Chapter 116: Late Text

Xavier was at his desk at 7PM on Wednesday when his phone buzzed.

He looked at the screen.

Jade.

Jade: so I’ve been thinking about you since the gym 😊

Xavier looked at the message for a moment.

Since the gym, he thought. Which was yesterday. He set the phone down. Picked it back up. She waited a full day to send it. Thought about the timing carefully. But the message itself makes no attempt to be subtle about what the timing was covering.

Direct, he thought. Consistent with everything she did at the gym.

He typed back.

Xavier: good things I hope

Jade: very good things 😊 you left before I could say everything I wanted to say

Everything she wanted to say, he thought. At 9AM in a gym on a Tuesday morning. She had more to say and is now saying it at 7PM.

Xavier: what did you want to say

A brief moment.

Jade: that you’re very attractive Xavier. And that the Panamera is not the only reason I came over yesterday 😊

Xavier looked at that message.

Not the only reason, he thought. Generous of her to acknowledge the car while simultaneously making sure I know it isn’t everything. He leaned back. Calibrated. She’s thought about exactly how to play this.

But then again. She’d been honest about it. Which was its own kind of thing.

Xavier: I appreciate the honesty

Jade: I’m always honest 😊 life’s too short for games

Life’s too short for games, Xavier thought. From a woman who is very much running a play but running it openly enough that it stops being a game and becomes just. I’ll say what it is.

I can respect that, he thought. Genuinely.

Xavier: what are you doing tomorrow

The three dots appeared faster than the previous ones.

Jade: nothing after 2PM 😊 why

Xavier: Come visit me, let’s talk and chill for a while. I’ll send the address.

Jade: okay hmm I’ll love to chill 😊 what time?

Xavier: 3PM

Jade: see you at 3 😊

Xavier put the phone down.

Looked at the Millhaven tickets on the shelf.

Tomorrow at 3PM, he thought. Mr. Hartley’s measurements in the morning. Jade in the afternoon. And—

He stopped.

Selene, he thought.

I was supposed to meet her Monday evening.

He sat up slightly.

She texted Sunday. I said Monday evening works. And then Monday came and the special package arrived and the Tier 3 upgrade and the gym registration and module five and I completely—

I forgot, he thought. I actually forgot.

He picked up his phone. Scrolled back to their conversation. The last message from him was from Sunday evening confirming Monday. Nothing after that. No reschedule. No explanation. Just silence from his end since Sunday night.

She hasn’t texted either, he noted. Which is very Selene. She’s not going to chase.

He typed.

Xavier: I owe you an apology. Monday didn’t happen on my end. Something came up and I handled it badly.

He sent it before he could deliberate.

A brief moment.

Selene: I noticed.

Xavier: Thursday evening. Your restaurant. I’ll be there.

Another brief moment.

Selene: okay.

Xavier put the phone down.

Okay, he thought. Not fine. Not no problem. Just okay. He looked at the ceiling. She noticed and she’s not making it a thing but she noticed. He tapped the desk once. Thursday. Don’t be late. Don’t forget again.

Three things Thursday, he thought. Mr. Hartley. Jade. Selene.

Thursday is doing a lot of work this week.

Different things, he thought. Jade is one thing. Selene is something else entirely. He set the phone down on the desk. And the two don’t interfere with each other because I know exactly what each of them is and I’m not confused about either.

Jade knows what this is, he thought. I know what this is. Nobody in this arrangement is operating under a misunderstanding.

That’s the honest version, he thought. Some things don’t have to be genuine to be real.

He stood up and walked to the window. The city outside doing its Wednesday evening thing. Restaurants filling, the commercial district winding down, the ordinary machinery of a weekday night.

Fifteen million sitting in an account, he thought. Seven businesses running. Tier 3 active. Jade coming over Thursday afternoon.

He almost smiled.

In my previous life, he thought, Wednesday evenings were cold food and a tired back and checking the account before bed. He looked at the city. Now they’re this.

He went back to the desk. Opened his banking app. Checked the balance and started the evening donation cycle. Tier 3 cap making the amounts feel different from anything the previous two tiers had produced.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Transaction Detected: $500,000 spent on donation — Global Education Trust

Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x

Total Return: $1,000,000

[ Net Balance: $13,758,003.00 → $14,758,003.00 ]

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Transaction Detected: $500,000 spent on donation — Rural Healthcare Initiative

Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x

Total Return: $1,000,000

[ Net Balance: $14,258,003.00 → $15,258,003.00 ]

$15,258,003, he noted.

He looked at that number for a moment.

Past fifteen million, he thought. On a Wednesday evening.

He set the phone down.

His phone buzzed again before he’d fully put it down.

Jade.

Jade: should I bring anything 😊

Xavier looked at the message.

Should I bring anything, he thought. She’s not asking about food.

Xavier: just yourself

Jade: 😊😊 see you at 3 Xavier

He put the phone down properly this time.

Picked up Amira’s module five notes from the desk. Still there from this morning’s test and flicked through them absently. Not reading. Just the comfortable habit of having something in his hands while his mind was somewhere else.

Module five, he thought. Being sat in two days by someone who hopefully read section four. He closed the document. Campus Admin said his reliable. I have to trust that.

He walked to the kitchen. Made coffee. Came back. Sat at the desk and looked at the Millhaven tickets on the shelf.

Two tickets, he thought. Business class. Friday departure to her city.

Tomorrow evening, he thought. Selene’s restaurant. She goes on thursdays. I’ll be there when she arrives. He looked at the tickets. And then I ask.

If she says yes — Friday.

He stopped before the alternative arrived.

She’ll say yes, he thought. 48% favorability. Personal number. Sunday evening call with no cover attached. She’ll definitely say yes.

He was fairly certain of that.

Fairly, he thought.

He picked up his phone one more time and looked at Jade’s last message.

😊😊 see you at 3 Xavier.

Tomorrow, he thought. Three things in one day.

Mr. Hartley. Jade. Selene.

He almost laughed at the particular shape his Thursday had taken. He cycled through some transactions.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Daily Cycle Complete

Donations processed: Women’s Empowerment Fund, Digital Access Initiative, Child Nutrition Foundation, Rural Water Access Trust

Total Spent: $200,000

Total Returned: $400,000

[ Net Balance: $15,058,003.00 → $15,258,003.00 ]

[ $200,000 buffer retained ]

$15,258,003, he noted. Cap hit. Clean Wednesday.

He closed the laptop and looked at the room.

He jumped on his bed.