The Heart System

Chapter 818: Chapter 818

Jasmine and Nala were working out behind me using that stupid gym app... phew. I was back. I mean, I knew I’d be back but, still. It was scary.

"It’s been a while since I used the app," Nala said, exhaling as she squatted. "The project was keeping me so busy."

"Yeah, we can tell," Tessa replied from the single couch beside me.

Nala stopped squatting and looked at her. "Wait, what does that mean? Did I gain weight?" She pointed at Tessa. "Hey, I’m firing you."

"Kiss my ass, CEO," Tessa said with a smirk. "I’m just telling the truth."

Nala looked at me. "Evan, did I get fat?"

"Fatter ass? Sure," I replied with a shrug as I watched the news.

"No, no. You know what I mean."

Kim closed her laptop and rested it on her lap. "She’s messing with you, Nala."

"If that’s the case, I’m firing her ass again."

"How about you fire some salad into your stomach, CEO?" Tessa chuckled.

"That didn’t even work as a joke," Nala said, panting as she continued squatting. "I’m firing you again for that."

"Boo-hoo," Tessa replied. "Whatever shall I do now?"

"Okay, no more jokes," Nala muttered. "Am I fat?"

"God," Tessa groaned. "No, you are not, you idiot. Look at yourself. I’m just messing with you."

"See?" Kim said, leaning back. "I told you."

"How did things go with Esme and Cora, by the way?" Jasmine asked, taking a small break. "Did they make up yet?"

"I don’t know," I replied. "Probably not."

"What a stubborn bastard Cora is," Tessa scoffed. "Esme should kick her ass. That’s what I would’ve done."

"So you’d beat your own sister because you don’t want to share Evan?" Kim teased. "Aw, I didn’t know you loved him that much."

"Man, fuck Evan," Tessa said. "It’s about principle. You can’t make me stop doing what I love."

"So you love Evan?" Nala asked.

Tessa exhaled. "Let’s just say that if he fell down on a bus, I wouldn’t laugh at him."

She paused for a moment.

"Or I’d laugh a little. Like a maybe small ’hah’ or something."

"Hey, I’ll take that," I said with a shrug.

My phone buzzed on the coffee table. With a groan, I leaned forward and grabbed it, then checked the screen. Eleanor. Good. I hadn’t been able to catch her at Stingy Ladies because of all the chaos, and I still wanted to talk to her.

"Hey," I answered. "What’s up?"

"Evan," Eleanor said. "Um, I was eating, right? Then I heard a sound. At first, I thought it was a bird, but then I realized someone was crying. Was that Esme, the girl you talked to me about?"

"Yeah," I replied, getting up. "I’ll go check on her. Thanks for letting me know."

"Mm. I’m waiting by the door."

"Alright. Bye."

I hung up and slipped my phone into my pocket.

"What happened?" Jasmine asked as she started doing squats again. "Eleanor, right? What did she say?"

"She told me Esme was crying," I replied with a sigh. "I’ll go check on her."

"Crying?" Tessa asked. "I’m starting to hate Cora more and more, Evan. I’m telling you."

"What a mess."

I walked toward the door, opened it, and stepped into the corridor. I made my way toward the stairs and started walking down.

When I reached the lower floor, I spotted Eleanor peeking out from her doorway. She was wearing a bathrobe, and her hair was still wet from what looked like a recent shower.

As I approached, I closed the distance between us, pulled her close, and kissed her deeply while giving her asscheek a firm squeeze. Eleanor let out a soft smile against my lips and kissed me back, her hand lingering on my chest for a moment before she stepped back slightly, her expression shifting back to concern.

"Hey," she said, meeting my eyes. "Do you think Esme is okay?"

"I don’t know," I replied, shaking my head with a quiet exhale. "I’m hoping she is..."

"I’ll come with you," she said. "She doesn’t have anyone with her, right? I wouldn’t want to show up at her door wearing a bathrobe if someone else was there."

"Nope. Just her."

She nodded, disappeared back inside, and returned a few seconds later with her keycard in hand. She slipped it into the pocket of her bathrobe, then closed and locked her door.

Once she was ready, we walked together toward Esme’s room and knocked.

"W-who is it?" Esme called from inside.

She wasn’t crying anymore, at least not that I could tell, but the sadness in her voice was obvious.

"Evan," I replied. "Open the door, Esme. Let’s have a small chat."

"I’ll... okay," she muttered.

A few seconds later, the door opened.

Esme stood there wearing a loose, oversized T-shirt. Her hair was messy, and her sleepy eyes were slightly puffy from crying. Damn, seeing her like this, I felt a little weird. Esme was always a ’not a care in the world’ in my eyes. I never thought I’d see her crying over something... other than not eating pizza for a whole day, maybe. This girl LOVED her pizza.

"Oh, um, hey," she said with a small nod. "E-Eleanor, right?"

"Yeah," Eleanor replied with a gentle smile. "Sorry for showing up like this, but you got me worried. A lot."

"Worried?"

"She heard you crying, Esme," I said with a sigh. "What happened? Tell me. You don’t have to hide, just be honest with me, alright?"

"I... it just... I don’t know. Something came over me and I started crying," she muttered.

I clapped my hands together and smiled.

"That, Eleanor, happens to Esme when she goes twelve hours without pizza."

Esme’s expression remained serious for a moment. Then she took a small step backward and smiled, covering half of her mouth with her palm.

Good. At least I managed to make her smile.

"So," I said with a grin. "Pizza?"

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