"Why is she calling me? We haven't talked in months. Or I can say years since I never talked to her after I transmigrated to this universe. It's actually been a very, very long time since I saw her or heard her voice. And her calling me at this time… can't be a coincidence."
Rudy reluctantly answered the call, but before he could even speak, Erika spoke from the other side.
[Rudy?! Why did you take so long to pick it up?!]
'She is as bossy as ever…'
"I like to hear my ringtone, so I was dancing while you were waiting for me to pick up the phone," he joked.
[Not funny!]
"So… why did you call me all of a sudden?"
[Is it strange to call my childhood friend to ask how he is doing?] she asked in a judging tone.
"No, it's not. But you are not the type of girl to think like that. So what's the real reason?"
[I was calling Eric bro earlier, but he wasn't picking up the call. And when he did, he told me that he was talking with you, so I thought maybe I should ring you a call and… you know… ask how you have been doing.]
'So that caller was her…'
"I am doing just fine. What about you?"
[Let's skip the formalities. I was curious why you had never called me ever since I left to study overseas. Not even one message.]
"You are a busy girl, and I didn't want to interfere with your studies."
[Lame excuse. Just admit that you are still avoiding me.]
"I am not."
[Does that mean you are ready to answer my love confession?]
'I knew she would bring that up. But there is no way I can accept that now.'
Even in his past life, when Erika left to study overseas, she had confessed her love to Rudy and asked for his answers, but Rudy couldn't make it on time and missed the opportunity.
[Are you ready to answer my love confession?] Erika asked.
"Uhm…"
[I am coming back soon, so have your answer ready. You were supposed to answer me before I left overseas, but you never came to see me off. I am still mad about that, by the way. And then… you never called or tried to contact me. Do you hate me that much?]
"I don't hate you."
[Then I hope you have your answer when we meet again.]
"..."
'There is no way I can accept her love confession— even when I have a harem. I will have to turn her down properly in person.'
[You better not turn me down after keeping me waiting for so long!]
She hung up the call after that.
"Oh, come on…"
Of course, Rudy had no plans to accept her love confession, but he needed to provide a reason to reject her.
'I can simply tell her that I already have a girlfriend, but she wouldn't be satisfied with that answer. The first ever love confession I had received was from Erika, but I never responded to her confession.
The only reason was that she was my best friend's sister, and I felt really awkward. It wasn't as though I didn't like her… but… I guess it's safe to say that I wasn't interested in her.
There have been two girls in my life since childhood, one is Erika, and another is Alice. If I had to choose to have a romantic relationship with one of them, that would be Alice.
The reason is simple; I had a small crush on Alice, but I was too dumb to notice it. I grew up with Eric and Erika, and Erika was like a sister to me. We were too close and knew everything about each other.
I was as close to her as I was to Eric, but there was always this sense of distance between Alice and me. If… I have to put it in simple words…'
Rudy facepalmed himself and muttered, "I had friend-zoned Erika as I didn't see her as a love interest. But now… I have to daughter-zone her."
SIGH!
"Both Eric and Erika hate their father's gut for leaving Elenor pregnant and running away. They even said that they wished their father was dead like mine; they said that would have been better.
I can't and don't blame them for saying and thinking that. I hate Albert's guts, too, for leaving mom and Jessica. But now I have to tell them the truth… right?
I know why Elenor never told them about this, it is obvious. But if I want to get together with her again, we have to tell Eric and Erika, or they might misunderstand, and our friendship will be ruined.
If possible… I wanted to avoid violating the bro code. I will try my best to not ruin our friendship, but how am I supposed to do that? What am I supposed to tell them?" he wondered.
"...this is how I met your mother…" he mumbled.
Rudy had a lot of free time, and he wanted to utilize that in the best way possible. He could go to the girls, but he wanted to let them have girls talk.
'What should I do? Rize has most likely left the school as it's already too late, but I will go check. If she is still at the school, that would be lucky.'
"It's about time I make some moves on her."
Rudy got up from his bed, left his room, went downstairs, and left the house through the front door like a normal person. Then, he teleported behind the school like no other person.
He didn't bother entering the school grounds or checking Rize's office as he could just scan the entire area with his enhanced vision abilities.
'Nope. She is not… here." he shook his head.
'But I can see a few people are still there. Anthony is in his office, and the rest of them are most likely Pune and janitors.'
"I guess… now is the best time to pay a visit to that agent."
