One Man Band System

Katie went back to reading through the letters once more, looking for any loopholes at Eric’s request. Meanwhile, Eric reminisced about what had transpired just moments earlier.

An hour prior, "ding," Eric stepped out of the elevator alongside Emma. Walking into the penthouse, Eric spotted Chloe, Laura, Heidi, Priya, and Monica gathered on the sofa around the coffee table.

"Oh, you guys are back?" Eric asked.

The five girls turned their heads toward Eric, but quickly fell dead silent again, leaving Eric completely baffled. Emma studied her friends’ faces, then glanced down at the envelopes on the table. "Sigh," she let out a breath, knowing full well what was unfolding right in front of her. Releasing Eric’s hand, she sat down between Monica and Chloe. Reaching into her purse, "slap," she slammed her own letter right onto the center of the coffee table.

The sudden move caused Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura to whip their heads toward Emma, their eyes wide and jaws dropped. Without a word, they all knew what that letter was, an exact match to the ones they each held. The silence in the room grew suffocating. Feeling uncomfortable, Eric sat down in the middle of them all.

"What is going on here?" Eric asked.

He looked over the letters on the table and reached forward to grab them all, but paused to look around at the six girls surrounding him. Their faces were filled with anxiety, yet nobody said a word as Eric prepared to take the documents. Eric read through the letters one by one. The more he read, the darker his expression turned, shifting from gloomy to pale, back to gloomy, and finally pitch-black.

"Slap," Eric slammed every single letter back onto the table, including Emma’s. He turned to look at the six girls around him.

"Hold on a second... this is completely absurd. My dad told your parents... that I’m engaged to every single one of you?" Eric asked.

Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura stayed silent, looking bashful as they turned their faces away to avoid Eric’s gaze without answering. Chloe and Monica even bit their lips to keep from speaking up. Finally, Emma stood up and moved over to sit next to Eric, taking his tense hand in hers.

"Didn’t I tell you to let me handle talking to them and sorting this out? Can you do me a favor now?" Emma asked.

"Wait... you knew about this from the very beginning?" Eric asked, bewildered.

Emma didn’t say a word. She looked away with a flushed face and nodded in response. Eric rubbed his face after realizing Emma had known all along. Chloe then shifted closer, sitting right beside Eric.

"To be completely honest, I had no idea they all had identical letters from their own parents. Bryan only handed mine over to me a few days ago while going through my dad’s old belongings at the office," Chloe said.

"Same here... my mom only brought it up when I went home yesterday," Monica said.

"I... knew from the start... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but frankly, I had no idea they all had the exact same official documents too," Priya added.

"My mom talked to me yesterday... she handed me this letter then. Honestly, I was thrilled, but finding out they all have the exact same one... I just don’t know what to say... sorry, Eric... babe," Heidi said.

"Uncle Joe is officially my dad now that the adoption process is finalized. He attached that letter right alongside my adoption papers yesterday... and turns out Uncle Joe and your dad had made that agreement all along... but the deal only kicked in once Uncle Joe officially adopted me," Laura said.

"So here’s the deal, babe. Can you give us a little time to talk amongst ourselves? Take all these letters and head out for an hour or two. The six of us really need to talk this through. Please understand, this isn’t about you, we’re the ones with the issue here," Emma said.

Eric lowered his head and fell silent. None of the six girls said a word, simply staring at Eric as they waited for his decision. Finally, Eric stood up and gathered all the letters from the table, taking a moment to look at the faces of Emma, Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura one by one.

"Alright, I understand. I’ll head out for a bit so you guys can talk things through," Eric said with a smile.

"Thank you, babe," they all replied in unison.

They stood up and, starting with Emma, took turns kissing Eric on the cheek one by one. Afterward, Eric walked over to the elevator and stepped inside as the doors slid open. The moment the doors shut, Eric stumbled back, leaning heavily against the rear wall. His head was spinning. He looked down at the six letters in his hand, already knowing full well what was written inside, and pulled out his smartphone.

"Katie, can we meet up right now... it’s urgent, please help me out," Eric said as soon as Katie picked up, his voice tinged with panic.

***

Back to the present, Eric kept his eyes locked on Katie sitting across from him, who appeared totally relaxed reading through his letters with a blank face—though her lips occasionally twitched into a subtle smile as she clearly fought back laughter. Noticing Eric’s gaze, Katie lowered Monica’s letter, which she had been reading.

"What’s up? Want to make me number seven? Oh, sorry, number one, since I’m older than the rest of them, hehe," Katie teased.

"Please stop joking around... how is it? Find any loopholes to cancel them?" Eric asked.

"There are no loopholes. Contesting them in court would be tough because they’re locked down tight, clause by clause. But if one of those six girls talks to her parents about canceling it or says she doesn’t want in, there’s a chance her parents might soften up and agree to release the bond," Katie answered.

"Ugh... so it all depends on them, huh... that’s rough," Eric said listlessly.

"You said they’re talking things over right now, right? Just let them be and let them decide. The main point is, who do you actually want to be with? Or at least, who do you want to sleep with? Bottom line is how you feel, that’s way more important than whatever decision they make," Katie said.

Hearing the phrase sleep with come out of Katie’s mouth, even though she only meant it as a figure of speech, Eric’s face flushed bright red instantly. He turned away, staring at the bar stools across the cafe. Katie, who was closely watching Eric, gasped when she caught his expression. She slipped off her glasses and set them on the table right alongside the documents. Leaning her body across the table, she brought her face close to Eric’s.

"Don’t tell me... you’ve already slept with all six of them," Katie said, cutting straight to the point.

Eric flinched, pulling back and trying to avert his eyes from Katie’s gaze without answering. Naturally, Katie knew Eric’s answer without him having to say a single word. She leaned back into her seat and crossed her arms.

"This is what happens when young adults live together under one roof. Now I finally get why you’ve got such a massive headache," Katie said, her tone suddenly serious.

"I’m sorry," Eric replied softly.

"I’m not blaming you, and I’m not blaming them either. Everything happened naturally, so there’s no one to point fingers at or justify. No need to dwell on what happened. But because of that, you’re stuck in a tough spot picking just one of them, and that’s what’s giving you such a headache. On one hand, you want to take responsibility for all six of them since you’ve slept with them, but on the other hand, you know the law and realize it’s impossible to be with every single one. Choosing just one feels unfair to the rest, and that’s the conflict tearing you up inside, right?" Katie asked, cutting straight to the point.

Eric didn’t answer. He carefully weighed Katie’s words, realizing she hit the nail on the head, and gave a slow nod in response. "Sigh," Katie let out a breath, her expression remaining flat even as a slight smile touched her lips. She reached out and placed her hand over Eric’s, which was resting beside his coffee cup. Eric looked up to meet Katie’s eyes.

"Don’t worry about it too much. What matters now is that I get it, you feel the exact same way about all six of them, no more, no less. So my advice is... don’t do anything for now. Let them be the ones to make the decision, right?" Katie asked, directing her question over Eric’s shoulder.

At Katie’s words, Eric turned around. His eyes widened as he saw Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura standing right behind him and every single one of them had a sour look on her face, eyeing Katie’s hand resting over Eric’s on the table.

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