Elias pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. A sudden realisation appeared on his face when he saw the familiar name. He quickly picked up the call and placed it on his ear.
"Hello?" Elias said.
"Elias! Is that you?" a masculine voice sounded from the phone speaker.
"Yes, it's me. How are you doing, Jason?" Elias asked, his tone filled with amusement. Jason was a close colleague at the local courier delivery company, where he worked part-time alongside his server work at Celestial Dining. Due to the events of the previous days, he had forgotten to call in to resign from his job.
"Thank goodness it's you! Where have you been? I haven't seen you in almost a week. Mrs Wales has already fired you for not turning up. Unfortunately, I had some issues with my smartphone. If not, I would have called you. Sorry, bro."
Listening to Jason's voice, which became quieter as he continued to speak until he ended his sentence, Elias couldn't help but shake his head with a light smile.
"It's okay; I was already planning to resign, so at least I don't need to show up now," Elias responded.
The voice on the side immediately became silent before asking, "Did you find a better job?"
"No, I haven't, but I'm still searching," Elias responded. He didn't plan on revealing the system's existence, even if the other party was his friend. "I'll see you later, Jason. It was nice talking to you one last time," he added.
However, just as he was about to disconnect the call, Jason's voice swiftly rang out, "Wait!! Come on, aren't we friends? Don't cut me off like that!! Let's meet and catch up on what's been going on in each other's lives one last time."
Elias exhaled tiredly. He knew that Jason didn't believe him he hadn't found another job yet, which was understandable considering that he was always in need of money and searching for a better job to work.
"I'm sorry, Jason, but I'm quite busy," Elias responded, not seeing any reason to meet up since he still had to figure out ways to progress his relationship with Emily and also search for a new house to buy and expand for his modes of income.
"The bill is on me!" Jason swiftly responded.
Elias hesitated briefly before shaking his head in response. "I have other things to take care of and don't think I'll have the time for us to hang out," he said.
"Sigh! Okay. See you later then."
Hearing the depressing response from the phone speaker, Elias sighed before responding, "I think that I can manage to meet up one last time. However, I'm swamped right now, so we'll have to fix a later time.'
A loud sigh of relief came from the other side of the phone, "No problem. I'll text you the location later."
"Okay. We'll see later then," Elias responded, immediately disconnecting the call as he focused his attention forward on Emily, who was swiftly approaching him with an excited expression.
'Now, I won't be able to eat anymore,' Elias thought, understanding that he had to return to his previous character to avoid arousing too much suspicion from Emily.
Elias also looked around for Nathan and Zoe, who were still nearby. A quiet sigh escaped their lips, seeing as they weren't.
Emily quickly arrived before him and embraced him.
"Thank you. I had so much fun," Emily said appreciatively, tightening her limbs around Elias and burying her head into his chest.
[ Update! Emily's affection for you has increased by 4% ]
[ Update! Emily's affection for you has increased by 3% ]
"It appears that you thoroughly enjoyed yourselves," Elias said with a smile, his inner self rejoicing at the tremendous increase in Emily's affection for him.
Elias also noticed that people were beginning to observe them, which was understandable, considering how Emily hugged him. However, he didn't shy away from their gaze or feel embarrassed. He hugged Emily, returning her affection. He was her boyfriend now, so he did not need to shrink back from this level of affection in public.
Quickly recomposing herself as she sensed the gazes directed towards them, Emily released her grip from Elias and arranged her attire properly before refocusing her eyes on Elias with a bright smile.
"Here, have a look," Emily said, opening the back of a book in her hand and showing him the unique signature at the top of the page.
"After I entered the VIP lounge, I had a private book signing, a meet-and-greet with Isaac Hart, and even the opportunity to take one-on-one photos with him. Look, here is it," Emily said, swiftly bringing out her phone to show Elias a photo of her with an unfamiliar, fair-skinned middle-aged man dressed in a blue branded polo shirt and jeans.
"Unfortunately, you weren't around, or else you would have understood how exciting it was," she added, a long tired escaping her lips.
Although she had more fun than she had expected within the VIP lounge, without Elias's presence, she always felt as though something was missing, making her unable to enjoy herself thoroughly. This was why she had rushed out of the VIP lounge to spend the remaining time with Elias before the main event began.
"Didn't I tell you not to worry about me? As long as you're happy, that's all that matters," Elias replied, his voice gentle.
[ Update! Emily's affection for you has increased by 1% ]
Upon hearing Elias's words, Emily's heart skipped a beat. She had thought she could guard her heart during this date to learn more about Elias without falling for him even more. However, she quickly realised how difficult that would be.
Nonetheless, she was glad he wasn't annoyed with spending the time alone.
Emily nodded at his words. "Hey, I wanted to ask you something," Emily said.
"What is it?" Elias replied calmly, though his heart was racing at Emily's sudden question. Judging by her curious expression, he knew it wouldn't be easy.
"Well, since you're rich, why didn't you purchase a VIP ticket so we could spend time together throughout the event?" Emily asked, narrowing her gaze at Elias as she awaited his response.