060

She was hard at work as usual today too. Jade Wiggins was reviewing her files. For a second, she looked through the window at the city outside her office and sighed. She had a good and respectable job but goddamn was she tired of working every day… It was always the same or something similar, killing her mood little by little.

Her co-workers and buddies arrived in her office with a cup of coffee for her. She ended up taking a break with the two of them and they began to gossip as usual.

After some time, the topic deviated to her. How she was looking tired and bored these days. They joked about it, stating that the last few guys she met at the club weren't up to par…And they compared them to the young buff guy she went out with that day. The next morning, she arrived at work with quite the smile.

While the two were only fooling around, she pondered seriously over it. And decided to do something she rarely did. She sent a text to that man. It was nothing exceptional and she didn't bother thinking much about it.

She sent: "Hey, what's up? how about dinner tonight? -Jade"

…

Ron opened his wrist-com and checked the message received thinking it was from the faculty due to his absence. It was not. He had very contacts in his repertoire but this was one of them. The only one with no exchanges yet. Well, there was one now. His interlocutor was written as 'My First' so, he easily knew who this was. That being said, he certainly didn't expect to ever receive a message from her. In fact, he never thought he would ever hear from her again and never even thought of contacting her himself. He was still awkward about what happened.

Still, he curiously opened the message. It read: "Hey, what's up? how about dinner tonight? -Jade"

The first thought he had was "Oh, so she's called Jade" and only after that did he notice the contents. She was asking him if he wanted to have dinner with her tonight? Why? He couldn't have gotten her pregnant, right? Maybe he did… If this was the reason, he had to go and take responsibility.

He was imagining himself a future from a delusion like a cinematographer.

And he ended up sending a response: "Good morning, I am doing fine, how about you? It would be a pleasure to have dinner with you tonight, do you have something in mind already? -Ron"

He decided to add his name like she did to reciprocate and in case she forgot his name like he did. Who knew, right?

…

It was only mere moments after sending the message that she received an answer. She didn't expect that. To be honest, she didn't have much expectations. She sent the message randomly without truly considering receiving a reply.

The beeping wasn't loud but it was enough to get the attention of her two co-workers. They went closer and asked her who texted her. Did they have no concepts of private life? She grumbled and didn't answer before opening the message.

It read: "Good morning, I am doing fine, how about you? It would be a pleasure to have dinner with you tonight, do you have something in mind already? -Ron"

She chuckled with a smile, attracting the curious gazes of her two coworkers. The two women looked at each other and nodded. They understood from that reaction that she was texting a man. They began to urge her to get answers. If gossip was the second-best past time they had, none other would dare claim to be first!

In the end, she reluctantly let them read it. She wasn't truly reluctant about it of course. They joked about it and laughed at Ron for being overly polite and such.

Then, they began to seriously question her on whether she would really go eat with him. They generally went clubbing together at night… That was one of the reasons they were always dead tired at work but they couldn't care less about that.

Jade pondered for a moment and ended up nodding her head. It was a fact that she had fun with this guy back then. Much more than with some others who claimed to be veterans, experts or masters at their trade. That guy had been dead-drunk yet it had been one hell of an enjoyable night. She hadn't laughed like that in days.

She wondered if he was as fun when sober while she sent him a reply.

…

Ron's wrist-com beeped only a few minutes later. He hoped it would be Jade. It was from her. He opened the message and it read: "Great~ How bout 8.00 at Sanshunli Restaurant?"

Sanshunli restaurant? Where was that? Ron hurriedly searched the location with his wrist-com and noticed that it wasn't that far. It was in the city center. He checked it and noticed that it was quite a high-end place, rather costly. He frowned.

Thanks to his friend Ivan, may he rest in peace, he was aware that the women expected the men to pay if they went out for dinner. Being honest, he couldn't spend more than a hundred on a single meal with his poor situation.

He sighed and wondered what to do. In the end, after sighing many more times, he decided to be honest and sent: "I���m afraid I wouldn't be able to afford this kind of place…How about we go to another restaurant?"

…

The three women eagerly waited the reply and Jade opened it right away as she received it. Then, the three of them fell into a laughing fit as they kept joking about how poor that guy must have been.

Her two friends went back to work after they had their fill of denigrating the man. She went back to work as well. However, before she even began, she noticed how she was smiling…She reflected on her actions and ended up noticing how he had, in fact, been honest with her with this. Even though he was likely aware of the horrible result it would bring, he stayed honest.

…She sent him a reply.