Rei sneered. “Dresses like one and steals others’ men. Why shouldn’t I?”
Rage built up in Takashi. Just because Mercedes leaned toward wearing clothes some may call “skimpy,” that didn’t make her a whore. “Emi and I mutually split. We were not a good match and we both acknowledge that—it had nothing to do with Mercedes. Emi has moved on, and now has a new partner. You know this. We all do. He makes her happy, and I am happy for her. You need to be as well.”
Rei glowered at him. She hated that reminder. It was an all-too-constant reminder that she’d lost this and was now just being spiteful.
Their father walked into the room, a scowl on his face. “I’m done listening to this bickering about this topic. Rei, you leave your brother alone about his choices. It doesn’t matter that you were the one who brought them together in the first place. It doesn’t make it an obligation for it to work out.” He pinched his nose. “Honestly, had it worked like that, your mother would be married to some man her mother was trying to pair her with, and I’d be in some small town in Colorado, married to my brother’s friend.”
Then he turned and looked pointedly at Rei. “You leave your brother alone and let him make his own decisions. You’re twenty-seven and he’s thirty-two. This shouldn’t be hard for you to do. Now, you both will respect each other, and this topic will not come up again in this house.”
Rei sucked in a tight breath and then stormed upstairs. Their father handed Takashi the magazine he’d brought home highlighting Mercedes’ work, and then went into the living room. He smiled at his father’s gesture. At least he had most of his family’s support. Hopefully Rei will realize her error soon.
His phone buzzed and he took a look, a part of him hoping it was Mercedes. It wasn’t. His brow creased as he looked at the email from the Lusara Fates dev team.
Mia tugged on his shirt. “Niisan, is everything okay?”
“No.” He continued to scroll through the message. “Someone hacked my business again. I’m going to need some time to sort this out.” He looked at his mother. “I’ll spend time with everyone once I get it fixed.”
His mother smiled at him. “I know, go take care of what you need to do.”
He patted Mia on the head and went to his room. A game station sat in the corner, ready to be used. It didn’t take Takashi long to set up the game and dive in. When he materialized in his shop, a GM was there waiting, the same one from before.
Takashi rubbed the back of his neck. “How bad is it this time?”
“The account has been wiped clean of all funds, and there is virus-like code, configuring debt and altering product code that would cause our systems to think you were selling false game product. We’re currently combatting it now.”
Shit. This issue couldn’t get much worse, could it? “Has any progress been made on the potential culprit?”
GM Ashton nodded. “Yes, but there’s an issue. While the culprit has hidden their tracks well, and provided many false leads, we’ve determined that the individual is from the United States, and potentially from California.”
Takashi’s brow furrowed. “That sounds like good news. Where’s the issue?”
“The issue has to do with your current location.” GM Ashton opened up a screen prompt. “We see you’re logged into a computer station in California—”
Takashi knew were this was going and didn’t like it. “Yeah, I’m visiting family. I’m originally from California. I have documentation to prove most of what I’ve been doing in the last seventy-two hours, along with my flight information. I can even give you contact for anyone who has been with me where transactional information isn’t available.”
Game Master Ashton nodded. “I’m afraid I will need that, then. I understand your frustration, and I do apologize it has to be done, but we need to be sure you’re not doing this and trying to divert attention.”
Takashi shook his head. “I don’t see how ruining my own business could possibly benefit me in any way, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll get to providing the documentation for you. Is there anything else I need to know, or need to provide to help?”
“Nothing else provided, but you will need to know, in order for us to investigate and fix your account, we’ve had to suspend it. As long as your documentation clears you, and we’re able to restore the damaged code, this should last no longer than twenty-four hours.”
That was a long time to not have access, but it couldn’t be helped at this point. He’d spend most of that time with his family anyway. Takashi thanked the GM and logged off, going about getting all documentation he could provide, while having Ochi send out messages to Emi and Mercedes, asking for assistance as witnesses. He only hoped it would be enough.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Mercedes’ head bobbed back and forth as an old rock song played on the radio while she played on her phone, her mood good for a Monday. The excitement from the Saturday spent with Takashi hadn’t left her, even though she knew it was just them hanging out as friends. She had a lot of fun with him, and his family was just how she remembered. She would love to go back and do that again. As friends, of course.
Takashi had contacted her with alarming news while she was dealing with that emergency at the shop, but as of Sunday, right before he hopped on a plane, he let her know things were okay… for now. She didn’t like that this had happened to him again, and so soon after the first attack. Not only that, but the fact that he had to provide so much documentation and human references as proof that he wasn’t involved somehow was ludicrous. Why would someone purposely sabotage their own business like that?
Mercedes took a deep breath. She needed to not think of that, and keep her mood up. Takashi’s business was in the clear right now, and she had only one day of work. Then she’d be down in L.A. doing some tough, but amazing, cybernetic testing.
The idea of being able to feel with an artificial limb sent a new wave of excitement through her. The concept was still surreal, but Narissa assured her that it would work. She didn’t doubt her friend. That woman was a genius. But until she felt it for herself, it’d be hard not to think this was all a dream. A dream, where if I wake up, not even Takashi will be here… with me.
She shook the thought from her head. Enough, Mercedes.
Mercedes didn’t look up from her phone when the car pulled into the parking lot of the shop. She collected her cup of coffee and the box that she’d picked up for everyone as a treat. She finally looked up after she climbed out of the car, her feet planting to the ground. Her coffee dropped to the ground, spilling everywhere, and her hands flew up to her mouth, a half scream, half wail coming from her mouth from the horrified sight before her.
A wide yawn escaped Takashi’s mouth as he waited for his taxi. The busy city sounds of Seoul hammered his ears. He looked down at his phone, reading 5:37 a.m. Tuesday, and frowned. He’d landed about twenty minutes ago, and Mercedes hadn’t messaged him back.
He knew she could get busy, but it would be 1:37 p.m. Monday her time, meaning she’d likely be off at lunch, or just coming back from it. Before he left, she’d insisted he send her a remote in-game private message when he landed, so she’d know he’d made it safe, and promised to reply as quickly as she could. What could possibly keep her from a quick “thank you” at the very least?
Takashi’s taxi arrived and drove him the fifteen minutes to his apartment. He looked at his phone again when they arrived at the high rise apartments, and then stored it in his pocket before heading inside. Takashi hopped into the elevator and tapped his foot impatiently as it brought him up to the seventh floor.
He knew he was being ridiculous, and that she didn’t need to get back to him right away, but this was Mercedes. She’d go out of her way to ensure she fulfilled a promise. If she hadn’t gotten back to him in almost an hour, something had to be up.
Takashi unlo
cked his door, but before he could enter, an elderly woman poked her head out of her apartment and called out to him in Korean. “Takashi, you’ve returned.”
While it was early in the morning, this particular neighbor of his rose early. “Hello, Ms. Kim. I returned only recently.”
She nodded. “I’m glad to see you home safe. Pokey didn’t cause me any trouble. She was quite the nice companion, as always. I look forward to caring for her again later this week.”
Pokey was his cat. He’d gotten her when another tenant moved out, leaving her behind. No one in the complex wanted her, so he took her in, not wanting her to end up in a shelter, or worse. She’d turned out to be the perfect companion for him. “Are you sure you still wish to care for her? I’ll be gone for at least three weeks. I could board her instead.”
She waved him off. “I told you, I like caring of her. And you. Join me for supper tonight.”
When the Kim family moved their grandmother in, Pokey found herself with two loving homes by chance. Takashi hadn’t shut the door all the way after returning home from the store one day, and she’d escaped while he’d been in-game doing some business transactions. She ended up in the elderly woman’s home for a snack and a nap, and the rest had been history. Now every time he’d go out of town, she insisted on caring for the feline instead of her going to one of the nice boarding facilities nearby.
Takashi knew it was because she was lonely. Her family didn’t come by often, most too busy with work. They’d have to be, to afford her apartment and give her an allowance. It was another reason why he’d come to know the woman as well as he had. She’d turned into his replacement family.
He’d moved here because when he started out, he focused on the foreign market trade, specifically in South Korea due to the game’s popularity. This required him to attend meetings and seminars out here, making it more cost effective to just move there. After a few years, he decided to branch out, and found the North American market just as rich. At the same time, in-person seminars and meetings were moving online for the sake of convenience.
The only thing keeping me here is Ms. Kim… He didn’t want to leave her alone. It went against everything it meant to be family. I did that once to my family for the sake of work. I can’t repeat that mistake.
He smiled. “I’ll do that. Thank you.”
She went back into her place, allowing him to enter his apartment. Pokey greeted him with loud wailing and rubbing against his leg, her fluffy tail sticking up in the air. Takashi picked her up, abandoning his suitcase at the door. He would deal with that later.
He walked around the living room of the large two-bedroom apartment, affectionately stroking Pokey as his mind wandered to Mercedes. He tried not to think about what might be going on that would stop her from texting him back. For all he knew, an important project had kept her from her phone.
He hadn’t realized just how big a deal her job was until he read the articles in the magazine his father had brought home. She never acted like she did anything extraordinary—even when his father handed her the magazine, she reacted as if that kind of press happened on a regular basis. Upon reading the articles, Takashi learned her father’s shop was ranked in the top five in all of the US to have a vehicle restored at.
Takashi stopped walking and looked out his large window, looking out into the city below. He could picture her living here with him—see her waking up every morning next to him, and sitting on the couch playing one of her old videogames. He shook his head. Too fast, Takashi. He needed to convince her to date him first before thinking about where they’d live together.
Takashi’s phone beeped and he jumped, scaring Pokey enough to jump out of his arms. He pulled it out of his pocket, hoping to see a message from his favorite grease monkey, only to find a low battery warning. He sighed and plugged the phone in, transferring Ochi to the assistant system in his apartment while he was at it. He almost forgot he had to, with the international switch.
His robotic assistant spoke to him immediately. “Takashi, I sense a great deal of stress coming from you. If I may be so bold, I’d like to know what is wrong so I can help you.”
Takashi sat down on the couch. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Does it have anything to with Mercedes? She’s been on your mind a lot lately.”
Takashi looked at a clock on the wall. Six-twenty-seven. “It’s been almost an hour and a half and she hasn’t responded. That’s not like her.”
“Even she gets busy. She has an important job, after all. But that’s not the sole worry. You wouldn’t normally stress like this. There is something else compounding it.”
Takashi chuckled. “You sound like my father.”
“Does this displease you? I know I’ve been heckling you this weekend, but if so, at any point, I can alter my programming to sound and act like someone else.”
Takashi looked out the window, crossing his arms. “No, I like it actually. He always makes sense. Uses logic all the time. I’m just thinking about the life changes that would come with Mercedes and me getting together, if that happens. Would she drop everything and move here, or would I pack everything up and head on back to the states? What would happen to Ms. Kim without me here to keep her company and bring her places when she needed it?”
Takashi tapped his fingers. “What would happen to the friendship I’ve built up with Mercedes if it didn’t work out?”
“If it didn’t work out, the two of you would remain friends,” Ochi said. “You’ve done well staying friends with Emi.”
“Yes, but my connection with Emi wasn’t as deep as it is with Mercedes.”
“Wouldn’t it be safe to assume your stronger connection is due to your mutual interests? You shared few with Emi. So, even if there’s a chance you and Mercedes don’t withstand the test of time, I’m sure the two of you will still manage a close friendship.”
Takashi had a hard time arguing that point. He just needed a definite about Mercedes’ stance with him. She showed signs when he saw her off after dinner on Saturday, but he needed to be sure. I just need to ask her. No point wondering, if I can’t even do that.
Takashi checked his phone again to find no new messages still. “Ochi, I’m going in-game to talk with Shira. If anyone knows what’s up, it’ll be her.”
“Takashi, I’d highly recommend getting some sleep first.”
He headed for his business room with his gaming pod. “I’ll get sleep after. This won’t take long.”
Takashi sat down in his machine and started it up. Once the game’s menus booted, he searched for Shira in his list, but found her offline. The system indicated she hadn’t been on for several hours. That’s strange… Since she also made a living off the game to supplement her income when not working for her parents, it was uncommon for her to go offline during the day for very long. The longest was usually around meal times.
Looking at his list some more, he found Jasper and Zach logged in as usual, but both in a match. Dammit. Those two would be in matches for a while.
Takashi went about sending Mercedes another message, letting her he was worried about her and asked to her please voice chat him the moment she was free. He promised to stay up until he heard something from her. He didn’t care at this point if any of that sounded needy.
After sending the message, he leaned back in his chair. The only thing he could do was wait. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep until he knew she was okay.
Mercedes nodded as the officer finished detailing to her the report and investigation procedure they’d take to find who’d vandalized her family’s business. The sight of the damage when she arrived earlier had been the worst shock she’d had in a long time. Their security cameras picked up a decent amount, but identifying the criminal wouldn’t be easy, as her father had skimped on the video quality.
“Thank you, An
drew, I know you’ll all do your job to the fullest.”
He patted her on the shoulder. “You know I will, Mercedes. I still appreciate the charity work you did for my father and his car before his passing. This criminal act is unjust for people like you.”
She forced a smile and saw him off. Looking around, she found everyone doing something. Cleaning the walls, picking up broken parts, sweeping up glass. All day they’d been at it. Five personal vehicles had been vandalized, as well as three customer vehicles. Her father chose to call the customers while she talked with the police. She ended up with the better deal.
Only one customer understood and showed gratitude for their business taking responsibility and replacing everything damaged at no cost to him. The other two weren’t so forgiving. One threatened to call a lawyer when her father refused to make his restoration free of charge going forward since it was “most likely going to miss the approved deadline,” and the other tried to stop by and take his vehicle without paying for the work done that hadn’t been damaged.
She went to assist the other employees, but everyone she tried to help insisted they had it covered. She couldn’t even go out on a food run because Shira and Ajax were covering that. It frustrated her. Her nerves had her all stressed out, and she needed to do something that would help with the cleanup.
Mercedes went into the office to find her father on the phone again. Based on the papers on the desk, she suspected he finally got through to the insurance company. That would be yet another headache for them.
Her father looked at her. “I’m on hold. Need something?”
“Something to do,” she said. “No one is letting me help them. Did you contact all the customers without damage to their cars and let them know deadlines might not be met?”
“Not yet, but I will. Don’t worry about it.”
She reached for the computer so she could retrieve the customer information. “Well, since you’re busy, I’ll do it.”
Spellbinding His Ranger: A Sci-Fi Gamer Friends-to-Lovers Romance (Looking For Group Book 1) Page 11
