One Man Band System

After a few moments, "click," the door opened. Eric, Emma, Ruby, and Jade turned to look toward the door. Mike walked in, still looking sharp in his suit and tie. Mike noticed Eric and Emma sitting across from Jade and Ruby.

"Oh... we have company?" Mike asked.

"Yeah... you’re home," Jade answered, standing up to head over to Mike.

Jade helped carry Mike’s backpack and then closed the door. Mike took off his shoes and placed his car keys in the tray on the kitchen table. After that, he unbuttoned his suit jacket and placed it over a dining chair, then walked over to Eric and sat down beside him. He immediately raised his fist, and Eric met it with a fist bump.

"What brings you here?" Mike asked.

"I wanted to talk about something with Jade and Ruby, and with Emma too," Eric answered, placing a hand on Emma’s shoulder next to him.

Then Mike noticed the picture of Tania that was still open on Eric’s phone screen on the table. He picked up Eric’s phone to look at it, his brows immediately knitting together.

"Wait... why do you have a picture of my cousin?" Mike asked, confused.

"Let me explain," Eric replied.

Eric went straight into explaining everything, even showing Tania’s message to him in his streaming app inbox where she asked to join The Empress. After reading it and listening to Eric’s explanation, "sigh," Mike set Eric’s phone back on the table with a sigh, then leaned back and loosened his tie.

"She really is into music. If I’m not mistaken, two weeks from now she’s competing in the semifinals for a piano competition," Mike said.

"Hmm... yep, that’s right. Emma is in it too, right Emma?" Eric asked, turning to look at Emma.

"Yeah," Emma answered curtly, keeping her eyes fixed on Eric with a sharp glare.

"I’ve actually only met her once since coming here... right, babe?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, that’s true. She’s a bit closed off, but there’s no denying she loves music. If you go into her room, it’s packed with all kinds of posters... all pianists, bands, and even foreign idol groups. According to her mom, she sometimes blasts music real loud and dances around all by herself in her room," Jade answered.

"Oh, is that so? So Anthony knows her too then?" Eric asked.

"Obviously. She’s always trying to persuade Anthony to take her to Trinity Entertainment, and of course, Anthony ignores her. That’s how it goes, which is why she’s dead set on making it big on the piano... and she always says she’s losing to one person she absolutely hates," Mike answered.

"That person is me," Emma cut in coldly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Mike, Jade, and Ruby instantly turned to look at Emma, who was sitting up straight with her arms folded across her chest, staring off in the other direction next to Eric.

"Come on, it’s not like you actually hate her," Eric said, placing a hand on Emma’s shoulder.

"Ugh," Emma huffed, brushing Eric’s hand off her shoulder.

"See, Eric? You get it now? How could you possibly form an idol group with Tania? Don’t just throw wild ideas together next time," Jade said.

"That’s right, I’m with Jade on this," Ruby added.

"Ruby, do you still like to sing in the shower?" Eric asked casually.

Hearing Eric’s words, Ruby’s face instantly turned bright red, especially when she saw Emma, Jade, and Mike looking right at her.

"Out of all the things to bring up, why do you have to remember that?" Ruby grumbled, turning her head away.

"Hey... your voice in the shower actually sounds great," Eric replied casually.

"Just quiet down," Ruby snapped, embarrassed.

"What on earth... are you two even talking about?" Mike asked, confused.

Eric went straight to explaining what he meant to Mike, even pulling up a video of an idol group performing on stage with a catchy, high-energy song. Mike looked at Jade, then at Ruby, then glanced over at Emma beside Eric, and finally looked down at Tania’s picture on the coffee table. He instantly burst out laughing.

"Hahaha... you really come up with the wildest things, man," Mike laughed lightheartedly.

"You think it’s impossible?" Eric asked Mike, puzzled.

"It’s not that, it’s not impossible, but aren’t you rushing things way too much? Jade might not be an issue, but you know what happened with Ruby and Emma before... and on top of that, you’ve got Tania, who’s got a real sharp, fierce attitude... you’re literally tossing a cat, a dog, and a squirrel all into one room without even introducing them to each other first," Mike answered, thoroughly amused.

Hearing Mike’s words, Eric fell silent for a moment. He realized he had been rushing things just to clear his mission. He had forgotten that it wasn’t too long ago when Emma and Ruby were clashing at school—partly because of him—and had only just made up. Plus, he didn’t know for sure what Emma and Tania’s relationship was really like since he had only met Tania once. He let out a sigh and looked at Mike.

"You’re right, bro. I pushed it too fast. I’ll take it slow. As long as the concept is there, that’s what matters," Eric said.

"Now you’re talking. Just chill, bro. Don’t force something that can’t be forced," Mike said.

"Alright then, Emma and I are heading back," Eric said, taking Emma’s hand.

He then turned to Jade and Ruby. "I’m heading out. Just think over my offer first. Personally, I think you two are made for the stage, and it’d be a waste not to make the most of it, same goes for Emma," Eric said to Jade, Ruby, and Emma all at once.

"Alright... I’ll think about it. Besides, I need to talk to Mike about this first anyway," Jade said, glancing over at Mike.

"Don’t worry, babe, I’ve got your back," Mike said, giving a thumbs-up with a smile.

"That’s not what I mean," Jade snapped back, giving Mike a sharp look.

"Oh... right," Mike replied, seeming to get what Jade was actually implying.

Mike instantly looked nervous while Jade kept her eyes fixed on him. Seeing this, Ruby stepped forward to look right at Eric, drawing his attention over to her.

"Okay... I’ll think about it," Ruby said calmly.

"Sweet, just think it over," Eric replied with a smile.

After that, Eric said his goodbyes once more and held Emma’s hand as they walked toward the door. Once back in the car, sitting in the driver’s seat, Eric turned to look at Emma, who had been quiet the whole time. Realizing he had crossed the line a bit today, he took Emma’s hand and squeezed it.

"I’m sorry, Emma. I didn’t consider your feelings," Eric said.

"It’s fine... that’s not what’s on my mind anyway. I’m actually sitting here wondering why Tania seems to hate my guts so much," Emma said, lost in thought.

"Oh... so that’s what you were thinking about," Eric replied, relieved.

"I’ve known Tania since grade school because we took piano lessons together... but then she moved to another city because of her dad’s job, so we lost touch. We only ran into each other again in 11th grade, at a competition... and she suddenly got all hostile toward me, and... for some reason, I ended up getting annoyed with her too," Emma said, trying to piece it together, looking a little irritated.

"I see," Eric said in response, hoping Emma would go on.

"Back in grade school... she always wore the same clothes as me, wore the same shoes, carried the same bag, and if I braided my hair, she’d do it too... she was like my shadow. But when we met again and I saw she was still wearing her hair in pigtails, I told her she hadn’t changed at all, and she blew up... was I in the wrong?" Emma asked, bewildered.

"Hmm... during her time out of town, did you lose touch with her completely? I mean, no texts or emails at all?" Eric asked.

"Zero communication. Besides, I was hanging out with my five childhood friends, and none of them knew Tania anyway," Emma answered.

"And when you met again, she was still dressing like she used to back then?" Eric asked.

"Yeah... when I was little, I looked like this," Emma said, pulling out her phone.

Emma opened her gallery and showed him a photo from when she won a regional piano competition as a kid, probably back in 6th grade, holding a trophy with a wide grin. Her hair back then was styled in two pigtail braids on each side, and she was wearing a pretty dress that looked adorable on her.

Eric then pulled up Tania’s profile again, noticing she indeed had her hair in two pigtail braids. He also recalled that when they met at the competition, Tania had her hair braided in pigtails as well.

"Ah... so that’s what it is," Eric said, finally getting it.

"What do you mean, that’s what it is?" Emma asked, confused.

"You might not realize it... but you probably had a secret fan, and when you met again after you completely changed your style, your fan felt betrayed," Eric analyzed.

"Huh?" Emma asked, turning to stare at Eric with a serious, puzzled look.