[2023 Wattys Shortlist, 2023 Amby Awards winner, Featured 3 times in Wattpad Picks lists]
Kaleth has worked as an agent of Luxarx for years. What the average person might see as an exciting, dangerous job has become the routine, and the only thing...
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Nef couldn't believe how good the situation was turning out to be. Nira didn't seem to suspect a thing, and while he felt bad about keeping secrets, he had promised not to say anything, so this was certainly good in that regard. He hadn't seen it coming, but he sure wasn't going to complain. If things continued like this, he might just do what he'd been asked to do, and Nira would never find out. He just wasn't sure how exactly he'd be able to use the money he would be given if he couldn't explain to Nira how he got it.
But that was a problem for another time. Or it would never become a problem if he got caught, but he didn't like thinking about that. Alor's boss had seemed confident that he would bail Nef out if something went wrong, but Nef worried it wouldn't be that simple. He had no idea how this Luxarx organization worked, but getting away with it like that seemed off to him.
He also still hadn't been given any means of leaving the apartment without making Nira suspicious. Yesterday, Alor had told him he'd pick him up again the next day, but he hadn't said when. Nef supposed he shouldn't worry because there wasn't much he could do about any of this, but this lack of clarity made him restless.
Nef looked over at Nira who was scribbling something into a notebook, looking into one of the many books that covered most of the table every now and again. He smiled fondly before turning back to the laptop he had open in front of him. It showed some news website he could barely remember opening.
He had been too lost in thought since last night to concentrate on anything, but thankfully Nira had been too preoccupied with studying to notice. He could hardly believe he was glad she wasn't paying attention to him because he usually hated when she spent her time like this during the holidays. It was such a waste, honestly.
Nef sighed with annoyance before he could stop himself and froze, cautiously watching his girlfriend. Thankfully, she didn't react, so Nef relaxed as much as he could given the circumstances. The waiting was getting to him—he hated waiting in general, but this time it was just unbearable. If he didn't get any more information soon, he would probably not be able to stop himself and try to get some answers on his own.
Just as he thought this, his phone started ringing, the vibrations making it slowly move to the edge of the table. Nef flinched a bit in surprise and grabbed the phone to check who was calling him. If this was Alor, he wasn't being exactly inconspicuous.
"Who is it?" Nira asked but didn't look up, and Nef shrugged.
"Unknown number," he replied and picked up. Maybe it would do him some good to pretend he was interested in whatever they would try to sell him just to waste someone's time.
"Hello?" he said, looking back at the laptop, lazily scrolling through the news.
Nira was now looking back at him with a curious expression.
"Hello, Mister Arithar." Nef's eyes widened.
"Professor Ergam?" Why would he want to talk to Nef? They didn't exactly like each other. And the semester hadn't even started yet. Nira seemed confused by this as well, but a second later she shrugged and turned her attention back to her books.
