Jack, his best friend from college

Jack checked his phone again, looking at the ever latening hour and at the lack of notification from Aaron. On occasion, he would get a message from Delia and roll his eyes. Obviously, if he had heard from him, he would have updated her, so he had no idea what she hoped to accomplish with her constant checking for updates. It didn't help that his daughter Jenna looked up at him from the other side of the couch every time a message tone came up on his phone, as though she were expecting an update herself.

He and Jenna were seated in their living room, watching some anime movie that Jenna had insisted they watch, causing Jack to grumble about how he had mostly managed to avoid watching anime for nearly two decades of being friends with Aaron, but found himself powerless to his daughter's simple proclamation. Still, despite his groaning, he realized how happy he was that his daughter still tolerated spending time with him. Delia often reminded him how lucky he was that, despite the challenges he'd faced raising Jenna as a young single father, she still chose to live at home, frequently spend time with him, and even accept a part-time position as a hostess at the restaurant while she continued her studies. Most children, she pointed out, wanted as little to do with their parents as possible as soon as they got their driver's license; the fact that she still wanted to be around him as she entered her mid-twenties was nothing short of miraculous.

Delia had been a good friend since Jenna's mother had left. The two had had similar experiences in their divorces and had bonded after meeting in a support group for divorcees. The two had discussed their dreams of opening a game shop and restaurant and realized their ideas were oddly compatible, giving birth to the Raven's Roost. It had been a gift to see their vision come to life, especially when his old friend Aaron and then Jenna joined the shop. The restaurant had generally done better than the game shop, but Jack was happy to help support the other side of the business, even after many people had advised him that it might be better to unburden his small but successful restaurant by separating it from the anchor of the game shop. The nights of having an employee game night with his best friend, business partner, daughter, and beloved employees made it all worth it.

Still, those nights had begun to lose their spark as Aaron stopped attending game nights and the staff dwindled. He checked his phone as he thought of his friend, who had been becoming more and more reclusive over the past several years. He knew, at this point, that he and Jenna were the only ones that Aaron still socialized with outside of work. They had met in college when they'd been assigned to a group project in an elective class. Jack had instantly grown fond of the freshman's passion, and the two had remained friends ever since, though various circumstances had occasionally caused them to lose touch for long periods. It hurt him to see his old friend slowly fading away.

As he prepared three more messages, one to Sebastian, asking about how the recipe he'd recommended had gone, one for Aaron, asking for an update, and one for Delia, assuring her that he would let her know as soon as he heard anything, there was a sudden flash of light, and he found himself somewhere else.

Even through his haze, Aaron was ecstatic to hear that the woman he had been expecting wouldn’t be coming for a little while longer and, instead, his best friend appeared. He was several inches taller than Aaron, with a similar, though more fit, build. He was a pale man with dark, nearly black, curly hair, kept short. They’d provided him a chair as well, and, based on his pose, it looks like he’d been up watching TV, looking at something on his phone.

"Jack Isaac has been Aaron’s best friend since college, where the two met through a group project when Aaron was a freshman and stayed in touch, even after Jack graduated. The two have drifted together and apart through the years, but they’ve managed to reconnect and have become extremely close since Jack got Aaron a job at the Raven’s Roost. Jack is a sports fan, especially of baseball and basketball, and works as the head chef and general manager of the restaurant side of the shop, which he and Delia co-founded. He is 39 years old and a divorced, single father of one, which is especially lucky for us, since it means we got two contestants for the price of one. So, let’s meet his daughter Jenna!"