Infinite Cashback: My Wealth Rebate System

Jason reached the coffee shop corner with time to spare and settled against the low brick wall out front. His hands were in his pockets as he watched the evening foot traffic drift by in the cooling air.

Of course I’m early.

He checked the time.

7:38.

Seven minutes ahead of the meeting time he’d set himself. Which meant, knowing Marcus, he had a solid twenty to thirty minutes of standing here alone ahead of him, regardless of what the actual agreed time had been.

Marcus is always late because he genuinely believes time is more of a suggestion than a rule. Different diseases, same symptom.

He glanced up at Amanda’s building two blocks down. It was visible even from here, with a few windows already lit up by the telltale movement of people setting up for the evening.

That’s the building.

Something tightened faintly in his chest at the sight of it. Not quite dread. Not quite nerves. Something adjacent to both.

In there, somewhere, is a room I’ve been actively avoiding for a month. It’s about to be filled with people, one of whom is the exact reason I’ve been avoiding it.

Walk in. Get seen. Walk out.

He repeated the plan to himself again, mostly for the reassurance of hearing it, then pulled out his phone to check the time once more. It was more out of restless habit than any actual need.

It buzzed in his hand before he could lock the screen.

Marcus: here already, waiting on you

Jason stared at the message. Something between disbelief and mild offense settled into his expression.

Unbelievable.

He glanced up and down the street, confirming what he already knew. There was no Marcus anywhere within actual eyesight. Just the same handful of strangers passing by who had been passing by for the last ten minutes.

Jason: shut up. i’ve been standing here for over ten minutes and you are nowhere in sight

Marcus: i’m basically there

Jason: basically there is not the same as there

Marcus: it’s the same energy

Jason: it is not the same energy marcus

A pause followed, longer than the previous ones.

Jason allowed himself a small, satisfied smirk at having apparently won that particular round.

His phone buzzed one more time.

Marcus: in order! i am currently three minutes from arrival. give or take. mostly give.

Jason shook his head and pocketed the phone.

Sure enough, roughly three minutes later, give or take, mostly give, Marcus came jogging around the corner with the easy, unbothered confidence of a man who genuinely didn’t consider being late a character flaw worth addressing.

"There he is," Jason said, arms crossed. "The man himself. Only slightly deceased of honesty."

"I prefer ’optimistic about my own timeline.’" Marcus slowed to a stop in front of him, grinning and entirely unrepentant. "Also, technically, I was nearby. Geographically speaking."

"You were three streets over, minimum."

"Three streets is nearby. This is a big city, Jason. Adjust your expectations."

"My expectations were adjusted years ago. That’s exactly why I called it out immediately instead of waiting around like an idiot."

"Rude. I would’ve been here eventually."

"That’s not comforting. That’s the entire problem."

Marcus laughed and clapped a hand on Jason’s shoulder as they started walking together toward Amanda’s building.

"Alright, alright, get off my back. We’ve got a party to get to, and I’d like to actually arrive at a socially acceptable time, given how much grief you’re giving me about being late."

They walked in easy silence for half a block before Marcus glanced over. Something more genuinely curious had crept into his expression.

"So. Real talk. What’s the actual deal with you and Amanda? Ben mentioned something but wouldn’t give me details, which, frankly, is very unlike him."

Jason exhaled, deciding there wasn’t much point dodging this one. Not with Marcus, who’d find out eventually anyway and would only make the process more dramatic if he had to extract it piece by piece.

"She rejected me"

Marcus stopped walking for a second.

Actually stopped.

He turned to look at Jason properly.

"Wait. She rejected you? As in, you told her, and she said no?"

"That’s generally what rejected means, yeah."

"I didn’t know you’d even told her."

Marcus fell back into step beside him. Something more subdued had entered his voice now. Genuine surprise rather than his usual performative shock.

"That’s rough, man. I had no idea. Ben really didn’t say anything?"

"Ben knows the broad strokes. Guess he left the details to me."

"Well, damn."

Marcus shook his head slowly.

"Sorry, man. Genuinely."

"It’s fine. It happened. I’m processing it in my own extremely healthy and normal way."

Which currently involves a floating notification threatening my body over attendance requirements, but sure, let’s go with "processing it."

Marcus studied him for a second.

Then the question Jason had been half-expecting finally landed.

"So if she rejected you, why are you going to her party tonight? Genuinely asking. That seems like the opposite of what most people would do."

Right. Here we go.

Jason ran through his options fast. It was the same mental scramble from that morning with Ben, except this time he had slightly more practice at it.

Can’t say system. Can’t say penalty. Can’t say anything close to the truth.

He landed on something adjacent. Close enough to plausible that it might actually hold up under Marcus’s questioning, which tended to be more persistent than Ben’s.

"Figured avoiding her forever wasn’t exactly a sustainable plan," he said. "We’re in the same friend group. Same classes sometimes. Better to just show up, be normal about it, and get the awkward first interaction out of the way in a low-stakes setting instead of letting it build up into something bigger."

Marcus considered that for a second, then nodded slowly.

"Huh. That’s actually pretty mature of you."

"I have my moments."

"Rare moments, but sure."

Marcus grinned, apparently satisfied with the explanation.

Jason let out a small, private breath of relief that it had actually landed.

"Alright, respect. Facing it head-on. I can get behind that."

They walked another block before Marcus’s expression shifted into something more mischievous.

Jason recognized the look immediately.

It was the exact same one Ben got right before deploying a topic specifically designed to be annoying.

"So," Marcus said, drawing the word out. "Ben also mentioned you guys ran into Vivian at the gym this morning."

"Of course he did."

"Said she came up to you. Introduced herself. Had a whole conversation."

Marcus’s grin widened.

"Also said you’ve apparently started working out now, which, forgive me, is possibly even more shocking than the Amanda thing."

"It’s not that shocking."

"Jason. You once described the gym as, and I quote, ’a subscription model for guilt.’ Ben told me that specific phrase months ago and I still think about it sometimes."

"I’m allowed to change my mind about things."

"You’re allowed. I just find the timing extremely suspicious. Gym starts the same week a pretty girl from your class starts talking to you there. Coincidence?"

"Complete coincidence."

"Uh huh."

Marcus didn’t look remotely convinced, but he let it go with the easy grace of a man who knew there’d be plenty more opportunities to bring it back up later.

"Alright. We’ll revisit this. For now, let’s get to this party before I have to hear you complain about my punctuality one more time."

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