Vicky, definitely, but could I do it without drawing unnecessary attention to our relationship? Or should I leave her out? I really needed to discuss it with her. The decision had to be mutual.
“I really don’t know,” I said. “I can’t afford to invite the entire department. My bonus just won’t stretch that far. You guys are the only people I actually talk to.”
“That’s even better,” Cyril nodded his approval. “Much more fun without that crowd. Ah! I nearly forgot to mention Lola’s sending her respects. Your doctor, remember? She asked when you’re gonna come to see her.”
Marina’s eyes narrowed into slits.
“Never, I hope,” I said, trying to turn this into a joke. “So you’ve got my permission to chance your arm.”
“I might,” he said. “She’s a fine woman. Intelligent and beautiful, and a doctor!”
“Come on, Phil,” Marina interrupted us. “We’ve got an appointment to make. They must be waiting for us already.”
“Good luck,” Cyril replied. “You two coming back for lunch?”
“Maybe. There’s one more thing I meant to tell you. About this last cigarette thing... please don’t. It’s better this way. You’ve quit already. You’ve got a life to live.”
Cyril shrugged. He reached into his pocket and produced a lighter and a half-finished pack of cigarettes. He fumbled with them for a while, then crumpled the pack in his hand and lobbed both into a nearby trash can.
“That’s right!” I said.
I was happy for him. The game system, however, seemed to be happy for me.
You’ve received 500 pt. XP for performing a socially meaningful action!
XP points left until the next social status level: 6720/8000
The game seemed to be training me like a dog. Whenever I did something good or took care of other people, I received a reward. Still, much to my surprise, the rise in my XP had left me completely unenthusiastic.
We didn’t make it back in time for lunch. Right after our first appointment with a packaged foods factory director (which made pizzas among other things — with compliments to those two, Greg and Cyril), we had to email all the information to their lawyers who were drawing up the contract. Then we moved to the next interested client on our list. This time it was a pastry shop.
Marina got the first contract. In my opinion, that was only fair. After all, she’d been the one who’d pitched them. No idea how the “universal information field” was going to process this result — but I’d received a new system message even before we’d signed the contract,
Quest alert: Help a Struggling Student. Quest completed!
You’ve successfully helped your fellow trainee Marina Tischenko to close a sales deal for packaging products produced by Ultrapak, Ltd.
XP received: 900
+10% to Satisfaction
Your Reputation with Marina Tischenko has improved!
Current Reputation: Amicability 25/60
Soon after midday, I closed my first deal as an Ultrapak staff worker. The pastry shop owner — a stout lady with a sharp glare and a garish manicure — had immediately begun pressurizing me for more discounts, insisting they pay after delivery. Still, all her attempts had failed miserably in the face of my 15 pt. Charisma. By the end of our meeting, the pastry lady had thawed out to the point of giving me a hug, pressing my face to the expanse of her generous bosom.
I couldn’t help smiling thinking about it. This place would have been Fatso’s dream job. Marina too kept laughing on our way back, remembering the scene.
In fact, Marina’s behavior worried me a little. She was definitely flirting with me. She’d thread her arm through mine as we walked, and whenever we rode a cab, her thigh would “accidentally’ brush against mine.
I won’t lie to you: her advances flattered me. Still, I had no intention of capitalizing on them in any way.
She definitely felt at ease around me. She treated me like a peer and old friend. By lunchtime, we’d found ourselves in the opposite part of town, so we popped into a café and ordered the menu of the day. And — this was quickly turning into a pattern — as soon as I finished my meal, I received a new social status level message.
Alik’s quest message had popped up first,
Quest alert: Help Alik Find a Job. Quest completed!
You’ve successfully helped your neighbor Romuald “Alik” Zhukov to find regular employment.
XP received: 400
+5% to Satisfaction
Your Reputation with Romuald “Alik” Zhukov has improved!
Current Reputation: Amicability 55/60
This jump in Satisfaction resulted in a level 1 Happiness buff. Add to this my ecstatic joy at having received a new level. The combination culminated in a spasm of pleasure so powerful that I doubled up, unable to stand on my rubbery legs.
Congratulations! You’ve received a new level!
Your current social status level: 8
Characteristic points available: 1
Skill points available: 1
My body careened out of control. Trying to keep my balance, I grabbed at the tablecloth and pulled it to the floor with me. There was nothing I could do. My vision darkened. I was literally exploding with ecstasy. To the casual observer it must have looked like an epileptic fit.
The bout of pleasure lasted longer this time. I felt like that idiot from the old joke: “Who are all these people?”
When I finally came round, Marina’s anxious face hovered over me. “Phil? Are you okay? Someone, call an ambulance!” she kept shouting at the top of her voice.
“I don’t need an ambulance,” I said, scrambling back to my feet. “I’m fine.”
I told her the truth. I felt better than ever before.
“Are you okay?” a woman asked me — apparently, the café manager.
“I’m fine, thank you. I’m sorry about the mess. Please add all the broken plates to the bill.”
“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “Just take it easy. You sure you don’t want to see the doctor?”
“I might,” I said. “Thanks.”
I paid the bill and added a generous tip. Holding Marina’s hand, I walked out of the café.
Once outside, she lit up a cigarette. Her hands were shaking. “Phil, I think you do need to see the doctor.”
“I’m okay. Don’t worry,” I racked my brain for a believable explanation. If I had to lie to her, so be it. “I have a very rare brain condition. It’s not life-threatening. But it does give me occasional fits like that one. Now you understand, don’t you, why I can’t drive?”
She shuddered as if imagining me behind the wheel. “Of course.”
By the end of the workday we’d finally made it back to the office from where we sent the duly signed supply agreements to our new partners. Greg and Cyril hadn’t arrived yet. As we waited for them, I told Marina to start cold-calling other potential clients from our list.
“Don’t drag it out,” I said. “Just tell them you’re an Ultrapak representative offering them packaging materials at 30% less than they currently buy.”
“Yes, sir!” she saluted before reaching for the phone.
I listened to her pitch, using the pauses between calls to offer some advice and corrections and congratulate her on her work.
That was how Dennis found us.
“I can see you’re comfortable here,” he said, addressing me. “Isn’t it a bit too early setting your backside down in the boss’ chair?”
“I’m very comfortable, thank you,” I replied. “No, I’m not setting my backside in anything. You happy with my answers?”
“Maybe,” he cracked a sarcastic smile, baring his teeth and even gums. I had a very bad feeling about his smile. “That’s not what I heard.”
“Phil, leave it,” Marina said. “He’s not worth it. The guy is a total nincompoop.”
“That’s a big word coming from such a tiny girl,” Dennis announced out loud, attracting the others’ attention.
“Leave her alone,” I said. “I don’t give a damn what you heard. Just piss off, will you?”
“In a moment,” he said with the same nasty smile.
Judging by the silence, the entire department had stopped whatever they’d been doing and were now watching us.
“Just one last question,” Dennis continued. “Has this slut already put out for you?”
“So what if I have?” Marina announced, wiping the smug smile off his face. “Are you jealous or something?”
Dennis turned pale. “Did you hear that?” he spat out, turning to all the others. “I’m gonna write a report about these two and their professional misconduct! You’re all my witnesses!”
I jumped to my feet, fully intending to punch his lights out. My Self-Control still needed a lot of work.
“Phil, don’t!” Vicky’s voice sliced through the silence.
Seething, I swung round, searching for her in the room. A new system message dropped into my field of vision, blocking the view.
Your Reputation with Victoria “Vicky” Koval has decreased!
Current Reputation: Dislike 15/30
“What’s going on in here?” Pavel’s voice demanded.
I heard some disjointed explanations of what had just happened.
“Right,” Pavel said. “You three, into my office. Now.”
By the time I’d finally closed the system message, Vicky was already gone.
Chapter Twenty-Three. The Game Starts for Real
“Come on, be honest with yourself. At some point in our lives we all wanna be a superhero.”
Dave Lizewski, Kickass
ALTHOUGH ONLY one year my junior, Pavel wasn’t Ultrapak’s commercial director for nothing. His social status level was already 18 compared to my 8, with Charisma to match. Which probably explained why it hadn’t taken him very long to get to the bottom of this ridiculous conflict.
“Very well,” he said. “Let’s start with Den as he’s been with us for quite a while. Could you please give us your rendition of what’s just happened?”
This may have been a polite request but to us it sounded like an order.
Pavel shut his computer down to make sure we couldn’t see what he’d been working on. He leaned back in his chair and laid his feet in his perfectly polished shoes onto his huge lacquered hardwood desk.
The desk gave you some idea of Pavel’s pedantic nature. Everything on it was in perfect order. All the papers were divided into several neat stacks — apparently, depending on their importance and priority. An expensive colorful globe was studded with little red flags which must have marked the places he’d already visited. I doubted they were business trips. Somehow I didn’t think that Ultrapak had business connections with Argentina or New Zealand.
“Ahem,” Dennis took his time clearing his throat. “Allow me to start from the beginning. We recruited Marina as a trainee sales rep-”
“Keep it short,” Pavel interrupted him. “What was going on in there and what exactly are you accusing them of?”
Dennis’ Fear levels soared. You didn’t even need to read his stats to know that because his ears had turned a fiery red.
“I just want to inform you about their professional misconduct,” his voice broke into a squeak.
“And what exactly are you accusing them of?” Pavel enunciated.
“Of sexual misconduct! Which can’t be tolerated! We all signed the rules. It’s written here in black and white. And these two did it.”
Marina began laughing uncontrollably. “Sexual misconduct can’t be tolerated! That’s a bit rich coming from you, isn’t it? What a hypocrite! Just think that-”
“Quiet!” Pavel exploded.
“Sorry,” Marina covered her mouth with her hand. “It’s only that this was the reason I asked to work with Phil in the first place. Because this sicko was after me like a dog on heat, threatening to fail me during my trial period if I refused!”
“Please mind you language,” Pavel said. “You’re not on campus.”
“Sorry,” she repeated. “It’s just that his so-called accusations are so ridiculous that-”
“Thank you. Mr. Panfilov?” Pavel squinted at me.
I could see by his low Interest numbers that he’d already come to a decision. Still, he was obliged to listen to all the guilty parties.
“We were busy all day visiting new clients,” I said. “As soon as we returned to the office, we started making more calls. I was supervising Marina’s cold calling when Dennis came over to us and demanded to know if there was anything between us. I’ll repeat once again, for his sake, that there was absolutely nothing going on. There couldn’t have been. Not because of the company rules but for other reasons I’d rather not disclose.”
As I spoke, I glimpsed Marina’s plummeted Mood. Did she really like me? Not good. Very bad timing.
“Thank you,” Pavel replied calmly. “You two can go. Dennis and I will have a few words. You sure you’re all right, Den? You look a bit pale.”
“No, thanks. I’m fine,” he croaked, shaking his head.
As Marina and I filed toward the door, Pavel called to us again,
“And congratulations on your first sales!”
“Thank you, sir,” we replied in unison. Then we returned to our places, smiling uncontrollably.
A new system message reported the drop in my Reputation with Dennis. Which was logical, really. What did come as an unpleasant surprise was the respective drop in my XP.
So that’s how it worked, then. My stats could plummet just as easily as they could soar. In itself, that was neither good nor bad. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. It stood to reason that an athlete who stopped training and gained so much weight that he could only see his balls in the mirror would experience a drop in both his Stamina and Agility. I too had a funny feeling that engaging in antisocial behavior might result in me losing my hard-earned social status levels. I really didn’t feel like putting this theory to the test.
Greg walked over to me. “Phil?” he whispered. “Is it true what Cyril told me? He said you’re celebrating your bonus tonight. I’m dying for a proper meal. I think I could kill for a steak.”
“You wait!” Cyril interrupted him, also in whisper, then turned to me. “You’d better tell us what happened. Why did Pavel want you two on the carpet? Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine,” Marina hurried to reply, casting me a cautioning look. “There’s nothing to tell, really.”
I shrugged. “They’ll soon know, anyway. Thing is, Dennis was being a total jerk. First he kept picking on me and when that failed, he accused us of having an affair. Before you ask anything, no, we didn’t. Not in a million years.”
“You sure you didn’t?” Greg asked anxiously.
“What’s wrong with you, man?” Marina gave him a shove in the shoulder. “Are you really so stupid? Besides, you’re married, aren’t you? And just in case you forgot, your wife is pregnant. As in, p-r-e-g...”
“So what?” he asked, sincerely surprised. “Phil’s married too. What’s the problem?”
“It’s all right, I’ll tell you later,” Cyril half-promised, half-threatened him.
“Never mind,” I said. “Just clock off and get your asses over to Jared’s. You know where it is, don’t you? You can take a table and order some chow. I still have something to do here. Okay?”
“Sounds good,” Cyril replied for all the others. “Let's move it!”
Marina cast me a quizzical look.
“That’s all right,” I told her. “You can go too. This isn’t about work. Just a private matter I need to sort out.”
She nodded. The other two grabbed her under both arms and steered her to the exit.
“Oh, sorry,” she suddenly said. “I think I left the computer on. You go, I won’t be a moment.”
“That’s all right,” Greg said. “We can wait for you here. How long can it take?”
“Just go! Wait for me outside
, I won’t be long! Have a smoke or something... oh sorry, Cyril. I forgot you quit.”
“Come on, Greg, let’s go,” Cyril said, nudging his trainee toward the elevators.
Marina lingered next to me, expectant.
“Let’s go to the stairs over there,” I told her. “We need to talk.”
We walked out into the stairwell landing which reeked of stale tobacco smoke. The door clicked shut automatically behind us. In order to get back in, we’d have to use our magnetic pass cards to unlock it.
Nobody in the building ever used the stairwell as intended, even if they only had to go down to the next floor. We were alone.
Marina rummaged through her purse, producing two packs of cigarettes one after the other. She pulled out a slim menthol cigarette and lit up.
I waited for her to turn her attention to me, than began the speech I’d already prepared and rehearsed in my head. I tried to make it sound logical and not too offensive. “You’re a very good girl, you know that?”
“Oh, do give it a break,” she wheezed as she exhaled. She took another tug on her cigarette, fumbling with the top button on her blouse. “I’m not chasing you or anything. I’m a big girl, you know. I do like you, that’s true. That’s why I was a bit thrown when you said that there could be nothing between us. Am I really so ugly? Or is it the age difference?”
“Please. Don’t put that on me. You know very well you’re pretty. And as for our age difference, I actually feel, er, flattered by your attention. But firstly, I’m still married-”
“You’re getting a divorce, right? That’s what everybody says.”
“No, we aren’t. Not for the time being. We haven’t even filed for divorce yet. That’s one thing. And the other-” I faltered, unsure whether being sincere with her was a wise thing to do.
“And the other?” she flicked the ash off with a nervous finger. The cigarette broke in two.
Restart (Level Up Book #1) LitRPG Series Page 30
