Samuel couldn’t believe his eyes when he received a call from Alexander, but the familiarly grating voice from the other end of the line cemented the reality.
He raised his brows. “I don’t see any pigs flying today. What’s the occasion today that you found it in yourself to invite me out?”
Alexander cut to the chase. “I’ll meet you at ONE, eight o’clock tonight.”
He hung up at that.
Samuel stared blankly at his phone for several seconds.
What’s with his attitude?
No matter, I’ll be magnanimous and overlook his sass.
ONE was the name of a popular pub in Jadeborough. Samuel suspected that Alexander had arranged a meet-up to seek relationship advice from him as he might be going through a rough patch.
With that in mind, Samuel accelerated his driving as he couldn’t bear the thought of his pal being plagued by relationship troubles.
Unfortunately for him, he was not the type to sit idly by when his friends were in deep waters.
Samuel was in for a surprise when he saw both Alexander and Sophia waiting at the pub. “Y-you called?”
Why’s Sophia here when Alexander was the one who extended the invitation?
Could his intention be to flaunt his relationship?
Samuel had a strong impulse to just turn and leave right there and then!
Before he could do so, Sophia spoke, “To be precise, it was me who arranged for this meeting, Mr. Schild.”
Samuel harrumphed and seated himself reluctantly. “I must be hallucinating, Sophia. You, extending an invitation to me?”
Sophia’s lips quirked. “You’d better believe it, Mr. Schild. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
The look on Sophia’s face indicated that she was in an unlikely mood for discussion.
“W-What is it about?”
Samuel’s past experiences had taught him to be warier of his circumstances. However, his fate had been set in stone the moment he accepted Alexander’s call.
“Does Midway Media own the rights to the comic adaptation of ‘Silk Stream’?”
Samuel heaved a sigh of relief at that. He’d assumed there was a more crucial issue at hand. “Indeed. You want it?”
“Would you be willing to give it?”
“Wh…” Samuel sneaked a glance at Alexander and swallowed the words that were about to roll off his tongue at his death glare. “The comic adaptation of ‘Silk Stream’ isn’t particularly valuable to me.”
Sophia chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes, then.”
She reached for the contract at her side. “ Here’s the contract for your perusal which I’ve already signed. You may inform the personnel responsible for the comic’s copyright to sign it by tomorrow. My secretary will collect it from you.”
“You came well-prepared tonight.” Samuel was indignant at not having the chance to bargain for a deal.
Sophia smirked. “I don’t go for battles unprepared.”
Samuel’s gaze flicked toward Alexander. “You’d be victorious in this round even if you came unarmed.”
How could I refuse her over such a trivial matter!
It was true that “Silk Stream” was insignificant to his company. There had been another adaptation before this that received an average response thanks to the commercial success of the original work.
Now that Sophia had voiced her desire to obtain its right, Samuel naturally wouldn’t stand in her way.
“What about the comic adaptation of ‘Silk Stream’ piqued your interest?”
Sophia leveled him a look. “I’m pretty fond of it, I suppose.”
It was as good as not saying anything.
Samuel smiled bitterly at the couple before him. “Is there anything else?”
He was more than eager to lose himself to the rhythmic dance beats at a club.
This pub was not his cup of tea at all, with its soft music and hushed atmosphere.
Sophia took a sip of her juice. “Nope.”
She turned to look at Alexander, who stared straight at Samuel. “That’s all for now.”
It was as good as telling him to scram and be on his way.
“I’m going to Nocturne. Will you two be joining me?” Samuel was itching to get out of this place as soon as possible.
Alexander responded with a disdainful look.
Samuel took hold of his car keys and left without a backward glance at receiving such a response.
He’d spent barely five minutes at Nocturne before losing interest in whatever the club had to offer.
Samuel was a little jealous when he recalled Alexander’s protectiveness toward Sophia.
How desperately he wished to be in a lovey-dovey romantic relationship!
His thoughts eventually became so loud that he took off from the club. Even his friends couldn’t convince him to stay as he departed with a wave of his hand.
He’d much rather have his beauty sleep to prevent premature hair loss!
Unfortunately, his hopes of having an early night were diminished when a white sedan crashed into his car before he could drive off.
The door to his precious sports car was visibly dented, fueling his anger. He stomped straight up to the driver’s side of the white sedan. “Are you blind? Did you not see me parked right there?”
The driver, Samantha, began panicking over the accident while Trinity, who was sitting in the passenger seat, cowered as she tugged her arm lightly. “Sam, what should we do? It seems like we’ve crashed into the wrong person.”
She was at a loss herself!
Samuel delivered a kick to the sedan’s door at their silence. “Come out and face me if you’re not dead!”
A woman dressed in a white blouse and jeans opened the car door. “I’m so sorry, mister. It seems like I’ve mistaken you for someone else.’
Samuel took in the woman before him and huffed. “It’s a pity you have such poor eyesight with your looks.”
Samantha couldn’t tell if he was mocking or praising her.
It was Trinity’s fault that she’d crashed into the wrong car.
“Enough with all the unnecessary details. Let’s address the issue of compensation.”
“I’ll leave you my contact number. You may send me the receipt for the repair cost. Is that all right?” Samantha was aware that she was in the wrong.
Samuel was not an unreasonable person. Since the offender seemed sincerely apologetic, he agreed to her suggestion.
While Samuel unlocked his phone for Samantha to input her phone number, she marveled at his absurdly simple PIN.
Once she’d successfully saved her contact number in his phone, she eyed the luxurious sports car and acutely felt her wallet bleeding.
She should have given him a fake number instead, with how gullible he seemed.
The ringing of her phone dispelled that idea in an instant.
“It’s good to know that you aren’t trying anything.” She raised her head and saw a dubious expression on Samuel’s face.
Only fools would take a stranger’s words at face value without verifying the veracity of their phone number.
Samantha was tongue-tied.
Well, I certainly underestimated him.
Samuel was in a particularly foul mood over the damage wrecked on his dear car.
He felt so empty and alone once he got home that he debated whether or not to call Alexander out and have a heart-to-heart talk.
Just then, he came across the contact number left behind by Susan. It stared back at him from his screen and before he knew it, he’d added her on WhatsApp.
Her profile picture was a drawing of a female character, and she’d set her nickname as “Sam.”
Samuel decided to scroll through her feed since he had nothing better to do.
Regrettably, it was as empty as a piece of blank paper.
He was about to exit her profile when he accidentally sent her a friend request.
Samantha replied almost instantly: Not accepting friend requests from strangers.
Samuel was amused by that and typed back: I’m the poor fellow whose car you wrecked.
His friend request was accepted this time around.
A smile crept onto Samuel’s face as he gazed at the question mark she sent back. Perhaps my night wouldn’t be so wearisome after all.
