Boy Meets Geek (17 page)

Those good feelings lasted right up until the moment I felt rather than saw somebody sidling into the empty chair next to me. I turned and my heart nearly stopped.

It was her. The girl I’d seen up on stage. Obviously one of the convention volunteers, and a fairly major one if she was able to get a seat at this table.

And rather than glaring at me like earlier when she was on stage she was smiling. A smile that definitely didn’t reach her eyes. I was immediately on guard.

20: Insecurities

Okay. I didn’t know who this girl was. Maybe I’d imagined her glaring at me or something. I tried to think the best of people. To give them the benefit of the doubt.

“Hi,” I said.

That smile grew even wider. “Hi yourself.”

“I’m Jessica,” I said.

She looked me up and down and some of that hostility was back in that look. Who the hell was this girl, and what the hell was her problem that she kept looking at me like that?

“I don’t really need to know your name,” she said.

I blinked. Okay. So that was kind of rude. No, that was more than rude. What the hell was this girl’s problem? But I didn’t want to make a scene. Especially since we had a table full of convention volunteers and people from the publishing company sitting around us. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass Sean in front of the people he worked with. To get a reputation as the crazy girl he was dating or something. So I kept my voice down.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She looked me up and down again and a look of sympathy crossed her face. Only I didn’t believe it for a moment. Just like with the smile on her face earlier that sympathy never quite reached her eyes. She looked decidedly insincere. I was starting to wonder if this girl had the capacity for genuine emotion. My hackles were certainly raised. I was starting to feel the same as earlier when jealousy got the better of me and I nearly launched myself across a convention hall to claw at one of those crazy girls.

“Oh honey,” she said, her voice dripping with false sympathy. Though there was a twinkle in her eye that said she was enjoying this. “None of the convention staff ever bothers to learn the names of the girls he brings to these things.”

I felt a chill run through my body. I felt as though I’d been punched in the gut. On the one hand I didn’t trust this girl any further than I could throw her, and even though she was pretty petite I wasn’t nearly strong enough to toss her very far let me tell you. Only what she’d just said hit too close to home. It was too close to all the worries, all the insecurities that had been running through my head ever since I first discovered who my mysterious online stranger really was. All the worries I had about why he’d ever be interested in a girl like me came crashing down around me at her words.

A wide grin split her face as a sickly expression crossed my own face. A predatory grin that was the first genuine emotion I’d seen from her since she sat down. I felt like she could see the mix of insecurities and worries running through my head. Taking over. Making me short of breath as I spiraled dangerously close to a full-blown panic attack.

“You’re lying,” I said.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” an announcer said up on stage. “Sean Taylor!”

Sean strolled out onto the stage with a huge smile on his face. He looked amazing. He looked dazzling. He looked so delicious. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who would deceive a girl for a one night stand at a convention, but then again when I’d known him online he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would lie about every little detail about his life either.

If he was willing to lie about who he was who’s to say he wouldn’t be willing to lie about other things? It’s like the worst-case scenario centers in my brain were going into a tailspin, spiraling out of control, and now that I had the smallest bit of confirmation I couldn’t resist those thoughts. They were threatening to overwhelm me.

The girl reached out and placed a hand on my own. She looked me straight in the eyes. “I wouldn’t tell you this if I didn’t think you needed to hear it.”

“Needed to hear what? I said you’re lying!”

I don’t know why I kept saying that. Perhaps I wanted to protect myself. Only no matter how many times I said she was lying it didn’t chase away my doubts. If anything it just confirmed them. Magnified them.

The people sitting at the table were starting to notice something was going on. They were turning to look at us. Turning to look at me in particular as though I was crazy. I glanced up to the stage and Sean looked down. Drawn no doubt drawn by my shout. I blushed, but I didn’t care. His eyes moved to the girl sitting next to me and I saw something replace the confusion on his face.

Fear.

That fearful glance when he saw who I was sitting next to was enough to cause the entire fantasy world I’d been building up around me over the weekend to come crashing down. That fear told me everything I needed. He was afraid of me sitting next to her. No doubt afraid she was going to tell me exactly what she was telling me right now. I turned back to her.

I didn’t want to hear anything she had to tell me, but I at the same time I had to hear it.

“Tell me what you’re talking about,” I said.

Her eyes darted up to the stage and she flashed a triumphant smile. I had no doubt Sean was still looking down at us, but I didn’t turn to see. Let him look. Let him see the truth finally coming out.

“I was sitting exactly where you were a couple of years ago. He wined and dined me, did the whole fan girl meeting her hero routine, and then at the end of the convention when he got what he wanted he tossed me aside.”

My breathing was coming in labored gasps. Everything she was saying sounded so close to the truth I’d been afraid to admit to myself. It was finally happening. That other shoe I’d been afraid of this entire time was finally stomping down on me, on the silly dreams I’d constructed, and it was stomping down with one hell of a vengeance!

I put my head in my hands. I couldn’t believe I’d been so naïve. He’d lied about so much. Why would I assume he was telling the truth when he acted like he actually had feelings for me? I was nothing more than another convention conquest, and I felt used.

I needed to get the hell out of here. I didn’t even want to go back up to the suite, but it was the only option. Even if it did have the taint of what we’d done there twice today. Maybe Samantha would let me stay in her room while I figured out a way to get home. She could at least enjoy the suite. We had it for the rest of the weekend after all. I didn’t want to be anywhere near it though. I didn’t want to be anywhere near any location where he’d be able to find me easily. Where I’d be at his beck and call. The last thing I wanted was to be in a hotel suite purchased for me so I could be nothing more than a glorified booty call for the duration of the convention weekend!

“I know it’s a lot for you to deal with,” the girl said. Her voice dripping with false sympathy. I needed to lash out at something. And she was convenient. I pulled my hand away from her.

“You can shut the fuck up!” I screamed.

I was surprised at how loud I was. Loud enough that the publishing people and convention staff sitting at the table weren’t the only ones who turned and stared this time. No, more people were starting to realize there was a cat fight brewing. Sean even stopped his speech for a moment and looked down. It was a nervous and fearful glance that just served to further cement in my mind that this girl talking to me and telling me the truth was the last thing he wanted to happen.

“What’s your problem?” she asked.

“You’ve been glaring at me all day long! Don’t act like you’re not happy that you’re chasing me off! Maybe he did use you and drop you a couple of years ago, but you’re not telling me this out of any sympathy or the goodness of your heart. You’re telling me this because you can’t stand the idea of another girl with him!”

“Well sorry I tried to help you, you crazy bitch!”

I had a feeling that if she’d gotten a little too close to home telling me the truth about Sean then I’d also hit a little close to home speaking the truth to her about her motivations for telling me all this. No, this wasn’t the kind of girl who would tell me something like that out of some altruistic desire to help. She was looking to get at the new girl. Only I wasn’t going to be the new girl for much longer. She could have the lech.

The devastatingly handsome and charming lech. Even through my anger it was difficult for me to stay angry when I had all the warm fuzzies saved up from the past couple of weeks to counterbalance it.

I needed to get out of here. I needed to hold onto that anger.

I stood, nearly sending my chair flying as I did, and flew towards the back of the room. I needed to get the hell out of here, and I needed to get the hell out of here now. I felt tears welling up and the last thing I wanted was to start sobbing in the middle of a massive banquet hall like this. The last thing I needed was to make even more of a spectacle of myself than I already had. I’m sure this was already going to become a piece of convention lore. The day two of Sean Taylor’s women got into a catfight and one of them ran out of the room sobbing.

The thing that hurt the most wasn’t hearing the truth from that girl. It wasn’t that everything had finally come crashing down around me when I spent the day pretending I was in the middle of some fairytale. Pretending something like that could happen to a girl like me.

No, the thing that hurt the most was that he didn’t stop his speech. He kept nattering on about how he created the Elassa series and making excuses for why the latest book was taking so long. What he wasn’t doing was running across the convention hall to try and stop me. He wasn’t doing anything to try and hold onto me even though he could obviously see me leaving.

I was being a silly girl though. I don’t know why I was expecting that. It was so ridiculous. Rushing down to tell me everything I just heard was wrong? That it was all a misunderstanding? That he wanted to be with me? That was the kind of thing that only happened in cheesy romance books, and I was strictly a fantasy and science-fiction kind of girl.

I paused at the hall doors and turned around to look at Sean one final time. Most of the convention center had no idea what was going on. Most of that crowd had no idea that my world was being destroyed. Samantha wasn’t even around to keep me company. No, I was all alone, tears welling up in my eyes, as he continued talking about how wonderful he was and how wonderful his stupid Elassa series was and why the next book would totally be worth the wait.

And I realized something that made me hate him even more. I was never going to be able to read those books again. The son of a bitch!

I turned and walked out of the convention hall. There was no happy ending waiting for me. For a moment I’d almost hoped like a romance girl, but it was time to face reality.

Sean Taylor was nothing more than an elaborate player with a lot of money, and I wasn’t Cinderella at the ball. I was a naïve girl who’d been played by one of the best.

21: Escape

I was on my computer trying to find the next flight out of this place when I heard the elevator door ding and then open. I turned and looked with hope, and I immediately chided myself for being hopeful at all. Even if that was somehow him I should be angry at him for getting a key to my room and not glad that he’d come to see me.

Only it turned out it was just Samantha. I let out a sigh of relief and then went back to searching for a flight.

“What the hell happened to you?” Samantha asked.

“Nothing,” I said with perhaps more heat in my voice than I’d intended.

Only there was no getting around it. I was a mess. I’d been sitting up here crying for the past half hour while I looked for cheap flights out of here, only there was no such thing as a cheap flight out of here this weekend. Not with the convention in town. No, there was no way I was getting out of here without putting more money on my credit card than the credit limit would allow.

I felt two hands on my shoulders and Samantha started massaging. “Come on Jessica,” she said quietly. “Tell me what happened.”

I couldn’t help it. I broke down again. All of the commotion, all of the conflict I’d been feeling since I we first met up with Sean earlier in the day came crashing out. I told her everything. All of my doubts, all of my insecurities about him with other women. How they were throwing themselves at him throughout the day and I worried I was just a one night stand he was using.

Samantha started to make comforting noises but I held up a hand to stop her. I went on to tell her about the girl who’d been staring daggers at me. I told her about how he apparently chose a new girl for every convention to wine and dine, made her feel like a real princess, and then dropped her when the con was over. When I was done I looked up at her, tears in my eyes, and she definitely didn’t have the look of sympathy I was expecting.

“What?” I asked.

“Jessica,” she said slowly. “That girl was staring at you like she hated you all day. She knew you were with Sean. Did it ever occur to you that she might be trying to sabotage things between the two of you?”

I blinked. Actually that thought hadn’t occurred to me. I’d been so busy wallowing in self-pity and thinking about how the worst-case-scenario part of my brain had been exactly right all along that I’d never stopped to think of alternatives. Only that alternative seemed pretty far-fetched. A lot more far-fetched than the idea that a fabulously wealthy and world-famous author would fly me of all people out here because he was falling for me. No, the one night stand theory made a hell of a lot more sense.

“Do you really believe that Samantha?” I asked.

Samantha shrugged. “Women can be bitches sometimes. Especially if they think you’re going after their man, or if they think you’re going after a man they think should be theirs.”

“So you think this girl looking to tank my relationship with Sean before it starts makes more sense than the billionaire author falling for a girl he just met playing a videogame and flying her out to have a whirlwind romance and some great sex?”

A grin split Samantha’s face. “So you got laid?”

I let out a disgusted noise that communicated this clearly wasn’t the time to talk about that.

Samantha shrugged. “I didn’t say which I thought was more likely. I was just saying it was a possibility.”

I smiled and reached out to pat her hand. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better Samantha. But I think the only thing that’s going to get me out of this funk is getting the hell out of this city and getting as far away from the great Sean Taylor as is humanly possible.”

“Suit yourself. You need help with the plane ticket?”

I must’ve had a look on my face because she squeezed harder on my shoulders. “Don’t be too proud. I’ve got some extra money sitting around and I can use my emergency credit card. Dad won’t even care about the charge. If you really need to get the hell out of here then consider it my treat.”

“Let me look for a little longer, but I’ll consider it,” I said.

“Or you could stay and enjoy the rest of the weekend,” Samantha said. “I mean you are at the biggest Elassa convention in the country and you’ve got this awesome suite.”

I scowled. “No, no way. I’m not going to stay at this convention. I’m not going to stay in a hotel suite he paid for because he was expecting a booty call.”

“I’m not going to stop you,” Samantha said. “Just making a suggestion.”

I clicked around a little more and finally found a flight for several hundred dollars. It was a little more pricey than what I wanted to pay, but at this point I’d be willing to pay whatever to get the hell out of here. Well, I’d be willing to have Samantha pay whatever and then I’d pay her back over time no matter what she said about her dad not caring about the charge.

“You sure about helping me get the hell out of here?” I asked.

“Absolutely sure,” Samantha said.

“Then could you go ahead and order this?”

So Samantha took a seat and put in the information. I was on a flight out of Indianapolis at noon tomorrow. I’d have to get up a little early to make sure I got a cab, but I shouldn’t have too much trouble getting out to the airport in time. The heavy traffic days for cabs were today and Sunday when everybody was coming and going. I had a feeling it was going to be business as usual with little to no convention traffic tomorrow even if it was a Saturday.

“You’re sure about this?” Samantha asked.

“Absolutely sure,” I said.

Samantha clicked to order the ticket and that was it. It was done. All I have to do was grab a cab tomorrow and I’d be out of here. I’d be away from Sean Taylor and his bullshit for good.

I sat back down at the computer and sighed. Normally if I wanted to get my mind away from things all I’d log into Tales of Elassa and forget about the real world for a little while. Only as I stared at the icon I realized that the last thing in the world I wanted to do was anything related to Sean Taylor’s cash cow.

Damn it.

I really did feel like a hole had been ripped in my life, and not just because of the way Sean had treated me. Not just because of the evening’s drama.

I was starting to realize just what a big part of my life Elassa actually was. The books, the miniseries, the damn videogame where I did most of my socializing. It was starting to sink in that I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy any of that ever again. Even as I sat staring at my computer’s desktop, stared at the Tales of Elassa icon, I couldn’t bring myself to click it.

Looking at that icon made me want to throw my laptop across the room. I felt a white-hot rage burning inside me at how I’d been treated. Walking around my favorite in-game environments was just going to remind me of the failed romance with the man who created all of it. With the man who’d just single-handedly ruined any enjoyment of something that’d been a huge part of my life for so very long.

Damn it. Damn him! And not just for playing with my emotions, not just for treating me like a booty call, but for taking away something that brought so much of pleasure to my life!

I was about to close down my computer entirely, it looked like the only thing I could do was sleep since my usual evening hobby was a bust, when there was a buzz from the elevator. Samantha looked up from the massive couch in the center of our suite where she was watching TV. She got up and walked to the elevator.

“Did you order room service or something?”

“No, what about you?”

“Nope. I have no idea who the hell that could be,” I said.

I looked down at my laptop screen and then I turned and held a hand out towards Samantha as she hit a button to let whoever that was onto the elevator. Not the smartest move, but we were from a college town where crime wasn’t really a thing. Not that it mattered. That wasn’t a hardened criminal buzzing us. No, I knew exactly who it would be, and it wasn’t anyone that I wanted to talk to, damn it!

“Samantha! No!”

Only the damage was already done. The door swished open and he was standing there. Sean. And he looked pissed off.