She got to Jack's house at 4:10. It had taken her a while to find a parking spot because of the festival, but she had gotten lucky to arrive as someone was leaving their space. There had been a very long detour around one of the busier intersections. The warning sign had blinked a solemn message: ACCIDENT AHEAD, PLEASE USE ALT ROUTE.
She walked up the path to the front door and rang the doorbell and a frantic Jack opened the door. When he saw her standing there, his face fell.
"Oh, uhh. Give me a moment. Wait here for a bit?"
"Okay."
She frowned as he shut the door again. It's possible that Anamaria hadn't warned him she was coming, but his reaction was saddening. She hadn't realized how unwelcome she was.
The door cracked open again and this time it was Anamaria standing there.
"Come on in. Jack's living room is a bit of a mess, so he said we should use the spare bedroom upstairs to play. Sorry about that, he just didn't want you to see the mess."
"That's alright. I understand. I wouldn't want anyone seeing my house a mess either. Is Angelica here?"
"Yeah, she's upstairs setting up the console."
Anamaria led the way up the stairs to the spare room where Angelica was just starting up the game.
"Hi! It's been a long time since I last saw you."
Angelica hugged her tightly, a smile plastered on her face.
"Sorry for dropping in without warning. Anamaria said the group was meeting, so I came without calling first."
"Oh, don't worry about it. You just got here a little earlier than we expected so Jack hadn't had time to clean up yet," Angelica said, "Here, take a controller and have a seat anywhere."
They ended up sitting in a row on the bed, facing the tv. While the game booted up, Angelica and Anamaria chatted about little things, making polite conversation. She just sat there and listened to their chatter, wondering a bit whether she should have refused the invitation.