The Heart System

Chapter 906: Chapter 906

Unlike the chaos I’d seen here later at night, Stingy Ladies was surprisingly calm at five in the afternoon. The music was low enough that people could actually talk without shouting, and only a handful of customers were scattered around the room.

The bar itself was mostly empty, with only a couple of people sitting near the counter. A few tables were occupied farther inside, while the karaoke area sat quietly in the background, waiting for the evening crowd to arrive.

The lights were dim, but not dark enough to make the place feel like a nightclub yet. The whole building had that strange in-between feeling, like it was still waking up before the real night began.

I looked around and quickly spotted Melvin.

He had already found a table on the far left side of the room and was sitting there, looking toward the bar with the kind of focus usually reserved for people watching their favorite sports team.

He hadn’t even been inside for a minute, and he was already waiting for Isabella. I walked over to him, shaking my head as I wondered how the hell this night was going to end. Hopefully, it’d end with Melvin and her in bed at some shady motel, though.

A waitress came over instead of Isabella, asking what we wanted to drink. We both went with beer, and after she walked away, Melvin immediately started fidgeting in his seat.

"Okay, I smell good. And I’m cool," he muttered to himself. "Oh, man. Oh, boy..."

"Melvin, my guy," I exhaled. "You are thirty years old. Why are you this excited?"

Saying it out loud was still weird. The man sitting in front of me looked like he was barely eighteen, but he was actually a thirty year old grown man. Hell, he was older than me, yet somehow I was the one giving him dating advice. Pretty sure that was supposed to be the other way around.

"Oh my god, she’s coming," he said, looking past my shoulder.

"Hmm?"

I turned slightly and saw Isabella approaching our table with the beers. Her hair was tied into a messy bun, and her tired eyes made it pretty obvious she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Probably because she had been out partying. According to Emilia and Charlotte, that was pretty much normal for her.

"There you go," she said, placing the beers in front of us. "Have fun, you two."

"Thank you," Melvin chirped. "The beer is awesome."

"You haven’t even drunk it yet," Isabella said, tilting her head slightly.

"Oh..." Melvin scratched his cheek. "Right. But it looks good."

"I’m sure it is." She smiled, though the expression felt a little forced. "Anyway, I have to go."

"Yep."

She walked away, and I immediately turned toward the idiot sitting across from me. What kind of small talk was that? And I thought I was bad at this sort of thing. My fucking god, he really was a hopeless case. If this had been a quest from the system, the kind that never expired because completing it would take way too long, I’d probably earn ten levels just from how difficult it was.

"She smiled, though," Melvin said, taking his beer.

"I saw that. Do you think she smiled because she found you funny, or because she wanted to make whatever you put her through less awkward?"

"Aw, man..." He lowered his eyes. "The latter?"

"Yes." I slumped my shoulders and leaned back. "Look, you’re trying too hard when she’s around. Just relax and be yourself. Trust me on this one."

"Evan, if I’m being myself, she won’t even see me. I have to... be more active." He nodded to himself. "Like, bam, bam, bam, you know? I saw what kind of people she hangs out with."

"And you’re not like them," I said. "You have a respectable job at one of the biggest and most popular tech companies around. You don’t have tattoos, you don’t listen to punk music, and you don’t mess around."

"I know." He took a sip of his beer. "I just... man. We’re complete opposites, huh?"

"You are. But that doesn’t mean you should give up." I shrugged. "Just be yourself. If she’s interested in you, the real you, you’ll feel it."

"Okay," he said. "I’ll try that."

"Good."

"Be myself. Okay."

My phone started ringing, so I pulled it out of my back pocket and unlocked the screen. Tuck was calling me, hopefully about that stolen camera. I still had that quest sitting there. Finding Layla’s stolen camera and returning it was a long shot, but it was still something I wanted to finish.

"Hey," I answered.

"Yo. What’s up, what’s up?"

"I’m good. What about you?"

"Blue-balled. Don’t ask why." He chuckled. "Anyway, forget that. I might have found something about that camera of yours."

"Okay." I sat up a little. "Tell me it’s good news."

"Double Boyz asked around," Tuck explained. "And we got a hit. Apparently, some man put out a job offer for some low-life thieves. Not working for DB, obviously. Apparently, the guy had panties and other messed-up shit stolen from women. Dirty panties, bras, unwashed and..."

"I get it, I get it," I cut him off with a sigh. "You think he has the camera?"

"Double Boyz are positive," Tuck said. "But the man is... kind of someone with balls. So they don’t want anything to do with this."

"They?"

"Double Boyz, I mean."

"Okay. Who’s this man?"

"Someone named Jack. I’m sure you know his father. Ultra-rich Christian dude."

"Oh..."

Jack.

Fuck, I knew him.

He was the one who had blackmailed Nala into spreading her videos. I had even saved his ass, or rather his boyfriend’s ass, while his father had been ready to leave him lying dead on the floor if I hadn’t intervened. And now that same Jack had apparently paid someone to steal women’s lingerie and other shit?

Fucking monster.

"Alright, thank you," I said, nodding even though Tuck couldn’t see me. "I’ll try to handle it."

"Oh, and DB is waiting to get paid. Hundred bucks," Tuck added. "Just saying. I ain’t gonna pay that shit."

"Alright, I’ll send it to you, and you send it to them," I said. "Thanks again, T. Take care."

"Gotcha. See you."

I ended the call and leaned back.