One Man Band System

A few moments later, noticing that the girls and Ruby weren’t on the fourth floor, Eric went straight up to the fifth floor. He saw the girls relaxing on lawn chairs alongside Ruby, who was still sitting stiffly in her chair, making her stand out completely from the rest. Ruby then spotted Eric approaching and immediately dropped her head, but then,

"Ruby, Jade was looking for you just now. You should probably let her know you’re here so she doesn’t worry," Eric said calmly.

"Oh... okay," Ruby replied briefly, immediately pulling her phone out from her pocket.

Hearing Eric’s voice, Emma, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, Priya, and Laura naturally turned around and saw Eric standing behind them. All six of them stood right up.

"All wrapped up?" Emma asked.

"Yep. Oh, by the way... when is your semifinal for the piano competition again?" Eric asked.

"Um... still two weeks away, why?" Emma asked.

"Hmm... no reason. Our business here is done anyway, so do you guys want to head home?" Eric offered.

"Sure, let me head home," Priya said, standing right up.

"Yeah... let’s go home," Monica added, also getting to her feet immediately.

Chloe, Heidi, and Laura agreed, standing up right away to tidy up the lawn chairs they had used, after which the five of them headed downstairs to get ready to leave. Emma then stood up as well to clean up her chair, after which Eric turned to look at Ruby.

"Are you heading home? I’ll drop you off," Eric said.

"Um... no need, I’ll head back on my own," Ruby replied, turning him down.

"It’s fine, there’s something I want to talk to you, Jade, and Emma about," Eric said.

"Huh... me too?" Emma asked, surprised.

"Yep... that’s why we’re dropping by for a bit first, then we’ll chat at Jade’s place. It’s work-related, and there’s something I want to show you at the same time," Eric answered Emma.

Emma and Ruby turned to look at each other, then looked back at Eric and nodded. After that, they headed downstairs. Eric dropped off the girls from The Empress at the penthouse first, telling Chloe, Heidi, and Laura to pass the word along to Priya and Monica, who had already gone up ahead. Once they headed upstairs, Eric, along with Emma, took Ruby home.

The entire way there, Ruby, sitting in the back, kept her eyes fixed on Eric, who didn’t look back in the rearview mirror even once. She seemed to be studying Eric, trying to figure out what he was up to, which was a total mystery to her. Ten minutes later, thanks to light traffic, Eric pulled into the apartment complex located between the university Mike attended and the nursing school Jade was going to.

Ruby escorted Eric and Emma upstairs. Once they reached the front door, Eric looked up at the security camera and gave a thumbs-up, knowing Jade was definitely watching. But what he didn’t expect was "click," the door suddenly swung open. Jade, still in her nurse uniform and looking like she had just gotten back, opened the door for them.

"Wait, Eric?" Jade asked, taken aback.

She then saw Ruby standing behind Eric and Emma standing right next to Ruby. Jade’s face was full of questions at the unusual lineup standing at her doorstep, but she quickly opened the door wide.

"Come on in first... Mike will be home in a bit, he still has a little work left at his office," Jade said, holding onto the door.

"Alright... pardon us," Eric said casually, stepping inside.

"Um... excuse us," Emma followed close behind him.

Ruby came in last and closed the door. They all took a seat on the living room sofa. Eric could hear the track he had just dropped earlier today echoing through the room, but a moment later, Jade turned it off and set her phone face down on the coffee table as she brought out drinks.

"So... did you come over just to drop Ruby off?" Jade asked point-blank, right as her butt hit the couch cushion.

"I came with a purpose... but first off, let me show Emma something," Eric answered.

Eric unlocked his phone, his fingers dancing across the screen as he searched for something, then handed the phone over to Emma. As Emma read it, her face went from completely neutral to shocked, then darkened before turning bright red. She looked up at Eric.

"Tania? She reached out to you? Wants to join The Empress?" Emma asked, filled with emotion.

"Yep... but that’s out of the question, right? Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura are solid. There’s no way we’re swapping anyone out," Eric replied with a shrug.

"Then what? Just reject her! Besides, she’s my rival, my enemy," Emma said, visibly worked up.

"Hold on a second... don’t just jump to rejecting her. Deep down you don’t actually see her as an enemy, right? She’s the one treating you like an enemy," Eric said.

"Ugh... true, but she’s so annoying sometimes... She always tries to copy whatever I do... We used to go to the same school, then she moved out of town, and she comes back acting like a total pain," Emma grumbled, annoyed.

Ruby and Jade, completely out of the loop, simply listened along, occasionally glancing at each other. But then Eric dropped the next line:

"Which is why I want to start a new vocal group... or rather, a new idol group. The lineup is complete if I don’t turn Tania down," Eric said nonchalantly.

Hearing Eric’s words, Jade, Ruby, and Emma naturally caught the bug. They stared at Eric enthusiastically. Seeing the three of them so curious, Eric smiled. He picked up his phone and opened a site showcasing foreign idol groups that blew up worldwide by singing and dancing on stage, amassing massive global fanbases. Naturally, as they watched the video Eric pulled up, the question marks in the three girls’ heads grew even larger.

"I want to make a group like this, and the members are going to be Emma, Jade, Ruby, and Tania... what do you think?" Eric asked casually, as if talking about today’s sunny weather.

Then "crash" Emma, Jade, and Ruby looked as if they had just been struck by lightning, their jaws dropping to the floor as if the bolts holding them together had popped right out. All three sets of eyes locked onto the smartphone screen, totally frozen. Jade was the first to break the silence.

"Hold on... you want us to become like that?" Jade asked, pointing at the screen on the coffee table.

"Yep... you’re in the church choir and can sing... Ruby is a great dancer and can sing too... Emma can sing as well, plus she’s got great mental fortitude, proven back at the beach festival... and lastly Tania... she plays the piano, so she can definitely sing too... Sounds pretty good, right?" Eric asked casually.

The room fell dead silent once again. Jade, Ruby, and Emma stared at Eric in sheer disbelief. Finally "blam" Emma slammed her hands onto the coffee table in front of her and glared sharply at Eric.

"Hold on... just hold on a minute... you can’t just throw us all together like this out of nowhere! Tania and I clearly have history... plus, I’m not even that close with Ruby and Jade yet... something like this needs a foundation first, right? What are you even thinking?" Emma protested.

"For once... Emma is right, I agree with her too," Ruby added, having stayed silent up until now.

"Hmm... I see. How about you guys meet this Tania girl first... just take a look at her profile," Eric said, showing them Tania’s profile and photos.

"No need to look," Emma said, turning away with her arms crossed over her chest.

Ruby looked at Eric’s phone screen, but when she turned to check on Jade, she was startled to see Jade looking like she actually recognized the girl named Tania from her picture. Jade then raised her head to look at Eric.

"This Tania girl... is this her? Her full name is Tania Mercer?" Jade asked.

"Yep... why?" Eric asked, confused.

"She’s... Mike’s cousin. Mike’s dad has an older sister, and Tania is her youngest daughter," Jade answered.

Hearing Jade’s words, Emma and Ruby instantly turned to stare at Jade, who was studying Tania’s picture on Eric’s phone, which she was now holding. The smile on Eric’s face grew even wider.

"Well, that’s great. For once I’m actually grateful that the world is so small. Everything becomes way easier since you guys already know each other, right?" Eric asked casually, wearing a wide smile completely free of any hidden motives.

Emma, Jade, and Ruby turned to look at Eric, their brows furrowing together and their jaws tightening. It was blindingly obvious from the expressions on their faces that all three were running heavy calculations in their heads, to the point Eric felt like he could almost hear the gears turning inside their minds. Meanwhile, Eric sat back relaxed, waiting for the three of them to finish crunching the numbers and deliver their verdict.