Free Web NovelChapter 83: Princess Game Room
It was Friday night, but there wasn’t a single soul in the Lunny Club. It felt strange. The place looked exactly like it did in the morning, just a big, empty bar with no music and no life.
Malo had come along with me. He said he needed to get ready for the big game tomorrow since Princess was going to be there, which meant he had to be there too. He called himself her PA, but we both knew he was really just her errand boy. He went straight to the counter to talk to the bartender, Mr. Richard Jones, who also looked after the whole building. Mr. Jones didn’t make me wait. He just handed me the electronic key card for her room so I wouldn’t have to stand in the hallway knocking like a stranger. I left them at the bar and went to find her.
The second I stepped into her room, her scent hit me like a physical weight. It was everywhere, thick and familiar, but the room was empty. I checked the closet, thinking she might be hiding out, but there was nothing but clothes and others stuff. I checked the balcony next. Still nothing. The only thing out there was a tray overflowing with cigarette butts. There were so many of them. It looked like someone had been sitting out there for hours just burning through packs.
The only place left to look was the other door near the balcony door inside the room. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves, and pushed it open.
A blast of freezing cold air hit me immediately. Even with my heavy hoodie on, I felt a shiver run down my spine. The room was dim, lit only by glowing neon strips in different colors that bounced off the walls. It was a massive space. The first thing that caught my eye was a huge screen where someone was mid-game in Jungle Beast. I knew that game; it was a brutal survival one.
I looked around the rest of the room and my jaw nearly dropped. There was a full bowling lane on one side. Another corner had a massive ball pit filled with colorful plastic spheres. There was a stack of books piled up so high it looked like a mountain. I saw a pool table, a tennis table, and even a basketball hoop mounted on the far wall. The whole place looked like a private, high-end arcade.
Then I finally saw her. She was right in the center of it all.
Princess was sitting naked inside a huge Jacuzzi. It was massive, big enough that she had a waterproof gaming chair situated right in the middle of the water. Her eyes were glued to the screen, her fingers moving fast over a controller. She looked completely locked in. A cigarette was hanging loosely from the corner of her mouth, smoke curling up toward the ceiling.
"Hey," I called out.
She didn’t move. She didn’t even blink.
"Princess!" I called again, making my voice much louder this time.
Still nothing. Then I noticed the headset covering her ears. She couldn’t hear a thing. I looked around for something to grab her attention. I walked over to the ball pit, reached in, and grabbed a bright yellow ball. I took aim and threw it right at her. Yeah, I probably could have just walked over and tapped her on the shoulder, but after being ignored, I chose the ball.
She moved faster than I could track. Her hand shot up and she caught the ball mid-air without even looking. It was impressive. So she could sense a ball flying at her head but she couldn’t hear me screaming her name? Bitch.
She finally paused the game and pulled the headset down so it rested around her neck. She took the cigarette out of her mouth and crushed it into an ashtray sitting on a floating tray beside her. The tray was covered in grey ashes. I wondered if she had been chain-smoking the entire time she’d been gone.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
I stared at her. Not a hi, not a hello, not even a where have you been? Just that.
"I haven’t seen you or heard a word from you in days," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "I was worried about you. I wanted to come here and see if you were actually okay."
"I’m fine. Thanks for checking. There’s the door," she said. Her voice was flat, totally empty of emotion. She started to turn back toward the screen to unpause her game. freewebnσvel.cøm
I couldn’t believe it. I stood there, stunned by how easily she was brushing me off.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now? I just told you I’ve been worried sick about you, and you’re seriously just pointing me toward the exit?" I snapped. The anger was starting to bubble up, replacing the worry.
"No one asked you to be worried, You can see for yourself that my life is great. Bye-bye," she said. She didn’t even look at me this time.
I let out a sharp scoff. I was getting brushed off like I was some random fan or a stranger on the street. If I didn’t care about her, I wouldn’t have bothered coming all the way down here. Why was she using this cold, robotic tone with me? I started thinking about what Sasha had said the other day about Princess’s mental state. Something was definitely wrong.
"Hey, look, I really don’t like the way you’re talking to me right now. You’re being incredibly rude," I said, stepping closer to the edge of the Jacuzzi. "I came here to check on my friend, not to deal with this hostile shit. So get up, get out of the water, and let’s leave this room so we can actually talk about what’s going on with you."
"Fuck off," she replied. She was back to playing, her thumbs tapping against the controller rapidly.
She wasn’t going to listen to words. She just kept telling me to leave, and I had no intention of going anywhere until I got a real conversation. She was acting numb and distant, and it felt completely wrong. I needed her attention, and I needed it now.
I looked around the room again and spotted a tennis ball machine sitting near the practice court. An idea flashed in my head. I didn’t care about the consequences or if she got mad. I walked over to the machine and dialed the settings up. I set it to fire fast enough that she wouldn’t be able to ignore it.
The machine whirred to life and started pelting balls toward the Jacuzzi.
Princess reacted instantly. She stood up in the water, water cascading off her skin, as she started catching and dodging the balls with effortless grace. Her eyes snapped toward the machine, and I saw a flash of pure irritation cross her face. The machine kept going, thwack, thwack, thwack, sending ball after ball her way.
She didn’t hesitate. She dashed out of the Jacuzzi, moving so fast she was almost a blur, and reached the wall to unplug the machine. The silence that followed was deafening.
When the last ball rolled to a stop, she turned around to face me.
Her eyes were glowing that bright, dangerous blue. She looked absolutely pissed off.
"Didn’t I tell you to leave?" she said. Her voice was like ice, sharp enough to cut.
I didn’t back down. I stood my ground and looked her right in those glowing eyes. "And I told you I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me."
