The sun was about to set in Esmea at five-thirty in the afternoon.
Inside a small meeting room, Angela's discussion with Becca and the manager was a breeze. They talked about specifics on the characters in her story. And it was such a thrill talking about them as if they were coming to life. Angela could already imagine them in the app, just like how she played a story in the past, and it got her excited. She couldn't wait for its release.
Nina was supposed to accompany her that day, but her best friend had some matters to attend to. Just as the meeting came to an end, Angela's phone rang. The three of them were still inside the meeting room, and the other two started to pack their things. She stared at her phone screen, wondering who was calling her. She usually wouldn't answer unlisted phone numbers, but she didn't cancel it when she saw the area code and realized that it wasn't from Esmea. It couldn't be Evan's.
After hesitating, she picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Angela? This is Angela Su, right?" probed the man from the other line.
Her brows furrowed when she noticed the familiar voice but wasn't sure who it was. "Yes, speaking. Who is this?"
He let out a sigh of relief and then chuckled as if hearing her voice made him happy. "You never called me," he said.
"I'm sorry, who—"
"It's Vincent Stone."
That's when it dawned to her whose voice it was that seemed familiar. No wonder. She chuckled. "I never said I would call you, Mr. Stone."
"You didn't. But I still wished you had."
She rolled her eyes, but a small smile formed on her face. "What can I do for you?"
"Just thought I'd give you a call and tell you that I'm flying back to Mayne soon."
"I see… When are you arriving?"
There was a sound of horns honking in the background before Vincent responded, "Wednesday. How about we grab something to eat?"
Another cheerful laugh left her lips as she got up and gathered her things. She imagined that Vincent was driving somewhere in California, and he was talking to her on the phone. He sounded like he was smiling when he asked her out, and the image of his smug look amused her. "What makes you think I would want to meet up with you?"
"Because it's just casual. We don't even have to meet for dinner."
"Casual, huh? Mr. Stone… I don't think so."
"Vincent. Please call me Vincent, Angela."
"Fine. Vincent." She rolled her eyes again, and subtly shook her head. "Still. I don't think it's a good idea."
"Why not? We're friends, aren't we?" he asked with a simple directness in his tone. "You know… I don't usually get excited going back to Mayne whenever I travel, but now I'm actually looking forward going there. Come on. It's been three months. Let's catch up."
Angela chewed on her bottom lip as she considered his offer. "Just catching up…"
"Yes. Why don't we meet on Thursday? No. Wait. Wednesday."
"I thought you were arriving on Wednesday?"
"Yeah. So I'm meeting you as soon as I land. What do you say?"
Only realizing that she had been on the phone for a while, she looked around and saw that the room was already empty, and the door was ajar. It looked like Becca and the manager gave her some privacy when she received the phone call.
Angela contemplated for a few seconds and let out a soft sigh before answering, "Fine. Lunch. Wednesday. I think I can meet you."
"Great!" Vincent's voice changed, and she could imagine him grinning from ear to ear. "Save my number. I'll pick you up."
…
Meanwhile, Becca was right outside the door eavesdropping.
When she noticed that the phone call had ended, she dashed towards the reception area and waited for Angela to come out. The two bid farewell, and as soon as Angela was out of sight, Becca went up to her office.
…
When Angela went to her meeting, Gael returned home. His house was mostly empty with only the master bedroom complete with furniture. It had a kitchen, a security room, and an empty living room—not even a sofa in it—well, except for some exercise equipment. It was a four-bedroom house, but the other three rooms were empty.
His men, however, had their own quarters outside of his house in a cottage several meters away, and each of them took turns guarding their posts.
Gael only wore black shorts and black trainers as he descended the stairs and headed to the weights in the living room. He had just put on his earphones when he received Becca's call.
"What?" he answered.
"Could you be a little nicer when you answer?" Becca chided. "I came bearing gifts, so you should be thankful."
"I don't think your husband will like it if I'm nice to you. What gifts?"
"Tch. Well… I… um 'accidentally' heard—"
"You eavesdropped." Gael shook his head. "Who?"
Exasperated, Becca hissed. "You know what? I changed my mind. I'm not gonna tell you what I heard from Angela's phone call. Bye, Gael—"
"No, no, no—wait!" His heart suddenly pounded in his chest the moment that he heard Angela's name. He took a deep breath when he realized that Becca still hadn't hung up on him—he was too obvious now, but he didn't care. "Sorry. Please tell me what you heard."
"Okay… So… She received a phone call from a man whose surname is Stone—oh, my god. I just realized who she was talking to." Becca gasped.
"Who is that?"
"I only thought of it now when I recalled hearing two names. I remembered Samantha talking about him one time, and then I saw him in Forbes too. Vincent Stone. This guy is loaded. He has a software development company just like Sam's but in California."
"What does he want with her?"
"Well, from what I heard, it seems like he was asking her out on a date but playing it casual? But trust me, it's totally a date."
Gael's face scrunched up sourly upon hearing it. Great. Another date? How many men had she dated already? "What else? When are they meeting?"
"I heard Wednesday... I don't know about the time. That's all I heard."
"Wednesday?" His brows drew together. From what he had gathered, Angela had only been going on dates on weekends. Just who was this guy that she was willing to meet in the middle of the week?
"Yeah. She was smiling during the phone call too. Guess you've got some competition. Anyway, I just thought of letting you know. I'm only helping you out this one time because I actually feel bad for you—and her. So do whatever you want with that information. After this, we're even. Okay?"
The phone call ended, and even after Gael thanked Becca for it, he was still left in a sour mood. Imagining Angela smiling during the phone call pissed him off. He wanted to wring the life of that Vincent Rock or something.
He didn't even know what that assh*le looked like, and he was already comfortable hating him. Gael pictured a rock in the middle of the punching bag. Closing in, he threw a punch straight into the imaginary rock, and a devilish smirk danced on his lips.
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