Caspian’s eyes narrowed at this, his suspicions starting to take root. "An evening drive, it’s barely lunch time."
"Guess we’re getting lunch together as well." Jael countered, unfazed by this miscommunication.
"I’ll be borrowing him for a bit," He tossed to Patty who had been in the study with Caspian.
The accountant panicked when he addressed her directly, nearly biting her tongue from how hard she nodded.
Caspian went easily when Jael took his hand, but it didn’t stop him from complaining.
"I wasn’t told about lunch... shouldn’t you be busy?" He tagged on when Jael wasn’t listening to him.
"I’d pick lunch with you over a day at work," The Beta said like it was nothing.
Caspian had to pause; it had been a while since he had spent some time with Jael. Except the occasional shows they watched together, and even those, Asher always joined in.
So even though he was suspicious about the entire thing, he didn’t complain further.
He would just give Asher an earful when they got back, but for now he could go along with whatever Jael had planned.
"There’s this cozy cafe that serves the best brunch," Jael was saying as he got into the car after opening the door for Caspian.
Caspian was instantly interested, "Is it far from the mansion?"
Conversations with Jael came easy, they could talk about nothing of consequence for hours at a time, just like they could sit in companionable silence and not mind.
"We don’t have to go for a drive," Caspian let him know as they found a window seat at the cafe.
It was just as cozy as Jael claimed, the inviting warm decor was perfect, the guests speaking in hushed tones.
Jael glanced up at him as he said that, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"We can just go back to the mansion and watch a movie-"
"No can do," Jael cut him off, studying the menu. "We could go to a cinema if you want to watch a movie though.
For the first time, the thought that Asher and Jael were keeping him away from the mansion on purpose popped into his mind and he couldn’t shake it off.
"What’s going on?" He asked with narrowed eyes.
Jael feigned ignorance, "What do you mean?"
"What is Asher planning?" He asked bluntly.
Because he didn’t trust that it wouldn’t be something ridiculously extravagant.
"You’ll have to ask him yourself," Jael shrugged, "My task is to eat lunch and go on a drive with you."
Caspian couldn’t argue with that. He knew something was up but he couldn’t exactly do anything about it until he go back to the mansion.
"It better not be something ridiculous like an outdoor pool," He muttered, a little ticked about being kept in the dark.
Jael’s smile was faint, he wasn’t sure either but Asher had looked so serious about it.
"I don’t know, that sounds kind of nice."
"We could just go to the pool if you want," Caspian was quick to offer.
Ever the one to use the available facilities instead of making one from scratch like Asher was so eager to do.
"Yeah, we should do that sometime," He replied, picking up his fork with a distant expression.
Caspian picked up on this, concern for Jael making him forget about what sneaky thing Asher was up to.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly.
Jael glanced up, "I’ve been better," He said lightly, "I’ll be even better if we had an outdoor pool though."
"Oh my god," Caspian muttered, starting to realize that Jael was just as bed when it came to outfitting the mansion with the most unnecessary things.
"There’s a pool in our bathroom that no one ever uses," He said instead. "You can use that."
Jael made a face, "I’ll pass."
It was less about the pool and more about the chance to hang out at the pool with the people he cared about.
He wasn’t telling Caspian that though.
"How about I buy you dessert to let go of the pool?" Caspian offered.
Jael’s smile returned, "That’s an awful deal, I’ll take two slices of pie..."
Caspian was in a good mood by the time lunch was over, barely thinking about Asher and what he was clearly keeping from him.
By the time they got to the parking lot though, it was all that was on his mind.
"So," He dragged out, "We’re not going back to the mansion then?"
"No," Jael said flatly, "Let’s catch a three o’clock movie at a cinema."
Caspian didn’t push as he got in the car, pushing his hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes.
"We could even check out a play if you want," He tagged on.
Caspian’s interest was piqued by this suggestion, he turned his full body to face Jael. "Do you think those happen in the afternoon?"
They did find out, and half an hour later, a valet was taking Jael’s car keys.
Before they even stepped into the theater, they looked very much out of place.
Jael’s hostlers were empty, but he didn’t take them off, it made him look like a cop that just got off work.
And Caspian’s recent preferred outfit of shorts and slightly cropped tops made him look way younger than his age.
They got a ticket from the well-dressed cashier at the counter and then stepped into the dimly lit room.
It was a small affair, the stage taking up most of the space in the theater. And although, there wasn’t a lot of seats for the audience, the guests present were sparse.
The dim lighting every where but on the stage made their odd appearance stand out less.
"We should have stopped for three-piece suits before coming here," Caspian whispered to Jael as they settled into their seats.
"I wouldn’t be caught dead in a suit." The Beta said with far more seriousness than the situation warrant.
Caspian had to bite his lip to keep his laughter in, having more fun than if they had gone on a drive.