Chapter XI
***Sorry for some character bashing. No offense, people!
I asked the bell boys where my real room is, and they obliged to escort me to the male division of the fancy hotel rooms, although it isn't as extravagant as the one I shared with Kazuya up in the penthouse, this is much better than what I had in the previous tournament. Room 187. Time to spend time alone again. My mobile phone beeped reminding me of a virtual conference meeting at five. It's now 4:30, and I have to gather myself up, and my things would be taken care of later. Reeling from the heated argument a while ago, I stepped into the shower. Gaining the right temperature, I just let the water pour onto my skin. I thought about everything that he said. And I felt that I was the one with all the fault, indeed. Don't expect me to cry, because all my tears have dried up for so many years already, so this tap is broken. I just punched the wall, ignoring the pain. Before I knew it my knuckles are bleeding, and it trickled along with the water, creating a pinkish coloration. Should I apologize to him and come back? But all the questions from before are starting to gather around like the media asking for an interview, but I still don't have all the answers.
I finished bathing up and got in my regular uniform. I was still blank and couldn't concentrate, so I was quite worried with everything that I might say in the virtual meeting. I had fights with my past relationships, but this one was far more different, this one made me feel like the world is staring at me judgingly. I know that I didn't argue with one of the world's most influential person, but I argued with the most influential person in my life. I took things too far, and I had misjudged him-- big time. Questions kept on piling up even more; what if he really doesn't know anything? And having this thought in my mind, I decided that it would be best if I talk to him, not today though, I must let the heat settle down for a moment. I remembered that I asked permission from Kazuya to use the meeting room, but I won't do that anymore because of the latter. I'm still not ready to face him yet again today. Even though I was expecting things to turn the tides tomorrow, I'll do it by then anyway.
As I headed out of my room with my laptop ( I almost forgot that I had one), I saw Anna who was standing at the end of the hall. She looked concerned and somber. "Forget it. I'm not coming up to talk to him today." I said presumptively, but Anna shook her head. "The boss says you forgot this...". Anna gave me something in a box. "I hope to see you with him again soon. If you need someone to talk to, please don't hesitate. I'll be at the hotel cafe at seven tonight. May I invite you for dinner? You know, as a friend." I can sense that she's not taking any advantage of the situation, besides, it's my first time to have a new found friend to talk to, even though I was doubting her before. I think I needed some help, so I agreed to meet her up at seven, just like what she had proposed. She gave a small bow and left silently, probably influenced by Kazuya's traditional Japanese ways already. When I checked the box, I saw something made of steel; dog tags. When I looked closer, it wasn't even mine. It was the corporal's. He probably knew about him already, and I hope he's up there in heaven to help me. I held the tags close to my chest and kissed it, praying that everything would be alright as soon as possible.
I found a good spot outside the hotel to hold the virtual meeting with the Colonel and probably the General. It was a quaint but pleasant restaurant with a private place provided for business purposes and the like (as long as you order at least one item from their menu, and I had black coffee just so you know). The clock struck five and I'm receiving the live feed from the Colonel in our Moscow headquarters. He asked common questions, and I tried my best to look like nothing big has happened. I told him that the tournament proper would start in less than two weeks, and lied about the corporate relationship between me and the head of G Corporation. I told him that things are going well, and my soul is begging for me to end this meeting as quick as I could. It didn't take that long, though, because they said that they want me to concentrate on my mission, and the next meeting would be in another week, so I left the restaurant and went to the park ro catch some fresh air. As I looked around seeing different kinds of people, I wonder if they share the same pain as I do. I want someone to ease it, but surprisingly I don't want it to be Kazuya or Anna, or any other person. My mind was scanning for someone I knew to help me release the tension and the haywire. It felt rather weird. Lovers, children, mothers, etc. ... it must be boring to live the normal life. I got up and decided to rest for a while before I meet up with Anna tonight, so I went back to my room and threw myself onto the bed. I did nothing but stare at the ceiling for several minutes, hearing nothing but the clock ticking away to tomorrow. Maybe it was the effect of the strong coffee I had a while ago, or it's something else. I can't even close my eyes and get a short power nap, and remembering the paper that Eddy gave me, I got up and recovered it from the pants I was wearing a while ago. It was some sort of a business card, and it had Lars' name on it. Why the hell would he want me to have his card? Reading the information on the said piece of high-class cardboard paper, it was ridiculously funny to know his full name-- Lars Alexandersson. Seriously, a guy with thirteen letters in his surname? I wonder if he's jinxed. It had his number, his e-mail, etc. ... but what caught my attention was when I flipped it over to look at what's written on the back. "01-347. 5th St." Weird. Looks like some sort of an address. But I saved his number to my phone, anyway, just in case. This is a big piece of evidence, and he's trusting me that much, so better milk information while things are going well-- in my career side, that is. I turned on the complimentary centralized 7.1-speaker sound system installed in all the rooms to listen to some music. I hooked up my mp3 player-- the ever so popular iPod, to stream in my tunes, to forget everything for a while as I dress up for dinner. I don't care if they judge me as a Goth anymore, even though I hate being branded by other people, I can't help but get dressed in all black with chains, buckles, studs and skulls. Who gives a damn, anyway? Giving an abrupt end to Deathstar's rendition of "White Wedding", I mussed my hair loose and headed to the cafe to meet up with Anna. No eyeliner though, my stoic face is enough already. That's kid's stuff.
As I was walking down the hallway, Bob suddenly jumped out in front of me. I stared at him blankly, because he acted stupid. "Hey, wassup, Goth soldier boy?" He greeted cheerfully as he gave me a mock salute. "Do you really have to do that?" I asked. "Nah, I'm just in high spirits. Where are you going?"
He doesn't have to care, but I answered anyway, "I'm going to meet up with someone." He laughed and nudged me on the arm. "Who's the lucky lady?" He whispered. "It's just a friend."
"You overly-famous people are all show business, but if it's only a friend, well alright. I'll let you off now." He nodded with a doubtful look on his face as he waved goodbye and walked backwards, giving me another salute. He tried to do a moonwalk, but he ended up clumsily knocking over and breaking a large, expensive-looking vase behind him, and falling over it as shards stuck to his palms. "HOLY GROUP OF MOTHERFUCKERS THAT HURT!!!" He screamed in pain as he held his wrist, I didn't want to laugh at a fat guy attempting to perform a moonwalk, so I hurriedly left him cursing to high heavens as he asked for help from random passers-by. Karma sure is a bitch-- even though it was only accidental. I thought that my walk to the cafe would be smooth, but here comes another idiot I knew from before-- Paul Phoenix. "Hey, I know you!" He yelled for no reason at all while pointing his index finger at my face. "O... kay...?" I replied as he circled around me like a police canine, reminding me of Heihachi Mishima during that meeting. "Dragunov, right? Wassup, man? I hardly recognized you. Any luck with the ladies?" I'm getting sick of people asking me if I had slept with a female contestant, some even asking advice how to pick the girls up, so I had to give it to him. "I'm not into ladies." I said. I'm expecting to get a homophobic response or anything, but he only scratched his head, still in that ridiculous skyscraper 'do. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not into ladies at the moment." I repeated, but he only shook his head in a dumb way. "No, seriously, what do you mean?"
"You know, I'm getting late, I need to see someone, so whatever."
"Okay. But does it mean you don't have time for them? There's this hot new girl named Za-"
"Yes, I'm busy. I'll see you around." I replied as I rolled my eyes and finally left. He just grunted in dismay while mumbling something to himself.