I'll Have Two Number Nines Novels & Stories

This building has nine floors. “Floor Nine,” Beau responds. Oh. So I’ll have a view. That’s more than I need, but that’s nice. I press the button for 9. We ride the elevator in silence. When we get to the top floor, the doors open up, and I see a short hallway with only one door at the end of it. Is this roof access or something? Did Beau get the floor wrong? No. Wait. That door has a number on it. 901.

He glances up, face lighting up like the damn sun. "Daddy! Look!" He waves the book excitedly. "I figured out the math trick Grandpa showed me!" I force a smile and sit beside him. "Show me, champ." Harry grins, holding up both hands. "Okay, see? If you want to multiply by nine, you just bend the finger that matches the number. Like this-" He folds his third finger down. "Nine times three is twenty-seven! Two fingers on the left, seven on the right!"

But this time, I was sitting inside a warm car, and someone was waiting for me to come home to him. I didn't have to get caught in the rain every time. I didn't have to forgive everyone who wronged me every time. However, failing nine times didn't mean I couldn't start over again. Adrian asked me if it was worth it. I said that it wasn't. He asked me again if I was happy now. I said that I wasn't too sure. But there was one thing that I was very sure of, and it was that I didn't have to go to the police station again at 2:00 am anymore.

"Two hundred and twenty-nine." "Two hundred and twenty-nine," says Eira. "One hundred and thirty-nine of them up in the shallow rings where he keeps the cheap ones, and ninety in the pipe under my feet. And they will not know. That is the only thing I have to offer you, and I would not insult you by dressing it up any better than it is. They will not know, because there is nothing in any of them to know it with, and it will not hurt, because hurting is a thing you do with your own breath."

We both wish our bad lucks and leave to different places. _______________________________________________ Time skip After around twenty five minutes, I have twenty-nine numbers with me, five of which were girls. I mean he never said we needed to get numbers from a specific gender. I make my to starbucks and sit down waiting for Cameron, after around a minute or two he comes in with a grin on his face. "I totally won" he says confidently. "How many did you get" I ask leaning on my chair. "Twenty six" he grins. I laugh looking at him "Twenty nine" is the only thing I say to change his grin into a frown. "You are buying me food"

After bidding farewell to the other two, he led Charlie to the room where he was currently staying. The grandfather and grandson duo sat across from each other on the sofa. Charlie asked Jeremiah, “Grandpa, do you know Number 99, who was kicked out of the auction today?” Jeremiah was puzzled. “No, I don’t know him. Why?” He had a deep impression of Number 99, particularly because that man scared him so much when making a bid for three hundred and seventy billion dollars the second that man opened his mouth. However, Jeremiah was clueless about Number 99’s origins.

One message appeared on the screen. Proceed to Phase Two.

The grief and resentment I had carried melted away, like a candle burned down to its wick, leaving just a thin curl of smoke. I didn't want to watch anymore. I tried to float up, to pass through the ceiling and leave the medicine-scented, pain-filled room behind, but I was stuck. An invisible force held me in place. I looked down at the chaos below and realized I couldn't leave yet. Maybe I had to wait until someone remembered me as Jenna, not just the label. Perhaps I had to wait until they remembered the real me—who cried, who got scared, who secretly longed for blueberry cake, and who had written her final wish on her palm.

Unknown Caller Arielle didn’t remember pressing the call button. She only remembered staring at the empty space where Daniel’s number used to be saved… and then deciding she didn’t need it. She knew it. Her fingers moved on instinct. Nine digits. Her heart thudded violently in her chest as the phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times— It clicked. Arielle straightened on the bar stool, suddenly breathless. “Hello.” That voice. Deep. Smooth. Controlled.

I gave a soft, bitter laugh and slowly slipped our documents back into my pocket. “This makes ninety-nine.” “What?” “This is the ninety-ninth time we’ve tried to get our marriage registered.” I turned toward the subway entrance. “And the ninety-ninth time you’ve left me hanging because of him.” I heard her heels stop on the pavement, then suddenly start running after me. “The first time, you bailed on our trip because he was on the night shift and scared of the dark. You took a red-eye flight just to be with him. “The second time, we were practically at the door of the courthouse. You heard he fainted from overwork and left me standing in the snow alone for an entire day.”