DING
Lester rolled his eyes and pushed his phone further away across his desk. He turned back to his computer monitor trying to focus on his game. All he wanted to do was play his new game, Helldivers 2, but between his cellphone and Discor,d people kept bothering him.
On-screen, Lester was alone, the last member alive from his team, battling against hordes of alien creatures.
DING
Lester glanced away at the distraction of his phone screen lighting up. When he looked back at his monitor, a giant alien bug was mutilating his character's corpse.
"God FUCKING DAMMIT," Lester said, flinging his mouse across his desk as his phone began to ring. He angrily reached over and saw who it was. Jesse, Dan's old coworker.
"What?" Lester almost shouted into the phone as he answered it.
"I've been trying to get a hold of you," Jesse said breathlessly as Lester retrieved his mouse from the room's corner and started checking his Discord notifications. He ignored the messages from his private server and instead opened up the one he shared with his D&D group. "I was wondering if Sarah mentioned anything about me since that night at the club?"
Lester had to stifle a laugh, "Come again?"
"Has Sarah mentioned me?" Jesse repeated, "I know she felt something on the dance floor. It was like we were moving together, completely in sync. I can't completely explain it, but I felt this magnetic pull between us, and I know she felt it too--until Dan ruined it, of course."
"How many times have you jerked it to that memory, kid?" Lester cycled through messages from his group until he saw the most recent one from Shadowweaver, aka Eugene, the royal pain in his ass.
"Uhhhh," Jesse nervously laughed into the phone, causing Lester to frown.
"What is it you want, Jesse? To answer your question, no, Sarah hasn't mentioned anything about you." Lester said while reading Eugene's message. Ever since Ned had mentioned to the group that Lester had a girlfriend, Eugene had been ragging on him to prove it, adamant that he was lying and making this woman up.
Usually, Lester wouldn't care, but since Lester joined their D&D group, Eugene was the only player who wouldn't capitulate to Lester's demands. Quite the opposite, he was the one who always had to be diametrically opposed to whatever Lester wanted, almost out of spite, it seemed. The older man pissed Lester off to no end, but Lester had to maintain appearances. Very few active groups played in Chicago that would have him, especially with what Lester had done in his last group.
"Can you give her a message for me, Lester? I need her to know how I feel. So she can feel assured about leaving Dan," Jesse pleaded.
Lester wanted to put Jesse out of his misery and block his number. His ramblings were pathetic. Still, Lester didn't want to take a pawn off the board. As the Russians would say, Jesse was a useful idiot.
"Jesse," Lester said calmly. It's not a good time for her to hear that message. Listen, I will contact you when the time is right, okay? Goodbye."
"But, uhh, I did what you wanted. I really should have another--" Lester heard Jesse hurriedly trying to make a last plea to his obsession. Lester hung up and silenced his phone. He focused back on Eugene's text, replying to something Ned had said in the group chat.
Shadowweaver: "Bullshit. That's as fake as Lester's 'hot' girlfriend."
Keeping his life in siloed had always been Lester's modus operandi. When one silo got tainted, he could burn it completely without poisoning the others. But now Lester was thinking about how Sarah could help him shut Eugene down once and for all. It was a risk worth taking - Sometimes, you had to cross the streams. He typed up a response.
Darkspire: I'll host Saturday's D&D game at my place. I'll bring my 'pretend' girlfriend too.
Surgebinder: WOOOOO
Lester rolled his eyes at Ned's dumb response.
What a moron
Shadowweaver: This is your first time hosting in ten years. I guess I finally got under your skin. Since we're playing make-believe, I'll bring Santa on a unicorn.
Lester exited Discord and went back to his game. He didn't like deviating from his plan with Sarah, but sometimes, he needed to put people in their place. Eugene'd had it coming for a long time. He knew deep down that this kind of emotional response could derail long-term plans, but Eugene was a long-term problem that he could solve once and for all.
***
Sarah walked quickly down the hallways to keep pace with John, the Interim CEO from the board. He'd had them in back-to-back meetings with department heads and outside vendors, trying to pivot the direction of the hospital. John was a head taller than she was, and she had to walk briskly to keep up with his casual gait. Her heels clicked on the floor as she walked. Sarah loved this pair of heels; they matched her black slacks well. She looked professional today with a conservative brown sweater and dress shirt underneath. The shirt's cuffs extending beyond the sweater's sleeves were slightly rolled up. The collar of the shirt framed her neck demurely.
They were heading up to a meeting on the third floor with Marcie from HR. As the elevator doors closed behind them, John said "Great work on finding those cost savings in the diagnostics department. They've been dragging their asses for months on doing that."
"Thank you, John. It's just part of the job," Sarah said, smiling back at him.
"No," John said, looking into her eyes, "It really isn't. You go above and beyond your role here. You keep this place running. That's been obvious since the first week I was here. You're a real asset, and we're lucky to have you."
He placed his arm on her bicep and gently squeezed it as he smiled. Sarah didn't know how to answer, and they stared awkwardly before the elevator doors opened. His hand quickly left her bicep and moved to hold the elevator door, letting Sarah exit first.
"How's progress on the CEO hunt?" Sarah said, changing the subject while trying not to sound too eager as they walked to their meeting.
