"Shit..." Gray looked at his phone in disbelief.
"Really? Just when I was about to do something important?" He stared at his phone screen as if it had just insulted him personally.
Gray checked his phone again, and sure enough, there it was.
Remaining load balance: 0
"..."
Gray stood still under the tree for a good three seconds, then he dragged his hand up to his face and sighed hard.
"I was nervous for no reason!" he said, almost offended at himself.
"I hyped myself up... even thinking of encouraging words to build up all that courage and I can't even make the damn call?"
Gray looked up at the sky dramatically.
"Really?" he muttered. "I have a fancy black card, and some money, and I don't even have enough for a single call?"
[Ding!]
[Host, would you like to load your phone using system funds?]
"Yes, please," Gray sighed and shook his head. "Put 10 bucks in and let me talk to a human being."
[Top-up complete.]
[ $10 has been deducted from your balance.]
[Remaining balance: $9,990]
"Okay. Round two." Gray redialed Emily's number once again.
The line rang, and he was confident enough that it would push through.
Kringgg
Kringgg
Krin--
"Hello?"
After two rings, a soft and melodious voice sounded on the other end of the phone. Emily's voice was warm and calm, just as he remembered.
"Oh, hi! Emily? It's me, Gray from yesterday." Gray blinked, somehow unsure of how to start the conversation between the two of them.
"..."
There was a small silence before Emily's cheerful voice sounded.
"Gray! Hey! I was wondering if you'd call."
Emily was surprised to hear a call from Gray, but it wasn't that bad. After all, she had gotten a little bit curious on him, especially on the card that he owned.
"Yeah, I wasn't planning on making a call but, oh well... here I am," Gray scratched the back of his head, his voice light but honest. "Figured I'd stop being a coward."
"Coward? You? You seemed pretty bold yesterday, especially when you paid for your own bill and left Nathan speechless." Emily let out a soft laugh on the other end.
Truth to be told, Emily and Chloe didn't like Nathan that much. They only agreed to eat out with him because he said they'll talk about business. But that wasn't what happened yesterday.
"Thanks," Gray answered with a small smile playing on his lips. "Well, it wasn't intentional. Maybe, just a bit."
"So, you hate him, huh?" Emily raised her brows. She was alone at her office, so she had all the time in her world right now.
"Yup. You can tell that."
"Oh well, I don't like him either."
"Really?"
"Yup..." There was a brief pause on Emily's answer before she continued. "Honestly, we were already thinking of dropping him altogether. We've heard stories about how he really is behind closed doors, but since he was nice to us, then we ignored it."
"I can believe that" Gray said with a quiet laugh. "He's always been like that ever since. Only nice to the people who could be beneficial to him."
"Yeah, exactly." Emily's voice softened again.
"So, what about today?" Emily asked curiously. "What made you call?"
'I guess small talks are done now, huh?'
Gray took a small breath. He figured there was no use of dancing around it. He had already promised himself that he would be honest.
"Well, to tell you the truth... I'm broke," he said with a short chuckle, trying to keep the atmosphere light.. "The money I spent yesterday was all I had. Literally, every cent I had left. So, I figured I should stop acting like I have time and start looking for something serious."
Emily listened attentively on the other side of the call.
"I see..." Emily's voice grew a little softer.
"I'm not trying to guilt-trip you or anything like that," Gray quickly added. "I just thought that maybe your company's hiring. I'd take anything, really. I don't care if it's low-level. I just need a place to start. I've done physical work, delivery, warehouse stuff, cleaning, you name it."
There was another short silence.
"Oh no," Emily said as she gasped. "I'm sorry, Gray, but we're actually not hiring right now. At least not officially."
Emily pressed her lips together. Her heart felt heavy and in awe as if it was bothering her that she can't do anything about it.
"Well," Gray nodded slowly, even if she couldn't see it. "That's fine," he said, trying not to sound disappointed. "I figured it was a long shot."
"But..." Emily's voice went up a little. She just suddenly thought of something. A job. Though she didn't know if Gray would be up for it.
"Actually, now that I think about it... me and my sister were discussing something recently. It's not a job that's open to the public, but we've been talking about it internally."
"Oh?" Gray raised an eyebrow, intrigued by it.
"Yeah," she said, now sounding slightly excited. "I don't want to say anything too much over the phone, but... how about we meet for lunch tomorrow? I'll explain everything then."
"Lunch?" Gray blinked. "Yeah. Sure. That sounds good."
"Great," Emily replied warmly. "I'll text you the location. Let's say around 12:30? It's a nice place, casual. Don't stress about dressing up."
"Got it," Gray smiled. "Thanks, Emily. Really."
"You don't have to thank me yet," she chuckled. "Let's see if it works out first."
After a few seconds, their call ended with a soft click.
"Hmm..." Gray looked at his phone, then let out a breath and a quiet laugh.
He turned his gaze back toward the park, where Lily was still sitting. As he thought of it, the corner of his lips rose to a playful grin.
"Step one done..." he muttered to himself.
"Let's see what happens at lunch. I wonder what Emily got for me."