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“What’s up?” I asked.
“We were supposed to meet Archer for dinner. Is that still on? Oh, crap. He works for you. He’s going to hate me too.”
Not likely. “I’m pretty sure Link has never hated anyone in the history of the universe. And yes, let’s go get dinner. I’ll shovelthe path when we get back. You can leave your suitcase by the patio door.”
Why was I taking her with me? Why was I doing anything with her besides giving her a hotel name and calling her a cab? Why didn’t I let Nigel make good on his threat to come get her?
Because the longer she lingered, the harder it was to associate her with the streamer whose name I cursed on a regular basis.
So we trekked through the house, to the garage this time, climbed into my Bentley Bentayga, and headed to the restaurant where we were meeting Lincoln.
The drive was only about twenty minutes, but with me not trusting myself to say anything, and her fiddling with her fingers, her coat sleeves, her hair, and never uttering a word, it was possibly the most awkward twenty minutes of my year.
As we pulled into the parking lot, and I saw Link waiting for us near the front entrance, a new thought occurred to me. “Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?” She sounded so meek it was almost unreal.
“I probably should’ve warned him about who you are.”
Kittie let out a strangled laugh. “Might be more fun this way. Actually watch his expression. See if he tells me to go to Hell, too.”
“Might be.” Might not be. I parked, and we headed toward Link.
When he saw us approaching, his eyes grew wide. When we were close enough for casual conversation he said, “Am I hallucinating?”
“And here I thought it was a bad dream.” I scoffed. “Archer, meet Demon Kittie.”
“‘Allo.” Kittie wiggled her fingers in a disturbingly adorable wave.
Link stared at her, mouth slightly agape. He gave a single shake of his head, and extended his hand. “It’s Lincoln, actually. You can call me Link.”
“Fallyn.” She took his hand. “But you probably already know that.”
He looked between us.
I shrugged. “It’s really her. Whichever her you’re wondering about.”
“It’s true. I’m both Fallyn and Demon Kittie. Nice to meet you,” she said.
Link gestured toward the entrance. “This has got to be one hell of a story. I want appetizers while you tell it.”
There really wasn’t much story here at all, but I had a feeling there would be once word got out.
I was staring down the official release of a game that meant the world to me. It would be announced at one of the largest gaming conventions in the world.
And I was worrying about the fact that the woman I’d beenfuckingonline was the same person who made our lives hell with her work. That was an added stress I didn’t need.
It wasn’t as though I expected anything more than the physical from Kittie—I wasn’t interested in an emotional relationship. While she was here, she could be Kittie in the bedroom and Fallyn the rest of the time and it didn’t impact me one way or the other.
3/
link
People made a lot of assumptions. Based on what they saw, what they heard, prejudice, expectation, cultural norms…
Meeting Kittie—Fallyn—in person, I wasn’t surprised. It almost made sense that the two of them were the same person, and I didn’t have a problem with her videos—we did our job, and she did hers. It didn’t seem that Elliot was too pleased about her being here though.
When I was younger, people looked at me and saw the fat kid. When I opened my mouth and random facts and observations spilled out, I became the fat, nerdy kid. Add to that the fact that I didn’t date, but I liked looking at boys as much as girls, and I was the fat, nerdy, gay boy.
