Chapter 127 – A great place
"For real."
Benjamin nodded and smiled at them. The two girls, Braelyn and Azariah, looked mesmerized for a moment before Braelyn spoke again.
"But, I don't think that's a good idea..."
Not wanting to go in that direction again, he quickly explained.
"Ah, we already talked about this with Waverly. We were thinking about going to a café and playing there. Is that okay with you two?"
They looked at each other and nodded toward the other. They then looked back at him and Azariah said.
"Well, in that case, I guess that would be fine?"
Seeing them still a bit hesitant, Benjamin proposed something.
"Since we're going to a café because of me, it's my treat."
However, they reacted badly to this and Waverly exclaimed.
"No! You're a boy, we can't let you pay!"
"What century are we even in? You wouldn't have needed to pay if it were just you three so this is only normal. It's not negotiable."
From his point of view, it didn't make sense for them to spend any money in that situation, especially because he earned so much last weekend. No matter how rich their parents could be and how much pocket money they could receive, he doubted they could be as well off as him. What's more, he could always earn more money later on if he wanted to.
The four of them argued some more about this topic until he won out of pure stubbornness. As soon as he got their reluctant concession, he switched the topic, just in case they changed their mind.
"Shall we go then?"
Braelyn was the one to answer him.
"Fine. We had plans to go to my place today so the games we wanted to play are there. Let me go grab them and we can meet at the café directly. Or is there any game you want to play, Benjamin?"
"No, I don't know much about board games so I will leave it to you."
"Alright. See you later then. Text me the address of the café."
She quickly left and the remaining girls looked at Benjamin as if he had become their group's de-facto leader just by being a boy. This was funny because girls were normally supposed to lead in this sort of situation. He knew little about their small group of three friends except that they were happy to do their own things most of the time. They didn't cause any trouble and were quiet girls, usually staying within their group. He wondered if this type of girl would be more to Julian's taste but soon chided himself for having such thoughts. His friend could take care of himself perfectly fine and didn't need him to intrude in his private life. Since the girls didn't take the initiative, he had to be the one to do it.
"Let's go. Do you have any place in mind?"
Azariah took her phone out and declared.
"Let me check."
She handled her phone for some time before continuing.
"I found a good place. There is a café close to here that does board games nights from time to time. They even have their own collection of games that people can borrow to play inside the premise."
Benjamin didn't think that board games were so popular that a café would even propose this sort of activity. This was a pleasant surprise for him and he was starting to look forward to playing them.
"Sounds great."
Waverly also seemed interested and the three of them headed toward the location after Azariah sent a message to Braelyn. After a fifteen-minutes walk, they arrived there, a cozy-looking place with a lot of sofas and relatively dim lighting. They entered the shop and were greeted by a smiling middle-aged man behind the bar.
"Welcome. Please sit wherever you want. I will get you the menu in a second."
He was a gentle-looking man with a smile constantly hanging on his face. The two girls couldn't help giving him a second look before they chose to sit at a comfortable table next to the window. The rest of the place was relatively empty with only a few other clients scattered over the shop, drinking some tea or coffee while minding their own business. The man soon came to them with three menus in hand.
"Here you go. Please call me when you are ready to order."
"Thank you. We have one more person coming and we are planning to play board games. Is that alright with you, sir?"
His grin became brighter and he swiftly answered, in high spirits.
"Of course! We always welcome people who like board games. I am a fan of them myself. We have a nice of collection of games you can borrow, do you want to see them?"
Benjamin looked at the two girls and seeing them very interested, he acquiesced.
"That would be nice."
"Follow me."
He headed toward a door at the back of the shop, opened it, and went inside. They followed him and saw that the space was a small storage room filled with shelves full of games. The sheer number of them was impressive and the three of them were surprised, though for different reasons. Benjamin never thought there would exist so many different board games while the girls were simply fascinated by the amazing collection. The owner looked at them with pride and told them to feel free to look around as much as they wanted before going back to man the bar.
Benjamin took a game randomly and read the description at the back. It was a game where one had to build train lines between different destinations. Having never played any complex board games, he had no idea how this worked or what the gameplay could be like. Eventually, he put the game back on the shelf and just looked around, mostly looking at the drawings and pictures. On the other hand, the two girls were very thrilled by the collection and kept exclaiming that they had this or that game, happily going around and checking everything the storage room had to offer.