“What are you doing?” Narissa asked her.
Mercedes grinned. “Making you ask questions.”
Ajax used the distraction to his advantage and slipped over to the door. “And allowing me to get out of here. Send me the bill.”
Narissa looked at him with a dumbfounded expression as he waved and took off. She crossed her arms and looked at Mercedes with narrowed eyes. “Traitor.”
Mercedes held up her hands. “Hey, if I didn’t do something, I’d be sitting here for at least another half hour while you lectured him.
Narissa threw up her hands. “Well if he’d just stop destroying that arm, I wouldn’t have to.”
A sly grin spread across Mercedes’ lips. “Maybe this is his way of having an excuse to come visit you.”
Mercedes watched Narissa roll her eyes. “If he wants to be a pest, he doesn’t have to mangle his prosthetic. My door is always open.” She sighed. “I wish he would listen to me. He’s putting too much stress on his neuro-mod. At this rate, I’m going to have to replace that, too, and he’ll be lucky if he doesn’t sustain brain damage.”
“Men are willing to do stupid and crazy things to impress women.” Mercedes started laughing. “I mean look at how Jasper and Zach act around Shira.”
Narissa smirked. “Well, not everyone can be lucky enough to get a smart guy to impress her by doting on her, like you have.”
Mercedes looked away. Narissa knew all about her meet-up with Takashi over the weekend, and knew about the planned lunch date today.
Narissa looked her over, her arms crossed. “You’re still not jumping on that, are you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t want to ruin my friendship with him because I was dumb and saw something that wasn’t really there.”
“Please.” Narissa sashayed over to her. “He’s totally into you. You have nothing to worry about.”
Mercedes couldn’t shake the doubt. She decided to focus on the paper she found. “So, what’s this?”
“Nosey brat.” Narissa snatched the papers from her. “It’s something I’d like to propose to Shira. We’re making some changes that will require models. Since she has the experience and fits what we’re looking for, I wanted to offer the opportunity to her.”
Mercedes could see the doubt in her friend’s eyes. “But we both know how she is with cameras. That’s not going to be an easy battle.”
Narissa nodded. “I know. I’m hoping I can get some help from Zach and Jasper. They may be able to get her to change her mind.”
Mercedes snorted. “They’re stubborn enough; it might work.”
Narissa snatched up tablet and gestured for Mercedes to sit down in the chair Ajax had previously occupied. “But enough about that. Let’s get to this testing before lunch.”
Haphazardly-tossed suitcases moved on the luggage carrousel. Takashi kept an eye out for his, impatient to get out of the airport. He’d coordinated a location to meet up with Mercedes and wanted nothing more than to spend time with her.
He’d grown quite bored on the plane once she had to let him go to focus on her testing. The slow internet made it difficult focus on his business transactions, and that meant his mind wandered to Mercedes. This taking things slow with her wasn’t as easy as he’d expected.
He glanced down at the flowers he’d bought for her from a flower shop at the terminal. Now knowing her mother had been a florist, he was hoping this arrangement would help him gauge her reaction before outright asking.
Takashi spotted his suitcase and was quick to snatch it and maneuver through the crowd. He turned on his phone to find Mercedes had texted him over fifteen minutes ago, indicating she was waiting. He ground his teeth together in frustration. He hadn’t wanted to make her wait for him.
Takashi looked around for her when he made it to the pickup area. Where is she? His pulse skipped when he spotted her standing alone, a thin and wide sign in her hands. Is that a… rose?
Mercedes looked around, sometimes going up on her toes to try to look over the crowd. Takashi tucked the flowers away so she wouldn’t see them yet and made his way to her. When she spotted him, her eyes lit up, and her smile sent a rush of pleasant emotions through him. She ran over to him, but before she could say anything, he presented her the bouquet, using all the skills he had acquired over the years practicing magic to make it look like he produced it out of thin air.
Mercedes gasped, her beautiful blue eyes going wide. “Takashi…”
He could tell she was taken by surprise and not fear, which made him happy. Mercedes took the flower arrangement and looked at the bundle of white flowers. Takashi made certain to gauge her reaction, especially when she looked at the one novelty flower in the center—twelve white, one white with red tips, making thirteen in total.
Mercedes inhaled their sweet scent. “It’s beautiful, Takashi.” She looked up at him, her eyes dancing. “Thank you.”
He smiled at her. So far, so good.
“Though, I don’t know how you hid this from me.”
A smirk spread across Takashi’s lips. “A magician never reveals his secrets.”
She looked up at him through her lashes, her teeth catching her bottom lip. “And there’s nothing that would persuade him?”
Oh shit. Were they taking public transit or private? It was just going to be the two of them for a while, right? Takashi looked at the sign she carried, using it as a way to divert the question, and his mind, before he said something he’d regret. “Is that your sign?”
Mercedes smirked, seeing her question got to him, and held up the sign. “No, I’m a Libra, actually.”
He laughed. “I deserved that answer.”
Mercedes continued to smirk. “And yes. I made it Sunday. I figured it’d be hard to miss.”
Takashi couldn’t stop himself from looking her up and down. “You’re hard to miss.”
Her face flushed a shade of pink and she glanced away. He took the sign from her, quite interested in her reaction, and looked at her work. She’d painted a white rose on metal, the details positively captivating, and rounded the corners so there were no sharp edges. He ran his fingers across her work. “This is amazing. I thought the images you showed off Saturday was great, but it’s nothing compared to seeing this in person.”
She stuck her nose into the bouquet of flowers, her cheeks reddening. “Thank you. I tried my hardest to get the details perfect.”
Her eyes snapped up to him, the intensity snaring him. She definitely knows what I’m gauging.
He decided to ask. “So you’re okay with the flowers?”
She bit her lip as she looked down at the flora and then suddenly grabbed his suitcase from him. “We shouldn’t keep Narissa waiting. She’s eager to try out this new restaurant.”
Takashi frowned. He wasn’t sure what to think of her changing the subject. She reacted fine to the flowers, but then when the question came up… He’d figure it out later. There was lunch to be had with her and Narissa.
Mercedes had asked him if it was okay for Narissa to join them. He didn’t mind, as he like the idea of meeting Narissa in person as well. But a part of him preferred the idea of having lunch with just Mercedes. Maybe tomorrow. He had all weekend and then some, as he was staying stateside for at least three weeks. Plus, this will give me time to figure out why Mercedes avoided my question.
The pair exited the airport and Mercedes led him to her car. A woman around their age with a dark complexion and curvaceous figure sat on the hood, dark sunglasses obscuring her eyes and protecting them from the L.A. sun.
The woman stood up and smiled bright when she spotted them. “Takashi!”
She held out her arms and Takashi accepted the hug, having to lean down. “It’s good to see you, Narissa.”
“Sorry for crashing your lunch date,” she said she
pulled away. “But I figured Mercedes would have you all to herself for the rest of the weekend so it wasn’t a huge deal.”
Takashi laughed. “I don’t mind at all.”
Narissa took Takashi’s suitcase from Mercedes and went about stowing it in the car. Takashi found it a bit difficult not to be distracted by her. He could see why Ajax wanted her. Mercedes slipping into the driver’s seat of the car grabbed his attention. Mercedes is just far more distracting.
On top of that, Narissa was intelligent enough to keep up with Ajax. Ajax may look like he should be on some professional sports team, but his intelligence impressed even Takashi. He singlehandedly revolutionized the gaming industry by designing the gamepods gamers used today. Of course, not to be outdone by her “baby brother,” Ajax’s sister designed a mobile version that was both safe and convenient for those always on the go, like professional gamers and other business men and woman.
Takashi opened the door of the car to hop into the backseat, but Narissa stopped him. “You’ll be too tall to fit back there. I’m smaller, I’ll take it.”
He knew better than to argue. The moment he sat down in the front seat after letting Narissa in, Tasha’s robotic voice came from the car dash. “Hello, Takashi. It’s nice to see you again.”
“You as well, Tasha,” he replied.
“Where are we off to now, Mercedes?” Tasha asked.
“Chi-Lin Gardens.”
Tasha made her calculations and the car pulled out of the space. Takashi glanced at Mercedes when she went about playing with the radio. Narissa complained, saying something about staying on one station finally. He guessed the two had bickered about this earlier today, too. A smile spread across his lips. Spending the day with these two was going to be quite the adventure for him.
The trio followed their hostess to a booth. Mercedes slipped into one side while Narissa slipped into the other, leaving Takashi to choose, though she knew it wasn’t really a choice. He sat down next to Mercedes and the hostess set down their ordering devices before leaving.
Mercedes looked over their options. “How was your flight?”
Takashi rubbed his face. “Long and exhausting. You’d think I’d get used to them, but I don’t.”
Narissa placed her drink order and grinned at him. “If only there was something to convince you to move back stateside so you don’t have to deal with the flights.”
Mercedes’ eyes narrowed at her. She did not appreciate her friend meddling right now. Especially not after what went down in the airport.
Takashi chuckled and placed his order. “I’ve been thinking about it.”
Narissa gave Mercedes a not so subtle “go after him” look. Mercedes’ eyes remained narrowed and then she went about ordering her drink and her meal. The exchange didn’t go unnoticed by Takashi, though he didn’t say anything, making her a bit nervous.
The bouquet he offered at the airport had thrown her. One flower she expected, but what he handed her… White roses, a way to show you care for someone more than friends, but not quite deep enough for the red rose of love. A single novelty rose, white and red, signifying that care is deepening. Thirteen in total, a sign of an admirer. The three together, handed directly to the intended, a proposal for courtship.
When Mercedes looked up at Takashi after noting all of this, she saw the tightness in his jaw, and his pupils appeared dilated. When he asked if she was okay with the flowers, she knew then it was his way of asking—of indicating this “just friends” wasn’t working for him anymore. Unfortunately… she wasn’t sure she could say yes to such a request, and ended up not answering at all.
She knew it wasn’t the best choice to make. “No” would have been kinder than nothing at all, but she felt too conflicted by the situation to give a proper answer. I need more time.
“Hello, Mercedes…” Narissa waved, catching her attention. “Earth to Mercedes.”
Mercedes blinked and found herself brought out of her head. “Oh, sorry.”
Takashi’s brow furrowed. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about what I ordered.” She found it hard to look at him without feeling guilty. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go through with what I’d chosen.”
She could tell she hadn’t fooled anyone, but neither of her friends decided to make a scene about it.
“So, can I know anything about this special cybernetic project you two are working on?” Takashi asked. “Beyond what little Mercedes has told me?”
The two women looked at each other, grinned, and then spoke in unison, “No.”
He chuckled. “Well okay, then.”
A staff member showed up with their drinks and an appetizer Takashi ordered to split.
“So, did you see PTR is going up for the next Lusara Fates expansion?” Narissa asked between bites.
PTR meant public test realm. It was a mock instance of a game, where developers allowed individuals from outside their company to test new implementations and provide feedback.
Mercedes nodded. “Yeah, if I read correctly, we’ll be seeing what this next expansion will be about next month, finally, and then the PTR will be up.”
“What are you two theorizing it’ll be about?” Takashi asked. “Besides Old Gods, because everyone knows that.”
“I think we’re going to finally find out how the world was created,” Narissa said. “All game texts say there isn’t any information on that, and there’ve been some funny things going on with some old NPC tribes.”
“I’m not sure.” Mercedes grinned and looked at her intelligent friend. “But I do know, no matter what it is, Narissa and Ajax will be ‘questing’ late at night.”
Narissa gasped and Takashi laughed. “Don’t forget their late night ‘raiding.’ We all know it’s not quite a Dev-team-approved raid style.”
Narissa’s face reddened. “Oh yeah? And what about you two? Going on all these ‘treasure hunts’ all the time. We all know what kind of treasure you two are looking at.”
Takashi laughed and Mercedes’ face warmed. She went to spit out a rebuttal when Tasha interrupted. “My apologies, Miss Mercedes, but I thought you may want to know of this new movie announcement.”
Her brow furrowed. “Movie announcement?”
She had her phone set up to get notifications on various geek culture announcements, but there hadn’t been a single blip on that radar about possible movies.
Mercedes whipped out her phone and opened the announcement, seeing the name “Lusara Fates” in bold titles. “No way…”
“What?” Both Takashi and Narissa said.
“Lusara Fates is getting a movie!”
Takashi immediately looked over her shoulder and Narissa pulled out her phone, her assistant having already pulled up the announcement for her. A mix of comfort and discomfort fell over Mercedes. As much as she liked the closeness with Takashi, it didn’t feel right because of what she’d done.
Mercedes focused on the phone, scrolling through the short article. Takashi reached over from time to time to flick the screen in an attempt to get her to speed up her reading. She laughed, the interaction helping her ease out of her awkward mood with him. She really needed to sort out her feelings, sooner rather than later.
“Well, there’s not much here so far, but this is exciting,” Takashi said.
“I wonder what part of the storyline they’ll focus on?” Mercedes queried. “I hope they start from the beginning, and not try to pull what Blizzard did with their Warcraft movies, and start later in the timeline than they should have.”
“But they’re not bad movies.”
“I’m not saying they are. I love them. But they’re pretty confusing if you’ve never played any of the games, or read any of the books. Especially if you watch them in the order the movies came out.”
> “That’s a fair point.”
Mercedes looked to Narissa to see why she wasn’t engaging in the conversation, only to find her resting her chin on her palm, a goofy grin on her face. “What is wrong with you?”
“You two are adorable.”
Mercedes childishly stuck her tongue out at her friend just as a staff member came out with their meals.
Lunch continued, with more crazy discussions transpiring. Her mind kept wandering on her, though, warranting strange looks from Narissa.
Once they’d all eaten, they agreed to drop Takashi off at his hotel. Mercedes could see the exhaustion taking hold.
Not two minutes after they dropped him off at his hotel did Narissa face Mercedes, with clear intent in her eyes. “Okay, spill it.”
Mercedes furrowed her brow. “Spill what?”
“You’ve been acting all out of sorts since we met up with Takashi.” Narissa pointed to the bouquet of flowers. “And I’m willing to bet ten thousand dollars it has something to do with that.”
Mercedes looked away. Too bad she’s right; I could have used that kind of cash.
“Tell me, girl, what happened? What’s so important about the arrangement he gave you?”
She sighed. She knew Narissa. Her friend wouldn’t give up until she talked. “Thirteen white roses is a proposal for courtship.”
“What?” Narissa screeched. “This is fantastic! Why are you—Oh, no. What did you do?”
Mercedes chewed on her lower lip. “I… I didn’t give him an answer.”
“Cede.” Narissa threw her head back and groaned. “Why would do that?”
Mercedes rubbed her false arm. “I don’t really want to talk about this right now, Narissa.”
Narissa crossed her arms. “And I do. I’m not about to let you turn into Shira. Now tell me why you couldn’t say yes to dating a guy who is perfect for you?”
Mercedes slumped down in her seat, pain pulsing in her chest. “Because why would he want to?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’re amazing?”
Spellbinding His Ranger: A Sci-Fi Gamer Friends-to-Lovers Romance (Looking For Group Book 1) Page 13
