One Man Band System

About three hours later, "riing," Eric’s smartphone rang again. An unknown number was calling, but he had received a text just moments earlier stating that this number belonged to Katie. Naturally, Eric, who was lying down, answered it immediately.

"Hello, Ms. Katie," Eric said, greeting her.

"Good afternoon, Eric. I’m downstairs now, so please open the door for me," Katie replied politely.

"Alright, ma’am, just a moment," Eric replied.

The call ended. Eric slowly got up, his entire body feeling weak and sore. Still, he forced himself to sit up. But as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, a chorus of voices stopped him.

"Where do you think you’re going?"

Eric lifted his head. He saw Emma, Priya, and Monica sitting on the couch, turning around to look at him. Laura, who was sitting at the dining table, was also watching him. Heidi and Chloe, who were in the kitchen and appeared to be cooking, turned to look at him as well. Every single one of them had shouted the question at the exact same time.

"Um... there’s a guest downstairs, I need to go open the door," Eric said.

"Fine... let me open it, you stay put and keep resting," Emma insisted.

"Uh... but I actually need to see her," Eric said, standing up. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Who is it that’s coming over anyway?" Monica asked.

"Katie... from the Stone and Friends law firm. I have some business to take care of with her," Eric explaining.

The room suddenly went dead silent. Emma immediately shot a look at Priya, Monica, and Laura at the dining table. The three of them nodded and stood up. Then, without saying a single word, they marched right out the door to head downstairs, leaving Eric completely baffled. Eric then walked over to his grandfather’s wardrobe, which now held his own clothes, to retrieve the two folders he had stored and hidden away inside.

Meanwhile, downstairs, "click," the shop door swung open. Standing on the other side was a beautiful Katie, looking sharp with her glasses, her hair up in a sleek bun, and wearing a highly professional blazer suit.

Behind her stood two massive men in black suits, who looked like corporate employees doubling as Katie’s personal bodyguards. When she saw who opened the door, Katie looked a bit taken aback, and the two men behind her instantly grew alert.

The reason was Emma, who had opened the door, looked ready for a fight. Behind her, Monica was gripping a microphone stand, Priya was holding the neck of a guitar, and Laura was clutching a drumstick that was clearly not being used for playing music.

All four of their faces looked like fierce alley cats ready to pounce on their prey, practically screaming, "Who the hell are you to interrupt us?" Katie scanned their faces, adjusted the frame of her glasses, crossed her arms under her chest, and smiled.

"Hello, Emma. Is Eric around?" Katie asked.

"Yeah... he’s here, but he’s sick. What do you need, Ms. Katie?" Emma asked back defensively.

"I need to meet and speak with him regarding his portfolio. May I step inside for a moment?" Katie requested.

"Alright... go ahead," Emma said.

The four girls immediately shifted aside to make way for Katie and her two employees to walk in. As they walked toward the elevator in the back to go straight up to the third floor, Katie glanced at Emma, Monica, Priya, and Laura, then tapped her glasses again.

"You girls are The Empress, right?" Katie asked.

Hearing Katie’s question, Emma, Monica, Priya, and Laura instantly whipped their heads around to look at her. They also noticed the two male employees smiling, clearly recognizing them as well.

"Um... actually, I’m not part of the band, Ms. Katie. Those three are. Yesterday, I was just helping out," Emma said.

"Oh, really? Well, your vocals were pretty good, and you with the red hair, you were amazing. You really own the front stage. Bottom line, you guys killed it last night," Katie said, giving them a thumbs-up.

"Thank you, ma’am. My name is Monica, by the way, not ’red hair,’" Monica said, acting a bit nervous.

"Right now, you guys are trending. People love the mystery, appearing out of nowhere to deliver such an incredible song and then vanished. You’re the talk of the town everywhere. Isn’t that right?" Katie asked the two men behind her.

"Absolutely, Ms. Katie," one of the men said with a smile.

"They’ve actually recorded some tracks on streaming apps, so some people already knew them, but no one expected them to show up at the festival and recording last night," the other man added.

"I see," Laura murmured.

"Yep, you’re famous now," Katie said with a smile.

"Ding."

The elevator reached the third floor. They led Katie and the two men up the short flight of stairs and into Eric’s living quarters. When they stepped inside, Eric was already waiting for them at the dining table, with the thick folder sitting on the table right in front of him.

Seeing Katie walk in, Eric stood up to greet her. But noticing his pale face, the blanket wrapped around him, and his dry lips, Katie instantly looked worried and hurried over. She felt his forehead, then leaned in to press her own forehead against his to check his temperature.

The gesture caught the two men behind her completely off guard, and the six girls in the room instantly grew incredibly tense, bordering on furious.

"Are you okay, Eric?" Katie asked, her tone shifting to that of an affectionate older sister.

"I’m fine, ma’am," Eric answered slowly and politely.

"Oh dear... if you’re this sick, you should be seeing a doctor. Do you want me to drop you off at a hospital after this?" Katie asked, looking genuinely anxious.

"That won’t be necessary, Ms. Katie. Please step back," Emma cut in, having already marched up right next to them.

"Yeah... please try to be a bit more professional," Monica added, standing right behind Emma.

"Exactly. Please take a seat and get straight to the point," Priya chimed in, also backing Emma up.

"Please sit down, Ms. Katie. You two should sit down as well," Laura said, pulling out all the chairs around the table.

Chloe and Heidi, who were still in the kitchen wearing aprons, walked out holding a soup ladle and a spatula. The temperature in the room instantly plummeted as the expressions on all six girls drastically shifted to absolute zero, their glares capable of freezing anyone who dared to look back at them. They had essentially transformed into a pack of fierce, icy cats protecting their territory and what belonged to them.

The two men accompanying Katie quietly sat down, and Katie, picking up on the sudden shift in the room’s energy, flashed a knowing smile. She lifted her hands off Eric’s shoulders and gave his chest a gentle, reassuring pat.

"Ah... right, of course. Well, let’s take care of business so you can get some rest. My apologies, Eric," Katie said, pushing up her glasses and taking a step back from him.

"It’s fine, Ms. Katie. Thank you for the concern, please have a seat," Eric invited.

Eric and Katie both sat down, but they didn’t start talking right away because they felt a barrage of intense stares. Eric turned his head to look at Monica, Laura, Chloe, and Heidi, who were all still crowding around the table.

Emma and Priya headed to the kitchen to fetch some drinks for Katie and her two corporate employees. Once that was done, they rejoined the group. Eric looked around, taking in the sight of all six girls tightly surrounding the table.

"Um... sorry, guys, do you mind giving us a few minutes? I need to discuss some important matters with Ms. Katie," Eric said to the girls. He obviously didn’t want any of them finding out that he was about to talk business involving their own families’ corporations.

"Okay," the six girls replied in unison.

They immediately migrated over to the couch and the bed, but their eyes remained glued to the dining table. Since Eric was sitting with his back to them and Katie was seated right next to him, the two didn’t feel too disrupted.

Without delaying any further, Eric opened his folder and showed the contents to Katie and the two men with her. They immediately began checking the authenticity of Eric’s documents in microscopic detail, discussing the files while explaining things to Eric whenever he had a question.

Watching Eric and Katie look so serious while talking business in high-level corporate jargon, Emma, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura all looked completely stunned and full of admiration. Meanwhile, Chloe just nodded along with a smile, crossing her arms over her chest while still holding her spatula.

"Who exactly is Eric anyway? He can play music and write songs, but right now he looks like a seasoned businessman... it’s amazing. I’m falling for him even harder now," Monica whispered.

"Same... me too," Priya added, her eyes completely glued to Eric’s back.

"Turns out... there are still so many sides to Eric that I know nothing about, and from now on, I’m going to keep staying close to him until I do," Heidi said.

"Right? I’m finding myself way more interested in Eric too. It’s incredibly rare to find a guy his age who’s anything like him," Chloe noted.

"Wait a second, why are you guys just openly admitting that you’re in love with Eric?" Laura questioned.

"Did you all forget? Eric is mine," Emma chimed in.

Instantly, they all glared at one another, looking ready to tear each other apart. But then, they all smiled.

"Ceasefire. There’s a gorgeous, single older woman up there with no ring on her finger who could snag Eric," they each muttered in their own heads at the exact same time without realizing it, before turning their attention back to Eric and Katie, who were sitting side by side discussing business with their shoulders almost touching.