NOVEL NEXT Chapter 97: A Loss
We were having breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
On stage was the same comedian again. Making the same jokes she always makes. It was as bad as the last time, but she went on, drenched in sweat. I stopped paying attention to her and turned to the people at my table. “So, what are you guys up to today?” I asked the two women.
“Ah…” Nikola thought about it.
Terrie sighed, “I’ll train. I have to keep myself in top condition for the dungeon. The dungeon we will eventually go to.” She was being spiffy with me.
“Yes, eventually,” I confirmed. “And, there’s also another way to be in top condition.” I hissed because I disliked her tone. “Or should I say, improve your condition?”
“Hmm… Maybe I’ll go out later.” She muttered.
“I think I’ll train a bit today too.” Nikola smiled. “There are cute guys there, trying to keep in shape.”
“Where do you guys train?” I was curious.
“The hotel’s gym.” She put a piece of meat in her mouth.
“Huh? The hotel has a gym.” I thought aloud.
“Yeah.” She nodded, swallowing the piece. “You didn’t know that?”
“I forgot.” I shrugged. “I’m not a martial. I don’t need to train like you guys.”
“There’s a room for magicians too. You can practice your magic in there.”
“Hmm… Maybe I’ll check it out.” I thought about it, then mumbled, “But I don’t really need to train my stuff anymore, though… It’s on the 100th floor, right?” I tried to remember where the gym was located.
“The 100th floor and the roof,” Terrie replied. “I usually train on the roof.”
“Okay.” I finished my meal and turned to B. “Done?” I looked at his plate. He was playing with the mushy mashed potatoes. “Why did you get the mashed potatoes if you weren’t going to eat it.”
“I didn’t think it’d be this mushy.”
“You didn’t think it’d be mushy…” How did you think it was going to be; I wanted to ask, but I didn’t. I shook my head and said, “Then leave it. I’ll drop you off.”
“Okay.” He pushed the plate aside. “What do you want me to make for dinner? Chicken or Fish?”
“I thought you didn’t like fish.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like shrimp.”
“Right… Actually, I don’t think you should come today.” He rolled his eyes. I knew I was starting to sound like a broken record. “I mean it.” I was so close yesterday, so close to losing. “I might not come home tonight. I’ll be busy for the next few days, really. So you should stay at home.” After Samson, I needed to start working on the twins.
“Then I’ll make chicken.” He stated.
“No, I mean it.”
“I’ll be right back. I need to freshen up.”
“No-” He didn’t listen to me. He left the table. “Dammit.”
***
“We should go inside,” Muire complained, fanning herself with a folded-up newspaper.
The day was hot. Even in the shade, suffocating heat lingered on the skin. Muire and I had unbuttoned our shirts and left the front open, hoping to cool off even a little. Muire had on no bra, but unfortunately, I had worn my bra. I shook my head and wiped the sweat off my forehead. “Why don’t you take off your shirt. It’s hot, isn’t it?” I suggested. Samson had only unbuttoned his collar.
“I’m fine.” He lied, wiping away the sweat on his face. “Make your move. It’s your turn.”
“Right.” I looked over my pieces and carefully moved my queen to a vulnerable position. Please, please, please, I screamed in my head, mate me. But I was not optimistic. And when he moved his knight, I thought he screwed up again and sighed.
But Muire noticed, “You- You- You won!” She screamed and jumped on him. She wrapped her hands around his sweaty face and planted kisses everywhere. Boldly rubbing her breasts against his shoulder.
I couldn’t believe it either. It finally happened. I stooped over the board to make sure. “Yeah, you won.” I hid my smile and followed the script. “I guess this means I’ll never get a date.” I showed him a sad face.
He looked into my sad eyes and felt pity. “You know what, let’s go on a date.” He sympathetically smiled. “You did win a few times, so why not.”
“What!?” The cheering stopped.
A few
“What, no!” Muire barked. “It’s dangerous. And we’ll have to get permission from Joan if you want to go past the library.” She shook her head. “It’s dangerous to wander too far from the guards. No, no, no, we can’t. There’s no way she’d let you go on a date in the city with some…” she looked down at me contemptuously, “idiot.”
“We can have a date in the village.” Samson proposed. Yoho village was the little gated community he lived in. It was filled with shops, cafes, villas, and everything else you’d need for a humble life, along with governmental retirees and some VIPs like Samson.
“But they won’t let her in.” She shook her head with an arrogant smile creeping on her face. “She’s no one.”
“They will if you vouch for her.” He pleaded. “Please, Muire.”
“What? No. I won’t.”
He looked at her with his big round pleading eyes. “Please.” He meowed. “I promised her.”
“Ah, ah… Ah…” She was weak to his pleas… “Ah…”
***
I made it into Yoho village.
We walked down the paved roads and the quaint blend of homes and businesses. Muire grumbled beside us while I rubbed up closer to him and looped my arms around his arm. I gently squeezed his hard bicep and forearm, pressing my swollen mounds against him. My nipples were hard as rocks. He was making me feel tingly all over.
“How about we get some ice cream.” He suggested, pointing to a little shop on the corner of the street.
“Alright.” I agreed, leaning into him.
He was a local at the shop.
“The regular?” The shopkeeper asked as soon as she saw him.
“Yes, please.” He chimed.
“What about you, Muire?”
“Nothing for me. Thank you.” She declined.
“I’ve never seen you before.” She scanned my figure.
“I’ll have a vanilla cone.” I smiled.
“Sure.”
It seemed he liked mint chocolate chip.
I pushed Muire aside when she attempted to pay for him. “I’ll pay.”
“That’s not necs-”
“How much is it?” I asked the shopkeeper and cut Muire off.
“2 coppers.”
I quickly gave her the coins and smiled at Muire. “Would you like some ice cream as well?”
“No.” She frowned.
I sat down at the table. And after taking a lick of the ice cream, I said, “Let’s go to a clothing store next. I want to buy you something.”
“You don’t have to. I have plenty of clothes.” He shook his head, licking the mint chocolate.
“No, I insist.” I nodded, trying to get him to agree. Going to a clothing store was, after all, part of the script. “I want to buy y-.”
“He said he doesn’t want to go.” She interrupted me, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” I barked.
“You.” She flared her nostrils. “That’s it. I’m throwing you out.” She cracked her knuckles.
“Eee.” I shrank in my seat.
“Guys, don’t fight. Fine, we’ll go to the villagemart next.” He took a lick of the ice cream in his hand.
Muire made an expression like she was forced to eat dog shit. I smiled triumphantly.
***
The villagemart was a quaint men’s clothing store with an incredible variety of fashionable indoor and outdoor attire. I pulled him deeper into the store and selected a halter crop top for him from the rack. “Go put this on,” I ordered.
“Well, Joan isn’t here.” I flirted.
“Hmm…” He looked over to Muire for her approval. She was practically drooling, her eyes fixed on the crop top I was holding.
“She’s aching to see you in it,” I whispered.
“No, that’s not…” She heard me, but she couldn’t deny it. Her eyes flickered between the crop top and his eyes. “You don’t have to…”
“Please,” I begged in my baby voice. “I wanna see it.”
“Okay.” He laughed. Seeing as how Muire wasn’t stopping him, he took the crop top from me and disappeared into the change room.
While her eyes were fixed on the changing room door, I stepped away for a moment and found a red necktie. It was the perfect gender-neutral gift. I then marched to her. Blocking her view, I proceeded to tie it around her neck.
She was confused, “What are you…?”
Staring deeply into her eyes, I asked in a soft tone, “So, how many times have you mounted him?”
“What!?” She was flabbergasted. Her eyes shook nervously, looking everywhere else but my eyes.
“You know what.” My eyes narrowed accusingly. “How many times have you fucked him.”
“Ah, that. We, well. We don’t have a relationship. Ah, no…” Her head bobbled like a chicken.
“I wonder what- what was her name again? Right, Joan. I wonder what she’d think. I wonder what’d happen if I were to let your higher-ups know.” I threatened. “I wonder what they’d think of a bodyguard taking advantage of her client.”
“You.” She clenched her fist.
I smiled amicably. “Don’t worry,” I whispered, “no one has to know.” I finished tying her necktie and patted it down. “There, all done. We’re friends, after all.”
“You…”
“Come on.” I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the lingerie section.
“What are you…?” She was still confused and angry but followed me anyway. When we got to the lingerie section, she pulled her hand out of mine and asked, “What are you doing? He’s going to come out.” She looked back at the change room.
“What do you want to see him in?” I asked, holding up a G-string. “Come on, pick something. I’ll buy it.”
“That… I can’t- he won’t…” Her tongue got caught in her throat. Her eyes almost came out to touch the G-string in my hand.
“I won’t mention you. Just pick what you want to see him in, and we’ll say it’s all my idea.”
She wiped off the drool coming down her chin. “Really? You won’t tell him? You can’t tell him I wanted to see him in any of these.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I won’t mention you picked it out.”
She swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth. “Okay.” She nodded. “Those are too small for him.” She took the G-string from my hand and put it back on the rack. “Let’s see… Hmm…” Her eyes were craven, and her hands blurred as she sorted through the many lingerie on the racks. “It’s hard to choose because he’d look good in anything.” She complained, and I nodded. Finally, she picked out a lace mini short, bandeau, and choker combo. “But this.” She shoved it into my hands.
I licked my lips. “Got it. I’ll buy it.”
We went back to the changing room and waited.
“What’s taking him so long?” Muire said aloud.
“He’s probably nervous,” I replied.
“Dammit.” She knocked on the door and asked loudly, “What’s taking you so long, Samson?” She looked at me and shook her head, “Men.”
It took him a while, but he did come out, wearing the halter crop top. He looked amazing. It showed off his broad shoulders, muscular arms, and chiselled abs. For a moment, I thought Muire’s jaw might drop off.
“How do I look?” He shyly asked, putting his arms behind his back.
“Amazing.” Muire blithered.
I moved closer to him, and pressing my breasts flat against him, I caressed his arms and moaned, “You look beautiful.” His eyes searched out Muire’s response; she nodded. My palm stroked his rippling abs. “You know…” I cooed. “We wanted to see you in something… else.”
“We?” His questioning eyes focused on Muire.
“No, that… ah…” She began to panic.
“Yeah, let me get it.” I had put it on the chair beside the changing room. I quickly dashed over and held it up. “I hope you like it because Muire chose it.” I smiled.
“You!” She screamed. “You promised.” She whined, looking like a melting mess of disorder.
“That’s…” He saw the flimsy thing you could barely call clothing and was shocked. “Is that true?” He turned to Muire. “Do you really want to see me in that?”
“Ah… the thing is…” She was a mess.
“Yes,” I answered for her. “I’ll buy it. Let’s get this and the halter top you’re wearing. Okay.” I nodded.
“Ah…” His eyes shifted between my eager face and Muire’s panicking one.
“She wants to see it.” I compelled. “We’ll go to your place. I want to see you in it too. And this is still a date; you promised.” The promise was just an excuse, as it always was; I could tell from Muire’s reaction and his reaction to her that he wanted to please her. “Alright, that settles it.” I clapped. I took his silence as agreement and ran to the counter to buy the lingerie.