Chapter 457: Awkward
Jamal smiled. "Any member of the gentlemen’s club is family. You have my approval."
Jax grinned. "Thanks, Jamal."
Callan nodded too. "You have mine. Gentleman to gentleman, don’t say I didn’t warn you about your choice though."
Jax grinned triumphantly while Mari rolled her eyes.
"Cal, do you really believe you’re qualified to call yourself a gentleman? You’re only in that club because they don’t want you to be left out," Mari hissed, making everyone laugh.
Callan chuckled. "Again, I wish you good luck, Jax."
Jax chuckled while Mari scowled. "Cal, you know I hold grudges, right?"
Jamal suddenly snapped his fingers. "Talking about being left out, we should add Stefan to the call."
"Yeah. You’re right," Callan agreed.
"It’s almost midnight over there. They’re probably asleep," Dawn murmured.
Jamal shook his head. "I doubt that."
Emily laughed. "Yeah. Jam, you should make the call."
Jamal nodded and invited Stefan to the call. A few moments later, Stefan joined with Genevieve beside him.
"Hello, guys," Stefan greeted cheerfully.
"Hi, everyone," Genevieve said, smiling at the screen.
The moment Stefan saw Jax, he blinked. "Jason?"
Jax grinned. "Hello, Stefan."
Mari looked scandalised. "You know him too?"
Emily laughed. "Of course they know each other from the club, Mari. Being in a relationship seems to be making you unusually slow."
The entire call exploded with laughter.
Mari glared at her.
Jax immediately looked at Emily. "Please don’t call my girlfriend slow."
Emily laughed. "She’s my best friend. I can call her anything I want to call her."
Jax nodded. "Sure. But she’s not slow. She’s the most brilliant woman in the world."
Jamal raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? Dawn is the most brilliant woman in the world."
Stefan and the ladies laughed.
Callan shook his head. "You both are wrong. Emily is the most brilliant woman I know."
Everyone joined in the laughter now.
Stefan looked thoughtful. "Hm."
Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to say Genevieve was the most brilliant woman in the world.
He nodded seriously. "I think we’re going to need a competition."
Genevieve laughed. "What competition?"
Stefan smiled. "To determine the most brilliant woman since everyone’s girlfriend suddenly seems to be the most brilliant in the world."
Everyone burst out laughing.
Then Mari remembered something. "Hello, Genevieve. It’s our first time meeting this way."
"Yeah. Because you chose to go be with a man over hanging out with your friends," Emily said, making everyone laugh.
"Yes, I chose to go be with my man instead of hanging out with friends who were all with their partners and expected me to be the only single one amongst them," Mari fired back.
"I wasn’t even dating Callan then," Emily pointed out.
"Oh! Really? You weren’t? Could have fooled me considering how you both were acting. Don’t even get me started on how you spent hours going through the closet for the right outfit to get his attention..."
Colour flooded Emily’s face. "MARI!" Emily snapped.
Everyone laughed, including Callan as Emily pushed the camera away from herself.
"Why are you running off when you started it?" Mari asked Emily, then turned to Genevieve again, "As I was saying, Genny, it’s nice to meet you. I heard you’re getting married soon. Congratulations."
Genevieve giggled. "Thank you, Mari. It’s nice to meet you too."
"By the way, did you two see the news about Emily and Callan?" Dawn asked Genevieve.
Emily groaned. "Dawn, not you too. Why are we going there again?"
Everyone laughed.
Stefan looked curious. "What news?"
Jamal chuckled, shaking his head. "You and Genny have been too busy with each other to care about the rest of the world."
The laughter returned.
"You did say I should make use of this week as my honeymoon week, didn’t you?" Stefan said, looking completely unapologetic.
"Stefan!" Genevieve exclaimed.
"Just saying," Stefan chuckled, then looked at Dawn, "so what did we miss?"
"Callan publicly declared his love for Emily," Mari announced before anyone else could respond.
Stefan blinked. "What?"
Dawn giggled. "It’s trending all over the internet. He took luxury food vans to the hospital where she works and fed the entire hospital to announce to them that Emily is his girlfriend."
"Aww," Genevieve cooed. "That’s so sweet."
Callan grinned at her. "Thank you."
"Don’t forget the banner," Mari said, then recited what was written on the banner.
Stefan burst out laughing. "That sounds exactly like something Callan would do."
Callan narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean?"
Stefan shrugged. "We all know you like showing off."
Callan scoffed. "You’re just a hater."
Stefan laughed. "I’m too busy loving my baby to hate on you."
Genevieve grinned and slapped Stefan’s arm playfully.
Everyone started laughing again.
Then Stefan added casually, "I hope you all will be present at our wedding."
Callan pointed at himself. "Only if I’m the best man."
Stefan looked horrified. "Why would I let the worst man I know be my best man?"
"Emotional damage," Mari cried as the call exploded with laughter.
Jamal nearly fell off the bed laughing.
Even Jax, who had been silently listening to the conversations with amusement, was laughing out loud now.
And for the first time, he truly understood why Mari loved them so much. They felt like family.
Callan looked betrayed. "Seriously, Stefan?" He placed a hand over his chest dramatically. "I thought we were friends."
"We are friends," Stefan replied. "But I have standards."
The laughter doubled.
Mari clapped loudly. "Ten points to Stefan."
Emily scowled at Stefan playfully, even though she had been laughing a moment ago. "Don’t say that about my boyfriend," she warned, then turned to Callan and patted his shoulder.
"It’s okay."
"It is not okay. You were laughing too."
Everyone laughed again.
Mari looked at Jax. "They’re a lot, aren’t they?"
Jax chuckled. "You all are a lot. I can see why you are friends."
Stefan looked at him thoughtfully. "So, you’re dating Mari? I guess opposites do attract after all."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Mari gasped. "Excuse me?"
Emily giggled. "He said what he said."
"Stef, don’t start with me," Mari warned.
"Why not? He can start with me, but not you?" Callan asked her with a scowl. "What happened to ten points to Stefan?" He asked, mimicking her voice.
Everyone laughed.
Mari turned to Jax, who was laughing openly. "You’re supposed to defend me."
"You’re making it hard. You can’t roast others and expect not to be roasted," he pointed out.
"Wow! I think it’s time you go back to your studio!" Mari said, making everyone laugh.
Jax chuckled. "You’re actually right. I need to get back to work now. It’s been nice chatting with y’all," he said.
"Poor Jason," Callan said with a shake of his head, and everyone laughed.
"It’s been nice meeting you, Jax. I heard you have an identical twin brother," Emily said with a grin.
Callan scowled as he turned to Emily. "Why are you asking him about that?"
Everyone laughed.
Emily giggled. "Just asking."
"Why are you just asking?" Callan asked again.
"Jealous much?" Mari asked with a giggle.
"Bye guys," Jax said with a chuckle before walking away.
"Jam, Josh needs to have breakfast. It must be cold by now," Dawn whispered.
"Oh, right!" Jamal exclaimed. "We have to go guys. See you later."
"We need to go too. We’ve been parked here for a long time," Callan said.
Stefan smiled at everyone. "Thanks for calling, guys. It was good seeing all of you." Then his smile softened. "And hopefully the next time we’re all together will be at our wedding."
"And after that?" Mari asked.
Dawn grinned. "At Callan and Emily’s."
Emily immediately choked.
Callan looked delighted.
The entire call exploded into laughter one final time before they all exited the call one after the other.
For a few seconds, Jamal sat still, a smile still lingered on his face. He was content in the moment. Everything felt peaceful, comfortable, and happy.
It was a feeling he didn’t take for granted. Not after everything life had thrown at them all.
Beside him, Dawn was smiling too. She rested her head on his shoulder.
Neither of them spoke immediately. Because the warmth from the conversation still lingered around them.
Then Dawn sighed softly, "What are you thinking about?"
A small smile touched his lips as he looked at her. "How lucky we all are."
Dawn’s expression softened.
Jamal continued quietly. "Callan and Emily have each other. Stefan found Genevieve. Mari found Jax. And somehow we all ended up here."
Dawn nodded slowly. "Yeah. It’s so beautiful seeing everyone together this way."
Jamal wrapped an arm around her shoulders as his gaze drifted toward the phone lying on the bed.
Some months ago, none of this would have seemed possible.
He would have still been thinking he had lost Dawn.
Dawn and Genevieve would probably still be under Ryan, living a life that wasn’t theirs.
Callan and Emily would have still been arguing endlessly.
Stefan would have been alone.
Mari would have sworn she wouldn’t be getting married until she was in her thirties or something because she wanted to have fun.
And now?
Stefan was planning a wedding.
Mari was talking about marriage.
Callan was publicly declaring his love.
Even Jason had somehow become part of the chaos. The thought made him laugh.
"What?" Dawn asked.
Jamal shook his head. "I was just thinking about Jax. He seemed so awkward. We are not his usual crowd."
Dawn smiled knowingly. "You guys are a lot. Anyone would feel awkward in your midst. I felt awkward too."
"You handled yourself well," Jamal assured her.
"So did he."
"Yeah."
They both looked up when Josh walked into the room with crumbs of bread on his chin. "I’m hungry."
They both laughed.
"Right. Sorry we kept you waiting," Jamal said as he got off the bed and held out his hand to Dawn.
Together, all three of them headed to the dining room for breakfast.
