“Hello Katie.” Steven Mayer grinned and held up his palms as if he was expecting to ward off an attack. But then he smiled and tilted his head, knit his eyebrows together and widened his arms a little.

Was the asshole hoping for a hug? He’d always been the master of mixed signals.

Katie physically recoiled into her doorway and Steven took that as an invitation inside, pushing past her into the small foyer of her apartment as Rupert hissed again and skittered sideways to watch them from under a chair.

“You look…” he cleared his throat. “You look great.”

“Cut the shit,” Katie snapped. “I look like death warmed over because I’m sick as hell.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear–”

“You’ve got three seconds to explain why you’re here before I yak all over you and then let Rupert cut you to shreds.”

“Rupert?”

“The cat, dumbass. Now spill it.”

Steven’s smile slid right off his face, and any trace of the sweet boy she’d first met in college disappeared completely. In their time together he’d changed, let competition twist his ambitions and turn him into a jealous and petty prick. She watched him through narrowed eyes as Steven waltzed into her small living room and spun, nodding and pursing his lips while he scrutinized her living space.

“Cute,” he said. “Guess selling out to me wasn’t all bad.”

“I didn’t sell out to you,” Katie spat. “You forced me out while I was in the hospital.”

“If that’s your take.” Steven waved a hand. “Fair enough.”

Katie pinched the bridge of her nose as Rupert made low throaty threatening sounds from his safe space beneath her chair. She knew exactly how he felt.

“The point, Steven. Find it. Immediately.”

Reaching behind him Steven pulled a folded tabloid from his back pocket, opened it flat and slapped it down on Katie’s coffee table.

“Saw this and thought of you,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Naturally. Since that is you.”

Katie gaped at the photograph on the front page of the paper, then picked it up, her eyes scanning over the salacious headline.

“What the hell?”

Quickly, she skimmed over the article. It was bad.

“If Aaron can’t get what he craves from Carly,” said one friend close to the supermodel, “he’s definitely the type that will go find it somewhere else. And he’s rich, there’s a lot of women that are willing to debase themselves for a meal ticket like that.”

It was enough, she couldn’t bring herself to finish the article. It was disgusting. The Aaron described in the article bore no resemblance to the tender man she’d been getting to know. The man who’d inspired her mind, set her body on fire and then held her in his arms as she slept.

Katie looked up and saw Steven rock back on his heels, his smile smug and satisfied. He pointed to the tabloid, tracing his finger over the grainy photo.

“How could I forget my Katie constellation?” he said softly, his finger drawing a path between the dark beauty marks that were visible in the photo of Katie’s bare back. “I knew that was you the minute I saw the photo.”

Katie’s stomach roiled and she forced herself to swallow. Forced herself to stand tall and look Steven straight in the eye.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said. “I want you to leave.”

“You’re denying that’s you?” he said, raising an eyebrow. He took the tabloid from her hands, then moved to her small sofa and sat down, crossing an ankle over his knee, making himself comfortable.

“Don’t make me call the police, Steven,” she warned, and Rupert echoed her tone with a gravely yowl. It was nice to have backup. She made a mental note to give him some tuna treats later.

“Katie, Katie, Katie,” he said, clucking his tongue. “I’m impressed. You never had much ambition when we were together. But I can see you’ve learned a thing or two.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“HyperLyfe. I’ve been watching the dailies like everyone else. I always wondered what you were up to after you left Galaxus.”

“Didn’t leave,” she muttered bitterly. “Forced out.”

Steven dismissed her correction with a wave of his hand. “Whatever. Point is, I kind of figured you’d just go to work as a lackey with some other developer. Get married, get fat, pop out some brats. The usual.”

Katie folded her arms over her chest and glared at him. No way was she going to let any of his barbs land. He was an ass, but she knew him. Steven was up to something, and he thought he could rattle her by tearing her down. He’d always underestimated her.

“Anyway,” he said, throwing his arms up on the back of her sofa. “The minute I saw Celestia, I knew it was yours. There’s certain elements in your work that are recognizable. A certain quaintness, a monotony that’s your signature.”

“Twenty million HyperLyfe subscribers don’t find it quaint, or monotonous,” she said, staring him down. “Celestia is the most popular destination in HL.”

“Yeah, that’s what I hear.” Steven bared his teeth in a nasty grin. “Wonder how that happened?”

“Huh?” Katie stared at him.

Steven raised one eyebrow, then the other. His smile grew as he tilted his head and simply stared at her. After a moment, Katie understood his meaning.

“You piece of shit,” she said. “Get out.”

He held up his hands. “I’m just saying Katie, if I put two and two together, other people will as well. Celestia is HyperLyfe’s most popular destination in world,” he waved the tabloid in the air, “and its creator is the CEO’s favorite fuck toy. Not a big leap to make, to imagine that a deal was struck, a little mutual back massaging. Or massaging of other things–”

Her cheeks grew hot. He had her flustered, was trying to get in her head, to trick her into saying something stupid, something incriminating. Her head was pounding, limbs aching, and this jackass was sitting on her sofa like he owned the place trying to make her feel worse than she already did. Trying to suggest that she and Aaron…that Celestia was only popular because Aaron and she were…

Oh, fuck this shit.

“One thing,” she said, her tone deadly. “Has nothing to do with the other.”

“So it is true. You’re fucking Eldridge.”

Goddammit.

Steven’s smile was so cocky, so self-satisfied, and leering that she felt her hands fist at her sides, and a rush of heat rage up inside of her.

“Get the fuck out–” Before she could finish the sentence her lungs rebelled and she was overcome with a fierce fit of coughing.

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stop coughing long enough to inhale air, and dammit now she was doing that choking cough thing that sounded like Rupert trying to expel a hairball.

She could see Steven out of the corner of her eye, shaking his head and knitting his brows together in feigned concern.

No way was she gonna let him see her like this.

Katie stumbled into the bathroom and slammed the door, turned on the water faucet in the sink full force, and hacked up a lung into her toilet.

A few minutes later she came out, half-hoping he’d left on his own. No such luck. The asshole was standing in her kitchen, a glass of water in his hand.

He held it up and gave her a questioning look.

“You’re offering me water?” she said, incredulous. “In my own home?”

“So distrusting.” Steven clucked his tongue. “So bitter.” He set the glass on the counter and narrowed his eyes, sliding his gaze slowly up her body. “It’s not a good look on you Katie.”

“That’s it.” She picked her cell phone up off the counter and dialed.

“Oh come on.” Steven crossed to her, moving like he intended to take her phone away. “I’m just being honest–”

The was a loud pounding on Katie’s front door, and Aiko shouted from the other side.

“Soup delivery! Chicken soup for all that ails ya! Won’t cure the herp, but it goes down smooth. Soup! Hot Soup!”

Katie hung up the phone, ran to the door, and threw it open before Aiko could disturb the whole floor of the building.

“Hey,” said Aiko with a grin. She held up a bag and shoved it at Katie. “Chicken soup.”

“Yeah I gathered.”

“Got some General Tso’s and half a dozen egg rolls in there too. Those are for me, but if you promise to keep your germs to yourself, I might share.” Aiko glanced at Steven, then back at Katie, and made a face.

Katie groaned but before she could explain or god forbid, introduce the asshole, Steven brushed past them and headed out the open door. Katie shoved the bag of food back in Aiko’s arms and chased him halfway to the elevators.

“Steven!” She yelled. “Don’t ever come back here or bother me again. I’m serious.”

“No problem, psycho,” Steven tossed the comment over his shoulder as he kept walking.

“What the fuck? That’s Steven?” Aiko followed Katie into the hall, pulled something out of her pocket, and held it up. “Hey motherfucker!” She yelled, shrugging when Katie threw her a questioning glance. “It’s okay,” Aiko whispered, “I got your back.”

“Not your fight, bitch,” Steven said, turning around.

“Oh honey.” Aiko grinned at him and lifted her hand higher. “You come for my friends, I come for you.” There was an audible click. Katie saw a switchblade open in Aiko’s hand. The silver edge caught a thin beam of the dim hallway light and gleamed as if on cue.

Steven looked taken aback for a second, but then he recovered, flipped them the bird and hurried down the hallway, turning out of sight.

A door opened in front of them, and Katie’s neighbor Mrs. Friedenberg stepped warily into the hall, her Bijon Frise shaking in her arms. She took one look at the weapon in Aiko’s hand and frowned with disapproval.

Aiko closed the blade, stashed it in her pocket and dove into the food bag Katie still carried. She pulled out a paper-wrapped cylinder and shook it gently.

“Egg roll for your silence?” she said, cocking an eyebrow at Mrs. Friedenberg.

The older woman thought for a moment and then nodded.

Aiko tossed the egg roll with a laugh, and Mrs. Friedenberg caught it easily, shuffled back into her apartment, waved, and shut the door.

Aiko grabbed another egg roll out of the bag, tore off the paper, and took a big bite.

“So, what the fuck, Martinez?” she said, as they walked back into Katie’s apartment.

“Steven,” said Katie as she unpacked the bags contents onto her kitchen counter. “Came to gloat about the tabloids.” She turned to Aiko. “Hey, did you know about that?”

“Yep.” Aiko nodded, bits of egg roll falling from her mouth as she talk and chewed at the same time.

“When were you gonna tell me?”

“When I brought you soup,” said Aiko. “Hoped you’d be sleeping all day.”

“Yeah I was. Until jackass woke me.” Katie dug a spoon out of drawer, opened the plastic container of soup and slurped up a spoonful. “I’m trying not to freak out about it Aik, but I need a little pep talk here.”

“I think it’s gonna blow over.” Aiko pulled apart a pair of chopsticks, hopped up on the kitchen counter, and grabbed the box of General Tso’s. “They’re after dirt on Aaron, not you. You weren’t the target. Nobody even knows that’s you in the photo.”

“Except Steven.”

“Yeah, but he can’t prove it,” said Aiko. “And seriously, like I said to the jackass, someone comes for one of my friends, they come for me. Whoever is responsible for that tabloid pic came for two of my friends, so they are in for a world of hurt.”

There was a buzzing sound. Aiko lifted one ass cheek, retrieved her phone from her back pocket, and sighed at the screen.

“Work?” Katie asked, still slurping.

Aiko nodded, shoveled more food in her mouth, then hopped off the counter and leaned down to give Rupert a scratch behind the ears.

“You good?” she asked. “You got your NyQuil and your soup, and if asshole ex comes back–”

“Don’t worry,” said Katie. “I won’t be opening the door again.”

“Call the cops,” said Aiko. “Unless you kill him, in which case call me or Malcolm first, so we can fix it for you.”

“Ha!” Katie laughed and shook her head. “Very funny.”

Aiko stared.

“Aik?” said Katie. “You’re kidding right?”

Aiko still stared.

“Aiko!”

Aiko’s face lit up in a broad grin and she nodded vigorously. “Sure. Yeah. Course I’m kidding.”

The buzzing started again and Aiko cursed.

“Alright I’m outta here. Try not to die, KitKat, and I’ll check on you later.”

Katie closed the door behind Aiko, took her soup to the bedroom, settled in and opened her laptop.

She had a ton of missed messages from Aaron, so she read through them all while she sipped her soup.

Her cheeks flushed, and she giggled to herself as she sipped her soup.

Aaron had been thinking of her fondly.

Very fondly.

The feeling was mutual.

Rupert jumped up on the bed and Katie shifted so he could sit in her lap. She’d napped all afternoon and the fight with Steven had left her full of adrenaline. Sleep wouldn’t be happening for a while so she might as well watch Aaron’s show. It would be nice to hear his voice, even if it was part of a celebrity event that promised to be hours of various actors and musicians and athletes stumbling around HyperLyfe with newbie avatars while Aaron played host. Probably pretty painful to watch, but still.

Aaron.

Grabbing the remote control she turned on the flat screen on her bedroom wall and tuned into the gaming channel. They were broadcasting Aaron’s VR stream and she thrilled when she saw his avatar on screen chatting with a reporter.

Katie set the soup on her nightstand and pulled the laptop closer. Logging into HyperLyfe she had a thought; maybe she’d see if she could find them in world, stop by and say hello?

Unfortunately, as soon as she logged in she saw that would be impossible. The celebrities were almost quarantined, herded off in a section of HyperLyfe that was closed to other users. They were in-world, but there was no way anyone could get to them. Probably the requirements of overzealous security teams that didn’t quite grasp that their clients couldn’t actually be physically hurt in a virtual reality.

It was okay. She could always find work to do.

Katie teleported her avatar to Celestia City and decided to spend a little time working on a new high-rise she’d been building for the residents. Twenty minutes into the project she realized the penthouse on the top floor looked a lot like Aaron’s.

She could almost hear him in her head, looking over her shoulder at the build and whispering in her ear. “Good old subconscious, filling in the blanks.”

Inspiration hit, and the idea was irresistible. She chewed her lip for a minute, debating.

On the television, Aaron’s avatar was talking to more reporters.

“He looks tired,” Katie said to Rupert. “I don’t know how an avatar can look tired, but he does.”

Rupert meowed and Katie nodded.

“Yeah he’s been really busy. With HL, with me. Not getting much sleep, and no alone time.” Rupert nudged his head under her hand and Katie massaged him absentmindedly.

“And spending a month in VR…” The hamster wheels started turning. “That’s gotta be draining.”

Aaron’s office in HyperLyfe was empty and boring. Blank. And, as she’d seen last night, so was his real life home. So she was thinking…what if she built him a home in HyperLyfe; a place to hang out and relax during his month of exile in the virtual world. A place that wasn’t his over-the-top castle, or a nightclub, or even her place. A place of his own that felt comfortable and relaxing, and real.

Weird? Or the best idea ever?

She picked up the soup, took a big chug, and decided.

What the hell.

A quick Google search provided the real estate broker’s promotional listing of Aaron’s property from before he purchased it. Using the photos and blueprint as a guide, she worked in her 3D modeling programs, and in a few hours she’d built a realistic replica of Aaron’s penthouse.

White walls. Empty rooms. Yep, just like Aaron’s place.

Still boring. Not homey at all.

Rupert purred in her lap and pawed the screen as if expressing his disapproval at the lack of decor.

“Good idea,” she said, giving him a scratch under the chin. “Let’s decorate it for him.”