I took my time rereading those short messages a few more times.

Yeah. Right. Man. I was kind of fucked, wasn’t I? Then again, this feeling of uncertainty, coupled with the genuine desire for a certain outcome, felt so refreshing. Interesting even.

I raised my eyes from the phone screen and looked around the room. I was currently nestled into one of the bean bags in the corner, with a big cup of green tea in my hand and my smartphone in the other.

Olivia bought this cup for me as a joke. Something about those goofy-looking owls drawn all over it was a complete mismatch with my usual image. According to my girlfriend, that is.

Jokes on her! I adored this cup.

The two girls were currently busy as Helen helped Olivia with her homework. Almost the same scene, with Claire in my darling’s place, overlapped with my current vision.

Oh, right, Claire. What should I do about her now? She brought the same feeling of peace into my life as Olivia did, and last week made it clear just how attractive I really thought she was.

I was also very curious about the reasoning behind her involvement in this whole situation. I wasn’t complaining, whatever it was, but...

My phone pinged a few more times. Whoever might've been it this time?

It was a long and very wordy message from Lady in Black that could've been summarized into ‘Tian, we need to meet’. I guess it was actually something that needed to be done.

As soon as I get that qipao for Bella ready. There was a certain order to everything in life, and I certainly wanted the first woman I introduced to my… family to be a special one.

I wrote back an answer, which could be summed up as ‘At the earliest convenience, but not today or tomorrow’ and sent it.

I took another chug out of my cup. Maybe we should buy a few different kinds? I was getting tired of this one’s taste

And threw another glance at the duo of my girlfriends. Helen, who got semi-decent, both to my relief and disappointment, was lecturing Olivia, who was just as dressed—my t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

The skeptical part of my rationale tried to bring up the unpleasant thought. How much of it was a facade? But I refused to entertain it for more than an instant because, obviously, the answer was close to ‘the whole’.

I wasn’t naive enough to think otherwise. Not at such short notice. And not for those two girls in particular. Especially with my darling, who definitely wasn’t used to the whole idea of sharing.

She was certainly kooky enough to actually fulfill her promises, though. Or maybe it will end with me waking up chained to the bed in an undisclosed location one day.

I winced, seriously weighing down the probabilities of that happening. Whatever higher power was fucking with my life, I pray to you, please don’t.

Another ping from my phone got me out of this train of thought.

Nicole: [Michael. I still haven’t forgotten that humiliation and will repay you soon. Just wait, you little bastard.]

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

I guess this was her way of telling me she was fine. Hm, what should I respond to her with?

Me: [glad you are okay]

Me: [I expect you to work hard on repaying this debt]

Hm, I reread the second message a few more times, trying to decide if I should send something so easily misinterpreted. I sent it either way. To be honest, I felt curious about how far Nicole was ready to take this game.

My messages were left on read. Fuck you too, Roah.

***

I finished the rest of the backlog. Same old, same old. Except this time, I paid more attention to the messages about possible work.

Last week showed me how much I craved opportunities to let out some steam. Ugh.

My tea was already lukewarm, so I gulped down the rest of it. Should I refill my cup? Nah, I felt too lazy to move.

I looked at the time—around one in the afternoon.

“Hey, girls,” I called out. “Any plans for later today?”

“I am totally free for the whole week.” Helen was first to respond. A bit later, she added, “Though, I would need to meet Grandpa at some point to get my phone back. And to learn about the date for that interview.”

“Nothing, really,” Olivia also joined in the conversation. “I thought about just chilling and bingeing on some TV drama that Mimi recommended.”

Oh, great.

“Let’s go on a date.” I beamed a smile.

“Who?” They chorused.

I mean, why the hell not?

“Both of you.” I replied naturally.

The two girls looked at each other. Then at me. Then again at each other. Two beautiful faces had an expression of disbelief written all over them.

“Sure, darling,” Helen replied instantly, her usual confidence returning.

“Of course, honey,” Olivia said, with much less assurance in her tone. Which she tried to mask with a joke, “Would this lowly commoner need a new dress for the fancy place you have in mind?”

Huh, right, the question of ‘where to’ kind of escaped my attention right until this very moment.

“I actually thought about going for more of that ‘normal’ stuff we did last week,” I winged. “I mean, you wanted to bring more colors into my wardrobe.”

Helen was ready to say something when she heard the first part of my phrase, but the latter one made her rethink this notion.

I suppose my hunch about my definitely-no-ex-anymore girlfriend wanting that as well was right on the money.

“So, honey, what gives?” I heard a question from Olivia.

My silly girl managed to read me. Ah, I felt so proud.

“I just got a message from Bella,” I decided to explain. “She’s coming back tomorrow.”

My girlfriend shook her head with a heavy sigh and went to start choosing her outfit.

“That Alvarez woman?” Helen chimed in with a question of her own.

“Yep.” I nodded.

“And how are those two things connected?” My darling sounded confused.

I paused for a moment, looking for a simple way to explain it all.

“Bella went on a business trip last Sunday,” Olivia responded in my place. “I guess Honey is thinking that she will kill him.”

“Really?” My darling sounded shocked as she looked at me for confirmation.

“Yeah,” I admitted with a shrug. “I mean, there is so much stuff I’ll need to explain to her, it’s not even funny.”

Like how I have two fiancées out of thin air, as well as the Kouzuki twins and me becoming two different heirs of two major clans. Yeah, this will be an interesting conversation, for sure.

The feeling of being completely lost must’ve shown on my face because young Lady Smith started laughing.

“So, it’s a last supper of sorts for you?” She asked with tears of mirth in her blue eyes.

I refrained from making additional comments.