"How did the performance go?" asked Cody on the phone.

"Yeah, good, no problems," answered Oliver.

"How's the new member? What was the name again? Karl?"

"Kal." Oliver paused. "They're good, seems nice." What else was there to say? Would singing Kal's praise to the person they replaced be wise?

"It's okay, Oliver," Cody chuckled slightly. "You don't have to hold back on saying they're great just to appease me. Promise, I won't get jealous."

"Nothing else really to add." Oliver shrugged. "It's only been one performance, though, so might have more of a report in the future."

"So you can give them the Oliver seal of approval?"

"They followed my safety rules without being prompted, so they're doing good so far." Then Oliver remembered last night, a smile appearing on his face. "Though Darren's trying to get on Kal's good graces, maybe instead of me, you should be jealous about how much attention Darren is giving them."

"Darren?"

"Kal has done gigs with famous people, helped on tours and stuff. Darren has been sucking up in hopes of being asked to help out too in the future."

"Has he been making a fool out of himself?"

"Oh, big time. Pretending to like things that Kal likes, consumed a thesaurus..."

"Sounds just like when he started liking Sasha," Cody laughed. "Fuck, he was quite pathetic. He researched a bunch of classical literature to try and impress her. I don't know how those two got together with how cringy he acted, and I was there."

"I suppose some people might find it endearing... and others creepy and overbearing."

"Seems that Sasha should be the one who is jealous."

"Nah, she's supportive, says she's up for a threesome if it comes to it to get Darren a gig."

Cody continued to share more cringy stories of Darren and Sasha first dating, and his awkward third-wheeling antics.

"Oh, forgot to mention last time," began Cody. "I... I've got a new job."

Oliver swallowed. "Yeah, I saw the poster in the window."

"Ah, right."

There was a pause.

"How is the new job?" Oliver asked, his throat becoming dry.

"Great, yeah, great! It's in a pub, something I've done before, went from bartender to chef and so on."

"So, returning to your old roots?"

"Actually, I used to work here for a while, during the summer. There are still a few people working here I know, and they've refurbished. But yeah, I think it's good to be back working, something to concentrate on."

"I know the feeling," said Oliver. He hesitated in asking what he really wanted to know, and that was why Cody didn't come back here for work, but he knew the answer. Cody wasn't ready.