RB Chapter 130 Three Teens

"We still have no information about what the benefits of holding such a position are, so we shall head back to the Black Diamond Branch, then we shall discuss with them and gauge their bottom line after that." Eric suggested. His dark blue eyes bored straight into Leah.

'She is truly enchanting this evening!' He was entranced by her gentle temperament.

Leah's heartbeat started getting faster when she noticed his eyes lingering more than necessary.

'Why is he looking at me like that?' Eric's gaze was like that of  predator looking at prey.

She started figditing around in her seat. That hot gaze was driving her insane, causing her body to heat up and a blush to adorn her cheeks.

Elena didn't notice all this as she was enjoying her meal.

"Beautiful!" Like a whisper, such a word leaked out of his lips, causing Leah to blush deeper.

"Cou-could you-um-excuse me?" Leah panicked and ran out of the room like a gust of wind.

"What happened?" Elena raised her head and wondered.

"Did you do something?" She vigilantly looked at Eric, who was also at a loss.

'Did I stare at her that long? I probably made her uncomfortable.' Eric blushed upon that thought. 

-----

'Why is my heart beating so fast? Did I fall in love with him?' Leah wondered as she held onto her chest. She was sitting on the cover of the toilet inside a cubicle in the women's room.

'No no no...Leah, even if he has those dreamy looking dark blue eyes and that enticing body, you can't fall in love right now!' She tried to chase away the image in her mind by vigorously shaking her head, but it failed.

"What am I going to do? I can't face him right now. I will be too flustered to even hold conversation!" She lamented, burrying her head into her palms.

"Should I just run away and send a text message that something cropped up?" Her eyes brightened, before becoming dull once again when she came upon a realisation...

'I need to ask him to take me in! Aaaaaah!' Her mind became a mess. She wanted to scream out right now, but that would be inappropriate.

-----

"Would you be open to a collaboration?" Elena asked. She was leaning back in her chair. She had finally managed to devour enough to have her stomach become full. 

The table was only left with few plates still containing their food, most of them were closer to Eric and Leah's side.

She had asked that question after seeing that Leah wasn't coming back anytime soon, and the silence was becoming awkwardly uncomfortable for her.

"There is nothing you can provide me with." Eric shook his head. An alliance wasn't needed at this time.

"According to...rumors!, you are living with a bio-egineer?" She asked with a wink.

"Heh! Rumors?" Eric glared.

"Yes, rumors." She emphasized, her gaze not breaking contact with his.

"I am also aiming to become a bio-engineer." He moved his gaze away and revealed.

"Are you sure?" She asked, shocked.

"Unlike you, I have to think about the future. I have no one to support me but myself. I need to work." He answered.

"Are you looking down on me?" Elena flared.

"Not at all. I am just stating the facts." A piece of meat made its way into his mouth.

"Hahahahaha...you are funny. You have no idea about the cost of that profession, right?" Elena laughed so hard that she held her stomack. Her gaze was now tinged with disdain.

Eric frowned at that but didn't chasitise her.

"I have the shares in the Black Diamond Group." He said.

"...those alone won't be enough, not even close!" Elena said after regaining herself.

"You really have no idea? That's surprising. I thought you were the meticulous type. Okay...how much do you think a single experiment costs without taking into account the failures?" She asked.

"Around 100,000 UC." He answered without skipping a beat.

"Not even close enough. That would probably only possible for chemists, but for bio-engineers, a single experiment starts at 5 million!" She spread out the five fingers of her palm.

"What?" Eric rose up from his seat in shock.

"Yes, and that's just the minimum. It can go as high as a 100m UCs."

Eric sat back down into his seat as if he had lost a lot of energy. Elena, had a smug smile tugging at her lips.

"Could it be that you are lying?" He asked with hope.

"No, you can ask anyone else. My clan supports a bio-engineer in the city. Most of our profits from the wilderness go into supporting the guy." Her smile was becoming wider.

'The dividends per month only amount to 10m Universal credits, plus, Chloe takes half, so I am only left with 5m...'

It was surprising that the clan leaders only got such a pitiful amount of money, but it was the truth.

"Wait a second! Your father was a high executive! How can he have lacked money when he managed such a large city?" Eric regained the light in his eyes and directed an intense glare at her.

"Okay okay, we are using his money to support the bio-engineer." She confessed, the smile wiped off her face.

"How much money did he earn?" Eric became curious. It would also help him estimate how much the new high executive was going to be earning.

"A billion, per year." 

"What?" This time Eric pushed his chair backwards with such force that it toppled to the ground.

"A billion!? Are you for real?" Eric asked, shock thick in his voice.

"Now, are you prepared to enter an alliance?" She asked smugly.

A few minutes passed with him contemplating.

"For now, I am not interested." He answered.

It was now her turn to be surprised. But when she saw that their was no way to sway him, she sighed in pity.

The door to the room opened as Eric had resumed enjoying the food at the table, occasionally looking out over the bright city.

Leah, who had finally regained herself entered, her eyes trained at Elena. Elena was puzzled, but she didn't mind.

"Eric, there is something...a request I want to ask of you." She said. Her eyes were now focussed on the dishes hapharzarsly scattered at the table, in front of Elena.

'Did I make her so uncomfortable that she can't even bear to look me in the eyes.' Eric became nervous.

"Wh-what is it?" He asked.

"Can I...move in with you?" She asked. That caused the two other people in the room to freeze.

Elena gasped loudly while the cutlery fell through Eric's fingers.

"What?"

"Did I hear wrong?"

Eric started doubting his ears. 

"I don't m-mean it th-that way." She tried to explain with a wave of her hands, but she was too flustered.

The duo's gazes were boring into her making her uneasy. She especially made sure not to look into Eric's eyes.

"We are friends Leah, right? Am I not treating you well enough?" Elena asked. She was angry. She had already made plans to live with her.

"Its not that. Its just...just that those other people in your clan, aren't treating me well. Besides, I already had this plan when we were still in the wilderness, remember?" Leah calmed down when Elena asked that and explained the situation.

"Don't worry, they won't do anything." Elena promised, standing up and appearing at her side.

"That alone isn't enough! I want them to at least treat me in a neutral way." Leah shouted, causing Elena to swallow down all the words she was going to say.

"You are right." Elena went back into her seat, dejected.

"We will still be friends." Leah assured her.

"Wait! The apartment am currently living in isn't mine, and the owner is a friend of Chloe's, not mine." Eric explained the circumstances.

"But, I will ask him." Eric continued.

"Thank you. Even if he doesn't allow it, I will still be grateful that you tried." Leah said sincerely.

"Elena, thank you for treating me to dinner." Eric stood up. This dinner had been fruitful. He had attained information he didn't know.

"Leah, I am going to contact him...when his Holo Patch comes back online. Right now he's in a lab and it won't be able to connect." Eric went out the door after that. (Holo Patch = communication patch at the back of the hand)

"Do you truly see me as a friend?" Leah, who had finally sat down, had those words enter her ears.

"Yes, I do. And I take you seriously. Its just that, the other people in your clan aren't that friendly. I don't trust them." Leah stared into those brown eyes and admitted. Those weeks spent in the wilderness, surviving life and death situations had allowed them to become closer.

"Okay. I won't be fussy." Elena stood up abruptly, feeling a little better.

"But you have to promise to tell me if that guy mistreats you. I will definetly bring the full might of the Mpologoma clan on him. He might be strong, but he can't really fight many people." Elena waved her fist. It was so childish and comical that Leah smiled.