Bonus story : More than just colleagues : Part 30 : A Family

The following evening, Aldric sat down at his table after finishing dinner. He had initially thought finding a restaurant would take only a few minutes, but he quickly discovered that the sheer number of available options made the selection process more complicated.

He began by establishing several criteria. The restaurant had to be within a reasonable distance of both the moving depot and Emma’s agency, easily accessible by metro, offer enough variety for five people, and stay open late enough that they wouldn’t have to constantly keep an eye on the time.

Price was also an important factor. Lucas had been particularly clear about that.

Aldric opened the page for the first restaurant and looked through the menu. The prices were reasonable, but several reviews mentioned that the portions were rather small. He eliminated it. The second was better located, but closed at ten. The third offered enough variety, but was nearly forty minutes away from the depot.

His phone vibrated.

Lucas: Have you started looking?

Aldric: Yes.

He returned to his search and opened a fourth restaurant.

Two minutes later, his phone vibrated again.

Lucas: Quick reminder: no Michelin stars.

Lucas: Not even one.

Lucas: And avoid places where the menu doesn’t list the prices.

Aldric looked at the three messages before returning to his search. He checked the opening hours of an Italian restaurant, looked through several photographs of the dishes, and began reading the reviews.

Lucas: Found anything?

Aldric: Four minutes have passed since your first question.

Lucas: That’s a long time on the Internet.

Aldric: Your messages are slowing down the selection process.

Lucas: Understood. I’ll let you work.

Aldric set his phone down and continued. The silence lasted long enough for him to compare two more restaurants and eliminate another option.

Lucas: I just wanted to remind you that I like you very much.

Aldric: You already communicated that information to me yesterday.

Lucas: I’d rather keep it fresh in your mind.

Emma: I found a Michelin-starred place that looks excellent 😊

Lucas: NO

Emma: What?

Lucas: You know exactly what.

Patrick: Do they have a tasting menu?

Lucas: Patrick, don’t start.

Karim: I’m looking at the menu.

Lucas: KARIM

Emma sent the name of the restaurant. Patrick asked how many courses were included in the tasting menu, and Karim announced that he had found the prices.

Lucas: I hate all of you.

Emma: Even Aldric?

Lucas: No. Aldric is still innocent.

Aldric returned to his search. It took him about twenty minutes to find a place that met nearly all of his criteria. It was an independent Italian pizzeria located just a few minutes from a metro station. The reviews were very positive, the photographs showed generously sized portions, and the menu offered pizzas, several pasta dishes, a few salads, and a variety of appetizers. The prices remained reasonable.

Aldric checked the opening hours one last time, verified the route from the depot, and sent the name of the restaurant to the group.

Lucas: How much?

Aldric: The pizzas range from 9 to 21 euros each.

Lucas: Aldric.

Lucas: I knew I liked you very much.

Emma: We still could’ve tried the Michelin-starred place.

Lucas: DO YOU EVER GIVE UP?

Patrick: The pizzeria works for me.

Karim: Same.

Emma: Works for me too 😊

Lucas eventually sent a thumbs-up.

They agreed to meet the following Wednesday at seven in the evening.

On Wednesday, their final job ended early enough for them to put away their equipment and leave the depot without rushing. Patrick locked the truck while Karim picked up his bag. Lucas checked the time before turning to Aldric.

“Six thirty-two.”

“That is correct.”

“We’ve got plenty of time.”

Patrick put the keys away.

“You’re keeping track of the time now?”

“I’m keeping track of my investment.”

“Are you really going to talk about the price all evening?” Karim asked.

“Probably.”

They left the depot and took the metro. When they reached the pizzeria, Emma was already waiting near the entrance. She was still wearing her work jacket and looking at her phone.

Lucas was the first to inspect the front of the restaurant.

“No stars.”

Emma looked up at him.

“Yes, there is.”

Lucas froze.

“Where?”

She pointed to a small golden star hanging in the window of a neighboring shop.

“There.”

“That’s not even the restaurant…”

“I never said it was.”

“You’re way too nervous,” Emma said.

“Easy for you to say when it’s not your bank card at risk…”

Aldric opened the door.

“We can go inside.”

The restaurant was already fairly busy. Tables filled most of the room, and a large pizza oven was visible behind the counter. The smell of baked dough, tomatoes, and cheese filled the air, mingling with the sound of conversation, clinking cutlery, and servers calling to one another.

A man came over to greet them.

“Good evening. Do you have a reservation?”

Aldric gave his name, and the server led them to a table near the wall. Lucas sat down and opened the menu.

“Excellent choice…”

Aldric took off his jacket.

“You haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“I’ve seen the prices.”

Emma sat down beside Aldric.

“At least we know what his criteria are.”

“Price was only one of mine,” Aldric replied.

Lucas looked up.

“What was the first?”

“Overall quality.”

“And price?”

“Fourth.”

Lucas lowered his menu.

“Fourth?”

“Yes.”

“I take back some of my compliments.”

They began looking through the menu. Patrick chose a ham and mushroom pizza, while Karim settled on one with chicken. Emma, meanwhile, was hesitating between two options.

Lucas leaned closer.

“That one looks excellent.”

Emma looked at the pizza he was pointing to.

“Have you tried it before?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know it’s excellent?”

“Intuition.”

Karim checked the prices of both pizzas.

“It’s five euros cheaper.”

“Completely unrelated…”

Emma studied the two options for another moment before closing her menu.

“I’ll have the other one.”

“You’re doing this on purpose…”

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“Not at all. It just looks better.”

“It costs five euros more…”

“Completely unrelated,” Emma repeated.

The server returned and began taking their orders. Patrick went first, followed by Karim, then Emma ordered her pizza.

When it was Aldric’s turn, Lucas visibly relaxed.

“At least I know you’re going to make a reasonable choice.”

Aldric looked over the menu one last time.

“The pizza with beef, peppers, and onions, please.”

“Acceptable…”

“I did not ask for your approval.”

“I’m giving it to you anyway.”

The server turned to Lucas, who ordered a four-cheese pizza.

“And would you like anything to share as a starter?” the server asked. “We have garlic bread, burrata, antipasti…”

“Why not the burrata?” Emma suggested.

Lucas slowly turned his head toward her.

“A starter?…”

“Yes.”

“Before an entire pizza?…”

“That’s generally when people eat starters.”

Patrick looked at the menu.

“We can get one for the table.”

“You’re all discovering a lot of new habits now that I’m paying.”

“You invited us,” Patrick reminded him.

Lucas sighed.

“I’m starting to regret that vote…”

“It was unanimous,” Aldric reminded him.

“I know. I was there.”

“You even participated,” Karim added.

“Against my will.”

“You didn’t raise your hand.”

“Exactly.”

Patrick eventually ordered a burrata for the table. For drinks, Patrick and Karim chose beers. Emma ordered lemonade, Aldric did the same, and Lucas also ordered a beer.

When the server walked away, Lucas looked around the table.

“Very well. Nobody orders anything else from now on.”

“We haven’t even gotten our pizzas yet,” Emma said.

“I prefer to establish the rules early.”

“You have no authority over what we order.”

“I have financial authority.”

“That concept does not exist,” Aldric said.

The burrata arrived a few minutes later, and the conversation moved on to another subject. Lucas waited until everyone had served themselves before taking some bread.

“By the way, I started looking into getting my passport.”

Patrick stopped while Karim looked up and Emma set down her piece of bread.

“Seriously?” Emma asked.

“Why are you all reacting like that?…”

“You actually started?” Patrick asked.

“Yes…”

“On your own?” Karim added.

“Yes!”

Emma smiled.

“Without anyone reminding you?”

“I’m capable of managing my own life…”

Aldric looked at Lucas.

“Have you submitted the application?”

“Not yet…”

Patrick picked up his bread again.

“There it is.”

“I looked up how to do it.”

“That’s not the same thing,” Karim said.

“It’s the first step.”

“How long have you wanted to go to Thailand?” Emma asked.

“Several years.”

“And you’re only now looking up how to get a passport?”

Lucas pointed at Patrick.

“He pressured me into it.”

“I told you to apply for your passport.”

“Exactly. Psychological pressure.”

Aldric took a piece of bread.

“How long does the process take?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

Patrick looked up.

“Then what did you actually look at?”

“The website.”

Karim burst out laughing.

“He opened the page.”

“That’s still better than nothing.”

“Technically, yes,” Aldric confirmed.

Lucas pointed at him.

“Thank you.”

“But your progress remains limited.”

“You could’ve stopped before that part.”

The pizzas arrived shortly afterward. The server set down the plates one after another, and Lucas looked at his with satisfaction.

“Okay, I’ll admit you chose well.”

Aldric cut his first slice.

“Have you tasted it now?”

Lucas took a bite.

“Now I have. Excellent choice.”

Emma tried hers as well.

“Mine is really good.”

“Five euros,” Lucas muttered.

“Are you really going to keep counting until the end?”

“Absolutely…”

Karim had just picked up his phone. He checked a message before replying.

“Samira?” Patrick asked.

“Yes. Yanis wants to start judo when school starts again.”

“Has he practiced it before?” Aldric asked.

“No. One of his friends does it, and now he wants to try.”

“He might like it,” Emma said.

Karim nodded.

“We’re going to take him to a trial class. He changes his mind every two weeks, so we’re holding off on buying all the equipment for now.”

“A wise decision,” Aldric replied.

“He’s also asking when you’re coming over again.”

“I can come by soon.”

“I’ll tell him. But be prepared. He wants to fight you again.”

Lucas looked up from his pizza.

“I hope he wins this time.”

“He’s seven,” Karim reminded him.

“Exactly. Aldric needs to give him a chance.”

“I already give him one.”

Karim looked at Aldric.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell him that.”

Emma laughed before cutting off a small piece of her pizza.

“Want to try some?”

Aldric nodded, and she placed it on his plate. He cut off a piece of his own pizza in return and put it on Emma’s.

“Thanks.”

On the other side of the table, Lucas reached for a slice of Patrick’s pizza. Patrick simply slid his plate a few inches away.

“Seriously?”

“Eat yours.”

“I wanted to try it.”

“Ask.”

Lucas looked at his own pizza, then at Patrick’s.

“Can I try some?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

“See? That was easy.”

Lucas took a small piece.

“I feel like our relationship is becoming far too bureaucratic.”

Emma burst out laughing.

The conversation then shifted to Emma’s work. She told them about a client who had called three times in the same day to ask whether the apartment’s basement storage unit was included in the rental.

“Three times?” Karim asked.

“Three times. I told him yes in the morning, yes after lunch, and yes again at four.”

“Maybe he wanted to make sure the answer hadn’t changed,” Lucas suggested.

“In four hours?”

“The real estate market moves fast…”

“By the third time, I was starting to wonder whether he was actually listening to me.”

“You should’ve said no,” Lucas said.

“And lose a client?”

“Just to see if he noticed the difference.”

“That’s why you don’t work in real estate,” Patrick said.

“I could be excellent at it…”

“No,” Emma replied.

Lucas put a hand over his heart.

“You didn’t even think about it.”

“I didn’t need to.”

Patrick took advantage of the change in subject to explain that he planned to redo part of the tiling in his bathroom himself the following weekend.

“Call a professional,” Emma said.

“I know how to lay tile.”

“You also knew how to fix your wall.”

“My wall is perfectly fine.”

Lucas looked at Karim.

“This conversation feels familiar.”

“Because we have it regularly.”

Patrick shook his head.

“I know what I’m doing.”

Emma took another bite.

“That’s exactly what people say right before discovering they don’t know what they’re doing.”

“I’ll send you a picture when it’s finished.”

They finished their pizzas. When Aldric noticed that several glasses were nearly empty, he picked up the carafe and refilled them. A few minutes later, the server returned to clear the plates.

“Was everything all right?”

“Very good,” Patrick replied.

Lucas nodded.

“Excellent.”

“Would you like to see the dessert menu?”

“No,” Lucas replied.

“He was asking everyone,” Emma said.

“I was simply offering a collective recommendation.”

“It wasn’t collective.”

“It could have become collective.”

Emma held out her hand.

“I’d like to take a look.”

Lucas closed his eyes.

The server handed her a menu.

Patrick ordered a coffee, while Karim said he probably wouldn’t have anything. Emma looked through the desserts.

“The tiramisu looks good.”

“You just ate an entire pizza,” Lucas reminded her.

“Yes.”

“And a starter.”

“Yes.”

“And you still want dessert.”

“Yes.”

Lucas turned to Aldric.

“Aldric.”

“Yes?”

“Remember everything I told you about our friendship.”

Aldric took the menu Emma was holding out to him.

“I remember.”

“Good…”

Emma pointed to one of the options.

“The chocolate fondant looks good.”

Aldric read the description.

“Indeed.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Lucas said.

Aldric continued looking over the menu.

“I’ll have the chocolate fondant.”

“Even you…”

“It sounds good.”

“So our friendship means nothing to you.”

“It has a value independent of the price of this dessert.”

“Wrong answer for his wallet,” Karim said.

Emma ordered the tiramisu, Aldric the chocolate fondant, and Karim eventually decided to get a panna cotta.

Lucas looked at him.

“You too?”

Karim shrugged.

“I changed my mind.”

“Patrick?”

Patrick raised his coffee.

“I’m being reasonable.”

“Thank you…”

“I might have a bite of Karim’s dessert.”

“I take back my thanks.”

The desserts arrived. Emma tried her tiramisu, Karim tasted his panna cotta, and Aldric cut off his first piece of chocolate fondant.

Lucas looked at his own place setting, then at Aldric’s plate, before turning his attention back to his glass.

“You can stop staring at my dessert,” Aldric said.

“I’m not staring at it.”

“You’ve looked at it four times.”

“I’m simply evaluating its visual quality.”

“You didn’t want dessert,” Emma said.

“I don’t want dessert.”

Lucas leaned closer.

“I just want to taste it.”

“That’s how it starts,” Emma replied.

Aldric remained silent as his gaze shifted to Patrick, who was drinking his coffee while listening to Karim, then to Karim, who had just responded to something Emma had said. Lucas, meanwhile, was still watching the chocolate fondant with far too much interest.

Aldric finally looked at Emma. Her name did not appear, and he did not need to ask why.

A spoon entered his field of vision, making Aldric look away.

“Lucas.”

Lucas’s hand stopped.

“What?…”

“Ask.”

“Can I try some?”

Aldric cut off a piece and placed it on the edge of his plate.

“Yes.”

Lucas immediately took it.

“Thanks.”

“So?” Emma asked.

Lucas finished his bite before answering.

“Very good.”

“I wasn’t asking you.”

“Oh…”

She turned her attention back to Aldric.

“Your dessert?”

Aldric took another bite before giving his verdict.

“Very good as well.”

They remained at the table for almost another half hour. Patrick finished his coffee while Emma gave up on the last few bites of her tiramisu, which Lucas eventually ate despite repeatedly insisting that he had not ordered dessert.

When the server finally brought the bill, Lucas reached for it before anyone else could.

“Give it to me.”

He opened the folder and looked over the total, his expression changing as he realized just how much the meal was going to cost him.

“Well?” Patrick asked.

“I just found out how much your friendship costs…”

“And?” Emma asked.

“Way too much…”

Karim leaned back in his chair.

“Do you regret it?”

“No. But next time, someone else is paying…”

Patrick burst out laughing.

“Of course.”

Lucas took out his card and paid the bill.

“Thanks,” Karim said.

“Thanks, Lucas,” Emma added.

Patrick nodded.

“Thanks.”

Aldric looked at Lucas.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Lucas raised a hand.

“You’re allowed to thank me. You picked the restaurant. The others ordered desserts.”

“You ate some of ours,” Emma reminded him.

“That doesn’t count, because I didn’t order anything.”

Karim stood up.

“Flawless logic.”

“Thank you…”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

They collected their jackets and left the pizzeria. Outside, the temperature had dropped slightly. The streets were still busy, but traffic had quieted down and several shops were already beginning to close.

They walked together toward the metro station. Patrick needed to use a different entrance and slowed as they reached the intersection.

“I’m going this way.”

“See you tomorrow,” Karim said.

“See you tomorrow.”

Patrick had just started walking away when Lucas spoke.

“Saturday?”

Patrick turned around.

“What about Saturday?”

“Are we doing something?”

Emma burst out laughing.

“We literally just finished this evening.”

“Exactly. We need to plan ahead.”

“What are you suggesting?” Karim asked.

“I don’t know yet…”

Patrick nodded.

“That sounds more like you.”

“I’ll come up with something… Are you all free?”

“I should be,” Karim said.

Emma nodded.

“Me too.”

Lucas turned to Aldric.

“You?”

“Count me in.”

“Perfect.”

Patrick raised a hand before continuing on his way.

“Have a good evening.”

Karim left them a few minutes later to head to his platform. Lucas then took a different connection, leaving Aldric and Emma to continue toward their line together. They had barely reached the stairs when their phones vibrated.

Lucas: Saturday, 7 p.m.?

Patrick: You literally just asked us.

Lucas: I want written confirmation.

Karim: 👍

Emma: Count me in 😊

Lucas: And someone else is paying.

Patrick: Nobody said anything about a restaurant.

Lucas: I prefer to plan ahead.

Aldric: Count me in.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and continued walking beside Emma.