Chapter 5
5
Sitting in his agent’s office was an exercise in tedium. Terry Anders was one of the best in the business, but being the best also meant the most thorough. Nando spent the morning signing paper after paper, initialing here and there. Five years for a ridiculous amount of money. He would pay off his parent’s place in Arizona first. Maybe buy a place nearby for his off-season home. His second year, he’d find a house out here in San Diego. He had a nice apartment, but since the team wanted him for five more years, he’d consider putting down roots. Besides, once he had a home, he’d start looking for Miss Right.
“So, Nando, I think that’s gonna do it for now.” Terry started feeding the papers through the scanner. “Once they’re finalized by the team, I’ll email them to you.” He smiled and reached clapped Nando on the shoulder. “You did it, man. I knew you would.”
“Thanks, bro.” He shook Terry’s hand. “You made this happen.”
Terry shook his head. “We made this happen. You showed them what we both knew you could do. I made sure they paid you what we both know you’re worth. You earned all of it.” He leaned up against the large desk in his office. “When are you heading back to Arizona?”
“After the Red and Black ball.”
Terry nodded.“Taking a date?”
“Nah. Too many pretty ladies to choose from.” Nando sat back in his chair.
“Yeah, but now you have money, bro. You need to find a nice lady to spend it on.”
“Dude, you sound like my mom.”
Terry laughed. “Just saying.” After a moment, “There’s gotta be a nice girl you want to impress.”
Nando shook his head. “If you find one, send her my way.”
“How about I tell them you’re bringing a plus one, just in case.”
Nando shrugged, “Sure.” They shook hands one more time and Nando headed down to his car. His text alert brought him out of his musings. He looked down and saw the name ‘Lila the Vampire’ on screen.
Lila: Wasn’t sure if you got my last text. If you still feel up to the challenge, Kaori is waiting to put the beat down on Brodie and I’m free all week after 6 and all-day Saturday
Nando smiled widely then in recognition. The sweet little thing from the blood drive. He texted back:
Nando: How about tonight? I can bring pizza.
Lila:Pizza?Today?
Nando: You have something against pizza?
Lila: No, it’s Tuesday. If you bring the beer, I’ll make tacos!
Nando: What kind of beer do you like? Light?
Lila: Dude. If it was anything but tacos, you’d be bringing over Guinness.
Nando: But since we’re having tacos, what would you like?
Lila: Pacifico. And something for dessert.
Nando:I think I can manage that.6 tonight?
Lila: Sounds great. See you then!
The phone went off again with an address and gate code. Setting his phone in the holder, he headed off to go shopping.
Bows and flowers decorated the wreath that hung from the door of a newer two-story townhome. There were little figurines nestled in the wreath, on closer inspection, he realized they’re video game characters. Mario, Luigi, Kirby, Link, Qbert, and several others he recognized. Checking the six pack at his side and settling the pastry box under his arm, he knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door opened to a smiling Lila.
“Hey, Nando!” she greeted him. “Come on in.” She reached out and took the beer from him, then led the way inside. Familiar aromas filled the air and his mouth started watering. There were also scents he couldn’t place but made him curious to try. “Shoes off, if you don’t mind,” she called.
He kicked his shoes off near the door then followed her into the dining area just off the kitchen. A four-seater dining table sat near the kitchen island, where several plates and bowls were set. Lila put the beer on the island near the food and went back to the stove, retrieving a large pan that she emptied into an empty bowl nearby.
Holding out the small yellow handle bag. “Dessert. It should probably go into the fridge. Hope you like crème puffs.”
“I love them,” she answered, wiping her hands on a paper towel. “Dinner is ready. We can plate up here and go into the living room to eat.” Handing him a plate, “There’s asada, chicken, and bulgogi.”
“Bulgogi?” Nando studied the bowl, then took a fork and sampled it. “It’s sweet…”
“Pears,” she answered. “You’re not allergic or anything?”
“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “But I thought you said we’re having tacos.”
“You’ve never had a bulgogi taco before?”
“Girl, please,” he protested. He took three tortillas from the warmer and helped himself to the asada for one, the chicken for the other, then stared at the bulgogi before loading up on more asada. “I’ll try that next round.”
“Suit yourself,” she shrugged. Putting two tortillas on her plate, she dished some bulgogi onto each of them, then topped with some marinated vegetables. Then she took one more tortilla and heaped it with asada, veggies, and a bit of cheese and sour cream. Grabbing a beer, she led him to the overstuffed couch in the living room.
A well-loved PS2 sat on the wood and glass coffee table, two controllers and the SSX Tricky game case sitting on top. The long cable ran from the console to the TV set mounted on the wall. Under the TV was a large cabinet that housed several other generations of game consoles, including a bright orange GameCube and even a Dreamcast. On one side of the cabinet were several shelves of video games for each of the consoles, many with Japanese characters instead of English. There were also several peripherals: the Hofner bass, mini taiko drums, even a set of maracas. The other side held DVDs and a few VHS tapes with handwritten labels. Another shelf held paperback and hardback books, oversized photo albums and a few video game character statues.
She started eating as she watched him take in her décor. “Not what you were expecting?”
“Not really,” he replied, setting his beer on the table before lowering himself to the couch. “You didn’t strike me as a gamer girl when I saw you.”
“Really, dude?” She laughed. “I had Kirby scrubs on, and my ID was on a Mario Lanyard.”
“I was kinda distracted when we met…”
“Ok, I’ll give you that one.”
He took a bite of his taco and made a sound of approval. “At least you know good asada.”
She smiled as she finished her bite. “There’s a little carniceria around the corner from here, they make some of the best asada.”
“But no bulgogi,” he finished. “There’s a reason for that.”
She just snorted, picked up her bulgogi taco and held it out to him. “Just take a bite. You’ll see.” He gave her a disapproving look, then took a bite.
And was pleasantly surprised.
“That’s not bad.”
She grinned and handed him the rest of the taco. “Told you.” She picked up her other taco and took a bite. “There’s more on the table if you want another one.”
“I’ll finish these off first.” Taking a swig of his beer, he asked, “So tell me about you.”
“What do you wanna know?”
He leaned back onto the couch. “Did you always want to be a… blood… whatever?”
“A vampire?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that.”
She shook her head. “Nah, I didn’t plan on being one. Phlebotomist, if you wanna be technical. But it pays the bills, and it’s can be fun.”
“What did you want to do if you didn’t want to be a vampire?”
“I wanted to be a dancer when I was younger. I took lessons and even joined the local dance crew. We were gonna try out for AGT and everything.”
“What happened?” he asked.
“Obviously you’ve never been around a Filipino family.” She took a pull of her beer. “I’m allowed to dance as a hobby, but the only acceptable professions for a Filipino child are healthcare, engineering, or education. I can barely program my phone, and I hated math, so medicine it was. And this was better than most of the other tech positions in medicine.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. I have a cousin that’s an amazing performer; she sings, plays and writes music, dances and acts. But because of her family, she went to med school.”
“Is she happy?”
Lila shrugged. “I hope she is.” Setting her bottle on the table, she picked her plate up and went back to the table to put together a few more tacos. “I think she made the best of things, you know? I mean she’s a good doctor and loves her work and all, but I wonder what would have happened if she actually did what she wanted to do and not what her parents wanted her to.”
“What about yourself? Do you ever regret not trying to go pro as a dancer?”
She paused, giving him a thoughtful look. “I used to. But what can I do? I can either be pissed off at the world, or just roll with it.”
“So, you’re just rolling with it?”
“Yeah.” Settling back onto the couch, she gave him a crooked grin. “Wouldn’t help if I did otherwise.” She chuckled softly, “I mean I can’t really complain. I have a roof over my head, a good job that I like, I don’t have to worry about food or anything like that, and I get to meet cute guys who will buy me dinner after I beat them at Tricky.”
Nando returned her smile with one of his own. “Cocky for a girl that’s gonna end up buying me dinner.”
“Whenever you’re ready, poser.”
They finished their first plate of tacos, then while Lila powered up the console, Nando made a second plate of tacos and grabbed another beer. He took his seat while she loaded up the save file. “All the players and courses are unlocked if you want to practice.”
“In a minute,” he answered. “Go ahead, I’ll get next.”
Lila brought up the character select screen. With Kaori customized to her liking, she picked a random course and started to play. Nando felt transported back to middle school where he’d play with his friends on days he didn’t have baseball practice. The music was on surround sound and playing on the huge screen was like a dream. The character did jumps, spins, stunts, all to an adrenaline pumping soundtrack.
Now he wanted to play this in the clubhouse before games.
She finished her run with a ridiculously high score and set her controller on the table. He brushed his hands on his jeans and took the second controller. Brodi had been his favorite in the past, so he selected the toon and away he went. It had been a while since he’s played, and it took a bit for him to remember the controls. The first run was terrible, and he couldn’t help but wince as Lila giggled next to him. “Just a little rusty,” he said as he restarted the course. The second time through was better. Lila shifted in her chair as she watched him take the course.
“Ready?” she asked.
He finished the course in first place and grinned. “Let’s go.
Lila picked up her controller with a grin. “Bring it, poser.”
The countdown tones sounded, and the race was on. Nando jumped to a quick lead but didn’t count on Lila being as skilled as she was. She hit one of the high-scoring shortcuts, caught big air and when she landed, she was ahead of him in points and position.
“Cheater!” he yelled, leaning forward in his seat. “We never said we could use shortcuts!”
“Never said we couldn’t either,” she replied, her toon catching more air. “Hey, hey, pay attention to your boy,” she growled as Nando’s toon ran into hers, sending them both to the snow. Lila recovered faster and quickly retook the lead. The end of the course was in sight, and Nando felt the rush he usually felt during his ball games. He felt nervous and excited at the same time.
There was no way he’d beat her on this run. But he wasn’t disappointed if he was honest. It had been a while since he’d had this much fun and felt this at ease with a woman. And he liked it.
The crowd noise from the finish line roared out of her entertainment center speakers. Lila shouted, “YEAH!” and slapped her leg, grinning widely. Nando started laughing, her joy contagious.
“Hey, best two out of three,” he teased.
“Nah, poser. I’ll race you again, but you still owe me dinner.”
Nando nodded. “Ok,” he agreed. “But I demand a rematch.”
Lila set her controller on the couch with a smirk. Then she took the plates into the kitchen and brought back dessert. “First cream puffs, then rematch.”
Nando put down his controller. “You’re really good. I thought you said your games were mostly RPGs.”
“They are,” she replied. “But back in school, I wrote game reviews, so I played all kinds of games. This was one of the few non-RPGs I really liked.”
“What other games made the cut?”
“Ridge Racer, Gran Turismo, Celebrity Deathmatch, Street Fighter…”
“Now we’re talking. I love fighting games. Do you have Darkstalkers?”
“Dude,” she drawled, standing and walking over to the shelf. “Disk or download?”
He set his cream puff aside and wiped his hands on his jeans before picking up the controller again. “Your choice, but I get Jedah.”
She snorted, taking the disk case from the shelf. “You can have that loser.”
“Let me guess, you play Morrigan.”
“Please,” she huffed. “Anakaris all the way.”
Setting the game up, they finished off their desserts and trash talked a bit more before starting it up. She seemed impressed with his knowledge of the character moves, and when she lost the first round, she shifted in her seat, ready to play again.
The second round when to Lila, when Nando slipped up, allowing Lila to send a mummy drop out to win the round. The final round went long as well and when the time ran out, the match was a draw. Nando started laughing, Lila quickly joining in.
“You weren’t lying,” she said. “You’re good with fighting games.”
“They’re my favorite.” He smirked then. “We still play them in the clubhouse before games.”
Her jaw dropped and she growled, “And you call me a cheater!”
Nando laughed. “You never asked if I still play them.”
She shook her head as she brought up the player select screen. “One more for the night?”
He nodded, moving his cursor around the screen. “Calling it early?” he mused.
She rolled her head from side to side. “Have to. I have work tomorrow morning.”
Nando was instantly apologetic. “Shoot, I’m sorry, Lila. I can go now.”
“No, no,” she protested. “Once more match. Loser buys pizza for game night tomorrow.”
Her tentative grin made him feel a little giddy, like he was back in high school, flirting with the head cheerleader. “Ok, but one of these nights we play ‘til at least midnight. And this Saturday, you need to decide where I’m taking you to dinner.”
Lila’s grin curled into a wide smile. “Someplace with a good steak.” Pressing her confirm button, she selected Hsien-Ko. “I’ll buy dessert.”
“Not one of those girls who insist on having a salad and no dessert?” Nando selected Lord Raptor.
“Nah,” she said as the screen loaded. “I don’t need to impress you.”
Nando smiled widely as the round began. “No, ma’am, you do not.”