LOGINShare
36. The Trickster Evans
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56On returning home, Matthew had to go to his parents to leave some documents. Besides, he promised them that he would bring Jo, at least for tea and some cake.
He felt really bad about putting any pressure on his best friend, but in this case for the first time in his life, his parents were blackmailing him. They wanted to know about the bet.
“Jo, do you mind if we stop for five minutes somewhere?” He asked while driving. In that moment, he felt like the greatest criminal who was betraying his best friend.
“Do what you have to do. Don’t worry about my presence.”
“I need to go to my parents. I asked them for help in reviewing some documents. With their experience, it won’t take them long. It would save me a few weeks of drilling in the stuff I have no idea about.”
“No problem.” Jo said, feeling that it was kind of Matthew’s trick, but decided to pretend that she wasn't aware of a
Related chapters
The Bet 37. Dad's advice
They were greeted at the hall by Mr. Evans, who was dressed elegantly in beige denim trousers and white linen shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up to the elbows revealing his muscular forearms. Matthew looked like he was his exact copy, just a few years younger.Mr. Evans, seeing his happy wife with Jo, was truly delighted. He hugged their guest heartily, but when he saw his son laden with boxes and a huge bunch of flowers, he began to laugh.“Son, are you going to pass on a month of your work?”“Dad, I am sure it’s not even an evening for you two.”“I don’t mind doing it if you take care of your private matters.” Ha said seriously and then he winked at his son knowingly. He took the red roses to the kitchen and left his child confused.Matthew was shocked by his fathers’ behaviour.‘What was that? What did dad mean by private matters?’ He thought as he followed his father.
The Bet 38. Drunkards
Jo and Matthew sat at the sumptuous table, blinking knowingly to each other from time to time, waiting for rescue, which, however, did not come.One by one, they tried everything that was prepared by the Evans.As time went on, Matthew grew happier and happier; he even turned a blush, while Jo had already removed the belt from her pants and undone the button.“Mrs. and Mr. Evans, the food is excellent, as usual, but I think I am no longer able to fit in any more.” Jo announced shyly.“Would you like to try some more of my chokeberry tincture?” Matthew’s father suggested in the hope that they won't refuse the tasting.“No, thank you. I don’t think I will be able to.” Jo said honestly.“Are you sure you are full, my child?” Mrs. Evans was still concerned about Jo’s and Matthew’s satiety.“Yes, mom. We are more than full.” Matthew answered, trying to be a
The Bet 39. Evans' hospitality
They arrived at Matthew's apartment in half an hour. In the underground car park, Mike helped them to the elevator. They both looked slightly better than when he had taken them away from the Evans.“Jo, how're you doing? Are you able to take him to his bed?” He asked, truly concerned.“Yes.” She said without much thinking. She had seen Matthew in a worse state and she had handled him then too, so why wouldn't she do that this time? This was her best friend; what is not done for friends?“I'm officially at work. I have to be back in the clinic as soon as possible.” Mike said seriously.“Go back to work, I'll be fine.”“Where are you going, bro?” Matthew muttered leaning against the elevator wall.“I have to go back to work for an hour. I terrorized my sister and her husband to stay there instead of me. We'll talk later.”“Goooo, man!”“Be g
The Bet 40. Househubby
“Yeah… Evans’ hospitality… Mike, my stomach hurts!” Jo complained.“What kind of pain is it? Can you explain?” He was truly concerned.“I am full, I ate too much.”“Haha… that’s no problem.” Mike felt relieved. “I will make mint tea for you.” As he said, he went to the kitchen.Jo thoughtfully watched her companion in suffering. He looked battered by excess alcohol, and his eyesight was blurry.‘You wanted it yourself! Did you think I would fall into your parents' trap?’ She thought. She wanted to ask him, but it was pointless in his state. She wondered what kind of argument they had used.Matthew was sitting on the sofa in front of her. It looked as though he was trying to muster his thoughts. He was watching her closely too.He had doubts as to whether what was passing through his mind had happened or if it was just a
The Bet 41. True love
The next morning, all her linen shirts and trousers were perfectly ironed and folded. Everything waited on the sofa in the living room, near her dark blue suitcases. As soon as her eyes fell on it, she was surprised. She just needed ten minutes to put all her stuff and she would be ready to leave. When she entered the kitchen, she saw two of her friends sitting at the table. They were in the middle of a conversation. The place smelled of freshly brewed coffee and burnt toasts. “Morning, guys!” “Good morning! We didn’t expect you to get up so early.” Mike welcomed her with a smile plastered to his face. He got up and pushed back a chair at the table for her. “Good morning, baby.” Matthew muttered. His face wasn’t shaved, he had wet hair combed back to his head. He looked grumpy. “Take a seat, I made a Russian earl grey for you and a few pancakes.” Mike started to put some food on the table. “Thank you.” “Yo
The Bet 42. Men solidarity
“True love! My poor brother in law… Your love is blind and deaf!” Mike turned to Chris.At that moment, everyone's eyes were on him. They were shocked by his statement, but he just smirked nonchalantly. He was right and was sure about it, so there was nothing wrong with his words.“Mike, shut up, please!” Jo was the first to react. She was fed up with all these verbal squabbles. She just needed a few peaceful minutes to relax before her flight and going back to work in the afternoon.“But I am right. Does the truth hurt?” Mike asked in an aggressive tone looking straight into Jo's eyes.‘Give it up man, I'm not the problem here. You know that and I know it too!’ She thought, but didn't feel like talking to a pissed-off friend. She was in a similar state right now.“It doesn’t hurt, but your attitude does.” She said, trying to redirect his thoughts and conversations in the righ
The Bet 43. Coincidence
“What are you pretending to be, Matthew?” Jo asked unexpectedly.“We pretend that we know women.” Mike answered her question.“That’s interesting, my friends. So why are you still single?” She asked them both.Only silence answered her. They both stood and looked at her as if they didn't understand her interrogations. Was it a rhetorical question? She supposedly knew that very well so why did she scratch their wounds?Finally, Chris came to the conclusion that it would be appropriate to say something.“A good question, guys!”“Don't get smart here, we'll see how you survive this trip with my sister!” Mike immediately chided him.“Man, as you said yourself, every monster is an amateur in front of an experienced monster, so we'll wait for that day.” Chris summed it up briefly. Everyone reacted with laughter.Under the passport control sector, they had t
The Bet 44. Dilemmas
Somehow Jo was able to do some shopping, without being followed by Eve and Rose. She decided to hide in the duty free store until the last minute of boarding.She was glad that Matthew and Mike changed her reservation to business class, so she could jump on a plane just before the closure of the gate.She didn't like to spend unnecessarily hard-earned money, but in this case she could see it was a comfort. She had to consider that in the future.Jo entered the plane as the last passenger. Her seat was just in the second row.“Good morning! Sorry, I have the window seat.” Jo said looking at the two, already sitting gentlemen.‘It’s going to be an interesting journey!’ She thought, observing her companions more closely.The one sitting by the aisle had a problem with getting into the chair. He was a huge pile of muscles. She was even pleased that she didn’t sit next to him. The one in the middle, was a
Latest chapter
The Bet 133. Under control
“We already had dinner; Martin took care of our meals today.” Jack informed them.“Good guy! He also brought food for us.” Patrick realized that they had such a good time that he didn't even call and thank them for the catering. “I should call and at least say thank you.”“I already did that. We will have the catering all week.”“Sounds good, but I wish I could make use of the kitchen here too.” Patrick had some plans.“Why don't you spend your holidays far away from the kitchen? There are so many beautiful places to visit around. Besides, I'll take care of Mike.” Jack really wished that they would have a good time.“We cannot burden you with caring for him. We have to get a nurse tomorrow. And you should travel with us.”Jack was glad to hear that he wouldn't have to babysit Mike even though that one didn’t cause him any problems throughout the day. He had a great time with the bunch of big kids, and he wanted to spend some time traveling around too.Besides, his boss had clearly mar
The Bet 132. Boring day
Jo was extremely happy to see the hammock outside in the beautiful surroundings. She immediately started walking towards it.Behind her were Patrick and Matthew. When they made sure that she was comfortable, they started to unpack and unfold the garden furniture.In the next half an hour, they had dealt with most of the setting up. The patio immediately changed its face to an elegant and, above all, a comfortable place to relax. A few wooden deck chairs with a low table and umbrellas were placed near the swimming pool.The guys also put a long wooden table with eight chairs under an electric marquise, parallel to the glass wall of the villa and of course near the kitchen and dining room doors.“The table looks so good!” Jo commented from the hammock.“I feel like I am on a boat.” Matthew joked.“The owner loves sailing, so you are right. Only the wooden steering wheel is missing.” Jo laughed. She also noticed so many things related to marine life.“A wooden steering wheel sounds good.
The Bet 131. Unexpected inconvenience
”Are you worrying about Mike?” Patrick asked, seeing consternation and some kind of sadness on Jo’s face.“No, I am not worried about that asshole. He deserved it.”“Nobody deserves anything like this, badass.”“That’s not what I meant.”Patrick looked at her expecting some more explanations.“He shouldn't have gone out with you the previous day. He knew it perfectly well, so it was one hundred percent his fault. So, in that sense, he deserves it.”“I agree, but still, he is a man. You don’t understand male pride, badass.”“I understand him more than you can imagine. It’s just his fucking character.”“All of us, we have ‘interesting’ personalities, badass. For most of the people around us, we are assholes.”“I am not questioning it, Pat.” She hesitated for a moment. “But this fucking macho is one of his kind...”Patrick was speechless. He couldn’t argue with that. While he had a lot of understanding of the people around him, Mike was still a special case to him. But still he tolerated
The Bet 130. A blow
Right after breakfast, Jack took Mike to the clinic. The atmosphere instantly relaxed inside the villa. They were still sitting at the kitchen table with tea and French pastries and discussing how to teach their dear friend a lesson.“You are a poor teacher, Matt.” Jo said, very disappointed with her friend. “These pancakes are awful.” She winced as she ate, wondering where Mike went wrong with that very simple task.“Am I really a poor teacher?” Matthew mocked in a slurping voice. “Or maybe our friend is a bad student? Did you consider that?”“Could we leave aside his cooking skills, guys?” Patrick exclaimed. “The main thing is that the guy can cook, so he will not die of hunger. That’s what matters!”“Really? Did you try that?” Jo pointed at the pancake.“No, and I'm not going to. I watched the anguish when Jack was consuming it. In general, he is not very picky about food so it must be eatable.”“Well, you have to try it.” Jo wanted to force him and put a piece of pancake on a fork
The Bet 129. A bitter morning
Mike was the first to get up. He was not able to accept ‘the doing nothing’ state and being attached to one place, to his bed, any longer.Slowly, without making any noise, he trodded downstairs. It wasn't too complicated with the help of crutches.He found the perfect order and plenty of food in the kitchen.‘These stocks were made, probably with me in mind. They want to leave me again." He assumed looking at the refrigerator full to the brim.He decided to prepare something for everyone. His skills were far from Matthew's, but after all, he could prepare something nonetheless.He made pancakes, and a typical continental breakfast: fried bacon, sausages, black pudding, some stewed mushrooms and tomatoes. He also made a smoothie out of whatever greens he could find in the refrigerator.“Good morning!” Patrick’s voice disrupted his work on the fruit salad.“Good morning.” He wasn’t happy to see him. “Did you sleep well, man?” Mike asked ironically. He really wanted to ask if he had goo
The Bet 128. Existential meditation
Mike felt much better after a nutritious lunch. There was no sign of a hangover; the only thing that bothered him, even after strong painkillers, was the ache in his ankle.He was changing the ice packs, and putting on more anti-inflammatory creams, but it didn’t help much. As soon as he was trying to put his foot flat on the floor, he saw ‘all the stars in the sky’ from pain.He didn't know if he would trigger the alarm again by opening the bedroom door, and he didn't feel like testing it.He went out onto the terrace a few times, but it was too hot to stay there.‘Why do I have to sit alone, in a deserted place like that?’ He thought. ‘I didn't have to travel so many kilometers to be accompanied only by empty walls. Did I?’ He wondered looking around the empty room.‘It is no different from my everyday life. Should holidays be like that? Do I deserve it?’ Hundreds of thoughts swirled in his head.Despite his exhaustion, he couldn’t sleep. There was no TV in the room, and watching mo
The Bet 127. Redemption
Mike was lying on his stomach with his head covered with a pillow, asking the heavens for silence. He had never imagined in his life that he would ask for such trivial things. He didn't know for how long he prayed, but he was at the end of his tether. Even if he wanted to leave the house to relocate somewhere in the garden or on the terrace, to not hear the alarm, he was not able to move that far jumping only on his uninjured leg.‘I know it's my fault, but why doesn't Jo have any pity on me? I always thought that she was an angel with a golden heart, but why is she heartless now?’ He made assumptions. ‘She knows I have a goddamn hangover. Plus, I smashed my ankle. Isn't it enough punishment for me to be here, in the middle of nowhere, alone?’Mike thought about so many things looking for a solution and he was really desperate. Finally, some clue appeared in his sore brain. He recalled that when Jo was taking a shower, there was absolutely no noise outside, so there must have been g
The Bet 126. Painful lesson
Mike was really pissed off. He screwed up his vacation, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to accept and bear with it. As soon as he heard that the car drove away, he got up and jumped on one leg to his suitcase, and pulled out clothes which would be less obstructive in his general movements like, a loose T-shirt and short cotton shorts. He hung his ironed clothes on the armchair standing next to the bed. He returned to the bed and unwrapped the bandage. His ankle didn't look the best. The hematoma was visible on the entire surface of his ankle, despite the already quite large swelling. Considering the state of his injury, he was sure that the best solution after all was to stay at home. He lied down, tipping from side to side impatiently for a while, but couldn't fall asleep. Too many thoughts swirled in his aching head. He got up and decided to change the atmosphere of the semi-dark room a bit. ‘Damnit! It's so dark here!' He muttered under his breath and opene
The Bet 125. Apriopriate treatment
As soon as Jo realized what had happened, she lost her good mood. ‘It was predictable! Will this asshole ever grow up?’ She cursed under her breath. She felt guilty about letting him come out of the house in such a bad shape at all. She blew into Mike's bedroom, without even knocking the door beforehand, like a hurricane with a destructive force. She was ready to deal properly with her rebellious, bullish friend and all his faults, who tried to disguise from her the fact that he had sprained his leg. The image she saw right after opening the door made her feel sick, as she predicted. She was truly disgusted. Mike's hair was still wet after the shower, and his face was perfectly shaved. He was dressed in a white polo shirt, perfectly ironed, and baggy khaki cargo pants. He was sitting on the bed with his left leg propped up on the bed. His pants were rolled up as he was bandaging his ankle. On the bed, she also noticed a tube of very strong painkiller ointment. “What a fucking as
