One Man Band System

Eric, Melissa, and Norman remained silent without making a single sound. The atmosphere inside the hospital room felt impossibly quiet and heavy. After a few moments, Eric turned to look at Melissa.

"Are you okay?" Eric asked.

Melissa looked up at Eric and offered a faint smile before dropping her gaze back down to the bedsheets in front of her.

"I’m fine," Melissa answered briefly, without any drama.

"Right now, our department is still investigating and interrogating Blake inside the prison. As soon as there are any developments, we’ll notify you, Mr. Eric," Norman said.

"Alright, sir, I’ll wait for your update," Eric replied.

"Eric,"

Eric turned to look at Melissa, who was still staring down at the bedsheets. Then, Melissa lifted her head.

"Why don’t you head home for now? I want to rest... Sorry about that," Melissa said with a faint smile.

Eric looked into Melissa’s eyes, understanding what she meant just by looking at her face. He then smiled and nodded.

"Alright, I’ll head home first. Take care of yourself here," Eric said, standing up.

"Yeah... Thank you, Eric," Melissa replied.

Eric simply answered with a smile and turned around, walking out while speaking with Norman. After Eric left the room, the space grew even quieter. Melissa lay back on her bed, her eyes looking calm as she stared up at the ceiling. Then, a slight smile appeared on her face.

"Looks like I really am all on my own now... Finally... everything has become quiet and peaceful," Melissa muttered in her head.

Leaving the hospital behind and getting behind the wheel of his car, Eric picked up his smartphone. He opened his contacts and dialed a number. After a few rings, the call was answered.

"Yeah," said the man with the heavy voice on the other end.

"Uncle Joe, sorry to call you again," Eric said.

"What’s going on?" Joe asked.

Eric laid out the entire situation to Joe. On the line, Joe remained silent and listened, with only the sound of his breathing audible. Once Eric finished explaining,

"So that’s how it is... Leave it to me. I still have contacts inside that prison," Joe said.

"Alright, Uncle, but since the police are already investigating, please make sure Blake doesn’t just vanish from the prison," Eric said.

"Yeah... I know what I need to do and I understand your point loud and clear. Also, I received the recording of your brother threatening your sister. Laura sent the file to me," Joe replied.

Eric fell silent for a moment, his eyes fixed on the road as both hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Hey... why’d you go quiet? I’m not bringing up the content here. I just wanted to let you know that my guys will keep an eye on all of them, and I’ll track down those two men whose voices were picked up on the recording when Laura confronted your brother," Joe said.

"Oh... right. Sorry, Uncle, I spaced out for a second," Eric replied.

"Hahaha... I get it. Don’t worry, your sister’s secret is safe. Where are you right now?" Joe asked.

"I just left the hospital after visiting Melissa," Eric answered.

"Ah... I see. Alright, don’t talk on the phone while driving," Joe replied.

"I’m on speaker, Uncle, so no need to worry. Both hands are still on the wheel," Eric said.

"Okay... talk to you later, I’ve got something to handle," Joe said.

"Alright, Uncle, thank you," Eric replied.

The call ended, and Eric accelerated down the road, heading toward his grandfather’s building to meet up with everyone as promised. But suddenly, a melody began echoing in his mind. Checking his rearview mirror, he pulled over to the side of the road, parked the car, and reached for his smartphone on the passenger seat beside him.

A wide smile spread across his face. Memories flashed through his mind, his childhood with Jade, Ruby, and Vivian, followed by Melissa entering his life. Then, after being cast out, meeting Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura, before growing close with Katie, and finally Tania.

He looked at his smartphone screen, listened once more to the recording Laura had sent, and re-read the text message from Ruby. "Hmph," he smiled and let out a soft chuckle. Opening his notes app, he began writing down the melody that kept playing in his head.

"The title... All Kinds of Love... Nobelia’s very first song," Eric said in his head with a smile.

Eric kept typing away in his smartphone’s notes app with one hand, while his other hand tapped out a rhythm on the steering wheel. He hummed along under his breath, his feet tapping alternating beats against the floorboards. He did all of this inside his car parked by the curb, with crowds of people continuously strolling past on the sidewalk right beside him.

***

Meanwhile, after being escorted back to Eric’s building by the police, Emma, Priya, Monica, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura gathered in a meeting room located on the floor right below the still-vacant executive office. The six of them sat casually along the right side of a long mahogany oval table. Across from them sat Ruby all by herself, her head bowed as she studied the table, looking as though she had just finished telling her story.

"So that’s how it is... Because you didn’t understand yet, you thought you were in love with Eric," Emma said.

"Yeah... back then... I really couldn’t tell the difference because to me, having Eric was enough," Ruby replied, keeping her head down.

"Well, that’s fine then. We thought you were actually breaking a taboo by falling in love with your own brother... though love isn’t something you can easily dam up anyway," Priya said.

"Now I get it. Besides, it’s not like I actually want to sleep with Eric... so feel free to go ahead and sleep with him yourselves. I won’t interfere. Surely you catch my drift, right?" Ruby said.

The room immediately fell dead silent. No one said a word, letting Ruby’s statement float in the air. Emma, Monica, and Priya looked utterly baffled by what Ruby had just said, but Chloe, Heidi, and Laura turned pale and locked their eyes onto Ruby with sharp glares. Hearing no response, Ruby raised her head and looked at the six girls across from her one by one. But then her eyes lingered on Chloe, Heidi, and Laura, who flinched the instant their eyes met hers.

"Um... why are you guys looking at me like that?" Ruby asked.

Emma, Monica, and Priya turned to look at Chloe, Heidi, and Laura, who were looking sickly pale beside them. Monica stood up and walked behind the three of them, poking her head forward to examine each of their faces in turn. After a moment,

"Did you guys sleep with Eric?" Monica asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Chloe, Heidi, and Laura gasped in shock, dropping their gazes and turning their faces away from Monica.

"Whoa... looks like it’s true. You guys really slept with Eric?" Priya, seeing the three of them remain silent, stood up right away as well.

"Damn... this is crossing the line," Emma added, following her two friends.

Monica spun the three girls’ chairs around. Heidi then turned to look at her three friends standing before her, staring down at her, Chloe, and Laura.

"Only three times... and it’s not what you think," Heidi said under pressure.

Hearing Heidi’s words, Chloe and Laura snapped their heads toward Heidi as if feeling utterly betrayed.

"And what about you two?" Emma asked Chloe and Laura, completely blindsided.

Chloe and Laura could only stay silent, bowing their heads and shooting frantic glances at each other, hoping one of them would offer an answer to their friends.

"Hmm... I was already suspicious when I saw those ’bug bites’ back then. Turns out you two made your move way ahead of time, right when the four of us were grounded at home," Priya said to Chloe and Laura.

Perspiration began to bead on the foreheads of Chloe and Laura, who kept trying to stay quiet and keep their mouths shut. Blam! Monica slammed her hand on the table, making both of them jump.

"When I kissed Eric on the lips up on the mountain, you guys raised a big stink. Turns out you’re even worse than me... This isn’t fair. I’m going to ask Eric for it too, and don’t any of you dare get in my way," Monica said loudly.

"Well... that’s what I was thinking back then too," Heidi blurted out.

Instantly, the attention of Emma, Priya, and Monica shifted to Heidi, who immediately looked full of regret for not keeping her mouth shut. Of course, the three of them let Chloe and Laura off the hook, much to their relief and cornered Heidi instead.

"When did it happen for you? Were you grounded at home back then too?" Priya asked.

"Yeah... how did you manage to get in on it too?" Monica asked.

"Spill it fast. You can’t run anymore," Emma added.

"Uh... when I didn’t join you guys at the gym, that time when I was taking a shower... Eric walked in by accident... and... that’s how it went, haha," Heidi said.

"What?" Chloe and Laura yelled, pretending they didn’t already know about Heidi.

In the end, Chloe and Laura joined in on ganging up on Heidi alongside Emma, Monica, and Priya, until Heidi was practically in tears and holding up both hands in surrender. Meanwhile, across the table, Ruby, who had watched the entire scene unfold, looked down at the table and rested her head on its surface. A broad grin spread across her face.

"Sorry, girls. If you didn’t get busy fighting among yourselves, you’d keep digging into that embarrassing Chapter of my life. So... sorry about that, but right now I’m thoroughly enjoying your chaos, hehehe," Ruby thought in her head.