I shake Heidi’s hand and try to be as smooth and charming as possible. “Hey there, Heidi. Nice to meet you. I’m Anthony. Wait, you already knew that.” My mind blanks on what to say next, and I blurt out, “What you don’t know about me, is that I’m an amateur masseuse.”
Heidi pulls her hand from mine and gives me a confused look.
What the hell did I just say? Yeah, it’s true that I’ve been giving my mom back massages since I was five. She’d come home from a double or triple shift completely drained. I wanted to help; I would give her a neck and back massage. As a kid, I’d even walk on her back as she laid face down on the bed. Still, there’s no reason to have blurted that out to this stranger.
I try to recover, ”Uh, what I mean is, that if you’re stressed, I can help you release the tension.”
Heidi gives me a disgusted look and takes a step back from me.
A blaring alarm goes off in my mind. ‘Mayday. Mayday. Foot in mouth alert!’
My hands outstretched in a pleading gesture, I try to salvage the situation. “Wait, that’s not how I meant that.” Heidi takes another step back, and I see her reaching for the door handle to Lillian’s room. Likely trying to escape and warn Lillian about her creepy date. A sigh escapes my throat, and my shoulders hunch forward as I give up. I flop into one of the office chairs and shake my head.
Speaking mostly to myself, I admit, “I’m such an idiot. Here I am about to go out on a date with a beautiful, charming woman and I screw things up.”
I glance at the brunette and see that she hasn’t fled yet. Instead, she’s taken a step from the door and is holding her hands together in front of her. She has a slightly confused and concerned look on her face as she asks, “You think Lillian is beautiful and charming?”
A chuckle escapes my lips, and I can’t help but give a half smile as I answer honestly, “Yeah. I mean who wouldn’t? Even in jeans and a t-shirt, she looks prettier than anyone I’ve ever dated before. She has those cute freckles that highlight her light skin. An amazing smile that lights up a room and a genuine laugh that seems to make any situation more enjoyable.”
The amused look on Heidi’s face makes me realize what I’ve said. My cheeks are burning with embarrassment. I say, “I’m sorry. I’m blathering again. I’m just nervous. Will you do me a huge favor and not tell Lillian about the stupid things I said? I don’t want her to think I’m an idiot.”
Heidi nods once, a peculiar smile on her face.
Just then, the door to Lillian’s room opens and out walks out one of the most amazing sights I’ve beheld in my young life. Lillian steps out wearing a salmon pink mermaid evening dress. The strapless dress shows off Lillian's freckled shoulders, and the high slit in the dress shows off her legs. It takes me a moment to stop staring at her body and move my eyes up to her face. A smiling Lillian greets me.
“Why don’t you look dashing, Anthony. I like the cape.”
My mouth fumbles to form the words that describe how stunning Lillian looks. “You look...uh...woah.”
Yup. That’s me—the suave wordsmith.
The two ladies giggle, and Heidi leans over to whisper something to Lillian that sends the two of them into a laughing fit. I’m not sure what they’re laughing at, but have a distinct impression it’s about me. Trying to salvage a bit of my pride I walk up to Lillian and take her hand and kiss the back of it.
Still holding her hand in mine, I look into her blue eyes, and I say with true sincerity, “Forgive me. You look so beautiful that I was temporarily robbed of speech.”
Lillian’s lips purse and for a moment I’m not sure if she thinks I just spouted a line or if my words touch her. Then she smiles, and I know the sentiment of my words rang true to her.
A flash of light breaks the tender moment, and I hear Heidi say, “Awww. That was so sweet.”
Trying to blink away the spots, I turn and see her holding up her phone. She taps the screen, and there’s another flash of light as she takes more pictures. Heidi instructs the two of us to pose together for a series of photos. Even though I feel awkward doing it, taking the pictures seems to make Lillian happy, so I go along with it.
After the last photo is taken, Lillian and I walk towards the front door of the office, and she opens up the port menu to make a connection to wherever the Halloween party is. The two of us walk through the dark doorway.
Chapter 30
After a flash of light, I find myself walking through a very familiar entryway into a 1950’s themed hotel in the desert. Looking around, I see that the place has been cleaned up. The carpets were replaced, all the walnut paneling has been polished, and the wallpaper is updated. Dressed up couples and groups of people walk towards a pair of blue double doors. Above the double doors is the title, Party Room.
“Isn’t this the place I went to that zombie dungeon?”
An unfamiliar voice answers the question, “That it is.” A tall gentleman with long curly blond hair wearing a purple velvet suit and top hat comes out from behind a check-in counter to my left. He walks up to Lillian, and she shakes his hand.
“Lillian, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”
“It’s nice to see you again too Rothfus.” Lillian gestures to me, “And this is…”
Rothfus grabs my hand with a wide grin on his face and finishes Lillian’s sentence. “This is Anthony. One of the four Caballeros.”
With a snicker, Lillian explains, “Rothfus is the User that owns this place. He plans out all the dungeons scenarios.”
Oh. So this is the guy that designed that zombie dungeon? He looks like he’s watched too many Willy Wonka movies.
Rothfus stands up a little straighter at Lillian’s description. “Yes, that’s me.” Then looking at me he asks, “Did you like the zombie dungeon? It’s one of my favorites. The way you used those traps was quite inventive. You even impressed Juan, and he’s pretty hard to impress.”
Confused I respond, “You mean the survivor leader Juan? Are you saying he doesn’t give team nicknames to everyone?”
“Oh, no dear boy. No. Juan is one of the oldest NPCs I have in this whole place. He’s seen plenty of survivors slaughtered by zombies, and I’ve invested enough intelligence into him that he’s a pretty good judge of User behavior. Yours is one of a handful of groups that he’s ever given a nickname. You should be proud.”
“Uh, thanks. I guess.”
“Oh, by the way. I was also impressed by your improvisation. Once you were out of ammo for your rifle, you were throwing hammers like a madman. Is that some ability of yours?”
I answer without thinking, “Yeah, it’s one of my abilities. It’s called Hammer Time.”
“One of your abilities?”
I feel a pinch on my bicep and wince. I turn my head and see Lillian mouth ‘shut up’ quickly before answering Rothfus, “Oh, please excuse Anthony. He’s still new to the System. He just has the one ability. We’re working on acquiring some ability books to get him a few more, but for now, he’s just working with Hammer Time.”
Lillian excuses us from the conversation under the guise of having spotted an old friend walking towards the party room. She pulls me away from Rothfus, and the two of us walk towards the party room. Before we get there, she makes a right turn, and we walk down a hallway, away from the other guests.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“What? I was just answering that guy's question. It seemed like the two of you were friends.”
“Rothfus is nice enough, but he’s also a terrible gossip. Don’t you remember that I told you to keep your abilities a secret? They’re our ace in the hole. The more people know about what you can do, the better prepared they’ll be.”