I Heart Geeks (19 page)

“Oh, I am so sorry about that. Someone bumped into me as I was walking over. Actually, I came over to introduce myself.” He held out a hand. “My name is Bruno Montenegro.”

My mouth fell open. I was standing face to face with one of the creative directors for Fantasy World Online. My hero, the one that had my ultimate dream job, was talking to me and shaking my hand.

After a brief moment of absolute shock, I found my voice again. “It’s great to meet you. I’m Dean Flynn.”

“Yes, I know.”

I blinked at him a few times and realized I was still shaking his hand. “You do?” Letting go, I wiped my hands on my jeans. They were still sticky from the beer.
Great
.

“I do. Here, let’s get you another beer, Dean, then I’ll explain.”

Bruno pushed past me and ordered a nicer beer than the one he’d spilled, and from the same local brewery, too. After a word with Kyle, we moved away from the bar and found a quieter corner to stand in.

He handed me my beer once we got away from the crowd. “So, as I was saying, I wanted to introduce myself because an old friend of mine sent me your work and picture for the creative storytelling contest.”

Beer got stuck in my throat, and I nearly spit all over him. I’d forgotten about the contest. Coughing beer up into my nose and still trying to look sophisticated, I glanced back to the bar. Rose was back and—thank God—was busy talking with Kyle about something that required him to mime…t-rex arms? At least, that was what it looked like.

“You alright, Dean?”

“I’m fine, just went down the wrong tube.” I managed to cough.

“Well, I’ll continue if that’s okay.”

I nodded.

“Your professor, Dr. Samford, is an old college buddy of mine. We actually still raid together every once in a while. The old bastard is one of the best PvP players I’ve ever known. Anyway, he sent me your short story for the contest. Normally, I don’t like to put names and faces with entries, but I was truly impressed with your work. I recognized you from a picture I asked him to send, so I thought we could have a chat.”

This time I was sure I gaped at him like an idiot. I shifted from foot to foot, looking everywhere but back at the bar. In one swig, I drained half of my beer. If I hadn’t had it in my hand, I’m ninety percent sure I would’ve stolen a shot from the nearest table. He’d not only read my work, but liked it so much that he wanted to meet me. This was half of the reason why I came to conventions. Meeting a contact like this was the dream.

Rose’s laugh filtered out of the cacophony of the crowded bar causing a twinge of guilt to interrupt my excitement.

“Thank you, sir. You have no idea what it means—”

Bruno waved a hand and took another drink of his beer. “Please, none of that
sir
crap. And I have a pretty good idea of what it means to you. My career started in a bar at a GameCon just like this. So here’s the deal, I wanted to get an idea of what kind of guy you are, Dean. From what I can tell, you’re a smart, sociable, and levelheaded kind of man. These are all welcome qualities among the members of my team.”

“Your team, s…I mean, Bruno?” The room felt too small all of a sudden, people swam in and out of focus in the crowd. As casually as I could manage, I leaned one arm up against the wall.

“You finish school soon, yes?”

“Yeah, in one more semester.” Grime rubbed off the wall onto my hand. I tried to ignore it, afraid that if a let go I might fall over.

“Well, think of this conversation as an initial interview and a tentative job offer. Dr. Samford told me that an internship is required to obtain your degree. I took a look at your portfolio, and I want you to come intern with us next semester. Finish up school with some actual work experience, and after that, we can talk job offers. Here’s my card. Think about it, then call me after GameCon and we can talk.”

When I took the card, he held out his hand and, switching the beer to my grime covered hand, I gave it a firm shake. “Thank you so much. I will definitely be in touch.”

When he walked away, I downed the rest of my beer and stared at the golden ticket in my hand. I was holding the key to an internship and eventual job. Not just any job, though, the one I thought I’d have to spend a lifetime working toward. Funny how one little story could change someone’s life so quickly.

Oh gods, the contest
. I could hear the time bomb ticking. Less than twelve hours to go now, and I hadn’t even attempted to tell Rose, or anyone else for that matter, about it. Now it felt like I had a fracking neon sign proclaiming it to the world sitting in my hand. Before either of us got too drunk, I needed to explain to Rose that I had not only written about her, but that I had also submitted it to a public contest without telling her first. But it would all be okay when I told her I’d gotten a job offer-ish thing from it, right? Yep, that would make it all better.
Oh, gods
.

“Hey, D. We’re heading to the first party. You coming?” Kyle yelled over the crowd. He was literally standing on the bar yelling at me. How much had they had while I was gone? There was no way that conversation with Bruno had taken that long. I set my beer bottle on the closest empty table, then hid the card in my wallet as I walked over to help Kyle off the bar.

The first party was definitely a no go. As we walked up to the ballroom, I could see people decked out in medieval garb. Full on ball gowns, doublets, and matching head adornments. There was no way we would get in dressed in street clothes. I put a hand out to stop Rose walking next to me, and the others stopped behind us. “Y’all, I don’t think we’ll be able to get into this one. It looks like a costume ball and with us not being in costume and everything…”

Right on cue, two guys dressed as guardsmen with long spears stepped forward, their spears clanking together as they crossed. “By order of the king, only the most noble and chivalrous in the kingdom may enter. Away with you, peasants.”

“Come on. It’s my first time. I just wanna see inside real quick. Your king didn’t decree anything about that, did he?” Rose leaned into the guard on the right and put on what I thought was supposed to be an innocent face.

“Sorry, darlin’, no can do. It would mess with the mood in there, you know?” the guard said, dropping character.

Rose pouted at him a little longer to no avail. When she walked back over to the group, she raised an eyebrow at me looking down my arm. My fists were clenched.
Oops
. I could feel blood rush to my face as I shook out my hands. Getting possessively jealous in the first hours of knowing someone was
completely
sexy.
Two thumbs up, Dean
. Gods, I was an idiot. To my surprise, she smiled at me and stilled my fidgeting with a gentle hand.

“So, where to now? The next party I have my eye on isn’t until one or so,” she said, facing Kyle and Janis.

After a few shrugs, everyone looked at me. It made sense; I’d been through this whole gig before, so I did have basic knowledge. I was starting to regret presenting myself as the GameCon veteran. My entertainment choices were a bit, well, boring. At this point on Friday nights I’d be one of two places: the tabletop floor or drunken trivia. Watching Kyle sway where he stood, holding onto Janis at varying intervals, it seemed that drunken anything might not be a bad idea.

“Well, usually there’s drunken trivia up a couple floors.”

“What kind?” Janis asked, seeming interested in the conversation for the first time in a while.

“I always end up at Whedonverse trivia, but there’s all kinds: Trekkie, Lovecraftian, Tolkien, and of course, gaming trivia.” I listed them off on my fingers as I spoke, dredging up the options from my memory.

Everyone weighed in, invested in the course of the night. I hadn’t realized how not into the parties everyone else had been. Even Rose didn’t seem upset about missing them. Did they think that I wanted to go to them? Funny, I never liked the parties.

“Whedonverse!” Rose said, bouncing up and down on her toes.

“Gaming, for sure,” Kyle said. Though “for sure” sounded more like “frshr.”

We all looked over to Janis. Her eyebrows were furrowed together as if in deep concentration. “I’d like to say Lovecraftian, but I don’t think anyone but me has read it. So, I guess I’ll just have to go with whatever everyone else wants to do.” That last comment earned her a groan from both Rose and Kyle.

“Not read Lovecraft? Hey now, that’s just insulting. Book nerd over here,” I said as I pointed my thumb at my chest. It was a little hard to believe that there were still fantasy lovers who hadn’t read him. A travesty, really.

“All hail the mighty Cthulhu.” Janis raised her hands over her head and bent over in a deep bow.

I opened my mouth for a clever response, but laughed at the bewildered looks on the other’s faces. “Well, now I know why you think no one else’s read it. You heathens.” I pointed an accusing finger in mock disgust at the rest of the circle.

“I’ve seen too much of the unknowable to mess with the Great Old Ones,” Rose said in an ominous tone before breaking into a giggle. “I read all of the Necronomicon when I was in high school.”

When I looked down at her, she winked. This girl would be the death of me, I could tell. A gamer, Whedonite and now a Lovecraftian? She was more and more interesting by the minute. If I screwed this up, I would never forgive myself. I had tell her about the short story. I wrapped my hand around hers.

“I think our only course of action is to head upstairs and see which one tickles our fancy.” Kyle used Janis’s shoulder to turn around as he waved us toward the elevator like someone leading a charge.

Once we got upstairs, Rose walked slowly down the hall away from the ballrooms. By the first turn, we were at least ten paces back from the rest of the group.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“What? No, not at all. I just wanted a little time with you to myself. I mean, it’s a little unfair that Kyle has gotten to talk to you more than me.”

Smiling, I slowed our pace even further. If she wanted to spend some quality one-on-one time with me, I’d make it last as long as possible. “All right, you’ve got me alone. Any burning questions?”

“Let me think.” She tapped her lips and looked up at the ceiling. “I already know your major and your favorite
Firefly
character. I even know your beer preferences, thanks to Kyle. What other questions could possibly exist? Oh, I know! Favorite sports team?”

I laughed. “Whoa now, hold back with those penetrating questions. I might get scared off.”

She punched me in the arm. “Alright, you asked for it, interrogation-style, penetrating questions coming up. Now, answer the first question.”

“Okay, okay. I’m assuming we’re talking football?” I asked.

“Is there any other sport?”

“Well, I’m still a sucker for the Dawgs. Not that my school doesn’t have a team, it’s just, how can someone take themselves seriously and say ‘Fear the Tree’?”

“Really? That’s a thing?” she asked as she stopped us in the middle of the hallway.

I nodded and, after a moment of shaking her head, she started us walking again. As we moseyed, she wrapped my arm into a side hug and rested her cheek against the crook of my elbow. The feel of her body against mine was distracting. All I wanted to do was wrap her up in my arms and kiss her…and push her back up against a wall and touch her as much as she’d let me.
Focus, Dean
. She looked up at me with her eyebrows rumpled together.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I said, how about where you want to work when you graduate, Mr. Writer-man?”

My foot caught on the carpet, and I nearly fell flat on my face. If it hadn’t been for her holding onto my hand, I definitely would’ve.
Watch where you’re going, Dean.
Now that I thought about it, I don’t think I’d looked at anything but her for the last five minutes.
Smooth
. She grabbed my hand with both of hers and helped me right myself. Rubbing the back of my neck, I shrugged and put on my best “I’m adorably clumsy” face.

“You okay?” she asked when our eyes met.

“Forgot how to walk for a sec, but I’m pretty sure I remember now, you’re safe.”

That at least that earned me a quiet chuckle. She shook her head, causing her dark red hair to swing across her face. “That was fast. It usually takes me at least two or three reboots before I can remember.” She smiled as she rubbed a hand up and down my back. “We’re both human, Dean, I promise. Hell, I have scars from the numerous times I’ve busted my ass. Relax. This GameCon thing is supposed to be fun. At least, that’s what I heard from a relatively reliable source.”

A huge grin spread across my face, and I hugged her close to my side. It was all so easy with her. She made me forget everything I was stressed about in a span of seconds. Somehow, she made me forget I was supposed to be nervous around her in the first place.

But as much as I wanted to pretend there wasn’t anything to worry about, there was. And now was as good a time as any to bring up the bad news I’d been harboring. After all, she had just asked a question directly related to it, so it wouldn’t come out of left field.

“Rose, there’s something I need to tell you—”

“Guys, come on.” Janis appeared from around the corner in front of us pulling Kyle behind her.

“Yeah, make-out on your own time,” Kyle yelled, stumbling into Janis.

Rose shook her head and smiled at me as she pulled me down the hall. “Enough with the interrogation, for now. Come on, big guy, let’s go get something to loosen you up.”

We stopped at the first bar we came across. If a dude that served alcohol in plastic cups from behind a foldout table could be considered a bar. Rose ordered both of us whiskeys, doubles. Kyle had shared my liquor preference as well. Our drinks came up so quickly that we didn’t even get the chance to exchange some small talk, let alone start a real conversation.

As we walked down the hall toward the trivia rooms, I took a swig of my drink. It went down far smoother than I expected. Bourbon. Really nice bourbon. She knew her liquors. I watched her sip her drink beside me and smiled. We’d already spent more than a year getting to know each other, but somehow just being here with her made me realize, if I spent a hundred years with this woman, she would never stop surprising me.