3
Astrid
—
Dressed in a tank top, short pants, and boots, Astrid decided that was as ‘hot’ as she was willing to get for the party.
Besides, I’m not spending long.
Two hours, max. After she’d met Tank and had a few drinks, she’d make up some excuse to Kanon—who’d probably see through it, anyway—and be back in time to get a bit of work done before the day was over.
The thought made Astrid’s shoulders sag. Was this all her life amounted to these days? Work? When she’d quit her job two years ago, she’d been so excited to start her journey in self-employment. To be her own boss in a career she loved.
But then her credits diminished and she got scared. Last month, she’d ran back to the safety net of being told what to do in exchange for a steady paycheck. She’d submitted her work-in-progress to an established game development company. At the start, Gamazan Games had been enthusiastic about her ideas. Then in the same breath, they’d demanded she scrap them all and change her game to something she no longer recognized before she got a single credit in payment.
Anyway, every career had sacrifices. Sometimes, you had to take a few tiny steps backward in order to make that running leap forward. That’s what Heff Weesos, owner of Gamazan, Inc, and the wealthiest man on Earth had said in one of his motivational talks.
Besides, Gamazan Games was under Gamazan, Inc, which had fingers in as many pies as they could fit their credit-laden hands. Working for such a huge company meant far more opportunities were available to her than before. She’d reach customers in all parts of the world she couldn’t touch on her own in the time she’d been working by herself.
Ready to leave for Kanon’s party, Astrid headed to the door. Then her ARC alerted her she’d received one new message. So she paused to check it.
ONE NEW MESSAGE - CELESTIAL MATES - Was it good for you?
Astrid opened the message to read it fully.
Hello, Astrid. Our records indicate that you had a meeting with your match this afternoon at Gamazan Groceries. How was it? Please fill out the following survey so we can improve our services!
How the hell did a dating agency know her whereabouts? It disturbed Astrid they’d somehow tracked her. Besides, what did they mean that she’d met her match in the store? The only person she’d encountered was that asshole who tried to steal her soup tubes.
She reopened the first notification from Celestial Mates. They’d said they included a picture. After her call with Kanon, she’d completely forgotten to look at it.
Astrid scrolled past the note to the attached image. Her breath came out in a soft exhale of surprise. It was the guy in the white shirt and the beard. Except, in this picture he was clean-shaven. He sat at a table holding a drink, his hazel eyes warm as he smiled at the person who captured his likeness.
Astrid stared at the image for longer than she needed to. Something shifted inside her. She’d written him off as an asshole earlier, but now he was an incredibly handsome guy with whom Celestial Mates claimed she was compatible. If only she hadn’t reacted so childishly, then maybe a second meeting would have been possible.
Another message popped up from Celestial Mates.
Would you like to meet Liam again? it asked.
So freaky! How did they know she was thinking that? It’s like they were some sort of magical, mind-reading beings. Astrid hesitated. Was she being superficial? Liam might be attractive, but he was the sort to steal people’s food right out of their hands. That spoke of a selfish character, right? But what if she was making snap judgements? She couldn’t know his true personality unless she met him again…
Astrid blinked, the smart sensors in the ARC glasses discerning she meant ‘yes’.
A bright white light immediately snapped on, and Astrid gazed up in confusion and surprise. The light wasn’t just above her, it surrounded her, spreading outward and erasing her apartment!
And then she was falling. At least, it felt like she was falling since there was no tell-tale shift in the absolute whiteness around her. A scream ripped out of her throat but she couldn’t hear it. It was as if her voice was muted.
She flailed her arms and legs in a fruitless attempt to grab hold of something. Her hair whipped back behind her head and her ARC glasses flew off her face to parts unknown. The whiteness got brighter to the point where she had to squeeze her eyes shut.
As abruptly as Astrid fell, so it ended. Her body connected with something solid. Astrid cried out at the same time she heard a pained grunt. Both her and whoever she had apparently fallen on tumbled together to the floor.
Breathing hard, Astrid scrambled to sit up, only to realize she was perched on the crotch of the guy Celestial Mates had matched her with. Confused and panicked, Astrid scrambled off of him up on to jittery legs.
“How did I get here?” she asked, her voice high.
He sat up and pushed to his feet. “You tell me.”
Astrid cast her gaze around her. She was in a small room with grey metallic walls, and a bed. A slight chill caressed her exposed arms. Then her gaze returned to Liam. His naked torso, actually. The stark light cast highlights on his golden skin, adding a captivating glisten to his defined muscles. Thank goodness he was wearing pants.
“Where am I?” she demanded, forcing her gaze to his face.
“My RAC.”
“Are we on a High Air Pathway?”
If they were, at least she could get back home. There were stops along the pathway where she could catch a commercial rapid air carrier back to Gamazan City.
“No, open air,” he said and Astrid’s shoulders slumped. He frowned and pointed above him. “You fell out of the ceiling even though all the bolts are intact. How did you do that?”
“I don’t know.” She followed the direction of his finger and shook her head. She recounted the details of the dating service and the messages Celestial Mates had sent her. “When I selected ‘yes’ to a second meeting, this white light came out of nowhere and then I fell here.”
He folded his arms across his broad chest. His features said he disbelieved her and knew for a fact she was a nut job.
“You’re saying you were magically teleported here by a dating agency?”
“You were here when it happened,” said Astrid, irritated. “How else could I have ended up here?”
“With a more logical explanation: you were following me since before we met in the grocery store, you somehow got on before I took off, and have been hiding here ever since.” He smirked. “I mean, you said you told the dating agency you wanted to meet me again. So, you decided to take matters into your own hands.”
“You must be full of yourself to think anyone would go through all that trouble for you,” Astrid said, rolling her eyes. “You know what? I can prove it by showing you the messages.”
She reached up for her ARC glasses, only to find her face bare. She was so used to them on her face all the time she hadn’t realized they were gone. Recollection returned of them flying off her face as she was falling.
Horror gripped her at the thought of losing them forever. All of her life and work was on that thing!
“Don’t move!” she said and dove for the ground. She crawled about on hands and knees in the narrow area around Liam’s legs. She frantically searched for her ARC glasses, her panic mounting when they were nowhere to be seen.
When she stood again, she looked around wildly in the tiny area, hoping they’d magically appear like she did on this carrier.
“Hey, hey,” said Liam, gripping her upper arms. Somehow, his touch brought her down from the mounting hysteria. “They’re not here. But I think you might be telling the truth.”
He released her, and when the warmth from his palms disappeared, her arms felt barer than they did before.
“Why do you suddenly believe me?”
“I remembered that before I left the city, I got a message from Celestial Mates, but I deleted it,” he said. “I’d met with my sister earlier and she said she’d signed me up for a dating service.”
Digging into his pants pocket, he took out an HCD and tapped rapidly on the screen. He read for a bit, a wry smile curving his lips.
“What?”
“I guess you were telling the truth, Astrid,” he said, handing her the HCD.
Congratulations, Liam! began the message on the HCD’s screen. It appears Astrid likes you! She has agreed to a second meeting which shall occur momentarily. There’s more adventure in store for the both of you. Have fun!