LOGINShare
85. Combinations
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56“We had an excellent lunch, time to get down to work.” Nick said, moving from the table. He started picking up the plates and cleaning up. They had to, at least, try to cut the tiles.
“I'll clean the kitchen, gentlemen.” Mike offered voluntarily. He didn't want to be around two extremely annoying assholes.
“Jo, we brought you some old comedies if you want a little laugh.” Patrick passed her a big paper bag full of DVD’s.
She took out a few and looked at the titles carefully.
“Gendarme et les extra-terrestres, La soupe aux choux, L’avare, Le gendarme et les gendarmettes,… Only pearls with Louis de Funès.” She was so happy. She loved the old comedies with him.
Related chapters
The Bet 86. Testing patience
For the sake of the neighbors, they finished cutting the tiles at eight o'clock. A little earlier, Matthew had put the food in the oven and by the time it was heated up, all four of them were washed, dressed, and ready to party.Patrick and Nick set the table in the dining area in the living room, while Matthew and Mike took care of the food.“What are we celebrating?” Jo asked, entering. “It doesn't look like a normal dinner but a real fiesta.”“We did a great job so we have a reason to celebrate.” Patrick announced proudly.“Oh yeah… who will believe it?” Jo doubted. She knew their skills very well and knew what to expect from them but she chose not to expose them.&ldq
The Bet 87. Patrick's tricks
“I would prefer if we could stay more formal, Mr Kelly.” She said coldly. “Child, I am your uncle and you can’t change that fact.” “I prefer it if nobody knows about it.” “I respect your opinion, child, but at least you could visit me sometimes.” Mr Kelly said. After a moment of hesitation, he continued. “In secret, of course, if that is so important to you. I guess it's normal to miss you and your sister. Although, I see Patrick here sometimes.” “So you have him and his brother around. Is it not enough?” “Did you forget that Sam ran away?” He looked at her wondering how much of it had her efforts in it. All of them were so close. “Besides, Patrick treats me like some kind of plague.”
The Bet 88. Surprise
Nick was punctual as usual. He came to pick them up for the training at ten past six o’clock.This time, Mike also joined them as he was the one who was going to help Jo with the tripod and the photo shooting.Matthew didn’t hide that he was very happy that he could once again exercise and remember the good old days in which he had the opportunity to practice his favorite fighting style. He had missed it so much for years.The traffic was quite heavy for the time of the day so Nick decided to take a detour along the less frequented roads.“Nick, we won’t make it on time if we take the detour.” Jo complained. She knew the surroundings.“We won’t make it anyway. I prefer to make more ki
The Bet 89. Disaster
“I would prefer if we could stay more formal, Mr Kelly.” She said coldly.“Child, I am your uncle and you can’t change that fact.”“I prefer it if nobody knows about it.”“I respect your opinion, child, but at least you could visit me sometimes.” Mr Kelly said. After a moment of hesitation, he continued. “In secret, of course, if that is so important to you. I guess it's normal to miss you and your sister. Although, I see Patrick here sometimes.”“So you have him and his brother around. Is it not enough?”“Did you forget that Sam ran away?” He looked at her wondering how much of it had her efforts in it. All of them were so close. &ldquo
The Bet 90. Suspicious proposition
Magnificent aromas coming from the kitchen woke Jo up. She could get a sniff of freshly brewed coffee and fried bacon, which meant nothing less than that, finally, Mike flew home. She felt relieved.She said goodbye to him yesterday evening when they returned from the pub, arguing that she didn’t know if she would be able to get up when Nick would come to pick him up for his ride to the airport.Jo didn’t want to shatter yesterday's meeting with Mr Kelly, which turned out to be a complete failure. They had not received such lashes in public for a long time. Somehow she had to bear it with dignity.After all, she would talk to Mike on the phone during the day.She dressed up as quickly as possible in the hope that she was about to eat her favorite breakfast wi
The Bet 91. Girl's day
“Why do you think they're up to something?” Elen was suspicious too, but had to confirm first a few facts.“I have no idea.” Jo whispered.They both were sitting with hair dye, masks on their faces, while the manicurists did their nails.Instead of wasting time in the hairdressing and beauty studio recommended by Patrick, they went to a place where they could have the same treatments in two, maximum three hours, and not waste half a day.“They wanted to throw me out of the house at all costs.” Jo said, looking at the mirror in front of her. In such a state, she could easily scare people around.“This is no adequate evidence.”“I will be more precise. Your brother was trying to use his charm and spitted a lot of bullshit.”“Ah, his wise arguments.” Elen laughed.“He behaved like a typical Mr Wise. You know what I am talking about, don't you?”
The Bet 92. Surprise feast
“Elen is a good girl.” Jo defended her friend.“Really?”“She is a sincere, loyal and honest person with high moral standards. She wouldn’t have survived in the environment in which she worked if she couldn’t lie straight into the face.”“Where did you work?” Claude asked.“I was an agent for a singer, a perpetually drunk bastard, then a few actresses who got into trouble all the time.”“I feel sorry for you Elen. You should stay as far away from the show business environment as possible. I have many examples of this.” Claude said with bitterness in his voice.He had a celebrity father, and it was
The Bet 93. Mystery solved
Standing in front of the building, where her apartment was located, Jo had some idea about what was going on inside.“All clear! Almost!” She stated, looking at the van with a familiar logo, in the parking lot in front of the premises.“What is clear?” Elen had no clue what her friend was talking about.“Do you see that van?”“Yes. What’s the matter?”“I bet that I will find employees of this interior finishing company in my apartment.”"Can you afford such an exclusive service?” Elen knew that the company charged astronomical amounts. She was aware that Jo had money, but didn’t like to spend unnecessari
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
