"Good morning," Zerian said to a sleeping Eva. She opened her eyes slowly after seeing Zerian.
"Your face would be the last thing I would want to see this morning," Eva said. Zerian smiled.
"I am very honored."
Eva got up from bed and picked up her phone. She scrolled for a while before she turned to Zerian.
"I need you to do something for me. I forgot to collect Jayne's number; could you go get it for me?" Eva asked, not looking away from her phone.
"Excuse me?"
"You can go now, though."
"And why should I listen to you?"
Eva finally looked up from her phone. She walked towards him. "Isn't that part of your service?" she whispered to him.
"Who told you?"
"Does that matter?"
"Why can't you go yourself?"
"It would be weird going to her house since she never told me where she stayed."
"I could take you there."
"Can you stop giving suggestions and just go?" Zerian glared at her before he left.
Eva saw that he was gone and she laughed, surprised that she had authority over him to this extent. "Research does pay off," she said before entering the bathroom to take a shower.
By the time he was back, she was already dressed and was just drying her hair. Zerian handed her a small piece of paper with a number, and Eva collected it.
"How did you get it?" Eva said as she picked up her phone and started to input it.
"Does it really matter if I got the job done?" he said, sitting down on her chair.
Eva didn't bother to question him again. She just chatted Jayne up, and they spoke for a while before she got her shoes and her bag and prepared to leave.
"Where are you going?" Zerian asked.
"House shopping," Eva said before leaving the room. Zerian suddenly remembered she promised John's mom she would help her find a good apartment. He cursed underneath his breath.
Eva met John's mother already waiting for her with John in her arms.
"Good day, ma. John, how are you, cutie?" She touched his nose, which made him giggle, and she took him from her.
"I can't thank you enough for your help."
"It's no problem, ma."
"Please, call me Mary. Where do we start?"
"I will take you there." Eva led them to Jayne, who was waiting for her. She introduced Jayne to Mary and thanked her for coming. Jayne said she knows a few vacant apartments and she led the way.
They checked out a lot of vacant houses. Eva bought them food at noon before they continued. At first, Mary didn't seem to like any of the houses until they got to their last house of the day.
"If you don't like this one, we will stop for the day and continue tomorrow," Jayne said, opening the door to the apartment.
Mary entered first. Judging from the expression on her face, they could tell that she already loved the apartment.
A nice, spacious living room connected to the dining room; behind the dining room was the kitchen, leading to the first balcony. A passageway through the living room led to the rooms and bathroom.
Eva and Jayne high fived. "I will take it; I love it."
"Finally, good choice."
"How much is it?"
"I will call the caretaker and we will arrange something for you, Mary. Don't worry; you can move in as soon as possible," Jayne assured her, and she couldn't stop thanking them.
After she signed some documents, they parted ways.
"How do you know so many apartments?" Eva asked as they walked home.
"I know, right? So, how are you doing?"
"Good." Eva told her all about what her mom did, from the story to the shooting stars, and Jayne said she had also watched it from her house.
"That is really nice. Maybe you can still fix your relationship."
"Nah, she may be nice now, but letting my guard down would be stupid."
"Well, I say give her a chance. Everyone deserves one."
Eva thought about it and just nodded. "I wanted to tell you something," Eva said.
"Alright. Just tell that friend of yours to learn how to be respectful. How can a guy be that hot and be so… so rude?" "That is what I want to talk to you about."
"This seems serious. What is it?"
"I… I… well, hmm, he is…." Eva tried to take a breath in and out to get the words out. Jayne held her hand.
"You can tell me, and if you can't do that now, you can tell me when you feel like you can."
"Yeah, I'll tell you later."
"Can I ask you for a favor?" Eva nodded. "Could you help me study for the exam? You could come to my place, or to make it more comfortable, I could come over to yours."
"Or we could just revise before we go home and before the exam."
"That is alright. I should get going if I want to get her house ready," Jayne said, waving her goodbye.
Eva sighed, feeling a bit of loneliness as she walked back home.
"Why do you enjoy walking around?" Zerian asked her.
"Stop sneaking up on me, and it helps me think," Eva replied. Zerian appeared in front of her. "You weren't shocked when I came. Why?"
Eva just glared at him. "I don't know, I'm just not afraid." She walked away by his side.
He held her hand and pulled her back. He pulled her close to him, looked at her, leaning closer to her ear.
"I know you wanted to tell Jayne you're a demon. Why did you hesitate?" Eva wanted to pull away; her cheek was red and her heart was pounding too fast, but he kept his hands on her neck and held her by her waist. "Answer me, princess," he said. Eva closed her eyes and pushed him away forcefully, then held him by his collar.
"If you think you can just come and treat me like every human you have met, you're highly mistaken. When you can respect me, we will talk." She released his collar and left him standing.
Zerian stood there, watching her walk away. He smirked a little.
"Interesting."