One Man Band System

After Jade left, Eric headed up to the fifth-floor balcony and called Mike. He laid out everything Jade had shared with him and explained what she actually wanted. Mike went quiet for a moment. Eric could hear his breathing on the other end of the line, but he could also tell that Mike was deep in thought. After a short pause, Mike finally spoke up.

"So Jade went out of her way to visit you just to ask for something like that, huh? She didn’t say a single word to me," Mike said, his voice clearly laced with disappointment.

"That’s because she didn’t want to mess up the relationship you guys have started to rebuild by making demands. You know how Jade is. If she really didn’t want to talk to you or didn’t care about you, she would’ve asked to move in here today... not asked for my help to speak with you. You get what I’m saying, right?" Eric explained.

Mike went silent again, seemingly weighing everything before speaking up once more.

"I get it... I’ll try to talk to her... to be completely honest... I actually want her back with me too... but there’s still this fear inside me... a fear that I won’t be able to trust her the way I used to... sorry... I’m pathetic," Mike said.

"No, bro, you’re right... you obviously can’t just dive right back into trusting her even if you love her, I completely understand... look, just invite her out for a chat first. You and her can make your own decisions from there. I can see where Jade is coming from, though. If I were in her shoes, I’d feel completely uncomfortable with that living situation too," Eric said.

"Alright... I’ll get in touch with her right after this... has she left your place yet?" Mike asked.

"Yeah... just now. Just talk to her first, alright?" Eric answered.

"Got it... talk to you later. I’m gonna call her right now and go pick her up, I don’t really have anything going on today anyway," Mike replied.

"Sounds good, catch you later," Eric replied.

The call ended. Eric let out a sigh and leaned back on the lounge chair, staring up at the blue sky. He then sent the three songs over to Alan using his smartphone, and Alan immediately shot back a thumbs-up emoji.

Then, he placed his smartphone on the table and closed his eyes, feeling the warm sunlight on his skin. Suddenly, "ding," a notification popped up on his smartphone. He opened it and saw an alert from his banking app, confirming that $250,000.00 had been deposited into his account.

After that, he set his smartphone back down and closed his eyes again. But suddenly, "thump," "cough," he snapped his eyes back open to find Laura pinning him down. Apparently, she had snuck upstairs and crept up on Eric without him noticing. Laura, wearing nothing but Eric’s t-shirt, rolled over and shifted her weight on top of him.

"Hey... are you done taking care of business?" Laura asked.

"Wait... where’s Chloe?" Eric asked.

"She stepped out to the supermarket to grab some food... why are you looking for her anyway? I’m right here," Laura answered with a pout.

"It’s not that, it’s just you two are usually glued at the hip," Eric said, stroking Laura’s hair.

"True, but this time it’s just the two of us," Laura replied.

"Fair point," Eric said with a smile.

Without a second thought, Laura leaned up to kiss Eric. Even though he was caught off guard, Eric naturally kissed her back. But suddenly, "vwooong," a holographic screen popped up right next to Eric’s head. He immediately glanced at it, and his expression instantly shifted.

[Population control skill activate? [Yes] [No].]

"Ugh... YES," Eric thought to himself.

The holographic screen vanished instantly, and naturally, one thing led to another all on its own. But this time, at least Eric didn’t have to worry about getting Laura pregnant.

"Ring," just as things were heating up, Eric’s smartphone buzzed. His hand shot out to grab the phone from the table, and his eyes went wide when he saw Emma was calling him. Laura, who was currently sitting intimately on Eric’s lap with her arms wrapped around his neck, glanced down at the screen.

"Ah... right... by now... it’s already... lunch break... ah... that feels good, babe," Laura said, continuing to grind on Eric’s lap.

"Should I pick up?" Eric asked.

"Just answer it... I’ll be quiet," Laura replied.

Eric answered the call and pressed the smartphone to his ear, but suddenly, "Eric!" he heard Emma shouting. He pulled the phone away slightly before bringing it back to his ear.

"Hello... Emma," Eric said.

"Don’t ’hello’ me! Why aren’t Chloe and Laura at school today? What are they up to? Did you go out with them again? Why aren’t they picking up their phones? Monica, Priya, Heidi, and I have been calling them this whole time and we can’t get through," Emma complained.

"Oh," Eric muttered, looking up at Laura, who was riding him with an expression of pure, intense pleasure, smiling widely but keeping completely silent. "They slept in today because they weren’t feeling well... so I told them to just rest up," Eric lied, his mind struggling to focus while being rocked by Laura.

"But you didn’t take them out anywhere, right?" Emma questioned.

"No, we’re just at home. We’re at my grandfather’s building right now, just finished recording a song. How are things going with you at school?" Eric asked.

"Same old... but there’s a weird development here... we saw your sister Ruby having lunch with Chad, and it honestly looks like they’re dating," Emma answered.

"Ding," a message popped up on Eric’s smartphone. He switched the call to speaker and opened the notification. It was a message from Monica in their group chat, and it contained a photo. They were clearly in the cafeteria, and the picture showed Ruby sitting across from Chad at a table in the distance, far from where the other girls were seated.

Eric could see, even if it wasn’t perfectly clear, that Chad seemed to be holding Ruby’s hand across the table, both of them looking pretty happy. Eric didn’t feel a thing looking at it. Instead, he was hyper-focused on the sensation of Laura, who was still grinding up and down, back and forth on his lap, especially now that she had yanked off her t-shirt and was completely naked.

"Yeah... whatever, just let her be," Eric said. "Ugh... I can’t concentrate at all, and besides, whatever she does is none of my business anyway," he thought to himself.

"I’m just letting you know, because even after Laura threatened him, Chad usually still follows us around and watches us. Now he’s suddenly getting cozy with Ruby," Emma pointed out.

"That’s... great, right... means he’s not bothering you guys anymore... ah," Eric let out a soft groan, glancing up at Laura, whose movements were getting faster and harder, completely lost in her own intense desire.

"Hey... what are you even doing over there? Let me just switch this to a video call," Emma said, getting suspicious after hearing Eric groan.

"Wait... don’t!" Eric shouted.

But it was too late. Emma had already flipped the call to video. Eric scrambled to pull the smartphone so close that it practically glued to his face, but "hah... hah... hah," Laura’s heavy breathing carried clearly through the phone. Emma could see Eric’s face flushed red, his eyes rolling back in pure bliss.

"What exactly are you doing?" Emma questioned.

Eric could see that Emma’s face wasn’t the only one on screen anymore, Priya, Heidi, and Monica had all crowded around to look too. Eric froze, completely at a loss for words. But just as he opened his mouth, someone stepped up from behind and snatched the smartphone away. Eric and Laura both glanced back.

"Eric’s a bit tied up right now, you guys can call back later," Chloe said, standing right behind Eric.

"Hey... why haven’t you been answering my calls?" Emma asked.

"I was just in the bathroom, couldn’t exactly talk. I’ll call you guys back later, I need Eric for something right now," Chloe replied with a smile.

"Fine, fine... just call after school," Emma relented.

"Got it... hanging up now," Chloe said.

The call ended, and Chloe slapped the smartphone face down on the table. Eric looked back, letting out a massive sigh of relief. But then Chloe’s face twisted into a pout. She glared at Laura, who was grinning like an idiot while still grinding naked on Eric’s lap.

"Hey... who said you get to have all the fun by yourself... you’re a total mess, you know that... what if the others find out... that’s so cheap... I’m getting in on this," Chloe said, dragging over a lounge chair next to them.

Without missing a beat, Chloe sat down and leaned back, yanking off her t-shirt so she was wearing nothing but her underwear. She grabbed Eric’s face and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Eric wrapped his arms around her, letting Laura collapse her upper body against his chest while she kept right on grinding.

"Uhh... another accident waiting to happen... but this time I’m not sweating it... thank God for the Population control skill," Eric thought to himself as he passionately kissed Chloe.