Fate Online: Shadow

8 AM.

The next day, Michael headed to Olivia's place, where Randy had surprisingly decided to move in with her and the kids when they weren't even dating that long.

And of course, it's all thanks to his good relationship with the kids or he wouldn't even be able to step a single foot past their doorway!

"I'm really amazed that Randy had managed to move in that quick. He must be good with the kids"

Until now, Michael still felt amazement at Randy's achievement of finally finding love, and he's also proud of him as a friend, even though in this life, they haven't really known each other that long.

"Thinking about it, this is my first time coming over. Good thing I remembered to bring gifts"

Michael got down from the car and picked up a basket full of different kinds of fruits in his hand at the back of the car, and walked up through the steps and arrived before the front door of the two story home.

Ding dong!

Ringing the doorbell, Michael just stood on the spot while looking around the familiar neighborhood as the mansion that his parents owned and sold to Robin and the rest are just ten or so houses away from his current location.

"Who is it?"

Michael heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him from the other side, then saw the curtain on the small glass window beside the door being pulled to the side, and he saw Olivia's eldest, Cathy.

"Hello, is your mom home?"

"Who is it!?"

The sound of Olivia's voice sounded from somewhere inside the house.

"It's Randy's friend...uhh...Michael!"

Cathy looked at Michael with furrowed brows and replied after thinking for a bit as she tried to remember his name.

Michael just showed a bitter smile as he knew that he didn't really make that much of an impression on them

"Michael? Then let him in and make him sit in the living room!" Olivia yelled back in reply as she seems to be busy about something.

.Click!

"Come in, you can wait in the living room while waiting for mom"

With the sound of the lock being unlocked, Cathy opened the door and pointed her finger towards the living room.

"Thanks, what about Randy? Is he not here?" asked Michael as he walked towards the living room and sat on the large sofa as he placed the fruit basket on the table in front of him.

"Ohh, he left earlier this morning. He'll probably be back before twelve today. Here, have some orange juice while waiting" replied Cathy as she handed Michael a glass of orange juice.

"Ohh, thanks"

Michael smiled as he took the orange juice from her hands and watched her leave while thinking about something.

'How did Randy get along with that girl? Aren't teenagers supposed to not like their mom's boyfriend or something like that?'

He started sipping on the juice while looking around him.

'Hmm...nice home, and it smells nice. Are they using air freshener? I wonder what brand they are using'

"Well, hello there. I heard from Randy that you're looking for a house"

That was Olivia's entrance as she came down the stairs, holding a stack of documents in a folder.

"Yes, good morning and sorry for the trouble, and I've brought a fruit basket. I hope you and the kids likes these fruits"

Michael quickly placed the orange juice down the table as he stood up and greeted her, while presenting his gift to them.

Olivia just smiled at him and said, "It's no problem at all. After all, you're Randy's friend, and also thank you for the fruits. I was just thinking of buying some at the supermarket today. My kids loves them, especially Summer"

When she mentioned Summer, Michael was quick to notice that loving look on her face.

"Anyway, let's get straight to the point. So you want to buy a house at Emerald Bay where your girlfriend lives, right? That place is a gated community just like this one. If you don't know already, gated communities are awesome, but at the same time, it also has its own disadvantages"

Olivia started presenting some information to Michael, and the latter just listened to her even though he already has some inkling about neighborhoods like these, but just decided to listen out of respect.

"And let's talk about parties, you're young, you probably like parties. Right? Hosting parties like holiday parties or any other similar event are difficult in these places as each guest must be registered ahead of time and gate passes be issued ahead of time before the event"

"And passes are often forgotten by guests and homeowners often find themselves spending a significant amount of time calling up the gatehouse to give entrance confirmation, when they should be spending that time playing host to their guests."

"Really?"

Michael didn't know about the difficulty of hosting parties as he never lived in gated communities before, and this is his first time.

"Of course, but that's not really a big problem though as you'll just waste a lot of time. But of course, gated communities are great places to live in as they have a lot of amenities, and its clean and neater and more private, with less traffic too"

"And if you have no problems with those, then we can set up a time, get you a house quickly"

Michael looked at her, a little amazed, "Wow, you sounds like a real estate agent, and not a lawyer at all"

"What can I do? I've dealt a lot with lands and properties before because of my job"

Olivia just shrugged her shoulders, like it was just a piece of cake.

"Alright, you've convinced me even though I'm already determined to buy one, but what the heck. So how about two days from now?"

"Sure, no problem!"

"Thank you, and uhmm, those papers? They're not about houses? Cause I thought you've brought them to show me some houses I could choose from"

Michael stood up and shook hands with her before mentioning the documents lying on the table.

"Oh those, no sorry. They're documents for the upcoming trial of my client" Olivia just laughed at the misunderstanding.

"Ahh okay, anyway, thank you for your time"

Michael snapped his fingers in realization, and felt a little embarrassed for asking.

"Anyway, I'll see you in two days then"

"Alright, I won't see you out"

Michael smiled and left the house, and drove away as he headed towards Central University.

"I wonder how Michael and Randy had become friends when they have different personalities. Well, it's not really my business unless I'm being paid to look into it, which I won't certainly do though"

"Mom! Did he leave?"

Suddenly, Cathy came down and saw that Michael wasn't there anymore.

"Yep, anyway, can you also get me a glass of that orange juice dear? Thank you!" 

"Sure"

Olivia smiled at her daughter as she sat down and started looking through the documents on the table with a serious look on her face.

Meanwhile,

"Wahh, she's really amazing. I wonder how Randy managed to hook up with such a woman with that scary face of his? And I'm pretty amazed that those girls are not afraid of him"

Michael really thought that Olivia is really an amazing woman from just how she carried herself earlier.

"Oh right, I forgot to call Circle last night. I should stop by at the mansion first and talk to him"

With a lot of time in his hands, Michael decided to take a little detour before going to school.