crème glacée [the fate of coincidences 1]

5: Glen

It was past 10PM and the building was empty except for the security guards and Glen, who was still buried in piles of paperwork at the dark office. Ella had already scolded him today for working too much, so he decided to take a small break. Leaning back and stretching his arms over his head did the trick for now. He didn't work this much usually. Okay, that was a lie, but at least there was a reason for it this time. The board of directors meeting was next week and all the old grumbling investors hated him because he was still young and inexperienced and they still believed that his grandma made a mistake putting him in the CEO chair. So of course, he had to prove them all wrong and show them just how better the company was doing when he was in charge.

His phone buzzed with a text and Glen grabbed for it before it fell off the corner of the table. He scowled at the screen in distaste. It was a text from his carrier, informing him that he's used up 3 GB out of his 3GB of high speed web access. Since when did he use so much data on his phone? It was most likely Ella watching one of her shows when he left his cell at the office a few days ago. He needed to have a serious talk with her about the danger of watching too much of that violent sitcom. Was it Cannibal or something?

He scrolled through the rest of his messages aimlessly. His inbox consisted of a few business texts, never-ending tips and memos from Zack, and the occasional reminders from Ella to not die and remember to eat his breakfast (which he always ignored). Just looking at such obvious lack of social life made him sad. He scrolled through his contacts, which was mostly business people and family, until he stumbled onto one that he was sure he never put in. There under the T's was "That Pretty Girl Who Accidenta...", and when he tapped it, it extended into "That Pretty Girl Who Accidentally Crashed Your Expensive Car Who Is Very Sorry And Begs Your Forgiveness." Glen stared at it for a few seconds. He didn't even know he could make the contact name that long. Glancing at the time, he decided she couldn't be asleep yet and pressed call. After two and a half rings, an unexpectedly masculine voice answered.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Um." Maybe it was just her friend or boyfriend or something. "Hello, this is Glen Oswald. Is, uh...?" He did not have the crazy girl's name, how stupid of him. "Is this the owner of the phone?"

"Well, obviously." There was a pause on the other end. "To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking to Mr. Oswald?"

That sounded quite sarcastic and it took Glen aback for a second. "Well, actually... Wait, who am I speaking to?"

"Levi Emerson." Now the man on the other side sounded confused. "You're not calling me to stay away from Vendi or something like that?"

Glen froze in his revolving chair. "Levi? No, no, nothing like that. We actually broke up."

Another long silence followed. Was this some kind of prank? How did he end up calling Levi, of all people?

"Oh."

"Yeah. I didn't realize this was your number. I was under the impression I was calling the girl who hit my car earlier in the day."

"Crazy hair, drives a blue Honda?" he asked.

Gled nodded vigorously, even though Levi couldn't see him. "That's the one."

Levi laughed on the other end. "That would be my sister. I can't believe she's still hitting people's cars."

Glen replied with awkward laughter because he wasn't sure what to really say to all that.

"I'll text you her number in a bit, if you want?"

"Yes, that would be great. Thanks."

"No problem."

Glen hung up and stared the screen of his desktop, a little dumbstruck. His phone vibrated in his hand with the right phone number this time, but he decided to call her tomorrow instead. He went back to his paperwork, still marvelling at the odds of Levi's sister crashing his car and Levi's old girlfriend breaking up with him all in just a span of an hour. Life was cruel, but that was nothing new.

Stop watching your cannibal movies on my phone, he texted Ella to let out the building frustration.

It's Hannibal, u idiot, his phone buzzed a minute later. Ur still at the office, arent you? Go home before I spam ur email with the ugliest cat pictures I can find.

Glen smiled at the phone screen and put his computer to sleep, getting up and making sure all the files stayed in the same organized mess so he could continue tomorrow.