Telephone invitation

Charlize stood by the windowsill, lifting her right foot, swinging it, and doing the same with the other leg, one after another. She adjusted her breathing while doing the movements, taking each one seriously and carefully. Although she had left ballet due to a knee injury, it didn't mean that she no longer loved it. On the contrary, she still maintained the habits she had developed since she was six years old every day. This not only kept her connection to ballet but also helped sculpt her body.

At that moment, the phone in the kitchen doorway began to ring, and the uninterrupted sound echoed in the room. Charlize turned to look at the empty living room, apparently, no one wanted to answer the phone. She couldn't help but shout, "Tyra! Tyra! Answer the phone!"

A tall, curvaceous black woman tiptoed out of the bedroom to Charlize's right and complained to her, "You were right here." However, she still walked quickly to the phone and answered it, "Hello, this is Tyra Banks. Who am I speaking to?"

The woman named Tyra had a beautiful face, and her three-dimensional features inherited the advantages of African Americans. At the same time, her speaking eyes gave her an extra touch of sweetness. At this moment, she was simply wearing a set of white underwear, which clearly displayed her endowment.

Charlize met Tyra after she came to Los Angeles. Tyra was also a professional model who entered the industry in 1990. However, her modeling career had not made much progress in the past two years. Although she had outstanding innate conditions, the use of black models in the US was still scarce. The issue of racial discrimination had never been resolved, which made Tyra very discouraged.

Due to the fact that both of them hadn't established their careers yet, they could only share a house and ease the financial burden by splitting the rent. Tyra was usually a very cheerful and playful woman, and although she and Charlize had not known each other for a long time, their relationship was still very good. This was quite rare, especially when two women in the same industry lived under the same roof, and there was no backstabbing or vicious competition between them, uncommon indeed.

"Um... yes, she's here... no problem..." Tyra communicated with the other person on the phone while constantly looking at Charlize with a playful smile, which made the latter feel inexplicable. She had originally planned to continue practicing on her own, but she was distracted by Tyra's ambiguous gaze, and could not concentrate. So she stared back and used her eyes to ask, "What?"

Tyra took the receiver down and, while looking at Charlize, deliberately shouted, "Charlize, Charlize, it's your phone call from Mr. Hugo Lancaster... Charlize!"

Charlize was so annoyed by Tyra's coquettish calling that she got goosebumps all over her body. She angrily put her right foot down from the windowsill, and tiptoed all the way over, snatching the phone from Tyra's hand. Unexpectedly, Tyra chuckled and said, "No need to rush, I was just about to give it to you," and Charlize kicked her in the process. Tyra said, "Ouch, shy are we!" and ran to the sofa, out of Charlize's attack range, and then gestured for Charlize to answer the phone quickly.

Charlize did not want to answer the phone under Terra's surveillance, because after the call was over, she would have no peace. However, she found that Tyra was unwilling to leave the sofa, and in the end, she could only grit her teeth and stamp her foot, and then answered the phone in a slightly irritable voice, "This is Charlize speaking."

The abrupt sentence made Tyra, who was watching the show next to her, jump in surprise. She could imagine the expression on the other end of the phone and couldn't help rolling on the sofa with laughter. Generally, when girls answer calls from guys, they tend to be a bit more ladylike. If it's someone they're interested in, their tone and pace will obviously undergo a significant change from usual. Charlize's authentic performance was indeed unique.

Hugo, on the other end of the phone, was also taken aback by Charlize's voice and couldn't help but laugh, "It seems like I chose the wrong time."

Charlize also realized that her tone just now was a bit off, and couldn't help glaring at Tyra fiercely. But changing her voice now would seem too fake, so Charlize simply spoke again in her original voice. After all, she didn't deliberately hide her true self during her first meeting with Hugo. "No, it's just that when you called, my roommate started freaking out, thinking that there was something between us and winking at me."

Faced with Charlize's frankness, Hugo chuckled, "Maybe in her eyes, there's no such thing as pure friendship between men and women."

"Perhaps there are other reasons, such as our daily life being too boring, so any little thing can be interpreted in countless ways." Charlize's smile couldn't help but be drawn out, but Tyra lying on the sofa with a teenage girl's expression was really annoying. Charlize had to walk into the kitchen while holding the phone line, trying to get out of Tyra's sight. However, Tyra's cheerful laughter on the sofa made Charlize's cheeks inexplicably flush. Even if there was nothing going on, being provoked by Tyra made it seem like something was happening.

"Do you have a work now?" Hugo picked up the landline phone and walked from the bedside table to the only window in the room, where he sat down.

It was the early 1990s, and although mobile phones had already been introduced to the market, their popularity was not high. Not only were they still classic brick phones worth over $4,500, which ordinary people couldn't afford, but they were also restricted by signal problems and had poor communication quality, so they had not been widely promoted.

Hugo was very uncomfortable in his first week of time travel. Computers and the internet were not yet developed here, and even mobile phones were not available, making him feel like he had returned to primitive society. For people in the 21st century who are almost addicted to computers or mobile phones, it is definitely a kind of torture.

But human adaptability is always amazing. In less than ten days, Hugo had already adapted and was now used to life without computers or mobile phones. He found it very convenient, especially since the landline phone had no radiation problem and wouldn't make his ears tingle, which made him very satisfied.

Charlize leaned against the kitchen sink. "No, not just today, but also tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Life in Los Angeles is so leisurely, which I never thought of before leaving New York." Her tone was slightly mocking and self-deprecating, which made Hugo laugh involuntarily.

"Well, in that case, I would like to invite you to dine together. You won't have an excuse to decline, right?" Hugo said with a smile.

Charlize couldn't help but purse her lips and wear a smile of amusement on her face. "Hugo, is this a date?" In fact, when they last met, Charlize was prepared to give her phone number to Hugo, but he hadn't contacted her for about a week, and she thought she had guessed wrong. Just as she got over, Hugo's phone call came, which surprised Charlize.

Faced with Charlize's straightforwardness, Hugo realized that dinner dates were quite formal in Western culture, but he didn't feel that way before. He simply wanted to take Charlize out for dinner after finishing his business with his agent, but things had progressed this far.

"If I said yes, would you accept?" Hugo's rich voice came through the phone receiver, and this sentence made Charlize's heart beat a little chaotic. The smile on her lips also revealed her happy mood. Then Hugo continued, "Of course, if you don't want it to be a date, then it's not, because I think it's most important that you want to come out and have dinner with me."

Hugo's teasing straightforwardness made Charlize burst into laughter. Perhaps it was because they had a misunderstanding on their first meeting, so the two of them always had a relaxed and comfortable tone when talking, and there was less caution prevalent between men and women.

"As long as it's not me who pays." Charlize said with a smile on her lips, with a hint of playfulness in her eyes. As soon as she spoke, she heard the sound of stomping outside the door. Charlize looked up and saw Tyra jumping up and down in a hurry, obviously very unhappy with Charlize's answer. She silently shouted in her mouth, "How can you talk about money with your date!"

However, at the same time, there came Hugo's warm laughter through the phone, mixed in with the rays of the setting sun shining into the kitchen, like a cup of fragrant coffee rising up. "Don't worry, I'll save splitting the bill for the second date." This playful remark made Charlize chuckle, and her laughter, like silver bells, scattered countless rays of light in the sunshine.

"So, how about Pacific Dining Car at 8 pm tonight?" Hugo continued. Charlize quickly confirmed her agreement. Then, Hugo heard a burst of playful giggles from a girl on the other end of the line, which also made him laugh.

Currently, Hugo had no friends in Los Angeles except for Joseph. He had no one to share his joy of a successful audition for "Scent of a Woman". Charlize, although just an acquaintance, was better than a stranger. Moreover, they had a great conversation during their first meeting, so Hugo invited Charlize to celebrate with him by having dinner together at Pacific Dining Car, as a simple celebration.

On the other end of the phone, as soon as Charlize hung up, Tyra rushed over to her, "Charlize! You're going out to eat with that super handsome guy! Charlize, go get him! Go get him!" Charlize couldn't stand Tyra's enthusiasm and said with a smile and tears, "Tyra, are you sure the person going out to eat with the handsome guy is me and not you?"