“You’re welcome.” Josh leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the lips before he stood up. “I need to get started on dinner now, but we’ll talk about ways to relax you later.”
“What are you fixing tonight?” I asked.
“Roasted chicken, stuffing, green beans, and rolls.” He looked back over his shoulder on the way to the kitchen and said, “Apple tarts for dessert.” Josh laughed wickedly because he knew what cinnamon, apples, and pastry did to me. “I got you that fancy vanilla bean ice cream you like.”
“I swear I’ve gained ten pounds since I started dating you,” I told him.
“I guess we’ll just have to double down on your cardio workouts, babe.” He had a suggestion for every scenario, and for the most part, I found no fault with them.
Meredith arrived at her normal twenty minutes before dinner, but Chaz wasn’t with her, and he didn’t show up during the final minutes of Josh putting his masterpiece together. I could see Josh and Meredith’s posture becoming more and more rigid from worry as time ticked by so I took the plates from Meredith’s hands.
“Why don’t I set the table while you call Chaz to make sure he’s okay?” I suggested. It wasn’t like Chaz to be late, but both Josh and Meredith had remarked on separate occasions that he’d been running late in the mornings to open the shop. He seemed tired and quieter than his usual demeanor which earned him the nickname of Spaz.
“Thank you, honey,” Meredith replied. “He never misses dinner and… hey, sweetie. Where are you? Dinner is almost ready, and we were getting worried. You fell asleep?” she asked in disbelief.
“Tell him I’ll hold dinner for him,” Josh yelled over his shoulder.
“Just come on over, Chaz. Josh is holding dinner for you.” Meredith pocketed her phone and worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “Do you think he’s sick?” she finally asked. “The exhaustion and the dark circles under his eyes makes me think he’s sick.”
Josh came out of the kitchen and pulled Meredith into a hug. “Let’s try not to jump to conclusions, okay? It’s obvious we need to have a come-to-Jesus talk with him because letting him come to us on his terms just isn’t working. Let’s wait until he has a full belly to strike.”
“Deal,” Meredith said, nodding.
The close bond of friendship they shared always made me smile. It made me even happier that they opened that circle to include me too. Still, I knew we could be heading into territory where my objectivity might come into play if Josh and Meredith didn’t get their way.
It didn’t take long for Chaz to show up and I was shocked by his appearance when he arrived. His hair was sticking up everywhere, his eyes were red and puffy, and his skin had an unhealthy pallor. His clothes were rumpled, and he wore a look of complete bewilderment on his face. Meredith took one look at him and burst into tears.
“Sugar, get in the car, and I’ll take you to the ER right now,” she told him.So much for waiting until after dinner.
“I’m not sick,” Chaz told her. “I was just up late last night—well, early this morning—playing video games.”
“Video games?” Meredith’s tone and demeanor had changed from distraught to disbelief in a second.
“Yeah, it helps me relieve stress,” Chaz said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Stress?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips. I could tell she was about to give Chaz a piece of her mind. I opened my mouth to do my peacekeeping routine, but Josh shook his head. As much as I loved Chaz and Meredith, he knew them a lot better than I did so I heeded his warning.
“Yes, stress,” Chaz said defensively. “I don’t have a built-in stress reliever,” Chaz said, pointing in my direction, “like Jazz does, and I’m not as kickass as you are. Nothing seems to faze you, Mere.”
“That’s a bunch of bullshit if I ever heard it. Don’t make excuses for bad behavior and then play the poor pitiful me card,” Meredith told him. No lie, I took a step back because I hadn’t seen her so angry in the short time that I’d known her. I would’ve agreed with Chaz’s assessment that nothing got her down until I saw her in action. “Josh and I have been worried sick to death about you for months. You’ve turned us down to go out, you’ve been late to work, you’ve been absent-minded at times, and you nearly missed Sunday dinner with your family. You look physically ill right now, baby,” Meredith added, but with a softer tone of voice. “What can we do to help you?”
I saw all the starch fade right out of Chaz. He pulled a chair back from the table and flopped down in it. Josh and Meredith moved to stand on either side of him. Meredith ran her fingers through his hair, and Josh rubbed his back.
“I feel so immature and ridiculous, but that’s what I’ve gotten caught up in,” Chaz said. He looked up at Josh and then Meredith. “I’m sorry for worrying you. I promise you that I’m not sick and I’ll do better about getting to work on time.”
A sudden thought occurred to me while the trio made up. “What game are you into these days?” I asked. What was the likelihood that Chaz was the same guy that Kyle had been playing with online?
“World ofWarcraft,” Chaz replied.Same as Kyle.“I know, you probably think I’m acting like a ten-year-old.”
“No, I don’t think that. You’re not the only guy I know in this town who’s hooked on that game.” Josh narrowed his eyes at me as he considered my words.
“You don’t say?” he asked.
“I just did,” I replied smartly, earning myself a glare from my guy.
Chaz looked back and forth between us in confusion. “Um, I hate to break up whatever is going on here, but do you think we could eat now?” he asked. “I haven’t eaten all day.” As if to emphasize his misery, his stomach growled angrily inside his thin frame.
“I do believe Gabe and I can table this discussion until later,” Josh said somewhat huffily as he returned to the kitchen.
