Chapter Five
Dex
"It was nice meeting you, Morgan," Simon mocks in a deep voice that is supposed to sound like me, but it doesn’t.
I groan, “Let it go, man,” as I gather my water bottle and push in my chair at the table. We have just finished the signing; I am starving—and if I’m being honest, a bit distracted.
“Hey, no can do. You called me out in front of two hot girls to make yourself look good. You sounded like a douche by the way,” he says as he follows me off the slightly raised platform.
Rolling my eyes, I don’t stop until I get to where my team is standing around chatting with my best friend, Link. I quickly realize that they are figuring out what they want to do about the late lunch we need and stat. We’ve been busy with our game publisher, Visionwave, all day. Because of Call of Battle’s enormous popularity, our convention schedule is packed all day, leaving little time for lunch or dinner. The morning started with a mini-press-conference for Call of Battle, followed by our attendance at the Call of Battles’ Meet and Greet’ booth. It’s here that some fans get a chance to play a few games against us, just for fun. Then we were hurried over to Hall D for our signing. All we have left on our required activities list is to attend a mandatory Visionwave party tomorrow night, but that involves mingling and drinking, so it’s not a big deal.
Special appearances like Comic-Con are all part of the gig. A team signing session is nothing out of the ordinary. You smile, say, "Hi, thanks for coming," sign whatever is placed in front of you, and you're on to the next one. It's all about meeting the fans, letting them know you're a real person and not some robot created by the game developers to kick their ass in a multiplayer round. But today, out of nowhere I looked up and saw a woman so gorgeous I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I forgot about what’s normal.
She is a little bit on the short side, maybe about 5'3” or 5'4”. She could be athletic, but she has some killer curves. Her hair is a dark brown and sits on her shoulders. What really caught my attention was her face. It was all soft and sweet looking. She just looked like someone I wanted to talk to; someone who would just be a really nice person. It was so strange because I've never looked at someone before and thought "I'd really just like to meet her," in the most genuine way.
But shit, then she looked at me—right at me. And her eyes—they stopped my heart for a beat. They were the prettiest eyes I'd ever seen. At that moment, I thought to myself, if I don't ever see this woman again, I know I’ll never be able to forget those clear, gray-blue eyes. When they stared at me, it was as if I sat there naked. Those eyes saw every last part of me, inside and out. I was immediately thankful that she still had to get Bernie's signature, because at that moment if she were to talk to me, I wouldn’t have been able to speak.
I was at war with myself during the minutes it took for it to be my turn to sign her stuff. On one hand, I wanted my turn with her so I could talk to her. I was eager to speak with her—for her to become real to me, but on the other, I wanted her to stay away. I wasn’t ready to meet the girl of my dreams, the one I'm not looking for—the one I don't have time for in my life right now. In the end though, reality won out. She was standing there in front of me, and I had to, just had to talk to her. And I really wanted to touch her, but she seemed as dazed as I had just felt seconds ago. She didn't even seem to register that I was asking her a question. Finally, like her head caught up with the moment, she shoved her hand out at me and introduced herself, admitting that she had no clue what a positive K/D is.
I didn't hesitate on the opportunity to shake her hand, but at that point, she started drawing the attention of the team and others around us. That’s when Ruby, who I didn't notice at first, brought us both back to reality. All too soon, it was over, and all I was left with was a name and the memory of a face I'll probably never see again.
“Dex, hello….Earth to Dexter.” I snap out of my thoughts of Morgan (damn, even her name was perfect). I clear my throat, “Yeah, sorry Bernie, what did you say?’
“I asked if the food court was fine or if you prefer to leave the convention center to get lunch,” Bernie asks with a fascinated look on her face. She’s the only female on our team.
“Oh, the food court. Definitely,” I reply.
“Yeah, only because you want the chance to see dream girl again,” Simon mocks.
“What?!” both Link and Bernie question at the same time.
I groan and start walking toward the food court. “Nothing. Simon’s being a dick.”
I hear the dick chuckle behind me as Bernie starts asking him questions. But I can tell they are all following. Link catches up to me and asks, “Hey, tell me about this Morgan chick.”
“Noting to tell. She came through the line with a shirt to be signed. She introduced herself, we shook hands, that was it. End of story.”
I try really hard to not look at him but sneak a quick glance and see him grin. Damn it. The guy has known me since we were like five. Of course he knows.
“Alright, I can see you’d rather try to bullshit me, so when you're ready to tell me about her, let me know.” I don’t have to look at him to know it’s taking everything in him to not continue to rag me about it. I just grunt.
But damn it, the next thing I know Bernie is next to me, and I just know she won’t let it go. She is like an annoying little sister when it comes to this stuff. She fits with our team perfectly, but when it comes to dating and girls, she goes all…well, girl on us and wants to know the details.
“Personally, I think it sounds romantic, like the perfect meet-cute in a romance book,” she dreamily informs me. Simon and Link are both laughing now.
“Since when do you read romance books, Bern,” I shoot back at her.
She goes stiff as her eyes shoot daggers at me, “I read. And it’s never been anyone’s business what I read. Anyway, I saw her, and I think she is adorable. And she couldn’t take her eyes off you.”
“She was pretty smoking” I hear Simon say from behind us.
“Damn, and I missed it all,” Link pouts, sounding more pathetic than not. Honestly, why is this such a big deal?
Ok, I’m done with this conversation. With a sigh I say, “Yes, she was hot, and I’ll admit that it took me by surprise when I saw her. But I have no idea who she is, where she is from, and I’ll probably never see her again. With that being said, we see and meet people every day that we’ll never see again in our lives. It is what it is, and I’m done talking about it.” There. That should shut them up.
And it does for like two minutes. Then I hear Bernie quietly say, “Well, you were right; Simon has no idea what a positive K/D is, that’s for sure.”
The three of us crack up while Simon mutters, “That’s bullshit.” Topic closed. Thank God. I’m going to have a hard enough time keeping my mind off those eyes, her beautiful face, and that soft, warm hand in mine. I don’t need these guys bringing her up.
~~~
Thirty minutes later we’ve found a table right outside the convention center with our lunches from various food booths. California is really hot in July, and the convention center is packed and stuffy, so being outside is a welcome reprieve.
I’m thrilled I’m no longer a topic of conversation, but upcoming events and panels are. We’ve been coming to Comic-Con for a couple of years now, and I don’t think any of us have gotten tired of it. There is always so much to do and see.
“Holy shit. I heard there was a dancing Chewbacca roaming around, but it’s not something you can believe until you see it,” Link says in awe.
I look up from my lunch and turn my head in the direction of where Link, Bernie, and Simon are looking. Yup. There he was. Break dancing. In the middle of the sidewalk. Dang, he was good.
“He has got to be hot in that thing. I mean, it’s like 85 degrees out here and he is wearing the full, furry Chewy suit,” Bernie says with concern.
“No doubt. But that’s pretty impressive.” I reply.
“The one thing that gets kind of annoying here at good ol’ Comic-Con is the cosplay. People have way too much time on their hands,” Link comments as he turns back to his massive burrito.
“I find it inspiring,” Bernie defends with a shrug.
“Yeah, but you also dress up like Lara Croft…every year. And you go all out.” She ignores Link’s last comment with an eye roll and goes back to her lunch.
Chuckling to myself, I don’t bother mentioning that Link has no room to talk, since he dressed up like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle from the time he was in second grade to at least seventh grade, and whenever we went to Halloween parties in high school. I’m pretty sure my mom has pictures. Several pictures, actually. I’ll save that little memory for a rainy day.