Chapter 30: The line is dead

"No, sir. That was all he said." Karina pushed the response out of her mouth while shaking her head lightly. Her voice came out low as she was yet to recover from the shock of Mr. Joel's response.

"Listen to me, Karina. I know you may be wondering why I would give you such advice, and I will tell you. You are one of my best students in this department, and if I have the means, after your graduation, I will set you up for a wonderful and seamless career. But I don't have such resources. Veron does."

Karina's expression shifted from shock to uncertainty as an understanding of what Mr. Joel was saying slowly sank into her.

"So I want you to see this as the universe favoring you, and not misuse it. Since you are here to learn and gather experience, treat this as one of the experiences you need to have and ace. Take it as an opportunity to meet people you may need to climb the ladder of success later. You have a very bright future, and I don't want you to struggle. I hope you understand what I've said." Mr. Joel lifted his brows, knowing she understood but wanting her to confirm it.

"I do." She nodded weakly, her voice sounding defeated. "But... He scares me." She added, even before she realized she wasn't supposed to talk about that part with anyone else. What would she say if Mr. Joel asks for details?

Thankfully, to her relief, he didn't. Instead, he said, "I know it can feel intimidating to be around someone like him, but I believe you will get used to it. If he asks for anything more you feel you can't give, feel free to return to me, and I will fix you in another group. Also, if you give my suggestion a thought, and still think you don't want to do it, let me know."

Karina bit the inside of her lower lip, before nodding her head.

"Alright. Thank you, sir. I'll be on my way." She said, then pushed herself off the chair and walked out of the office.

That hadn't gone as she expected, but at least, he gave her the option to opt-out after giving it a thought, which was what she was going to do.

Although she understood why Mr. Joel gave her such advice, she didn't think she can go through with it.

***

Nori continued pacing about the room as she anticipated Karina's return. Things had taken an unexpected turn as soon as Karina left, and she didn't know how to deal with it.

She plopped herself down on one of the chairs in the room, wondering if she made the right decision.

The next second, she sprang to her feet when Karina stepped into the room.

"Thank God you're back," Nori uttered, relief flooding her system.

Her reaction and the look on her face made Karina frown.

"What happened?" Karina moved her feet faster to reach Nori's side as quickly as she can but halted a few steps later at Nori's next words.

"Dad called."

"What? When?" Karina probed with eyes stretched wide, before forcing her feet to complete the journey it had started earlier.

"Immediately after you left."

"What did you say?" Another question flew out of Karina's mouth as she came to stand before Nori.

"Nothing. I didn't answer it and I switched off the phone when it stopped ringing."

Karina dropped down to the bed after letting out a small groan. 'It's not fifteenth yet. Why was he calling?' She questioned in her head.

Their parents only call once a month, always on the fifteenth to check on them. To an extent, they trust Nori to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't misbehave. But it was not yet the fifteenth so why were they calling? What could have happened?

"They will be alarmed. Call him back." Karina instructed, and Nori grabbed her phone from the chair.

"What do I tell him?" Nori asked, before switching on the phone.

"You couldn't take his call because we were in a... Meeting?" Karina suggested, sounding unsure at the end. She hated any situation that would force her into twisting the truth. "You know what, just tell him what happened. He would understand." She added, changing her mind.

"I can't do that. How will I explain not picking up his call and switching off my phone?" Nori fretted, and before Karina could give an answer to her question, an idea dropped into her head.

"Shh... Don't say anything. Let me handle this." Nori dialed the number and moved the phone to her ear. She drew in a long breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm her heart so she could sound as convincing as she wanted.

"Nori." Mr. Harper's deep voice resonated over the phone.

"Hey, dad. I missed your call." Nori's voice came out light-hearted, exactly how she wanted it.

"And why is that?" Mr. Harper queried without a change in his tone.

"We were at a conference and calls were not allowed. It just ended and I called you immediately. Is everything alright?" Nori explained, sounding worried towards the end of her words to make it more believable.

"Where is your sister?" Mr. Harper questioned, instead of answering or lessening Nori's worry.

"She's right here with me," Nori answered.

"Give the phone to her." Mr. Harper instructed.

"Here." Nori moved the phone from her ears and handed it to Karina.

"Hey, dad," Karina said, also sounding like she had no worries in her life.

"Rina. How are you?" Mr. Harper asked, his voice lighter than it was when he spoke to Nori.

"I'm fine, dad. Is everything okay? Nori said you called earlier." Karina probed, trying to get a hint as to why they were calling at that time.

"Everything is fine. Your mother and I were just worried about and missing you."

"I'm fine, dad. There's nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" This time, it was Mrs. Harper's voice that asked the question, and Karina figured that she had snatched the phone from her father.

"Of course, I'm sure, mum. Everything is going as expected and no one is giving me any trouble." Karina responded, answering even the questions she was yet to be asked to assuage her mother's fears, knowing for sure that those questions will still come up if she didn't answer them now. "I miss you, mum," Karina added.

"I miss you too, my dear. Take care of yourself and remember to stay out of trouble of any kind. Remember who you are."

"I know, mum, and I will."

"Good. Put Nori on."

Karina returned the phone to Nori and whispered "mum" to her.

"Hey, momma."

"My baby..." Mrs. Harper called, bringing a smile to Nori's face. "... How are you?"

"I'm fine, mum. How—"

*Beep*

The smile on Nori's face turned sour as she dropped the phone from her ear and finally let her body fall on the bed.

"What happened?" Karina frowned, seeing as Nori didn't complete her conversation.

"The line is dead... I don't know why they called, but I doubt it's because they are worried. I think something's up... Anyways, how was your meeting with Veron?"