Chapter 53: Late-Night Visitors

At the exact same time, back at Eric’s place, "riiing," Eric’s phone started buzzing again. He was still lying down with his smartphone resting right next to his pillow. He reached out an arm to grab it, and when he checked the screen, Caleb’s name popped up. Naturally, he answered it,

"Hello... what’s up?" Eric greeted him, his voice raspy and weak.

"Whoaah... what’s wrong with you? Why do you sound like you just rose from the dead? Did you just wake up?" Caleb asked, instantly picking up on the fact that Eric’s voice didn’t sound right.

"No... I’m just under the weather," Eric replied slowly.

"Wait... you’re sick? Are you alone? Where are you? Send me your address, I’m coming over," Caleb said, dropping into a sudden panic.

"Relax, I’m fine... why are you calling me?" Eric asked.

"Nothing... I just wanted to say I saw you on TV yesterday when I was watching with Avery. Seriously, man, where are you? I’m coming over," Caleb insisted.

Feeling weak, Eric tried to push himself up into a sitting position. Even though his fever was gone, his head was still spinning incredibly fast and pounding. But the second he sat up, he was suddenly pushed right back down onto the mattress, and his phone was snatched away by Emma.

"Hello... Caleb... I’m right here with Eric, so there’s no need to worry. He’s resting, and we’re about to have dinner in a bit," Emma said, answering in Eric’s place.

"Oh... you’re there... thank goodness. Look, if Eric doesn’t turn the corner soon, just take him to the hospital. I can ask Avery to get him a referral since she’s still on her shift anyway," Caleb replied, sounding a bit relieved.

"He’s already doing a bit better, but if he’s still dizzy later, I’ll take him to the hospital," Emma said casually.

"Okay... I feel a lot better knowing you’re there. By the way, you were amazing yesterday... you performed too, right... with that band, The Empress? I gotta say, I’m impressed. I’m proud of my future sister-in-law, haha," Caleb said cheerfully.

"Haha, thanks, brother-in-law," Emma replied, blushing.

"Hey... who’s a brother-in-law, and since when did you become a sister-in-law?" Heidi shouted.

"Yeah... explain yourself. You think we didn’t hear that?" Chloe added.

"Excuse me... if you’re a sister-in-law... that means I’m a sister-in-law too," Priya chimed in.

"Don’t talk nonsense... wait... is Caleb the one on the phone? I know Caleb... he hangs out at my uncle’s bar all the time," Laura added.

"All of you are just making things up as you go. I’m obviously first in line to be the sister-in-law," Monica claimed.

"Whoaah... what’s going on... why am I hearing Laura’s voice... why is it so noisy over there? What the hell is actually happening?" Caleb asked, completely confused and clearly growing worried all over again.

Eric lifted his head and saw Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura looking like a total mess. They were wearing aprons and clutching various kitchen utensils, completely cornering Emma, who was wearing nothing but a towel since she had just stepped out of the shower while on the phone.

"Give me a break... I can’t catch a single moment of peace," Eric thought to himself as he rested his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes.

Finally, accompanied by a barrage of shrieks, snapped arguments, Caleb’s faint voice echoing from the phone, and the clattering clash of kitchen utensils from their never-ending cooking battle, Eric drifted right back into a deep sleep.

***

"Eric... Eric."

"Ugh."

Eric opened his eyes slowly. While his vision was still blurry, he noticed the silhouette of someone sitting on the edge of his bed. He blinked hard, and the face in front of him slowly came into focus. Suddenly, "whoaah," Eric flinched, startled to find Caleb’s face hovering right in front of his.

"Finally, you’re awake... come on, time to eat," Caleb urged.

"How... did you get in here?" Eric asked, slowly sitting up with Caleb’s assistance. He was completely baffled to see Caleb at his place, something he had been trying to avoid, though he knew he couldn’t keep it up forever.

"Emma gave me your address. Relax, man, I’m not going to tell Jade you’re here... but seriously, you’re awesome... and it turns out you own a whole building in this city? Incredible," Caleb said as he helped Eric settle into a sitting position.

Once he was up, Eric could see a massive spread of food laid out on the coffee table. The six girls were sitting around it, eating, but they were joined by a pregnant woman wearing a nurse’s uniform with her hair tied up in a neat bun. Eric immediately turned back to Caleb.

"You brought Avery?" Eric asked.

"I just picked her up from work on my way over. I actually came straight from the office myself," Caleb answered.

Eric only just noticed that Caleb was still in his work clothes, a white button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone, his tie loosened, and dress pants.

"Oh... I see... what time is it anyway?" Eric asked.

"Ten at night. Come on, eat something... you look like you’re over the worst of it," Caleb replied.

"Oh... you’re right. My head doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as before," Eric muttered, touching his forehead.

The two of them joined the girls. Eric sat down between Emma and Chloe, while Caleb took a spot next to Avery. The moment she saw Eric sit down, Avery looked over at him.

"Are you feeling any better, Eric?" Avery asked gently.

"Yeah... thank you," Eric replied casually.

Then Eric took a close look at the faces and hands of Emma, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, Priya, and Laura. To his surprise, their hands were covered in Band-Aids, and several more Band-Aids were scattered across their faces, stuck on their cheeks and noses.

"What happened to you guys?" Eric asked.

"Cooking," Emma, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, Priya, and Laura replied in unison.

"Oh... you guys don’t know how to cook?" Eric asked.

Instead of giving him an answer, Emma immediately shoved a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth, Chloe fed him some salad, Heidi offered a spoonful of mashed potatoes, Laura fed him lasagna, and Priya handed him a bite of pot pie.

Finally, Monica thrust a straw from a soda can directly against his lips. Once he managed to chew and swallow everything, Eric held up his hands to stop them.

"Enough... enough... I can eat on my own," he said, quickly grabbing his own plate.

"Okay," the six girls said cheerfully, flashing wide smiles.

They immediately and eagerly started grabbing the food they had each made, piling it onto Eric’s plate. Caleb, who had his arm wrapped around Avery’s shoulder, watched the whole interaction between Eric and the six girls with an amused look.

"So this is what the future celebrity life looks like," Caleb teased with a broad grin.

"Shut up, Caleb," Eric said sharply.

"Haha... relax, man," Caleb replied.

"I am definitely going to be a fan of The Empress. I love your music, and I’m so happy to meet you guys in person," Avery added.

"Oh... really? Thank you so much, big sister Avery," Monica said brightly.

"Yeah... we’re so glad to hear that," Priya added cheerfully.

"We’re happy to meet you too, Avery," Heidi chimed in.

"Exactly. You should visit us here often, or we can come hang out at your apartment," Chloe added.

"Um... and when you’re ready to give birth, we’ll help you out at the hospital," Laura offered.

"Wow, that is so sweet. Hey, how about I get your autographs right now before you guys get too famous? Would that be okay?" Avery asked.

Hearing Avery’s request, the faces of Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura lit up instantly. They all nodded enthusiastically, while Emma just rolled her eyes in sheer embarrassment over her friends’ behavior,

"Huh... after all that, you guys almost didn’t even sing on stage yesterday if it wasn’t for me," Emma said sharply.

"Manager, shut it," Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura replied in unison.

While the girls were busy chatting with Avery, Caleb pulled Eric aside a bit for a private conversation.

"Eric... there’s another reason why I came over... just read this yourself," Caleb said, his face turning dead serious.

He handed his smartphone to Eric, showing a chat history between himself and Jade. Eric’s eyes widened as he read the messages Jade had sent Caleb earlier that day and the conversation that followed.

Eric immediately snapped his head up to look at Caleb, shifting his gaze from the screen straight into Caleb’s eyes.

"Ruby is with Jade in this city right now?" Eric asked, his voice raspy.

"Yeah... she came here, which is why I wanted to give you a heads-up first. Don’t worry, your number is completely new, so Ruby and Jade won’t have it. I’m the only one who knows, and there’s no way I’m giving them your number or telling them you’re in this building... besides, there’s no way they’d believe you live in a place like this even if I told them," Caleb reassured Eric.

"I know. Thanks for letting me know. It would be a total mess if we suddenly bumped into each other on the street," Eric replied.

"And there’s one more thing... read the bottom part," Caleb said, pointing to his phone in Eric’s hand.

Eric looked back down at the screen. Near the bottom, Jade mentioned that the reason Ruby had run away here was because she had overheard Vanessa and Jason talking about Eric’s true background.

Seeing those words, Eric immediately looked up at Caleb, who was staring back with a look of pity before quickly masking his expression.

"So... that’s it. Jason knows where I really came from," Eric muttered.

"Yeah... the only ones who know are me, Jade, and Jason. That’s exactly why I told you that you’re better off without them when you first arrived in this city," Caleb replied.

Eric fell completely silent. He just stared down at Caleb’s smartphone screen, scrolling through the chat history between Jade and Caleb from top to bottom, over and over again.