The Remingtons_Blush of Love

by Rachelle Ayala

  To: Dex Remington

  From: Fire_Hunter

  Subject: Planet Wargames Rigged

  I’m giving you one day to fire Safire Chu, or I’ll go public that your company rigged the competition for the Planet Wargames World Tour.

  As you know, Safire is a liar and a cheater. She stole her Ph.D. degree, has her friends writing reviews for her video games, and she bullies your paying customers in the Gamer Forums. She also tried to turn other gamers against me for going public and pointing out her lying, cheating ways.

  Fire_Hunter

  Cold chills and shivers bathed Safire as she gaped at the email written by her nemesis. Whoever he or she was, this person hated her. It had all started when Safire had been put in charge of the Planet Wargames development. Dex, Mitch, and the others had been working day and night on World of Thieves II and were too busy to pay attention to the early stages of a new game.

  The so-called Fire_Hunter had quickly established accounts for all of Thrive’s games which allowed him access to the forums and virtual world. To fight back, she had taken on a fake persona, Rose_Colored_Gun, and registered as a customer.

  Rose_Colored_Gun became a vigilante inside the Thrive Virtual Game World, striking at bullies and other perps who poisoned the environment in the various multi-player games. Because Safire had access to the code, she was able to limit the progress of gamers like Fire_Hunter, who were forever stuck in the mediocre levels, unable to find the tricks necessary to advance. Objects and abilities would mysteriously disappear, and even if Fire_Hunter executed the same sequences as other gamers, doors would not open for him.

  Safire had become so embroiled in her vigilante role, she suffered a nervous breakdown when Rose_Colored_Gun disappeared from the game databases around the same time Finn dumped her. She had put so much of herself into her role, spent countless hours fighting back, and in one stroke of a key, someone had hacked into the Thrive network and poof! She was gone.

  Now, Fire_Hunter and his ilk had come back harder and were accusing her of cheating with the Planet Wargames competition. Not that he had a chance of winning, since he was stuck at Stormtrooper level.

  But still, if any of this came out that she was fixing the results for her enemies, she would not only be fired, but her reputation would be ruined irreparably and she would never be able to lift her head again. She prided herself as being an honest person—doing good to police against bullies, but had she gone too far?

  Safire read the email from Dex telling her to look over Jake’s account and validate that he was the rightful winner, so she retraced his steps.

  Jake had actually logged out of the game before finding the globe, but at twenty minutes before midnight, he’d gotten back on and that was when things started happening fast. He’d been healed, powered up, and had gained telepathic vision. As soon as he appeared on the scene, he explored the President’s desk, twirled the globe and pierced his gunblade at the exact longitude and latitude of the secret portal.

  The globe had opened up, and instead of reading the message she’d left for him to vanquish the troll, he’d gone straight for the football which ended the level for the other players. Jake then teleported to the fight with the Illuminati boss. He defeated the boss and grabbed the right to Potentate mode.

  The problem was, Safire had left the troll message and Jake had neither found it, nor activated it. She supposed she should be relieved. It meant that her attack against Fire_Hunter hadn’t happened. It would be one less piece of guilt on her plate if word ever got out that she hampered certain customers.

  Safire wiped the sweat off her forehead and tried to put herself in the shoes of a gamer looking to win. Would anyone ignore the important message? Or did he believe the message was a distraction and with minutes left, he went for the weapon?

  That could explain him ignoring the message and going for the football. That had to have been the explanation. Jake was on time pressure and couldn’t afford a side trip to unleash an attack against a lesser player. The kid knew what was important and kept his focus on the end game.

  Jake had won fair and square, as far as Safire could determine.

  She dashed an email to Dex.

  To: Dex Remington

  From: Safire

  Subject: Jake Thumper_Gun Rodriguez

  I retraced Thumper_Gun’s steps and they look legitimate. While he didn’t activate everything inside the Globe, he did get to the nuclear football and completed the mission first, which made him the winner of the Planet Wargames World Tour. I think we’re good with that.

  As for the email you got from Fire_Hunter, he’s the same guy who’s been bullying me for years. I thought we determined he has zero credibility.

  Safire

  She hit send, but instead of relief, her anxiety climbed to the rafters. Dex had always believed her before and was on her side. But now, because Jake was connected to Gunner who they suspected was connected to her, suddenly, he no longer trusted her.

  What could she do to redeem herself?

  Safire’s finger hovered over the Anonymous Gamers Forum. She wasn’t supposed to visit it. It was a place where customers hung out and spoke, and even though Mitch and Regina monitored it, Safire had promised her therapist to stay away. She’d even installed a trigger alarm should she access the forum where trolls like Fire_Hunter and his ilk trashed her name and reputation.

  She wasn’t supposed to care. She wasn’t supposed to let them affect her. It was one of thousands of online forums where gamers met to share cheats, gossip, and reviews. But she couldn’t let Fire_Hunter’s lies ruin her life. She had to go and see what they were saying about her, and if Fire_Hunter and his buddies knew that she was associated with Gunner, they too, would connect the dots, and her entire life would go up in flames.

  She couldn’t let that happen.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gunner was a block from Safire’s office, so he texted her. Closing in. I’ll call you from the lobby.

  His palms were sweaty and his knee jittered as he re-read her cryptic message. She had probably discovered Clarissa hacking into Jake’s account to give him the winning items. That had to be the explanation.

  Jake had worked so hard to win the competition. It was all he talked and texted about. He’d applied for a passport and was learning about all the places he was going: London, Paris, Beijing, Sydney, San Francisco.

  Now, Jake would be devastated if everything were taken away from him, and Safire would lose her job since she was the one who was in charge of the contest.

  Gunner called Clarissa. Her phone rang three times before she picked up.

  “Thought you fired me,” she said. “What’s wrong? Made a mess and need me to wipe your butt?”

  “Shut it.” He spoke through his teeth. “It’s Jake. They suspect he isn’t the legitimate winner. Safire sent me a message saying she wants to discuss Jake’s account with me. Why would she suspect me? Did you put the blame on me?”

  “Why would I do that?” Clarissa bit her words sharply. “True, I acted under your orders and did what you told me to do, but hey, as you liked to remind me, I worked for you.”

  “Enough with the buck passing,” Gunner said. “What are we going to do about Jake? He’s going to be crushed if they take the tour away from him.”

  “You’re overreacting. They’re not going to take the tour away. Since Safire’s in charge of the game, she can cover Jake’s tracks. You just have to turn on the charm and get her to stop worrying.”

  “Stop worrying?” Gunner shouted. “What if Safire’s job’s in jeopardy. Maybe one of her coworkers caught you hacking into Jake’s account. Maybe they had some spyware on her laptop.”

  “Will you calm down? No one caught me. I didn’t trip any alarms,” Clarissa said. “But even if they did. So what? There are always complaints of hacking in any of these massive multiplayer online games, and who’s to say that the complainers aren’t hackers themselves?”

  “So, you think Jak
e is safe?”

  “According to his mother, the contract’s signed. I don’t think Thrive can back out of it without serious egg on their face,” Clarissa said. “Of course, we didn’t benefit since Dex Remington turned down my cross-promotion proposal. Dick head.”

  “As long as Jake is safe, I don’t really care.”

  “Well, for your sake, you better figure out what Safire’s going to do if she finds out. If she blows the whistle on me and you, all the work we did to clean up your image is going down the drain.”

  “You think she’d come clean to her boss? Tell all?”

  “She might. She’s kind of into honesty.” Clarissa sighed. “Idealistic. But then, she wasn’t the one paying for her tuition bills.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that story a million times.” Gunner tapped his fingers on the armrest. “Fine, I’ll try to get Safire to calm down. Maybe she doesn’t have to blow our covers, just say there was a glitch.”

  “She doesn’t have to say anything. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Where there’s no smoke, no fire. Got it?”

  Smartass.

  “Okay, bye.” Gunner remembered he’d fired Clarissa already, so it didn’t matter what she thought. The problem was Safire and her reputation. Even if Thrive had to go through with having Jake as the Tour Winner, her career would be ruined.

  Only if she admits to wrongdoing.

  He ground his palm over his forehead. What a bonehead he was. He should never have listened to Clarissa’s schemes. But then, he was responsible since he was the boss. He should be the one taking the blame—not her.

  As soon as the limo pulled up to the curb in front of Thrive, Gunner was out. He rushed into the lobby and asked the receptionist to page Safire.

  Just his bad luck. It was the same obnoxious brunette who’d accosted him at the New Year’s Eve party.

  “Oh, it’s you, Gunner Gibson!” The woman, whose name he couldn’t remember, exclaimed. “Did you come to see me? To ask me out to lunch?”

  “Sorry, I wanted to see Safire. Is she around?”

  “Stop acting like you don’t remember me,” the receptionist said. “Stacy Sparks. New York Furies fan since birth.”

  “Thanks for being a fan.” He flashed on his publicity smile. “About Safire Chu? Can you call her down for me?”

  “After you tell me if you’re going to do a football video game. I’m thinking of starting my own video game company, and I’d love to have you as the model for our new game.”

  “Actually, I’m not here on video game business,” Gunner said. “But if you let me go upstairs, I can have a Gibson jersey delivered to you.”

  “Awesome! Add a bouquet of flowers and I’m on it.” Stacy’s complexion went all sorts of pink.

  “Of course. I’ll text my driver right now.”

  Beaming like a supernova, Stacy put a sign on the counter announcing that she was on break. “Great. I do have to escort you wherever you go.”

  While they waited for the elevator, Gunner texted his driver to deliver a bouquet of flowers and a Gibson jersey to Stacy.

  “Done,” he said. “The jersey and flowers are on the way, and I’ll sign it on my way out.”

  “Yippee!” Stacy clapped her hands. “I can’t wait for football season to start. I’ll be wearing it every game.”

  “Thanks for letting me into the building.” Gunner followed Stacy into the elevator.

  As soon as the doors closed, Stacy launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around him. “I can’t thank you enough. Can I have a kiss?”

  “I wouldn’t want to put you in a bad position.” Gunner backed himself to the elevator wall.

  “Trust me, it won’t be a bad position at all.” She pursed her lips and smashed her face against his.

  Ding. The door opened and even though Gunner had turned his face, he was sure her lipstick would be smeared on him.

  A cluster of Safire’s coworkers waiting to enter the elevator stood slack-jawed and wide-eyed. Unfortunately, Regina, Queen of Norse Realms, led the posse, armed with pitchforks and hoes. Not really, but she bore down on him, glaring.

  She poked his chest with a sharpened nail extension. “I know what you did, lowlife.”

  # # #

  Safire was deep in the bowels of the database archives when Mitch poked his head into her office. “Uh, Saf, there’s a commotion down near the elevator.”

  “I’m sorry, can’t—” She waved him off. While she didn’t need to resurrect Rose_Colored_Gun exactly as she was a year ago, it helped to know what guilds she was in, who she messaged and party chatted, and especially the bullies who had stalked her as she attacked and put limits on their characters.

  “It’s Gunner. He and Regina are squared off against each other near the elevators.”

  “Gunner? Here?” Safire quickly exited the screen she was looking at.

  “He says he has something important to tell you, and Regina’s accusing him of hacking and cheating.”

  “Seriously? Why does she hate Gunner so much? What has he done to her?”

  “Beats me, but you better hurry.”

  Safire grabbed her purse and ran toward the elevator lobby. What was she supposed to do? Pretend she didn’t know him or admit that she and Gunner were dating—were boyfriend and girlfriend—in a relationship—it’s complicated.

  Everyone was shouting, with some employees trying to get Gunner’s autograph, others holding onto Regina who looked like she wanted to drive a stake through Gunner’s heart, and of course, Gunner, standing head and shoulder taller than everyone while Stacy the receptionist, held onto his arm and fluttered her eyelids at him.

  As soon as Regina spotted Safire, she broke from the group and strode toward her, pumping both fists. “I caught him kissing Stacy in the elevator.”

  “Now, wait a second.” Gunner brushed Stacy from his arm. “She was escorting me and I didn’t kiss her back.”

  “Oh, so lame.” Regina rolled her eyes and crossed her stick-thin arms. “He claims he has something important to tell you.”

  Gunner’s intense gaze was fixed on Safire as he walked toward her. She couldn’t tell if he was upset or calm, only that he was focused on her.

  He dropped to one knee, and the gathering crowd of coworkers gasped.

  “I have a confession,” he said, taking her hand.

  “Confession?” Safire’s brain couldn’t context-switch from hunting troll accounts to Regina’s accusations, Stacy kissing Gunner, to the gorgeous man on his knee. At least his eyes were finally level with hers.

  “I’ll tell you in my limo. There’s a catered lunch, a movie, and a bottle of bubbly.”

  After witnessing all the hullabaloo, Safire wasn’t sure she was up to dating a big star like Gunner. What had she been thinking? She was only a video game designer, not an actress or singer who was used to the spotlight.

  “But … I have to work,” she stuttered.

  “Step away, nothing to see. Don’t give him an audience,” Regina said to the onlookers. “This guy’s a bloodsucker for drama.”

  Her comments only served to draw more people from their cubicles.

  “Is that Gunner Gibson?”

  “What’s he doing here?”

  “Wow, I want an autograph.”

  “Safire, he’s the perfect catch.”

  “I love Gunner Gibson! Let me get my camera.”

  “Wait, I want a selfie, too.”

  Gunner pasted a smile on his face and waved at his fans. “Autographs after I bring Safire back from lunch.”

  Safire followed him back into the elevator. “I’m only going with you to save face. What’s all this about?”

  Gunner put a finger over Safire’s lips. “First, we eat. Then I’ll explain what happened with Jake’s account.”

  The blood drained from Safire’s head and she reeled as the elevator descended down the shaft.

  “So, there was funny business? And you had something to do with it?”

 
; Again, he put his finger on her lips and looked pointedly at the security camera in the elevator. “Not in here. In my limo.”

  Pins and needles stabbed Safire’s skin and she sucked in a harsh breath. The circuits and connections in her neurons fired into action. Gunner had wanted her to give him secret hacks, or at least joked about it. Maybe he had only asked her out to level up in the video game. But wasn’t he one of the lower levels? Or was he stuck because he was in that group of trolls and bullies she’d hemmed in? Handicapped their accounts?

  “Tell me one thing. What’s your Planet Wargames level?”

  “Fifty-eight, I told you.” Gunner’s eyebrows rose. “I’ve been stuck at Stormtrooper forever.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “So, basically, you and my sister cheated for Jake Rodriguez and I’m taking the fall for it?” Safire’s fingernails dug into Gunner’s rock hard shoulders.

  They were ensconced inside Gunner’s limo which was driving north on the FDR Expressway. Safire didn’t care where they were going. She’d insisted that he talk as soon as they had gotten into the car. No distractions with food, wine, or his kissable lips. None, but the truth. And boy had he socked her one big whale of the truth.

  “That’s not the way it was supposed to be.” Gunner held her in his lap. He’d insisted that she let him hold her while telling the sordid story, as if physical contact could melt her anger.

  No way.

  Safire pushed back. “Let me go. I don’t even know what to think or believe. I have to tell Dex.”

  “But if you do, Jake will be crushed. Can’t you punish me instead? Let me tell Dex and take the blame. I’ll pay damages.”

  She couldn’t believe he was so stupid. “What does it matter that you’re an underhanded pig? Dex and Regina already believe the worst about you. It’s the fact that we breached the system and cheated. That’s what’s wrong.”

  “I admit I’m wrong.”

  “Whoop dee doo. This isn’t kindergarten where all you have to do is say you’re sorry.” She really wanted to headbutt him, but his blue eyes were wide and watery and he blinked as if he were a toddler caught with his fingers in the cookie jar.