The sound of Olivia’s alarm clock woke me up. My silly zombie wobbled towards the shower while I went to cook breakfast. Nothing unusual.

***

I ate my food while listening to Olivia's retelling of her dream—something about her being a cat and having fun chasing after a butterfly. Overall, her story didn’t make all that much sense to me, but dreams rarely do.

I kept my silence, attentively listening to my animatedly gesturing girlfriend. Well, all is well if she was enjoying it that much, I guess.

My phone buzzed with a new message. I threw a quick glance at the screen, and it was a random number with a message that looked exactly like typical spam.

“Olivia,” I said, finding a pause in her story as my silly girl was busy drinking her coffee. “I don’t think I will be returning today.”

“Oh.” The girl across the table nodded. “Yeah, I was expecting it. Say hi to Bella for me.”

Those words were said in a cheerful tone, without missing a bit. There was not even a single note of hesitation or deception anywhere in her tone, expression, or body language.

“I will.” I agreed. “Oh, I also gave your number to Helen.”

I dropped another bombshell to test her reaction.

“Mmm?” Olivia raised an eyebrow, caught off guard in mid-bite of her toast.

I patiently waited until she finished chewing.

“Why would you do that?” My girlfriend asked, genuine confusion clear on her not-yet-makeup-marred face.

“She asked.” I shrugged, enjoying the bewildered expression on my girlfriend's pretty visage. “I also think that Helen could use another friend. Or a few.”

I took a sip of my coffee, giving Olivia time to digest what she just heard.

“Does she really?” I heard a large amount of skepticism in her voice.

“Whether you believe it or not, that girl is a certified loner. As far as I know, she has exactly one close friend.” I replied.

“Huh?” Skepticism turned into disbelief. “I mean, she is, well, she.”

My silly girl doubled her explanation with animated gesturing. Yeah, Helen certainly was Helen.

“Comes with being the only heiress of one of Three Families. Then add superb looks and way above-average cognitive functions from years of careful selection.” I explained. “Half of the people are too scared to approach in the first place. Out of those who left, the vast majority were filtered out for having ulterior motives, whether by her or her grandpa. And the rest, en masse, are simply boring.”

A light of understanding lit up in Olivia’s eyes.

“And you think that I can get through those filters?” My silly girl questioned.

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“Well, you certainly weren’t scared of her when you ogled her yesterday.” My words made her cover her face with her palms.

“I am a guarantee that you don’t need to have ulterior motives regarding her.” I continued, not even masking the amusement in my voice. “Well, beyond the obvious.”

My girlfriend groaned.

“And she herself said that you are quite an interesting one.” I finished my words and took another sip from my cup.

I caught Olivia staring at me through her fingers. Eh, everything that needed to be said already was, so I just shrugged in response.

“Is this another of those ‘do whatever you want’ of yours?” Followed a question from her.

“Nah, in this case, I would certainly prefer it if you did as I asked.” I shook my head.

My girlfriend let out a long sigh and focused on her food. I did the same. The situation was certainly one of those where haste could lead to waste.

“I’ll do my best. But you should understand that a lot will depend on her, as well as whether we will hit it off at all.” Olivia responded in a serious tone after a while.

Her words made me smile.

“Good girl.” I plopped my hand on top of her head.

My silly girl gave me a brief glare. Luckily, she hasn’t done her hair yet.

“You really enjoy doing this, aren’t you?” She still nuzzled into my hand.

“A lot.” The truth.

***

Su arrived on time to pick Olivia up, and I was left alone.

What should I do to kill time? I was tempted to ask Helen for a date, but it would be a disaster if Bella called before we ended it.

So I decided to read a bit more of my chat backlog.

I noticed a ‘new message’ notification, and the tap brought me to the chat with Helen.

Me: [hey yourself, wanna go on a date or something?]

Helen: [Yes. Let’s go. When? Where? I’m ready at any time. Just call me when you decide. I know that one great place... ]

I looked at the shortened message a few times and closed the Messenger app. Should I rename her contact? I really underestimated the amount of crazy in that kooky girl.

Now, what should I do?

Olivia just left for school, duh. And Claire was out of town.

I was too lazy to go for a run. But the excuse I conceived for myself was, ‘What if Bella called while I’m in the middle of my route?’. Yeah.

I looked at the phone once more. Nah.

After a bit of contemplation, I decided to get ready and visit the gym instead. I've really slacked out too much lately.

After choosing the outfit that Bella would have approved of, I double-checked my earbuds. They were actually fully charged, even though I didn’t remember doing so. I guess I should thank Olivia for it later.

***

The gym was, for the most part, empty. It was that dead time zone when the morning rush of people who work out before going to work had already ended, but the second wave was nowhere in sight yet.

I looked around, thinking about what muscle group I should work on today. The answer was anything that I felt like, since most of the equipment was unoccupied. Two people were doing some CrossFit on the other side of the gym. One person was busy with free weights.

The last one was someone doing a bench press. Judging by the amount of weight on the bar and slight tremble in those arms, coupled with the lack of spotter, this person was suicidal.

I shook my head and changed my path to be closer to the bench. Just in case something happened. All in all, I was in a great mood, and doing something good once in a while wouldn’t break my back.

Just as I thought about that, the person lost their grip on the bar. I lunged forward, managing to catch it at the last moment. Man. What the fuck?

My disapproving gaze met the shell-shocked stare of the familiar violet eyes. Huh?

“Nice to meet you too, Lyta.” I greeted the young woman.