Chapter 107: Towards Happiness
Once he finished laughing and cooled down, Caleb leaned back in his chair. He glanced over at the six girls and then turned his attention back to Eric.
"So... out of those six, which one are you picking?" Caleb asked.
Eric nearly choked on his coffee, letting out a sharp "cough... cough" as the liquid caught in his throat. Caleb stood up, intending to pat Eric’s back, but before he could move, six shadows suddenly blurred across the room and swarmed Eric. The sudden movement caught Caleb completely off guard.
"Hey... are you okay?" Priya asked anxiously, rubbing Eric’s back.
"You’re coughing so hard... are you getting sick again?" Emma asked, immediately placing her hand against Eric’s forehead.
"Oh man... you really should have changed your clothes first earlier," Heidi added, holding Eric’s hand.
"If you’re tired, how about we go upstairs and sleep?" Monica suggested, massaging his shoulders.
"If you need a doctor, I’ll call an ambulance," Chloe chimed in, already pulling out her smartphone while holding his other hand.
"Drink some water first," Laura said, pressing a glass of water against Eric’s lips.
The six girls doted on Eric entirely, completely ignoring Caleb as if he were just some random mosquito sitting across the table. Caleb just smiled, pulled out his smartphone, and snapped a photo of the rare scene playing out in front of him. He immediately shared it with two people, Avery and Jade, adding the caption: "Just give it up, Jade. You lose no matter what. You’re better off actually focusing on nursing school and clearing your head."
Almost instantly, three dots popped up at the bottom of the group chat. Avery was typing a message, but then the dots disappeared, reappeared, and finally her reply came through.
"Jade probably won’t see your message, she just left because Mike came to pick her up... hopefully they can work things out," Avery texted back.
Reading Avery’s text, Caleb immediately dialed his fiancée. It only rang a couple of times before she picked up.
"Mike came to our apartment?" Caleb asked.
"Yeah... just a minute ago. I was actually just about to sit back down on the couch," Avery answered.
"Hmm... is he planning to patch things up, or what?" Caleb asked.
"I’m not sure... but after you left... Jade did mention that she regretted taking Mike for granted when he was so good to her and loved her with all his heart. She feels stupid... it looks like she finally woke up because of what Eric said to her... then she sent a text, and an hour later, Mike showed up," Avery explained, laying out the whole situation.
"Hmm... I see," Caleb muttered, his eyes drifting back to Eric, who was currently trying his best to convince the six girls to go back to their own seats.
"Are you still there? Say hi to Eric and the others for me. What time are you coming home?" Avery asked.
"In a bit, I’ll bring some food back with me," Caleb replied.
"Okay... I’ll let you go then, I want to get some rest," Avery said.
"Yeah," Caleb replied.
Caleb hung up, placed his phone back on the table, and looked at Eric. Eric was looking completely disheveled after being fussed over by the six girls, who had finally returned to their neighboring table. Caleb smiled and leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.
"You look pretty happy right now," Caleb teased.
"Hmm," Eric thought about Caleb’s words seriously. He really should feel happy after everything he had been through, but right now, he felt a strange emptiness despite having six people filling his heart. Still, he was confident that he would find his happiness eventually. He looked at Caleb and smiled.
"I’m on my way there," Eric replied with a grin.
"Fair enough, I’m sure you’ll get there," Caleb said, smiling back.
"Yep... absolutely," Eric replied.
"Avery just told me it looks like Jade snapped out of it after talking to you earlier. She texted Mike, and he picked her up from my apartment," Caleb said.
"Hmm... well, that’s good then. Oh yeah... can I get Mike’s number?" Eric asked, pulling out his smartphone.
"Oh? What for?" Caleb asked, confused.
"I want to ask around about his older brother. If you’re going to collaborate with someone, you should probably get to know them first, right?" Eric answered.
"Oh... you’re planning to join Trinity Entertainment?" Caleb asked.
"I don’t know yet, but even if I wanted to sign with a label, Trinity Entertainment would be my first choice. That’s why I want to know what kind of guy Anthony is. From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t seem like your typical manager," Eric replied. "The real reason is because I hold a 5% stake in that company, so of course I’d have a say if we want to do a collaboration," Eric thought to himself.
"Oh, if that’s the case, then sure. But let me ask Mike first later, it feels a bit wrong to just give it out without asking," Caleb said, typing out a message.
"Sounds good, no rush," Eric said.
As Caleb finished typing his message, "ding," a notification popped up on his smartphone. He flipped his phone over and looked so shocked he nearly jumped out of his seat. The notification was from his banking app, and when he opened it, a deposit of $100,000.00 was sitting in his account. He immediately snapped his head up to look at Eric.
"Did you... transfer me money?" Caleb asked.
"Yep, to help out with the upcoming birth," Eric replied casually.
"Man... you really didn’t have to, let me send it back," Caleb countered.
"Don’t you dare. Take a break and stop pulling overtime constantly. You want to actually be around when your kid is born, right? Don’t go kicking the bucket before your baby even gets here—you seriously look like a dead man walking right now," Eric said, holding his palm up toward Caleb’s face.
"But... even if I don’t pull overtime, I still have work responsibilities. Plus, if any issues pop up, I’m the one who gets called into the office even in the middle of the night," Caleb said.
"Then just go talk to your boss, or better yet, his daughter right over there," Eric said, pointing his thumb toward Priya at the next table.
Seeing Eric point at Priya and hearing his words, Caleb froze. He slowly turned his head to look at Priya, who was happily eating a slice of cheesecake, and then looked back at Eric.
"She’s... the daughter of Mr. Amar Reddy and Mrs. Layla Reddy?" Caleb asked.
"Yep... you work at Red-Horizon Corporation, right?" Eric asked.
"Yeah... that’s right... how did you know?" Caleb asked, completely bewildered.
"Come on... I know where you work, why is that what surprises you? But how come you aren’t surprised that I somehow have your bank account number?" Eric asked.
It instantly clicked for Caleb. He had never given Eric his account number, and a sudden wave of realization washed over him. He kept staring at Eric like he was looking at a complex puzzle that needed solving, while Eric simply picked up his cup and took a sip of his coffee, thoroughly enjoying the look of utter confusion on Caleb’s face.
"Thank you, Katie. If you hadn’t shown me the corporate data, employee rosters, and payroll sheets for every single company I hold shares in, I never would’ve known, haha," Eric thought to himself.
After a few moments, Caleb finally leaned back and let out a sigh of relief. He looked down one last time at the figures on his smartphone screen, then looked back up at Eric.
"Alright then... I’ll take it. Thanks, man... if you ever need any help, just say the word," Caleb said, closing out his banking app.
"Sure... you’re welcome. If I ever need a hand, I’ll let you know. Hey... come with me for a second," Eric said, standing up.
"Oh... where are we going?" Caleb asked, confused.
"Just come on," Eric replied. Then, he turned to face the girls. "Guys, I’m heading out for a bit with Caleb. I’ll be right back, just wait here," Eric said.
"Okay," the six girls replied cheerfully, still thoroughly enjoying their pastries and chatting up a storm.
Eric led Caleb out of the cafe and over to the parking lot next to Tower A, stopping right in front of his RV. Naturally, Caleb’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.
"You bought one of these? How much did it set you back?" Caleb asked.
"Don’t worry about the price. Next week I’m taking this out for a road trip. Do you and Avery want to tag along?" Eric offered.
"Man... I’ll have to ask Avery first... I don’t dare make a call like that without checking with her. You know how it is, she’s heavily pregnant and her mood swings are all over the place. Total hormone city," Caleb said.
"Yeah, I get it," Eric replied.
"By the way, your sister bought a new ride too, a red BMW," Caleb mentioned.
"I know. She probably badgered her dad for it. Just let her be," Eric shot back.
"But word on the street is your dad’s company is tanking... their stock plummeted, and a ton of clients are pulling their projects out of there. Massive reputation issues," Caleb said.
"Not my problem, let it burn," Eric replied.
"Wow... cold. That’s exactly why I like you, haha," Caleb said, patting Eric on the back.
After checking out the RV, they headed back into the cafe until Caleb finally excused himself to grab some food for his wife, leaving Eric behind at the cafe with the girls.
