advance,” Aldric replied.

Lucas raised a finger.

“We are not having this argument again.”

“The archers were poorly positioned,” Aldric continued.

“I know.”

“They weren’t protecting the main gate.”

“I know.”

“And there were no sentries watching the forest.”

“It was a movie.”

“That does not justify the absence of basic precautions.”

Lucas then found the photos taken at Karim’s place. In the first one, Samira was setting a dish in the middle of the table while Yanis watched Aldric.

Karim looked at the picture before pulling out his own phone.

“I’ve got another one you’ve never seen.”

He scrolled through his gallery, then showed them a photo taken in the park. Aldric and Yanis stood facing each other, each holding a wooden sword. The boy had both hands wrapped tightly around the hilt, while Aldric leaned toward him, showing him how to position his feet.

Emma pulled the phone closer.

“When did you do this?”

“We met up again not long after,” Karim replied.

Lucas studied Yanis’s very serious stance.

“He looks like he’s getting ready for a real duel.”

“To him, it was one,” Karim explained.

Aldric examined the picture.

“He was very attentive.”

“He still talks about it,” Karim added. “He’s been practicing with that sword regularly ever since. Well… mostly when he’s supposed to be cleaning his room or doing his homework.”

“Training should not be used as a means of avoiding his other responsibilities.”

“You can explain that to him next time.”

“I will.”

Lucas moved on to a photo of the drawing Yanis had given Aldric. It showed a knight protecting a family from an enormous red dragon. The knight was much taller than the other figures, and his sword took up almost half the page.

“You still have it?” Emma asked.

“Yes. It is in my apartment, in the drawer where I keep my important documents.”

Karim turned toward him.

“You put it with your paperwork?”

“Yanis entrusted it to me. It should therefore be kept somewhere safe.”

Lucas kept scrolling. The pictures were no longer in any particular order. Some were from the barbecue, while others came from the day they had spent setting up Yanis’s bedroom. One showed Emma sorting books with Samira. Patrick was mounting a shelf. Karim was setting up a lamp. Lucas was carrying an open box with several objects sticking precariously out of the top. In another picture, the whole group was having an afternoon snack together in the living room.

Every photo brought back a memory. Lucas retold each event in a way that made him look better. Patrick systematically corrected his version, while Karim filled in the details the other two had forgotten. Emma mostly remembered the conversations and everyone’s reactions.

“I’ve got another one,” Lucas announced.

The picture was from their hike. The group stood at the start of the trail early that morning. Patrick had his backpack slung over one shoulder. Karim was checking what he had packed. Emma was holding up her camera to take a picture of the scenery, while Lucas searched his pockets after realizing he had left his water bottle in the car.

“That was only last week,” Emma said.

“Yeah, but it already counts as a memory.”

“You took more pictures that day than you did in the previous six months,” Patrick pointed out.

“That’s because there was scenery…”

“And because Emma kept reminding you to take them,” Karim added.

Lucas opened the last photo from the hike. It had been taken during their break. They were sitting in the grass with their backpacks scattered around them. Patrick was eating his sandwich. Karim was looking out over the valley. Emma was sitting near Aldric with a bottle in her hand, while Lucas smiled at the camera.

Aldric stopped on a picture taken in the karaoke room. Lucas was singing with his eyes closed and one arm raised. Patrick was shouting something at him from the couch. Karim was laughing with his head tilted to the side. Emma had one hand over her mouth. Aldric stood among them.

“Did you find something?” Emma asked.

“I am comparing them.”

“Bad idea,” Lucas cut in. “Everyone looks terrible in their early photos.”

“That’s not what he means,” Karim replied.

Aldric looked up. The other four were watching him.

“In the earlier pictures, I often kept my distance.”

Lucas looked at the photo from the bar.

“You didn’t know us yet.”

“Indeed.”

“And we didn’t know you either,” Patrick added.

Aldric returned to the more recent pictures.

“That distance is gone now.”

Lucas zoomed in on the karaoke photo.

“And now you sing.”

“Once.”

“That’s enough. I have proof.”

“You sang as well,” Aldric reminded him.

“Yeah, but everyone already knew I had no dignity.”

Patrick sighed.

“No one was under any illusions.”

Emma took the phone and placed the first photo from the bar beside the one from the hike. Aldric wore almost the same calm expression in both. And yet, his posture was completely different. In the first picture, he looked ready to leave as soon as the conversation ended. In the second, he seemed to belong there just as much as everyone else.

“It really looks like we barely knew each other,” she murmured.

For a long time, Aldric had believed that groups formed around a mission. People fought together because they shared an objective, a threat, or a duty. Trust was born out of necessity. It was strengthened through hardship and ultimately confirmed by victory.

Here, no great mission had brought them together. They had simply worked, gone for a drink, moved a table, cleaned an apartment, watched a bad movie, set up a child’s bedroom, walked for several hours, and sung badly in a room that was far too small.

“Send them to the group chat,” Emma said.

“All of them?” Lucas asked.

“Not the blurry ones…”

“They have artistic value.”

“Not the one where I’m eating,” Patrick added.

“So basically every picture you’re in.”

“Lucas…”

“Fine. I’ll make a selection…”

“Your selection worries me even more,” Karim said.

Lucas started sending the pictures anyway. Their phones buzzed. Patrick checked his suspiciously. Karim opened the group chat. Emma saved several of the photos.

Lucas: Official group archives.

Patrick: Why did you send the barbecue one?

Lucas: Because it’s historic.

Karim: You’re holding bread while everyone else is working.

Lucas: I was supervising.

Emma added the photo from the hike with a heart. Patrick reacted with a thumbs-up, and Karim did the same.

Aldric looked over the list of reactions. A few weeks earlier, he would have asked Emma what response would be appropriate. This time, he chose a smile.

They eventually left the room. In the hallway, Lucas continued defending the quality of his photos while Patrick reminded him that a large number of them were blurry. Karim suggested creating a shared folder so they wouldn’t lose any, and Emma was already explaining how she planned to organize the pictures.

Once outside, they headed toward the metro. Lucas and Patrick were still arguing over which photo was the most embarrassing, while Karim searched through his phone for pictures he could add to the future folder. Aldric walked among them, listening to their conversation.

At the entrance to the station, Karim was the first to split off.

“See you Monday.”

“See you Monday,” the others replied.

Patrick headed down a different corridor next, followed a few moments later by Lucas, who promised to send the rest of the photos before going to bed. Emma and Aldric continued on to their platform.

“Are you glad we looked through them?” she asked.

“Yes. I hadn’t realized how many we had accumulated.”

“That’s often how it is with memories. You don’t realize how important they are until later.”

Her phone buzzed. Lucas had just sent another photo, this one showing all of them singing together in the karaoke room.

Lucas: Best one of the night.

Patrick: It’s blurry.

Karim: Like all the others.

Emma burst out laughing as she read the messages. Aldric looked at the photo one last time before putting his phone away. It was indeed blurry, but everyone was smiling.