"I will pay you a thousand dollars right after the party. A thousand dollars. And there would be a bonus if you perform well. Think about it—it's just acting. Do you really want to miss an opportunity like this?"
The voice replayed in David's head as he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Something doesn't feel right about her," he muttered to himself.
It wasn't just the fact that she'd stolen his phone in some elaborate scheme to make him come back to the lab. It wasn't even what she was doing in that lab when she was clearly not a student of the university.
It was a certain familiarity he'd sensed from her during their conversation.
She wasn't acting cautious or guarded around a stranger, which didn't make sense. He could be some dangerous individual for all she knew, yet she'd openly flaunted the fact that she was by no means in the same class as him. There was just something off about her. It was as though she knew him from before.
"That could explain why she would do that," he muttered.
Stealing a stranger's valuables for logic as stupid as that wasn't something a normal person would do—at least not to a complete stranger.
"But where have we met before?"
Aside from Eveline, David didn't have any female friends. The only ones who came close were his coursemates from first year, back when he was more open than he was now.
After thinking for a long while, David sat up, the bed groaning under his weight. He got off and headed for the table where the golden envelope sat. He pulled it out and read aloud.
"An official invitation to StarCorp's one hundred and fifteenth anniversary."
He skipped the irrelevant details and looked at the location where it would be hosted, then thought deeply about what he was going to wear. There wasn't much in his wardrobe—mostly casual shirts, a few dress shirts, and barely enough pants. The only decent thing there was something Eveline had once gotten him for his birthday.
A suit. Pure black with stylish accents—folded collar, details at the top right pocket, and a few other touches.
"Eveline," David muttered as her face surfaced in his memories. But he forced himself to shake off whatever feelings were starting to bubble up from just remembering the good times they'd had before it all went to hell.
"This might just work," he thought with a nod of approval.
After thinking about it for a long time, he realized that no matter how bizarre the situation seemed, missing an opportunity like this would be plain stupid. What was the worst that could happen? And the fact that she'd gone to such lengths just to get him to agree meant she at least knew him, though he couldn't recall knowing her before two days ago.
If she'd wanted to, she could have asked anyone else to do it. But the fact that she'd bothered doing this must mean something—or at least, he convinced himself so.
At the end of the day, it was the money that made him give in. She was also going to return the phone. That was a win-win. And maybe he could ask where she knew him from.
"It's tonight," he said, then slapped his forehead.
According to the invitation, it was set to begin at 6:00 PM and end by 9:00 PM. It was currently 3:45 PM, which meant he had barely two hours to get ready and go. Missing this meant missing an opportunity that would have handed him a thousand dollars for doing nothing but acting—and solving his phone issue.
Well, there was also the possibility she was lying about that aspect. But then again, what did he have to lose?
He decided to take a bath—a cold one this time, since it was burning hot outside. After that, he had his usual noodles, which at this point seemed almost tasteless as a result of the daily monotony.
He pulled out the suit. It was in a special garment bag and still well-ironed, preserved this way for a long time since he hadn't needed to dress nicely in ages. He grabbed some cash for transport fare, took his regular glasses that he hadn't worn in a while, styled his hair, and made a few completely unwarranted poses at his broken mirror before heading out.
He didn't forget to lock the door behind him.
At this point, an hour and a half had gone by.
Just as in the morning, Lady Luck mistakenly smiled on him, and a cab passed by. He hailed it and gave the driver the location of the event.
It was quite far, so it was going to cost a lot more than his usual daily cab fare. But he could manage—the money he'd taken would be enough to get him there and back.
The taxi drove for close to thirty minutes straight before reaching the area. From the surroundings alone, you could tell it was a place for only those with deep pockets. It was a business district with a lot of high-rise buildings. Even at night, the place was blazing with life—massive screens displaying advertisements, news, and all sorts of content.
"We're here, sir," the driver said.
David looked out the window to see a red carpet some distance away. Luxurious cars were parking in front, and people were stepping out—some seemingly famous, judging from the reactions of the guys with cameras and even the crowd lining the sides of the red carpet.
"Is this really it?" David asked again.
The taxi driver nodded. "It's the only thing that matches the description."
David let out an anxious breath, paid the man, and stepped out of the cab.
"Well, this is going to be a long night," he said.
But then a thought crossed his mind—one he'd been ignoring all this time.
Just who is she?