AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No more words were needed as Shannon went off to the bar to order Quint his drink.
A member of Shannon’s bar staff, Ruby came over five minutes later with a Negroni on a small silver tray, then placed it down on his table with a warm smile.
“Anything else I can get you?” she offered.
“No, thank you, that’s great.” Quint stirred his drink with the thin straw that was peeping out of the top of the glass like a tiny snorkel, sending the huge, clear ice cube into a spin, mixing the delicious flavour of the orange peel that fused perfectly with the bitter taste of the Campari.
It was things such as this drink that Quint remained in awe of, due to the lack of such luxuries being in short supply on Vondiv’d. It was quite usual for a Player to become obsessed with things that were new to them, and a Negroni was certainly one of Quint’s obsessions. Another was music, so he had managed to position himself within an influential sector of the music business, thanks to Harry, whose connection with Will had secured him a career all those years ago. He had no discernible talent for playing an instrument or singing, so sought to bring those that did to the forefront of the industry, exposing their talents to the masses.
He sat nervously waiting for Leo and Kai as he sipped his Negroni, which had now arrived at the perfect temperature to refresh him. He twisted his glass around restlessly, the soft coaster helping it glide smoothly on the glass-top table, relaxing him somewhat.
Every time somebody walked into his part of the bar, he prepared a smile in case it was them, even though Leo and Kai weren’t due for a few minutes yet.
He looked around the club at some of the other clientele that surrounded him, his seventh sense pinging on and off as he scoured the room, his eyes settling on Players and Reboots alike, receiving the odd nod from the former.
Some Players sat together in couples, some Reboots as well, and some groups were a mix of both, the Reboots oblivious to the memories being carried by the person opposite them.
The Players kept their secrets locked away whilst in this public setting. It would only ever be safe to truly acknowledge another of their kind in private or within the digital confines of Harry’s genius app,The Lounge.
It was now two minutes past eight o’ clock and Quint had almost devoured his Negroni when he turned his head towards the door, picking something up. Leo’s essence was so much stronger than usual, swamping his head. That was even before Leo came in. He offered a smile and short wave Quint’s way just before a figure followed him in.
Quint frowned, everything inside… confused. Leo seemed to drift away into a haze of nothing, until all Quint saw was the man behind him, looking his way.
Quintknewhim.
He came over, stopping to look down at his drink, then at him.
“Hello, Quint. I’m Kai.” A hand was offered down. “Told you we’d meet in the future, didn’t I?”
ChapterTwenty-Six
TEN MINUTES BEFORE.
Leo and Kai rushed through Soho, trying to figure out how to navigate the streets.
“The three main ones—Dean, Wardour and Frith run parallel to each other, I think,” said Leo.
“And which one’s the club on?” Kai glanced around.
“Not one of those?” Leo positioned his phone in front of him, taking a gamble on which direction the arrow on his map app was pointing. “I think it’s this way?” He walked a few steps in front of Kai to check if the blue line on the map was moving in the right direction. “Yeah, definitely this way.”
He caught Kai’s roll of eye as he followed. They zigzagged down alleyways and bustling streets that were overrun with Ubers pulling up and rickshaws full of drunks supping prosecco from the bottle, narrowly missing crashing into them. Kai struggled to keep up with him, but Leo was too focussed on getting to Quint to worry about it.
Eventually, Leo stopped outside the glitzy logo of Candy’s club and turned to Kai, preparing himself to accept congratulations for getting them there. But Kai was just a speck in the distance behind him, so Leo tapped his knees, willing Kai to catch up quickly like a lost puppy. Kai really didn’t do huge towns too well. “C’mon, boy. C’mon.”
“Oh well done,” said Kai, sarcasm his artform as he came over.
“You’re very welcome. After you. We’re late.” Leo headed on through the double doors into reception, Kai trudging in afterwards.
“Good evening gents, I’m Shannon.” The woman who came their way was friendly enough, but her gaze shifted from Leo and rested on Kai. “Leo? Quint’s here and waiting for you.”
“Erm, that’s me.” Leo didn’t like correcting her, but he felt uncomfortable for Kai too as Kai jolted slightly.
“Oh, my apologies.” Shannon seemed to shake it off, and Kai offered a soft smile almost as if he knew her. “Aren’t you the guy… the guys from TikTok? The butter guys?”
Leo relaxed at the recognition. “We are, yeah. We’re here to see Quint Steele. I think he said we have to sign in or something?”
“Yes, yes of course. This way.” Shannon turned her attention to the guestbook, then pointed to where she wanted them to sign. Leo took care of it.
