It's been a long day. The emails took longer than I expected to deal with and I only managed a couple of hours sleep. Before I walked the pattern I would have been pretty much dead to the world by now but I reckon I could do this several days in a row now without becoming excessively exhausted.
When I awoke there were a number of new emails relating to the game code and launch that I needed to deal with. Unfortunately the upshot of this was that I had to go into the office. I managed to speak to both Lou Li and Mary and set events in motion on both the upkeep of the condo and the necessary power of attorney before leaving for the office, but events once there conspired to disrupt my schedule somewhat.
After leaving the office I went into China town, firstly to purchase some appeasement gifts for Llewella and then to the Purple Dragon, not for pleasure this time but to acquire the bulk of the order for Dave. Having just managed to cram it into the car I returned home, puzzling over how I was going to transport it. I was halfway through unloading it when Patrick and Marcie appeared, wanting to know if they could use the pool. I said they could after they finished unloading. they didn't believe me when I said I was going away and not holding a party, although events a few minutes later were to change their mind.
With three of us unloading things went quicker and we were nearly done when I felt the sensation indicating a trump call. I had no way of knowing who it was, although Llewella had been the only one to call me so far and she used a sketch she penned in about 30 minutes. I steeled myself as best I could and accepted the contact. "I see you're learning, but you should really try to identify the caller before accepting the contact. At least you're shielding better. Ok Random you can talk to her now". A third mind joined the conversation. "Ah Cordelia how are you doing? Got everything? Got an estimate of when you're likely to be back?"
"Ok, No, and I don't know. How do I transport all this stuff?"
"Bring it in by sea, its easier"
"How?"
"Well find youself a schooner, conjure a storm then hellride as normal"
"What's Hellrding,? How do I conjur the storm? Where am I likely to find a schooner - whatever that is?"
"Well.." I could sense the conflict over what to do. "Open a gate and bring me through. It'll be quicker and easier if I show you."
Forgetting that Patrick and Marcie were standing a few feet away I opened the link and reached into the doorway. I felt Random grab my arm and pulled. He stepped into the garage and I dropped the link. "So are you going to introduce me to the quivering wrecks?"
"Shit. I forgot they were there. Look its ok you two nothing is going to happen. We're not aliens and you're not going to be abducted. Why don't we go inside and I'll try and explain. This is Random by the way, he's sort of my boss, by virtue that he's King of Amber. Random this is Marcie and that's Patrick"
Patrick looked a little stunned "You mean that place actually exists? That it's not a story" Now it was my turned to look stunned. "What story?"
"Nine Princes in Amber, Guns of Avalon, there's a whole series of books by a guy called Roger Zelazny". Random started laughing. "The sly old bastard. Your father published his war diaries as a story under a pseudoname. Well, well, well. I think that calls for a drink. What's the local hotspot?"
"The Purple Dragon" I turned in amazement at Marcie's statement. "How'd you know about that place, its upstate in Chinatown, and you're too young to get in - you need 21ID"
She smiled at me, "My secret".
"Purple Dragon it is then - I take it I'm suitably dressed" I looked him up and down "No where close. Its a nightclub not Dave's bar - I could lend you a dress but you wouldn't look good in it. If we're taking these two then they need to change as well. Jackets, Collar and Tie for the men, Skirts and Blouse or Dress for the Ladies"
"We'll need to book"
"No Marcie we won't. I'll arrange a limo say in 1 hour. Now go and change whilst I try and think of something to do with Random"
"Don't worry 1 hour is more than enough time. I'll be back before then." He scuttled out the garage, turned the corner and was gone. The other two just looked at me. "Time's ticking - if you're not back you don't go"
When they re-appeared Brad was with them and another girl by the name of Brandy. The limo would accommodate 6 as easy of 4. When the limo arrived they were more than a little stunned, as it had the Purple Dragon motif and name written down the side. They were even more surprised when the driver got out an greeted me by name. Random had a quizical glint in his eye.
When he got in the car he sat in the middle forcing the two girls to sit either side of him. I told him to behave or I'd tell Vialle, which he said was below the belt.
The limo dropped us at the VIP entrance to the club, something that had been introduced when it'd been expanded a couple of years ago. I got out first, which immediately prompted a flurry of activity and more quizzical looks from Random. "Good evening Miss Chan we weren't expecting you back so soon"
"That alright Lee Sun. We'll wait if we have to. Who's in the booth?"
"A minor English filmstar. Shall we move her?"
"No. Just find us a quiet corner. I might want to use the office though"
"Very good"
By this time the others had disembarked and come up behind me. Random was looking decidedly puzzled. "How'd you do that? This is a Triad Club if I'm not mistaken and you've not been manipulating"
"Firstly I would suggest you're mistaken, secondly I suggest you behave, and thirdly you wanted a drink didn't you. Now I see Mr Lee waiving so I suggest we go in."
It was the early hours when we returned. Random had spent the evening drinking and chatting up anything in a skirt until I'd sent two of the house girls to keep him entertained. I'd initially toyed with the idea of borrowing Patrick from Marcie for an hour, but they seemed to be developing a relationship and decided against it, although they got to use one of the house rooms for an hour. This more or less left me free to play the floor. There were a few guys in who I'd invited in before but none of them were great shakes and none of them had been invited in more than once. There was also the usual crowd of "god's gifts" trying to feel up anything in a short dress, but after a few not too subtly placed elbows and a knockout and eviction they got the message. In the end I settled on a guy sitting off to one side in the back corner. He danced occasionally and not particularly well. He was well over 6ft in height and of average build although he looked underweight. This was obviously not his scene but he was with a group who were obviously celebrating a birthday. I waited until he was on his own, then took him another drink. His opening remarks nearly caused me to throw it in his face but I restrained myself, after all that was exactly what I was after. I put the drink on the table and sat down. "So if you don't sleep with women what do you do for entertainment?" He pretended to ignore me. "There are two ways this can go. You can either have a drink and talk to me, or I can remove my dress and thong and sit on you"
He looked at me with that "you wouldn't dare look". "You're positive that's the way you want to play it?" I hitched my dress up onto my hips. Suddenly the penny dropped and he realized I was serious. "Ok!. You can sit down."
"Thank you. I'm Cordelia, and you are ?"
"Antony"
"May I call you Tony of do you prefer Antony"
"If I can call you Cord. Now what do you want?"
"For now just to talk. So who's birthday is it? If I were to hazard a guess it'd be the girl in the pink mini-skirt. What is she, your sister, cousin, flatmate?"
"You ask a lot of questions."
"Yes I do ask a lot of questions, but then I like to know something about the person I'm sleeping with. So far all I know is he's called Antony, is here with a group celebrating a birthday, and wishes he could be elsewhere, probably either in a quiet bar or in front of a computer screen, most likely the latter."
He nearly choked on his drink. I handed him a napkin. "Are you ok? So you think it's ok for a guy to proposition a girl but not the other way round or am I not the correct sex for you?"
He continued to cough and struggle to sort his breathing out. One of the bouncers came over but I waved him away. I stood up. "Lets get you somewhere a little quieter" I moved to help him to his feet . He tried to stop me which just induced another coughing fit. "Nothing is going to happen unless you want it to. You have as much right to say no as I do. But I'd rather you didn't throw up here. It puts the punters off" I tried again and this time he allowed me to support him. I'd been mistaken in my earlier assessment, whilst he may be skinny he exercised regularly as his muscle tone was very good.
When we reached the office, I let us in and sat him on the sofa, before retreating to the drinks cabinet. I poured him a glass of water and myself a glass of wine. I walked over and put the water on the table, then sat down on the sofa opposite him. He'd pretty much stopped coughing now and was looking about. He reached down and took sip from the water. "So who exactly are you?"
"I'm just a person like you."
"Sorry. Regular people like me don't just let themselves into the office of a club like this"
"So I know the code to the office, what of it."
"Well that and the fact you knocked that guy out earlier who'd tried to grope you, and that the bouncers seem to take orders from you, makes you not ordinary and dangerous"
"What's life without a little danger. So are you going to come over here next to me or are you going to take the wayout behind you."
He put the glass on the table and stood up. For a moment I thought he was going to join me, but then he turned and headed for the door. "Goodbye it's been interesting" and he left. In a fit of peak I hurled my drink after him.
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