Chapter 19
The first stop on our journey to the mall is for me to use my home base key to get us to my house. It’s a moment’s effort to turn the key and create a portal to my room. When I bring Lillian, though, I’m embarrassed by the state of my room: there are clothes all over the floor, a plate with a half-eaten sandwich in the corner. I kick a pair of dirty underwear under the bed.
Lillian looks around my cramped room and wrinkles her nose. “My, what a lovely place you have here.” She bends over and with two fingers pick up a crusty gym sock that’s stuck to itself and looks like an accordion. She looks at me with a slight look of disgust. “You don’t have many guests do you?”
I snatch the sock from her fingers, hearing a crunch from the sock as I do, and throw it into the corner of the room. “No, not usually. I work, I go to school, I take care of my sister, and I sleep. If I meet up with friends, it’s not here.” I scratch my head as a realization occurs to me, “As a matter of fact, I think you’re the only person I’ve brought here since we moved in.”
Lillian puts a hand to her chest and bows mockingly, “I’m honored.”
I bow back and say just as mockingly, “You should be.”
When I look back up, I see that most of the anger from earlier has gone and that there’s a small smile on her lips. Man, I’ll never understand women. One minute they're happy, the next they're angry, and the next their teasing and joking again. Maybe I’ll understand women better after I get married.
I shake my head to clear that thought away and give Lillian the two-cent tour. I point out my bed and my closet full of weapons that I can’t sell. Lillian says that on the way back she’ll take all the weapons with her and she’ll give me some credit for them. I accept the offer since I can't do anything else with them.
She also points out that if I upgrade the System Store to level 2, that I can start adding extra space to the room by buying home base add-ons. Things like a training room, or a kitchen, or a workshop. Turns out that’s what those doors at the back of her office were.
I thank her for her advice, and the tour ends. I walk out of my bedroom. The two of us are just walking through the dining room when I hear the sound of a pan hitting the stove. I lean to my right to peek into the kitchen and see my mom, still in her soft cotton robe, cooking. I realize she’s just getting up after sleeping in on her day off. I try to back away slowly without making any sound since I’d rather not explain why I’m bringing a girl from my room. Unfortunately, the fates are against me.
Lillian, seeing my furtive movements asks in a concerned voice, “Is everything ok, Anthony?”
Even though she spoke in a normal voice, she might as well have shouted. I see my mom start to turn and I know it’s too late to escape unnoticed.
My mom turns around from her cooking and sees me, a loving smile appearing on her tired visage. “Hello, mijo, I didn’t know you were home. Are you hungry?” She takes a few steps forward her arms outstretched for a hug, then sees Lillian standing next to me. The smile on her face doesn’t change, but I notice a considering look in her eyes. My mom walks up to me and hugs me, but her eyes never leave the blonde, fair-skinned girl standing next to me.
Weighing and judging Lillian with her eyes, my mom asks, “So, who is this lovely, well-dressed young lady you have with you, Anthony?”
Feeling a tension in my neck suddenly, I force a smile on my face as I disengage from my mom’s hug. “Oh, Mom, I’m so happy you’re up, this is Lillian; she’s …” Wait, what do I call her? My friend? My potential boss? My guide into a world of dungeons and monster killing?
Lillian thankfully is quick to pick up the conversation, “I’m his girlfriend.” She holds out her arm for a handshake, but my mom bypasses it and hugs her instead. I can tell Lillian wasn’t expecting the move as her eyes bulge slightly and she awkwardly hugs my mom back.
When my mom lets Lillian go, I see that my mom’s attitude has changed. There’s still a shrewd look in her eyes as she talks to Lillian, but there’s also a genuine smile on her face. I think she’s happy I brought a girl home for her to meet.
Even though I protest that Lillian and I have to get going, my mom pulls Lillian to a seat at the table and grills her about how the two of us met. Lillian rolls with the conversation and tells a beautiful tale that weaves the truth of how we met with a fictional romance.
According to Lillian, the two of us met at the college. I followed her to class, thinking it was mine. Only realizing that it was a class on women’s history in the U.S. but felt too embarrassed to leave and admit my mistake. Lillian took pity on me and helped me escape without being noticed. She then gave me her phone number and pointed me toward the correct building where my actual class was. I called her that night, to thank her for her help, and to ask her out. Apparently, I was amusing and romantic on our first date which won her over. We’ve been dating since.
I’m rather impressed by Lillian’s ability to tell a story. She even added details about me telling her about my family and my work at the Quickie Stop Mart. Now, because I go along with the story and my mom believes it, I get a level of the Deception skill. Which I sort of feel sorry about, but it’s better than trying to explain the reality of the System. That Lillian and I teleported into my room and that we’re going to go to kill a bunch of monsters in a dungeon to prevent the further degradation of the area around the mall.
After Lillian promises to come back for dinner sometime, I’m finally able to pull her away from my mom and out the front door. Lillian is openly laughing as we walk away from my house towards the bus stop. I ask her why she said she was my girlfriend.
Lillian shrugs and answers, “Well, you seemed to be stuck, so I said the first thing that came to mind. I figured it would be less suspicious than claiming I was a stranger that had wandered into your home and I certainly didn’t want your mom to think I was some booty call.” Seeing my expression, she laughs and continues, “Besides, it will be a great cover for all the time we’ll be spending together.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, now that you’ve joined my team.”
“I never said that I’d join your team of dungeon clearers.”
She turns to me and smiles, “Oh, but you will. I’m sure of it. You need my facilities to turn credits and loot into dollars. I can also offer you a discount on equipment and training. I can use your help clearing dungeons and claiming bounties. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
Lillian walks ahead before I can say anything to counter, forcing me to increase my own pace or be left behind. We reach the bus stop just as it’s pulling in and ride mostly in silence. Lillian asks about my classes at the college, and I tell her what I’m taking this semester and how it’s going so far. She offers to let me study at her office whenever I want, since she has the time dilation upgraded at 4 to 1. I thank her for the offer.
As the bus makes its way to the mall, I find myself considering Lillian’s offer more and more. Why not join her team? Why the hell am I so reluctant to take her up on her offer of employment? I mean, she’s already helped me. She’s explained about this whole System thing and pointed out ways for me to make money from it. If it weren’t for her, I’d still be stumbling around with only a few skills that I could practice at work. She’s also offering to train me and provide even more guidance, something I dearly need, especially in choosing the best skills, so I don’t waste the forty skill points I have saved up. She’s already helped without asking anything back. I take a look at her and wonder why I can’t just take the offer.