Golden Cage

Part 2 : Thoughtful Deliberation, Quick Decisions

First Message

Morning came all too quickly, and Lolita and Miranda had no intention of getting up, but suddenly, a loud siren blared, jolting them both awake.

"What's going on? Is there a fire somewhere?" Miranda shouted in shock.

"Mmm... it's just my alarm," Lolita mumbled, reaching out and turning off the alarm on her phone without even opening her eyes.

"Ugh, seriously? Why did you choose an alarm sound like that? You scared the whole neighborhood!"

"Just go back to sleep..." Lolita replied, tossing a small pillow at Miranda.

Miranda, of course, couldn't go back to sleep. She grabbed her phone and checked for any messages, hoping there would already be something from Michael this morning. But, to her disappointment, there was nothing.

"Let me borrow your phone," Miranda said.

Miranda unlocked Lolita's phone by tracing a Z-shaped pattern. Lolita had chosen the letter Z because, according to her, it combined the letters A and L.

"Seriously, you still have the same code. Change it already! You're not with Andika anymore," Miranda teased.

Lolita just stayed quiet. She didn't think changing the passcode was all that important. "No big deal," she thought to herself.

"Ta, there's a message from Mr. Egg! It says: 'Good morning, Lolita! Hope you saved my number well. Did you sleep well last night? I bet you two were gossiping before bed, right? Was it good gossip or not? Let me know... What are your plans for today? If you're not busy, can I invite you for a stroll this evening? Just the two of us, or the same group as yesterday? Let me know... Cheers, Eggy.' Oh, it turns out he really is an egg! His name has two 'g's, just like 'egg'!"

Miranda laughed, amused by the coincidence.

Lolita quickly sat up next to Miranda.
"Let me see, and don't you dare lie."

"I'm serious, look for yourself!"

"Oh, yeah, it's true... Let's go out! Yesterday, we got a free meal and a chauffeur. Didn't spend a single penny."

"You're so cheap!" Miranda teased.

"Not cheap, just thrifty."

"Cheap and thrifty are practically the same thing!"

"Hahaha, well, at least I'm never cheap with you... Did Michael message you?"

"No...," Miranda replied, looking sad and anxious.

"Be patient, wait until tomorrow. If he's interested, he'll send a message by this evening. Three days max, if nothing by then, forget him. Maybe he's not the one, okay?"

"Fine... now, reply to Eggy's message. Where does he want to meet, and what time? He sent it last night."

"Hmm... come with me, okay?"

"If Michael messages by noon, we go out as a group. If not, it's just you two," Miranda suggested.

"Alright, I'll reply," Lolita began typing. "No plans today, so sure, let's hang out like yesterday."

"Wait, why like yesterday?" Miranda protested.

"Just in case he brings Michael along," Lolita explained.

"Oh, he replied: 'I'm so happy to get a reply from a beautiful girl on this lovely morning. I'll pick you up at 11 AM? Send me your address, and we'll have lunch together.'"