Virtual Reality

by Kitty Cox

  "They match my Mickey Mouse undies."

  Nancy roared out a laugh, shoving her hand over her mouth. "I gotta tell Deborah!"

  "I gotta get a pic!" Kate squealed, fumbling for her phone, backing up to get all of him in it.

  "Of the undies?" Adam asked, loud enough for people to hear.

  Kate snapped a picture. "Sure. The background is perfect for a promo shot. Let's go. I'm totally calling your bluff."

  People farther down the hall were starting to notice, a few looking over the walls of their cubicles. Kate held up her phone and gestured for him to get to it. When Adam started to unbutton his coat, she pressed the video record button.

  "Mr. Degrass?" she asked loudly, "Could you please explain what it is about Goofy," she zoomed in on his socks, "that has inspired you?"

  "The way he can handle being the brunt of a joke." He laughed. "I'm not stripping, Kate. Turn that shit off."

  "C'mon, I'm sure I could make a fortune." From one of the cubes, a woman laughed, smothering it quickly. Kate gestured toward the sound. "See! All playboy billionaires are doing it."

  He grabbed the phone from her hands and jogged backward toward Nancy's office. "I'm not a billionaire. Not yet. Just half."

  "Hey now, rich boy," she teased. "No stealin' the phone, bro."

  "Yeah?" He held it up, taunting her to try to grab it. What he didn't expect was Nancy.

  With her own phone in her hand, she walked up behind him, and in a smooth motion lifted the back of his coat, yanked out his shirt, and grabbed a handful of his boxers, simultaneously snapping a picture. "Proof!" she squealed, scurrying back through the glass doors.

  Adam stood there with his mouth open. "Did she?"

  "Oh yeah," Kate said. "Haven't you learned yet that the badass bitches stick together?" She made her way past, snatching her phone out of her hands. "Silk Mickey. Nice."

  "Nancy!" he yelled, trailing after them, "You gave me a wedgie!"

  "I'm keeping her," Nancy called back. She was already in the conference area, pouring three glasses of wine.

  Kate dropped her phone into a pocket, then crooked a finger at him. "My pass, sir?"

  "Nope. I went through all this trouble to get you some goodies, and this is how you treat me?"

  Her eyes lit up. "What goodies?"

  "Well." He drew the word out while he opened one of the envelopes. "There's a shirt." He pulled it out, peaking at the front. "Yeah, this one's for you."

  Flaring it open, he exposed a small, form fitted white t-shirt with a smiley face that had crying eyes and a pair of guns. It took her only a second to recognize it as QQ's logo. Then he turned it around, showing the words printed on the back. "QQ or the girls will kick your ass."

  "Then," he said, pulling out another. "For Saturday." This shirt was blue, but just as small. Adam's lip curled up as he opened it, displaying the blue team icon. Then he turned it around, and Kate gasped.

  Taking up the entire back was her outfit's logo. The Paradox symbol, the exact lettering, and everything. It was exactly like the forums. "That's my outfit!" she squealed.

  Adam chuckled and tossed it at her. "Yeah. So, James Weiss is Void's dad. Void is dating QQ. QQ recognized your name and demanded that you wear that for the tournament. You're pretty well connected, and I'm glad we play for the same team, or you'd kick my ass."

  She rolled her eyes. "I haven't been playing that long."

  He pointed at the shirt. "Paradox is the best outfit on the server, Kate. Executive Pain is close, but man for man, Paradox beats both them and PsychoDreads."

  "No pressure, right?" She pointed at the envelope. "What else?"

  Adam stepped to the table and emptied the rest of the contents. Two passes, one for the hotel and one for the convention inside, along with a handful of other memorabilia, but Kate just wanted the tournament entry confirmation form. She grabbed it and showed Nancy, grinning proudly.

  "My first time!"

  "Just remember," Adam told her. "It's not about winning, it's about improving. We can't all play like QQ."

  "Is she really that good?"

  He nodded. "Yeah. She is. The only reason she's not at the top of the ladders is because Void egged her into a stupid mistake. At the Denver tournament, she got overconfident. He walked up right behind her to double tap the head. He'll never pull that off again."

  "Do I get to go to any of those next year?"

  He nodded. "Yeah. Pretty sure Nancy won't have a problem with that at all since she's not into the scene."

  Nancy lifted her hand and waved them off. "Not my thing. You youngsters can handle it."

  Adam chuckled. "Sounds like Kate's into it, though. Will be nice to have someone on the team who understands how much fun this is supposed to be."

  "Just one more week." Kate started shoving the items back into the envelope. "Shit. How are we getting there, boss? Company transportation?"

  "No. Need a ride?"

  She bit her lip. "Yeah. Pretty sure a cab would be rather pricey."

  He nodded. "Willing to ride with me?"

  "Yes," Nancy said. "She'd love that, Adam." She looked at Kate. "Wouldn't you, honey?"

  "Evidently so."

  He pointed at her feet. "Do I get this Kate, or the professional one?"

  "This one. I like this one more."

  He smiled and reached over for one of the glasses of wine. "Me too. Although, you know the employees out there are wondering what the hell just happened."

  "Let 'em," Nancy said. "They already think I'm crazy. They think you're crazy for putting up with me. Now we have Kate in on it. Get you a half decent admin, and this place might even be fun."

  Adam flapped his hand in the direction of his office. "Mark's good enough. He knows not to say shit, to never walk into my office without checking, and to keep his opinions to himself."

  Kate's eyes were growing wider with each word. "Wow, double standard much?"

  "He's a slightly more intelligent version of the girl in the lobby. He can answer calls, make appointments, but doesn't understand that just because I'm tough enough to take it, doesn't mean he should allow it." He crossed his arms and dared Kate to deny what he was saying.

  "And," Nancy added, "he has no opinions of his own. Just like you, I asked him about my lip gloss, and he said whichever I liked. Ok, men, could be a one-off. Next, I tried asking him if a letter would have the right tone for something. It was completely inappropriate, but he shoved his nose right up my ass and said yes, it looked fine."

  "Wait," Kate said. "The lip gloss was a test?"

  "Yeah. The coffee, too. Don't worry, you passed with flying colors."

  "How was the coffee a test?" She looked between Adam and Nancy, completely confused.

  Adam chuckled. "When someone is nervous, they won't take one. A kiss-ass will immediately ask the boss's order, and only serve the boss. The kind of person we're looking for to do this job? Yeah, she'll take a cup and offer one to anyone else in the room while she's at it."

  "Mark got you a coffee, didn't he?"

  Adam nodded. "Oh yeah. And so he calls me Mr. Degrass and stays the fuck out of my office."

  "So," Kate asked, "what does it mean when the admin gets both bosses to run around the building without their shoes?"

  Nancy lifted her glass and took a long sip, leaving that for Adam to answer. He just lifted one Goofy covered foot and wiggled his toes. "Means she's getting a damned raise. And no, I have no control over your pay."

  "That's all me," Nancy said. "Ten years, and I've finally got a damned partner in crime. Honey, you ain't on probation anymore."

  "I'll drink to that," Kate said. "I love my job."

  Chapter 14

  By the time she got home that night, she had a bit of a headache. Most likely it was from drinking way too much wine at work. She logged into TeamSpeak but opened the outfit forums rather than the game. Moving herself to a quiet channel, she read the news, looked up the tips and tricks, and waited for QQ to log in so she cou
ld thank her for the shirt. Sadly, she never did, most likely because she was playing on the red team with Void - she did that often enough - but just as the sun set, Ice found out where Kate was hiding.

  "Not playing?" he asked as soon as he hit the channel.

  "No, too much wine." She leaned back in her chair, propping her feet on the desk. "Was just reading a few things on the forums."

  "Take it you had a good day, huh?" He sounded amused. "Most people don't drink wine at work, you know."

  "Yeah, but my bosses are cool."

  He laughed. "Last week it didn't sound like it."

  She giggled. "Yeah, but last week Nancy didn't help me set up the receptionist to hit on Adam. Oh my god, and you should have seen him!"

  "Was it bad?"

  "Yes! I mean, the girl was all leaning over, trying to show off her tits, and he was pretending to be oblivious as he sat there and taunted her." She leaned her head back, giggling still. "And we got caught. I mean, Nancy and I didn't really plan it out well, it was just a joke that kinda went rogue, you know?"

  "Sounds like you and Nancy are nothing but trouble," he said, trying not to laugh.

  "Oh yeah, but the thing is, Nancy's my boss, and it was kinda her idea to do the spying. I was just going to make Adam walk through the lobby and ask him what he thought of the receptionist later. Nancy wanted to make it a spectator sport. Oh, and um, we'd just done a lunch thing, and neither of us had shoes on."

  "Ok?"

  "Yeah, so here I am, with the Chief Marketing Executive of this fancy ass company, right? And we're running around the building like teenagers, tipsy on some damned good wine."

  Ice laughed. "Ok, somehow I'm not shocked."

  "And then Adam stepped into the elevator with us, saw we had on no shoes, and ended up taking his off. He was wearing cartoon socks!"

  Ice chuckled, the sound deep and rich. "Takes balls to wear cartoon socks, darlin'."

  "Oh yeah, but he's filthy rich. Pretty sure no one's going to tell him not to."

  "So, you don't approve of cartoon socks?"

  "No! It's cool as shit, but not like, you know, standard millionaire stuff, right?"

  "Still drunk?" Ice asked gently.

  "It is entirely possible, although I doubt it. I'm not a big drinker, you know? Still. I mean, I have this awesome job, and some kick-ass outfit mates, and I'm just having a good day."

  "Good. You deserve it. I like to hear you giggle like that."

  "And," she said, making it a big deal. "I got my Columbus tournament package. QQ dumped some shirts in, so I have a Paradox shirt now!"

  "A very tiny one, right?"

  She nodded, even though he couldn't see. "Oh yeah. Good thing I'm anorexic because I'm pretty sure it's going to show off half my belly."

  "Wait," he said, sounding concerned. "Seriously?"

  "Yeah, I mean, I dunno who picked the size - "

  "No." He wasn't playing around anymore. "The anorexic part."

  "Relax," she assured him, "I don't refuse meals, and I don't puke it up, I just got the amazing luck to be shaped like a twig. I'm that girl that people offer a sandwich because they're so sure I have some kind of eating disorder. I don't."

  He sighed, sounding relieved. "Don't fuckin' scare me like that. First, you tell me you live on cold cereal, then you toss that out there, and I'm thinking maybe I need to be freaking out, you know?"

  "No," she assured him. "I'm five foot seven and about a buck twenty on a good day. Can't hit one-twenty-five if my life depended on it. Not a single curve, and my little almost B cups don't squish together enough to make real cleavage."

  She had no idea why she was telling him all this. Well, except that it was only a few more days before she'd be sitting down face to face with him, and she didn't want him to be shocked. Kate wanted him to like her. She wanted to get it right, and not get the patronizing smile that her husband used to toss her way. She wanted to see a spark in the eye of the man who made her rush home to talk to him.

  "Yeah, and I have an ugly scar on my jaw," she added.

  "Lith, you worried about Friday?" He sounded both concerned and amused at the same time. She wasn't sure how he managed that tone.

  But she was worried. She was terrified. "I dunno. QQ said you're cute, and she's kinda a knockout."

  "Talk to me, darlin'. What's going on in that head of yours?"

  She groaned. "That I like talking to you, Ice. Like a lot."

  His voice softened. "Kinda goes both ways. You have an amazing voice. I could listen to you for hours. Oh wait, I have."

  "I'm a little nervous."

  "I'm scared shitless," he admitted. "I got a reservation, though. It's your celebration. You deserve this, and I'm not backing out. I'm also spending a little money, so don't get upset, ok?"

  "What's a little?"

  He laughed. "I most certainly am not telling you, but trust me, I won't break the bank. La Pierre's, at seven, Friday. Don't back out now."

  She sat up quickly. He'd just listed the best restaurant in town, and probably the most expensive. Her mouth flapped open, then closed, then open again, and she didn't know what to say.

  "Lith?" he asked.

  "Holy shit!"

  He laughed. "Please tell me that's a good shit and not a bad shit?"

  "You've never met me, never seen me, and you're taking me to a fucking top end place?"

  He was quiet for a moment. "It seemed like a good idea. You're still willing to go?"

  "God, I don't know if I have anything to wear!"

  "Pretty sure every woman in the world owns a little black dress, but I don't care if you show up in jeans and a t-shirt, darlin'. We're celebrating, and it's your big day. Get a bottle of champagne, some stupidly good food, and a little pampering."

  "Ice. What if you regret it?"

  He sighed. "What's there to regret? I get to meet one of my closest - both physically and emotionally - outfit mates and have a damned good meal to celebrate her liberation. Now, the big question is going to be if you talk to me the next day."

  "Why wouldn't I talk to you?"

  "Oh, I dunno. Maybe I decide to ask you for drinks after, and you think I'm some perv? I kinda am." She could hear him breathing. "Lith, what's the scar from?"

  "Huh?"

  "You made a point to tell me you have a scar on your jaw. Why?"

  She touched the thin dented line that ran across the bone like a seam between her head and her neck. "Everyone wants to know what happened. They ask if I got mugged or something."

  The sound of his lips parting filled the silence. "Should I even ask?"

  "My ex shoved me through the coffee table. It had these glass panes in it, like four of them, you know? And my head fit inside one." She took a deep breath, remembering it all too well. "I ducked my head at the last minute, against my shoulder. I'm ok with a scar."

  "Please," he breathed, "tell me that's when you left him?"

  "Nope. That was a month after I left. It was the day he got the divorce papers. He's lost his temper three times, that's it."

  He growled softly. "Lith, you didn't deserve it."

  She tried to laugh, but it sounded dry and harsh. "I know, Ice. He backhanded me after our first year of marriage, and I told him if he did it again, I was gone. He did in year seven, and I walked. So, he decided to prove his dick was bigger than mine."

  "Did you press charges?"

  "No," she said softly. "I filed a report. He was gone before the ambulance arrived, and he said he'd never been there. It's all hearsay."

  "Have a restraining order?"

  She swallowed. "No. I couldn't afford to file for it."

  He sighed. "Please? Dear god, sweetie, please do it? I'll give you the money. QQ, or Void, or shit, any of us."

  "It's just a few more days, Ice. I haven't seen him, and he thinks he's winning. I should be ok, but now you know why I'm not willing to do anything until this is over?"

  "Yeah, darlin', I kinda do. I'm sorry. And if it helps, sc
ars are just as sexy on women, ok?"

  She finally was able to laugh, even though it was still weak. "Thanks, Ice. You always say the right thing."

  She closed her eyes and leaned back, listening to the sound of him coming through her headphones. She could almost pretend he was there. If she paid attention, she could hear the clicking of his keys, the sound of glass hitting wood like he was enjoying a beer, and the creak of his chair. He didn't always keep his mic open, but when it was just the two of them, she liked the way it made him feel closer.

  "Lith," he said, breaking the easy silence. "I don't always say the right thing. Thing is..." He took a deep breath, then muttered, "Fuck it," before taking another. "Darlin', I've never... I mean, you don't mind when I get stupid and pull a Leroy, or get pissed and rant. I know when you're going to go right as you enter a room, or how when you miss an easy shot, it means that you're blushing over there. I just think you're perfect. I feel like I can talk to you, and like you understand me, you know?"

  "Yeah," she whispered. "I know. I really want this to be real."

  "Me too, and I'm a scared of it, a bit. I feel like I've been living a dream, and once we're face to face, all the masks are off, and the secrets are out, you might end up hating me."

  "Ice, I haven't dated in a long time. I mean, a really long time."

  "At least eight years. I kinda did the math."

  She licked her lips, willing her mouth not to go dry and her voice to be stable. "I was with the same guy since I was twenty-two."

  "So, you're telling me to move slow, huh?"

  "No. I'm saying don't get your expectations too high." She pressed her hands to her face. "I'm blushing."

  "It's cute."

  "I'm shit in bed," she blurted.

  His reaction was not what she expected. He choked around a laugh, swallowed whatever he'd just taken a sip of, coughed, then laughed again. "Wow. Warn a man."

  "Thought that's what I was doing."

  "No, you were trying to kill me. Now, I can only assume your ex told you that." He sighed. "If I get that lucky, Lith, just remember, I'm not your damned ex."

  "You're nothing like him."

  He made a pleased sound. "I won't tell you that I'd never hit a woman, because well, I know QQ. If she took a swing at me, I'm gonna try to defend myself."