Rudy grabbed his phone and called Elena.
[The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable.]
"Oh, man…"
He went downstairs to check on Rebecca, whom he hadn't met since morning, and he had teleported directly to his room.
'She has obviously woken up by now.'
Rudy found her in the kitchen with a water bottle in her hand.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"What does it look like?"
"It looks like you are about to say something rude for no reason."
SIGH!
Rebecca opened the refrigerator and placed the bottle back. She then walked into the living room and stood in front of Rudy.
"I didn't know you were back."
Rudy hugged her before kissing her on the cheek and said, "Now you know."
After the hug, Rebecca raised her brow and sniffed Rudy.
"Is that perfume I smell?"
"Yes."
"Hmm~ Now that I look at you, you are wearing new clothes. Are you perhaps going somewhere?"
"Did you forget what Elena told me this morning?"
"Oh! She was serious about that? I thought she just said that to make me jealous."
"Nah. She wouldn't… do that…"
"What's with the pause in between?" she grinned. "Could it be that you are not sure, either?"
"Well…" Rudy recalled what happened a while ago. "She didn't pick up my call. Usually, whenever we were supposed to go on a date— eighteen years ago— she would be so eager for it that she would call me every five minutes and remind me."
"Yeah… I vaguely remember that. I wasn't a fan of that."
"But hey, she is a businesswoman now. Everything is different."
"Let's say you two go on a date. When will you return?" She narrowed her gaze with a judging look on her face. "You are going to spend the night with her, aren't you?"
"Maybe."
SIGH!
Rebecca sat on the couch and looked at the clock on the wall.
"Lucy sure is late…" she muttered.
"She isn't coming home tonight. She informed me that she was going to spend the night at her friend's house."
"And… you didn't think of telling me that earlier…?"
"I just got home," he suppressed his groan and sat beside Rebecca on the couch.
A few seconds later, Rebecca turned to Rudy with a serious look on her face.
"Wait, Lucy is not coming home, you will be out for the night… Are you telling me to be alone with Joe at night?"
"That issue has already been fixed in the update 0.69."
"Huh?"
"Joe and his colleagues went to play golf. For some unknown reason, it rained in the end and the streets were flooded. There was a traffic jam, and they missed the train they were supposed to take to come back.
Now, they are spending the night at a hotel at the company's expense. They were given the best rooms and the best meal of that hotel. They were also granted a leave from work for tomorrow. Isn't that the best coincidence?" Rudy asked with a grin.
Of course, Rebecca knew everything was Rudy's doing.
"You did it again."
"Just trying to help a damsel."
"Don't call me damsel! It's used for unmarried women! I am married!"
"It could very well be used for virgin women, and you are one."
"Don't change the meanings of words when—"
RING! RING~!
"It's Elena."
"Put it on the speaker. I want to see how she talks to you when you are alone." Rebecca demanded.
"That's a violation of privacy."
Rudy put the phone on the speaker and spoke, "Hey."
[Sorry, I couldn't answer your call earlier.]
"Not a problem."
[So…. uh… are you ready?]
Rudy didn't want to answer her, so instead he asked, "What about you?"
[It will take me twenty minutes.]
"I will be ready by then."
[Hmm.]
Rudy could hear the noise of the keyboard in the background.
"What are you doing?"
[In a meeting~]
"Is it okay to talk to me while you are in the meeting?"
[It's fine. I am the boss. Who is going to stop me?]
"Anyway, I called you earlier to ask what the plan was about the date. Am I supposed to pick you up?"
[Let's see…] After a brief pause, she asked, [Is Becca around?]
Rebecca shook her head, signaling Rudy to not answer her.
"Yes."
[What is she doing?]
"Nothing."
[How about you convince her to come with us?]
"Uhh… what?"
[You heard that right.]
"But why would you want to take her on our date?"
[It's not just a date. Didn't I tell you I have to tell you something very important? Having Rebecca around would be good for you.]
"That… doesn't sound concerning at all…"
[Okay then… I will meet you at my store in 30 minutes.]
BEEP!
Rudy shrugged his shoulders at Rebecca and smiled nervously.
"Argh! Fine, I will come."
"Yes! A date with two hotties!"
Rebecca got up and walked to her room after saying, "You will have to make up for this, by the way."
She then took a bath and got ready in the next thirty minutes.
"Wow… they weren't kidding when they said girls can take forever to get ready…" he muttered under his breath.
'I wonder what the girls are doing right now. None of them contacted me yet, so it's safe to assume everything is going smoothly.'
Ten minutes later, Rebecca came out of her room wearing a black midi dress with long sleeves. She had her hair open with no hairband or hair pin on them. She had done minimal makeup.
The moment she got out of her room and walked to the living room, Rudy couldn't take his eyes off her.
"How do I look?" she asked with a smile.
"If you dress like this every day, I will have a hard time keeping my hands off you."
"I…" She sighed. "I should have expected something like that from you."
RING~ RING!
"Looks like we are late on our first date."
Rudy answered the call with, "I am innocent."
[Where are you?]
Rudy grabbed Rebecca and teleported to the convenience store.
"At the store."
[I will be there in five minutes.]
Rebecca nudged Rudy and said, "We are not wearing shoes."
Rudy teleported back home and returned after wearing footwear.
