Kendall fell silent for a moment, then picked up the landline on the table and dialed Simoya's number.
"Hello, it's me."
Early the next morning, Simoya went downstairs and knocked on Hesta's door.
Ligo answered it, still chewing on a freshly made pancake. The stove in the open kitchen at the end of the living room was still on, and Ligo hurried back to flip the pancake.
"Where's Jane?"
"In her room," Ligo answered. "She's not up yet."
"Jane!" Simoya banged on the door. "Are you awake?"
Footsteps sounded from behind the door, and Hesta stood there looking drowsy. "...I'm awake."
"Have you checked your inbox? Kendall sent you an email this morning."
"What email..." Hesta stood where she was. "What does she want?"
"She asked if you're free this weekend. She wants to invite you over to her place for dinner."
"...Huh?" Hesta scratched her hair. "Where?"
"Her place," Simoya said. "I'll go with you—"
"Not going." Hesta let go of the doorknob and sauntered back into her room. "This week was exhausting, and there's a ton of new work to do next week. I'm resting this weekend."
"Fine, then reply to her email yourself." Simoya followed Hesta into the room. "Don't drag it out. It'll only take a few minutes."
Hesta was ushered to her desk. Yawning, she opened her inbox and found five unread messages. Simoya glanced at them, and her expression suddenly froze.
"...How should I reply?" Hesta opened Kendall's email. "Good morning, Kendall. I'm not free this weekend—"
"Go back first."
Hesta looked at Simoya in confusion. "What?"
"Go back," Simoya said, lightly waving her hand while staring intently at the screen. "The previous page."
Hesta woke up a little more, but her hand did not move.
"I just saw an email from Arevalo's