Tristan was excited. On the rare occasions where they slept together, he felt connected to Jed in a way that was missing from much of their relationship. He only ate a little, putting the rest into the refrigerator before slipping off to the bathroom to ready himself alone. Jed would never acknowledge the little concessions that Tristan would make for him; he poured himself another glass of wine and finished his meal without giving it a second thought. With the dishwasher loaded and the take-out cartons thrown away, Jed washed his hands and dimmed the lights in the bedroom.

His boyfriend was waiting for him on the bed in an over-sized t-shirt. Tristan had surprised him naked once before, only for Jed to tell him that he found it kind of weird. As his lover approached, Tristan smiled shyly and laid down on his back; the bottle of lube he'd used placed considerately on Jed's side of the bed, neatly beside a pre-opened condom packet. 

Jed preferred it when Tristan didn't look at him as he got hard and rolled the condom on; his boyfriend's eyes were carefully trained on the ceiling as he waited to be entered. 

"Turn over" said Jed. 

Tristan's eyes flickered to his lover's face. 

"From behind again..?" he asked in disappointment. 

With no reply, Tristan flipped his body over and raised himself onto his knees without argument; the more he protested, the less likely it was that Jed would touch him.

Tristan clenched his teeth as Jed began to enter him. He was never rough; but the sensation was so rare and without warning, that every time was a little uncomfortable. As Tristan began to touch himself, Jed told him to lie down on the bed. 

"Face down..?" 

His hands guided him onto the covers as Tristan lost the comforting grip of his own neglected manhood. He felt invisible, like Jed was using him to masturbate. It was fortunate that at least it was brief. When Jed was finished, he went into the bathroom to dispose of the used condom, and Tristan was left staring alone into the dimly lit room. 

"Sarah's booked a rooftop lounge for tomorrow afternoon" Jed told him when he returned to the bedroom. 

"I'll be at my new job until 5" Tristan said into the pillow. 

Turning out the light, Jed got under the covers on the far side of the bed. 

"I'll send you the address... you'll have to make your own way there." 

Tristan grabbed his phone and used the light of the screen to make his way to the bathroom. He cleaned himself up and avoided his reflection in the mirror. If he saw his expression he would only cry, and have to wash his face with cold water again. It took a long time before he could silence the pitiful thoughts in his head, but eventually he fell asleep.

Jed was still sleeping when he got ready for work the next day. It was lucky that he left so early, as he got a little lost in the side streets trying to find the supermarket again. Finally nearing the familiar storefront, a couple of messages from Jed appeared on his phone. 

"This is the place Sarah found " he said, along with a link to an exclusive club across town. "Try not to get lost on the way - you're already coming late as it is."

Tristan knocked on the glass door. The sign said 'CLOSED' but the lights were on inside. 

"You're as early as I am!" said Tibur, welcoming him inside. "Millie always comes late; she handles the deliveries but I don't know how. The number of times she gets stuck in traffic... Did your husband drop you off today?"

Tristan shook his head. "He doesn't drive" he said, "Besides, it's his day off... he wanted to sleep in." 

Tibur helped him find a space to put his bag in the staff room. 

"Sleeping in would be amazing right now! I have the noisiest neighbor in Modesh. I study late most nights, but even then he makes a racket until the sun comes up."

"You don't live with your grandmother?" asked Tristan. 

Tibur laughed at the idea. 

"My grandma has no space for me" he said, "her place is as tiny as mine. I got student accommodation though. A bed and a desk, but it's in the new development a couple of blocks from here. The problem is the rich assholes that bought in the building next door. They don't seem to care that people have exams to study for." 

At least it couldn't be Sarah and Carl - their house was on the outskirts of the city. He had to chide himself for immediately considering them as 'rich assholes' though... they were his friends after all. 

"So you're at college?" asked Tristan. "You can't be much older than twenty-one then? Sorry, you don't have to tell me your age if you don't want to." 

Tibur gave it no mind. "Twenty-two" he told him, "I had to save for a while before I could afford the tuition. My scholarship could only get me so far. I think maybe you are... twenty-three?" 

It wasn't a bad guess, in fact it was downright generous. 

"Twenty-eight" Tristan admitted. 

"Ah, but you look younger. That's good enough. Even if we're not the same age we can just pretend! It doesn't hurt to have a friend at work. That way, when I mess up you can cover for me." 

Tristan felt certain it would have to be the other way round. As the morning wore on, he was shown how to work the register, and where he could find the special stock that was kept aside for regular customers. 

"Pretty easy, right?" asked Tibur, "But don't worry if you don't remember, I'll be around to help you."

Tibur was like a sunny smile in a crowd full of scowling faces. He'd lost his parents when he was young, but had retained the optimism that had set him aside from the other over-worked students in his class. Every penny growing up had gone towards his education, and he was not prepared to let it go to waste. His grandmother's medical bills had caused his college fund to take a hit, but it didn't matter. He worked two jobs until it was replenished. Now that he was studying again he was down to one. While Tibur sold pricey imported goods to the rich and foreign clientele, he made do with instant noodles and discounted vegetables from the market. 

Shortly before they were due to open, Millie finally arrived. 

"Is Mr Melik in? Does he know I'm late again?" she asked, rushing past them with helmet in hand, to stow her things in the little staff room. 

"What do you think?" called Tibur. "Our manager isn't here very often" he told Tristan; "he prefers to be at the track on race days, or down at the betting shop... Most of the time we just muddle through here on our own."

Millie finally realized there was a new employee. "Oh hi!" she said, "Another foreigner. Tibur, are you worried we're taking over?" 

Tibur waved her away. 

"Millie, this is Tristan. Don't scare him, please. We need an extra pair of hands since once of us only stops by when they feel like it..." 

Millie rolled her heavily lined eyes. 

"You should have seen the traffic today!" she protested; "It's not easy getting my bike across town."

"There's two bags already ready to go" said Tibur, motioning to the counter. Millie saluted and put her helmet back on. 

"In a bit, guys!" she called, as she rushed out the door with the orders. 

"She's not too bad, really" Tibur explained, "A lot of the customers like her because she stays to chat with them a while. The older ones especially. Right then! Let me show you the computer."

The day passed quickly, with Millie stopping by at lunchtime to join them in the break room. 

"We should have a drink tonight to celebrate the new arrival!" she said, "There's a dingy little bar down the road that plays great music. It has an upstairs with a terrace and it's usually pretty quiet. What do you think? You guys in?" 

Tibur made some calculations in his head. "I think I could manage a couple if it's the bar I'm thinking of. The drinks are pretty cheap. Tristan?"

If he hadn't been told to go straight to Sarah's party then he might have tried to do both. 

"Not tonight..." he told them reluctantly, "But I'd like to go soon if that's okay?" 

Millie was a little disappointed, but didn't dwell on it for long. "Soon it is!" she said with a smile, taking another large bite out of her sandwich. 

The people were friendly, and the job not too taxing. Tristan wasn't his usual exhausted self when the day drew to a close. 

"Going to meet the husband?" asked Tibur. 

Tristan nodded, and suddenly felt tired. 

"Have fun! I'm going home to write a paper - keeping my fingers crossed that the noise won't start until I'm onto editing." 

Tibur waved him goodbye with a smile and headed off up the street. Tristan looked at his phone. "We're waiting!" Sarah had messaged.

The building was not easy to find. The 'secret rooftop' was more of a secret than Tristan had realized, and he found himself in unfamiliar elevators that led him up to private floors. Rather than ask for help, he continued the search until at last he spotted a sign for the lounge. On his third elevator trip of the evening, he finally arrived to meet his friends. 

"Where is everyone?" Tristan asked, noting that only Sarah, Carl and Jed were at the table. 

"Oh, it's just us today" Sarah told him, "Just a lazy day with some food and drinks." For such a casual arrangement, Tristan couldn't fathom what renting this place had cost. 

"Jed told us the news, Tris" said Carl, "You've found a way to make yourself an allowance. You won't be there long though I trust?" 

Sarah pouted and held her husband's hand. "Are you sure you can't find him a proper job with you somewhere in the company?" she pleaded, "It doesn't have to be anything big. I'm sure Tris could handle a little admin or something..?" 

Carl furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry Tris, I've told you before; there's nothing with us" he said. 

Sarah sighed and pulled her hand away. 

"It's not right when we're not all together" she whined, "Hurry up and find something better, Tris. Failing that, just wait until Jed gets promoted, and then he'll have enough to support you."

Jed shot Sarah a look. "We don't know yet that it'll go through" he said, "It wasn't that long since I applied." 

Tristan might have wondered why Jed hadn't told him about it, but he was still stuck on Sarah's statement of togetherness. What did it really matter if he was there or not? He spoke so little, and everything he did say proved to be irrelevant. 

"I don't mind the job" he said in a small voice, "The people are nice..." 

Sarah leaned in as if to correct him. "It's a foreign company, right? Aren't they all from Modesh..? You don't need to make foreign friends when there's us to hang out with." 

Tristan raised his head. 

"We're the foreigners here" he told her, "We should make more of an effort to get to know the locals, rather than just keep to ourselves like we did in Cabi." 

Sarah's eyes widened. 

"Just yesterday I was chatting to a Modeshi woman at the spa" she told him, "Don't think that just because Carl and I consider you as a friend, that we turn our nose up at other people we meet when you're not around. Honestly Tristan, I'm offended you said that." 

Jed wouldn't look at him. It was Carl filling his wife's glass that broke the awkward tension in the air. 

"I'm sure Tris didn't mean anything" he said as he poured, "let him make some local friends; he'll only come to realize what he's missing out on. You know, Sarah puts a lot of time and effort into finding things for us to do as a group. Not everyone gets to be so lucky..."

Tristan shifted in his chair. 

"The view is very nice, Sarah" he said, his eyes drifting to the rooftop's edge, and settling on the glimmering sea in the distance. Carl took Sarah's hand and smiled at her soothingly. 

"Well, it's why I chose this place" she said, the outrage loosening from her voice, "If you'd come any later you would have missed the sunset. Carl, hurry up and order us some more food. Tris is probably just hungry."