51 A Meeting
One day later.
Al woke up to find his little buddy on his chest, snoring quietly, drawing in deep, deep breaths that each lasted a minute, clearly showing the signs of having gone into hibernation once more.
With a sigh and a pang of sadness, he picked up the little guy and carefully placed him on the blanket he had given him on that first day. Unconsciously, the Husky snuggled into the soft fabric, finding a comfortable position before settling in for a long slumber during which he would definitely be missed.
After watching Beri for a few minutes then sighing again, Al got up and brushed his teeth, massaging his rumbling stomach while enjoying the luxurious feeling of being able to use as much toothpaste as he wanted. A broad smile came on his face when he opened the cupboards that had been empty until recently to find cartons and cartons of cornflakes, chocos and even fruit loops, a guilty pleasure he had always enjoyed when he was a kid.
He chose them, of course. Pouring as many as he wanted, for once, without having to worry about the future, he got the milk out of the fridge and sat at the table before eating a happy spoonful and laughing to himself, still in slight shock due to how much his life changed.
He gobbled the rest up quickly as he had to go about his duties. An hour later, he was done changing his mother's clothes and everything else that was needed, and with a satisfied sigh, he settled on to the sofa and decided to think about what he was going to do next.
He needed to begin another odyssey, of course, but he found that he wasn't as carefree about this as before. When he had been a nobody, the confidence that he would be able to deal with whatever came at him without even breaking a sweat had been strong, but now that he knew he was going to be targeted wherever he went, he found himself being cautious.
He was not scared, no… fear was the farthest thing from it. He was even excited, but he just wanted to be sure that when he began the odyssey, he would do so with the greatest chance of victory.
For this, he needed more plans. Those plans had been the entire reason behind him winning the previous odyssey, and because he had already used up a few that others would know to look out for, he needed to draw up more that he would memorize and break out whenever needed. Others might have balked or complained about the fact that they would have to sit down and just think…but it was one of his favorite activities, so with the smile still on his face, he headed to his room.
On the way, he picked up the cell phone that he had left charging for the entire night for the first time in recent memory. He no longer needed to worry about electricity, and besides, the day before, Helena had said that if there was anything, she would contact him on the cell.
After showing him the ranking, she had looked like she had wanted to stay but she had soon been called away by her assistant who came to the door. Before leaving, she had winked and said that she had a lot planned with him in mind, and leaving him in anticipation that surged once more when he remembered that moment, she had disappeared, the last thing he saw of her being those tight pants, which had even come in his dreams the night before.
Blushing and shaking his head at the thought, he sat down at his table and immediately entered a state of focus and determination that he was always able to achieve when he knew what he had to do. Taking out the book from the secret compartment, he picked up a pen to begin…but he paused when he noticed that there were a few unread messages on the phone that he hadn't seen before. Curious, he opened the messages tab… and jumped so badly when he saw the name of the sender that the phone dropped to the floor.
His heart pounding, he quickly got up and picked it up, feeling relieved that it was from an era where there had even been memes about this model being stronger than the strongest thing on the earth.
With his breathing coming out in gasps, he read the message once again, then did so four more times to assure himself that his eyes weren't playing tricks.
"Hey, ranker! It's Jessica…remember me? It wasn't easy finding this number. Anyway…wanna meet up? If you're interested, reply with a time and a place, and I'll be there! If I were the one making the choice, I would pick the 'Hoylova Cafeteria' at 4:30, today. But it's up to you!"
At 4:30 pm, he was sitting at a corner table in the Hoylova Cafeteria, nervously sipping from a cup while he waited for his guest to arrive.
He didn't even remember how the entire day had passed. All he recalled was that he had been in a heightened state of excitement, and he had fussed with his appearance for the first time in quite a long time.
After deciding that he really had to go out shopping, he had picked a grey, casual shirt and jeans that weren't too faded. He messed with his hair even now, trying to make it flow to the side naturally, but as always, some parts of it stuck up in all directions, frustrating him to no end.
A few doubts had come into his mind before, but they had always been swept away whenever he remembered the way she had looked when he had first seen her, and all those moments when she had been so close to him.
When she walked through the door, his eyes almost popped out of his head. Somehow, she was much more beautiful here than in the odyssey. There, her skin had been pale but now, it was vibrant. Her long, blond hair cascaded down to her back, and her lips were even thicker than he remembered. She was wearing a green shirt that was just a bit short of reaching the top of her tight, black pants, exposing a slim waist that was not as perfectly curved as Helena's had been, but still incredibly attractive, in its own way.
With this thought, he suddenly found himself comparing her to what he had seen the day before. When he caught himself engaged in this, he cursed and said in his mind, 'Don't be delusional! Even though I've accomplished some stuff, I'm still a nobody to her! Well, that's true for now, at least…so I shouldn't even assume that she might be interested in me! It would just be dumb! So I should stop thinking of her… but why can't I?'
He tried to get her image out of his mind, but it remained along with a faint wisp of a thought that made him wonder whether what he was doing was right. It disappeared, though, thrown out of the window…when Jessica looked at him, smiled, came over with quick steps, and bent to kiss him on his cheek.
Completely dazed both due to the moist feeling of those luscious lips on his skin and the way her shirt had dropped when she bent to show most of what was inside for a moment, he froze and felt his fingers go to that spot as if to see whether what he had just experienced had really happened. She laughed, amused, when she saw this, and even bent down to kiss him on the other cheek to give the answer to that question.
She took a seat while he was still staring like a fool. He broke out of it in an instant, though, when a man also appeared at the table in a few seconds and remained standing.
Puzzled, he looked in his direction to see that he was someone Al had never seen before. His clothes were designer pieces, which was obvious due to the flowing patterns on them, and after folding his hands behind his back, he said, "Jessica is an old friend. Let me introduce myself. I am Jacques Leman, an aspiring Hero. Say…would you be interested in taking part in an odyssey against me, in a few days? I have a few appointments that I cannot cancel, and if not for them, I would have insisted on doing it today! What do you say?"
Warning bells went off in Al's head. Frowning, he was about to say that he had to at least think about it, but before he could do so, Jessica's hand caught his and squeezed…while the tip of her toe brushed against his groin under the table so fleetingly that he was almost convinced he had imagined it.
It still had an incredible effect, making his mind go blank while heat rushed to his face, and other parts of his body. Bending close, she whispered in his ear, "Can you do this for me, please? You threw me and my brother off that roof after all, remember? I promise that I'll make it up to you, so…pretty please?"
She kissed the spot near his earlobe, then, and he suddenly found himself wanting to agree. He even started to find reasons for it, where before he had been alarmed due to the suddenness, and the situation in which the request had come. It was his own odyssey, after all, and he needed to take part in some anyway, so why not do it with this man?
He nodded, and the man smiled.
"It's settled, then! I've heard that you're a man of your word, so I trust that you will keep it. I'll see you soon."
With that, he left, leaving Al with a faintly uncomfortable feeling, as if something had happened that he didn't like.
It disappeared when he turned to Jessica, and found her looking at him with those eyes that he knew he could sink into, and forget himself so utterly that the world, itself, would fade into the background.
