My Investment God System

Soft Start

“You're in college right?” Maximus asked casually.

Lily glanced up with a startled expression written on her face. “Oh, um yeah. Second year. How did you know?”

“Lucky guess,” he said, smiling. “What are you studying?”

“Business Management,” she replied, her tone growing a bit more confident. “Its tough, but I like it.”

“Good choice. You'll do great.”

Her cheeks flushed again, and she quickly looked down at the receipt she was printing.

“Thanks.”

After finalizing the purchase, Lily offered to help set up his phone. Maximus watched as her nimble fingers navigated the screen, inputting basic settings and transferring data from his old device.

“You're pretty quick with this,” he said.

“Its part of the job,” she replied with a small shrug. “But… I do kind of enjoy it. Makes me feel like I'm helping people, you know?”

Maximus nodded. “That’s a good mindset to have. Not enough people think that way.”

As she finished the setup, and handed him the phone. “All done. You’re good to go.”

“Thanks, Lily.” he said, glancing at her name tag, “You’ve been really helpful.”

“It’s my job,” she said softly, though there was a hint of pride in her voice.

Maximus hesitated for a momment before leaning slightly closer. “Listen, you seem like a really nice person. And since you're so good at what you do, maybe you could help me out again sometime?”

Lily blinked with a confused expression. “Uh… how do you mean?”

“By giving me your number,” he said with a confident grin.

Her eyes widened, and for a moment, she looked like a reindeer caught in the path of headlights. “M…My number?”

“Yeah,” Maximus said, keeping his tone casual. “No pressure, of course. But you know, in case I need advice about all this tech stuff I just purchased…”

She bit her lip and paused for a few seconds, then she gave a small, nervous laugh. “Okay, I guess. Just for tech stuf, right?”

“Yess… strictly professional,” he teased, though his tone made it clear he was joking.

She replied with a shy smile and scribbled her number on a small piece of paper and handed it over to him. “Here…”

Maximus grabbed it from her and left the store promising Lily that they would meet again.

And maybe, just maybe, Lily wasn’t just a random encounter.

»»»«««

Maximus sat on his couch as his fingers tapped away on the edge of his phone, his gaze staring deep into absent space. It was getting late, but his mind was far from ready to rest.

The buzzing silence in the room felt oddly calming, despite the many tasks still left in his life to complete. His business was growing, his investments were taking off, but tonight? Tonight was different.

He had just hung up with his last contact for the day, the rennocation officer for his newly acquired real estate project. But, his thoughts kept drifting to Lily, the girl he'd met earlier at the gadget store.

She had been so shy, yet there was something undeniably captivating about her.

Her careful, quiet movements as she helped him set up his new phone, the way she seemed unsure of herself, but still managed to do her job with such focus. And those eyes, full of unspoken thougts.

The phone sat on his lap now, and the screen reflected his face, still showing the unsaved number that he'd dialed.

The whole encounter with her stuck with him more than he cared to admit. There was an awkwardness between them, but it wasn’t unpleasant, it was alive.

His fingers hovered over the screen for a moment before he swiped to her contact again. He thought about how she had seemed so unsure of herself and when he asked for her number, her soft voice, her shy laughs.

He smiled faintly and hit the dial button, the sound of the ringing filling the otherwise queit room.

»»»«««

Meanwhile, across town, Lily was in her apartment, curled up in her couch.

The day was hectic and had been a bombardment of classes, assignments and running the shop for her shift. The gadget store had been busier than usual, but she'd managed to keep up.

The evening had settled in, and after grabbing some takeout for dinner, she sat into her couch, feeling the soft fabric of her old hoodie as she tried to relax.

Then, her phone buzzed unexpectedly, startling her. She picked it up quickly, her eyes scanning the number on the screen.

It was obviously an unsaved number. She hesitated, wondering if it was just another one of those calls.

She'd been so nervous when Maximus asked for her number, she hadn't even known if he was genuinely interested or if he just felt bad for her.

To her, he seemed kind, but he was clearly confident in everything.

“Hello?” her voice came out quieter than she intended, but it was already too late.

“Hey, it’s Maximus,” came the voice on the other end of the line. “From the gadget store.”

Lily froze for a moment, blinking at her phone. She hadnt expected him to call so soon after they exchanged numbers earlier.

“Oh,” she replied with a shaky voice than she would like. “Hi, um, Maximus. I uh, didn’t expect you to call so soon. How's everything with your new phone?”

His voice was smooth and casual, the kind that didn’t seem to get caught up in awkwardness. “Everything is good. Just thought I'd call and see how youre doing. I'm still getting used to this phone, but other than that, its been a quiet evening.” he paused. “What about you?”

Lily swallowed hard. “Uh, its been okay, I guess. Just you know, the usual stuff. Classes, work, same old, same old.”

Her words felt hollow, even to her. It was clear she wasn’t quite sure how to carry this conversation, but at least she wasn’t stammering.

“Sounds like a busy day,” Maximus said with a warm tone. “I can imagine how that goes. I remember when I was in school, it was a lot of balancing things around.”

Lilys heart gave a flutter at that. “you were in school?” she asked before she could stop herself, surprised at how much she wanted to know.

He chuckled lightly. “Yeah, back in the day. I was always juggling between school and well, other things. But, honestly, I think I'm better off now…”

What he said had comeout on top, made her feel a strange sense of curiosity. “What kind of things?”

“Just work,” he replied, sounding a little distant for a moment. “Business stuff, some of it wasn’t easy, but it worked out.”

“Oh okay…” she said, trailling off. “Sounds like you’ve been through a lot. But I guess that’s good?”

“Its not that bad,” he said. “But enough about me. I'm just curious, what do you do for fun, Lily?”

The mention of her name forced a wave of heat on her cheeks, despite being alone in her apartment. She wasn’t used to beign asked questions about herself, especially not like this.

It felt strange, yet freeing, to be speaking with him like this.

The conversation flowed easily from there, the initial nervousness melting away for both of them.

The talked and joked about the busyness of their lives, exchanged small details about their routines, and as the evening wore on, Lily found herself laughing more than she had all week.

Eventually, the conversation lulled again.

“Hey, Lily,” Maximus said quietly, breaking the silence. “I know this is a little sudden, but maybe we could meet up spmetime? Grab some coffee or something?”

Her heart leaped, and she felt a wave of warmth spread across her cheeks. She was speechless for a moment, unsure how to react. But the words slipped out before she could stop herslef.

“I- I’d like tha. Yeah.”

A soft chuckle came from maximus’s side of the line. “great, ill text you the details.”

Lily nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. “okay… sounds good.”

As they ended the call, Lily’s mind raced.