Tag: A to Z

The newcomers came over and joined their fire pit. The woman of the new couple looked over at the dancers and drummers, “Oh good, Misty is dancing. She hasn’t broken out her silks in a while.” The long-haired brunette wore a flowing gauzy tied-dyed skirt and blouse combination. She eased her broad hips into the seat against the glass, the one facing at the understated outdoor entertainment.

“Hey, Jax, Cynthia,” the man said as he dropped in the chair directly between the new woman and the couple sharing a chair.

Cindy looked over, surprised anyone knew who she was. The man was the convention volunteer who helped them earlier. “Basketcase, how are you?”

“Off-duty,” he showed the plastic glass of bubbly amber liquid he was drinking, while his free hand reached for the woman beside him. The dark-haired woman looked down at his blind grope at her armrest, clearly thought a moment, then moved her hand towards his until they met. Their fingers intertwined, the woman studied the operation in amazement as though one of the hands wasn’t attached to her. Reese glanced over at the woman once the hands had found a comfortable position, but not looking straight on, and a slight, satisfied smile tinged with wonder curved the corners of his mouth before he returned his attention to Jax and Cynthia. “How about you?”

“Jax proposed!” Cindy got to say for the first time ever. She waved the hand with the engagement ring. “One of Xander’s specials. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Reese and Otero oohed and awed appropriately, though the other woman, strangely only muttered, “The blue goes well with your boyfriend’s eyes,” before returning her attention to the far-off dancing. Jax was impressed she had been able to pick out his eye color in the flickering light.

A group came out the bar doors wearing an eccentric mix of pirate, medieval gowns, and, one person, Japanese samurai plate. They made a bee-line to the larger gathering on the patio. The straggler of the group, a woman in chain mail, held open the door for Denise who had her hands full with four drinks. After thanking the stranger, they parted ways.

The black woman stepped over Otero’s legs, then stood over him tilting out a dark bottle in the group of drinks she carried. “This is the closest thing they had to a decent stout.”

“That is a loose definition of decent, but necessity is the mother of acceptance.”

She then turned in place and tilted out the other bottle, which Jax took. Down to two cups, Denise offered Cynthia the one with red liquid. After sitting down, Denise took a sip of her drink.

“Ah-hem.” Otero cleared his throat, reaching out with a hand.

Denise gave a minx smile to the older man. “Oh, you are wanting this back?” She took out the card from her back pocket and placed it in his hand. “Just keeping you on your toes.”

“If you did any more often, I will need ballet point shoes.” Otero complained, before raising an eyebrow and nodded to the newest additions to their conversation pit.

She followed the nod, pointy looked at the joint hands, and said, “Well, it is about time.”

“I know, right?” Otero agreed.

Basketcase shook his head slightly at them, but rubbed a thumb over the back of the still unintroduced woman’s hand. “Don’t push.”

“Come on,” Denise responded, “You breeders are insufferable when courting … or between relationships … or in a relationship. Pretty much you are insufferable.”

“Just because you don’t like the candy…” Basketcase responded.

“Sweet tooths are overrated.”

“I disagree.” Otero swung his bottle in a circle, talking in a low considering voice.

“Says the happily married man.” Denise teased.

“It is nice coming back to cream-filled eclairs every night,” he agreed.

Caught midsip, Denise had to put down her ginger ale and cough. Across from them, Reese said, “aaand time to change topics.”

“First point to the Hispanic.” Otero claimed, holding up a finger in victory.

Denise nodded, “I concede the point.”

The conversation continued, with the core group around the outside gas firepit remaining except for drink runs and, as Otero called them, draining episodes. At one point, the brunette, Cloe, who proofread for Denise, a local author, and other writers at the convention, moved to sit on the ground and lean against Basketcase’s leg, freeing up the chair closest to the bar’s door, which became a rotating interview area. Turned out Otero had a very, very well-paying day-job, and a magician’s gift with investments, and used his recreational cash to underwrite about half the Indie movies in the city. Directors, actors, screenwriters, and writers came and went, some setting up longer, more private interviews for Saturday and Sunday recorded by Denise, who acted as Otero’s personal assistant. Others touching base on a production in-process, but most were just visiting, staying friends with the man who helped them realize their dreams.

To Be Continued…

 

Look for “The Small Courages of Giants” including the conclusion of Panic at the Convention to be released at some future date (shooting for the month of May, because I am that kind of crazy).

I tried to finish Panic at the Convention during the A to Z, but this last conversation is killing me. I’ve rewritten parts of this scene at least five times now, and I have two more scenes to go. Even publishing the last short in 900 word groupings instead of the 500 word goal I had originally planned for A to Z, to give y’all as much as possible without overwhelming people during the blog tour, I still have a long way to go. At least a Zillion words, and every word is a battle. I have to finish this scene – which has expanded to be twice as long as I originally imagined – and still going. And I have to write out the closing scene. Plus another scene wants to be inserted between this one and the ending of the emotional growth arc for Cynthia. Like I said, a Zillion words to go.

On the other hand, this is really the breakpoint of the story. Where we change from Jax and his concentration on their romance, to Cynthia figuring out how to be with him the way she wants to be. I know, POV switch in the middle of the story, Ugh. Bad editor.

If you would like to see the ending, like my Facebook author page. I will post when the book is available there. I’m also likely to release the raw ending directly to my Patrons before the polished book version, if you don’t want to wait for the sensitivity beta readers to complete their reviews and the rest of the editing process.

Sorry about the wait. I thought this was a 5K story; it is likely to close on 10K before I am done. Yes, I am writing the story so you would think I control the word count – but sometimes the story just need to be told in the words it takes.

 

A to Z Short Story List Breakdown

Rainbow Spectrum (A to F)
Marathon Party (G to M)
Trigger: Cutting (N to Q)
Bookstore Sort (R to T)

Panic at the Convention (U to Z)
4/24/2019 – U is for Uniform
4/25/2019 – V is for Volunteer
4/26/2019 – W is for Weasels
4/27/2019 – X is for Xander
4/28/2019 – Y is for Yuengling
4/29/2019 – Z is for Zillion

Rating: Mature (language, implied situations, and drinking – basically PG)

“I was wondering,” Jax said while finishing off his honey-drenched sopaipillas, “if you would like to go to the bar with me tonight.”

With a fork halfway to her mouth, Cynthia looked at him. “You’re kidding right? The bar?”

“I go to the bar every night when at a convention.” He shifted in the rolling chair. The hotel room only had two chairs, one a rolling business chair which normally was in front of the desk across from the sink, and a chair beside a small table with lamp, the table they converted to their very intimate dining table.

Cindy got the more stable chair. She finished taking the bite, raising her eyebrows.

“Don’t give me that look.” He leaned back rubbing his full belly. “I text you every time.”

“And they are really amusing.” Cindy waved the fork in time with her words. “But me, not in a bar, not ever.”

“I could still text you. Maybe it will distract you.”

“Nope.”

“It’s not like a normal bar, I promise.”

She smirked. “So no alcohol? No dark lighting? No loud music? No people talking just to talk?”

“Um.”

“Exactly. No. I think we all learned our lesson today.” Cynthia sat back satisfied she won her argument.

Jax reached across the table and laid his hand on hers. He wasn’t going to let her win an argument based on fear making her world smaller. “We could sit outside. The hotel has these little fire pits. We can people watch and text each other.” He turned his hand over, slipping it under hers so they were holding hands. “I want you there, please. If you get uncomfortable, just let me know and we can leave. But try it, for me?”

“Jax…”

“Pretty please. I’ll get you the dragonball you saw in the vendor room.”

Cynthia sighed. “I’m going to regret this,” she said twisting her engagement ring.

“Every single moment,” Jax hopped up and offered her his hand to help her stand.

She put her hand in his, standing gracefully. “You are not going to get me drunk.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he stated. “At least, I hadn’t before now.”

Cynthia closed the door to their hotel room after they both showed the other they had their room card key as well as their cell phones.“I throw up when I’m drunk.”

“Then let’s not get you drunk.” He reached for her hand automatically as they walked side-by-side down the long hall to the stairwell instead of the elevators.

At the second floor landing, they stopped. “You know, I am kind-of liking taking the stairs.” Cynthia gave Jax a quick hug before continuing down.

“They have machines in the gym for this sort of thing!”

Cynthia gave him the finger without looking back and continued down the steps.

Jax kept trying to convince Cynthia to join him at the fitness center. Her response was if the gods wanted women to exercise, they wouldn’t have made all the curves based on fat. At which point, if they were home alone, she would flash Jax one of his two favorite fatty areas depending if she was in a skirt or low-cut blouse. He never won that particular argument, though he really liked how that conversation usually ended.

Once on the first floor, they made it to the bar-restaurant area, and Cindy balked at the crowd gathered in the area. Not a single seat was empty. Jax steered her to the glass doors leading to an outside area. Once they were outside, they heard steady drums and could see some mid-eastern dancers gyrating in the open area away from the main building seemingly unaffected by the cool late spring night.

“I see the SCA are out in force.” Jax said, taking a seat in the fire pit area closest to the bar’s door. The oversized chair held them both snugly, just the way Jax liked it.

A woman and man were already seated in the conversation area, and two more seats were still open.

The woman answered. “Well, Achbar is here, what do you expect?”

“How are you doing Jax?” the man asked.

“Same old, same old.”

Cynthia elbowed him.

“What?” Jax looked down. “Oh, shit. Right! So Cynthia, let me introduce you to Otero and Denise. Otero and Denise, this is Cynthia, my fiancee.”

Denise, who rocked short bleached curls against her black skin, leaned forward to offer her hand since she was in the seat closest to them. “This is your text buddy, right?”

“Yes.” Jax settled in deeper, pulling Cindy tight against him after the women shook hands. He kissed her forehead since it was right there and needing it. “And my world.”

“Don’t you forget it, doofus.” She leaned her head back so his lips now hovered over hers. Jax took advantage of the invitation.

“Didn’t see you much today,” Otero said, his white hair a product of age rather than hair salons, “Did you get in late?”

“No,” Jax turned Cynthia’s face toward him so he could watch her eyes for guilt at having a panic attack and then losing three hours sleeping to recover from it. “I was busy asking this wonderful woman to marry me.” The pain creases at the sides of her eyes smoothed as a sigh of happiness escaped her mouth.

“That’s a great excuse,” Denise turned to Otero, “why don’t you do that with me?”

“Well, if I wasn’t married, and gay, and you weren’t an Ace, I would be all over it.” Otero turned to Denise, leaning forward on the rattan chair’s arm, and looked longingly at her, “I guess you’ll just remain my con wife.”

“I’ll accept that, if you get me a ginger ale.”

“I’ll buy you a ginger ale, if you get me a beer.” Otero handed Denise a credit card. “How about you two, to celebrate the happy day?”

“They got Yuengling, pick me up one.” Jax never turned down free booze.

Cynthia shifted uncomfortably. “Nothing for me.”

“You sure?” Denise asked. “Otero’s buying. How about a cranberry juice or water with lemon?”

“Oh, cranberry juice actually sounds nice.” Cindy perked up, surprised alcohol wasn’t being pushed as the be-all-end-all like it had been in college.

As Denise slipped into the building, two more people came out and tried to stop her. “Can’t stop, beer run.”

 

A to Z Short Story List Breakdown

Rainbow Spectrum (A to F)
Marathon Party (G to M)
Trigger: Cutting (N to Q)
Bookstore Sort (R to T)

Panic at the Convention (U to Z)
4/24/2019 – U is for Uniform
4/25/2019 – V is for Volunteer
4/26/2019 – W is for Weasels
4/27/2019 – X is for Xander
4/28/2019 – Y is for Yuengling
4/29/2019 – Z is for Zillion

Returning, she found Jax pulling on a tight pink t-shirt proclaiming “It’s an Anime thing, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Hey honey, that was the ring guy.”

Scrunching her eyes, Cynthia asked, “What ring guy?”

“Umn, the one we were to causally come across in the vendor room and then I go down on one knee there and ask you to marry me, and then we pick out your engagement ring and our wedding rings.” Jax rubbed his neck. “And that would have been a disaster. I don’t know what I was thinking, putting you on the spot like that in public. Anyway, he is wanting to shut down for dinner and was wondering if we were coming by soon. I … well, I am going to go meet his assistant at the table and we are going to put together a selection and then, once Xander finishes his dinner, we’ll come up here and let you pick things out. Is that okay?” Jax used his puppy dog eyes like he always did when he did something he shouldn’t have as he shuffled toward the door.

Cynthia held up her hand. “Wait, you actually had a plan?”

“Um, yes?”

“You actually called ahead to arrange to buy rings.” Cindy was agog. “Who are you, and how far in advance did you plan this?”

“Hmm, it was part of the plan when I asked you to come to the con with me. I saw the vendor on the website when I was making reservations, and it went from there.”

“Jax, that was like, three months ago.”

“Yes?”

“What else is planned? A quiet dinner in the hotel room afterwards by candlelight?”

Jax shifted from foot to foot, looking abashed, “How did you know?”

His fiancee rushed across the room to hug him fiercely. Burying herself in his chest, she whispered, “I never knew you were a romantic. You do so many things off the cuff, I’m never sure if you really mean it.” She drew back, tears streaming down her face, making Jax feel very uncomfortable. “The public question would have sucked, don’t do that. E.V.E.R. Okay?”

Jax smiled down at her. “Okay.” He wiped a few of the tears away. “But the ring guy coming up, and food?”

“Wonderful. You are the most wonderful man in the whole world!”

Quickly kissing her, Jax opened the door. “I’ll be back soon. Why don’t you read some of the books we brought with us until I get back?”

“It’s what I always do while you are at a con.”

“So you get to do it where I can see you this time.” He tapped her nose while standing in the hallway. “I can get used to you attending conventions, just to let you know, even if you never leave the room. I love you.”

“I love you, too, you goofus.”

Once the door was closed, Jax pulled out his phone while taking huge strides down the hall to the elevators. Speaking at the black square, he asked, “Jeeves, what is the nearest Italian restaurant? No, wait. Mexican. Delivery.” He pushed the button on the wall to start the long wait for an elevator. The phone listed several places nearby, he scrolled through until he found one with delivery to the hotel. He was just finishing up his order when the elevator doors opened.

“Going up?” Someone in the small crowd asked.

“I think going up is the only way I will be able to down,” he said, stepping sideways into the lift, swimming toward the back through the ocean of flesh.

“Sure enough,” can the random answer.

***

Several hours later Jax sat across from the love of his life, for real this time, staring into her chocolate eyes and thanking his lucky stars. He had fallen in love for the first time in high school (middle school crushes do not count), the second time he lost his heart was Freshman year of college – and that one had been his biggest mistake (fortunately the antibiotics cleared his system), then again in Junior year. Him and Joyce might have made it the distance, but she wasn’t willing to leave the mid-west and his only job opportunities were at the coasts. She refused to follow even when he got her job interviews in her field paying her more than she was making in the town where she had grown up and given her more opportunity for advancement. He kept in touch for a couple years through social media, bleeding at every post like a love-sick idiot, until, one day, he was delivering product to at-home medical transcribers for a new corporate client and met Cynthia. He had remember previously running across her at a library event featuring the classic Vampire Hunter D, so they talked about that while he showed her how the new equipment worked. Before he left, she mentioned a dollar theater running anime nights on Wednesday and invited him.

One thing led to another.

Now he sat across from the most amazing woman in the world. Her eyes sparked like the three stones in the Tardis blue ring on her left hand. Xander had taken their measurements to make a set of matching wedding rings and promised them by the end of the summer convention season. Knowing the promptness of crafters who sell at conventions, Jax figured he would get the rings by Christmas.

Cynthia kept looking up at him, through the purple candles set into muetre skull candlestick holders he found when racing through the vendor room to catch the assistant before the convention closed the vendor room for the night. By the time the ring merchant finished his dinner and returned, the Mexican place had delivered to the front desk and Jax picked up the food on the way by. The candlesticks day-of-death theme tying into a Mexican tradition was a pure coincidence but made everything looked well-planned and coordinated. A perfect night for his perfect woman to remember.

 

A to Z Short Story List Breakdown

Rainbow Spectrum (A to F)
Marathon Party (G to M)
Trigger: Cutting (N to Q)
Bookstore Sort (R to T)

Panic at the Convention (U to Z)
4/24/2019 – U is for Uniform
4/25/2019 – V is for Volunteer
4/26/2019 – W is for Weasels
4/27/2019 – X is for Xander
4/28/2019 – Y is for Yuengling
4/29/2019 – Z is for Zillion

Cindy woke up and levered herself off of Jax, wiping her mouth for drool then his still bare chest. “You should have woke me.” She pushed her hair back from the face and blinked, looking around the hotel room.

“Why?” Jax sat up, rearranged the pillow, and leaned against the posts. “It’s not often I get you completely to myself.”

“You are at a con, you doofus. You don’t need me.” She rolled away to sit on the edge of the bed. “You never need me.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there.” Jax reached across to grab her by the wrist. “I always need you. Got that. Don’t let that brain-weasel tell you otherwise, okay?” His blue eyes bore into her chocolate ones.

“But you are at a con. You go to them all the time.”

“And I text to you about them all the time while I’m at them.” Jax moved to sit next to her. “I want you here. Got that. I am so glad you came. You make me happy just by being in the same room.”

She shook off his hand to rub her arms with her hands, crossing her arms across her chest. “But I can’t. I can’t be in the same room. We just tried it and I–”

“And I screwed up.” Jax said firmly, interrupting. “I didn’t notice you having problems, and I should have. You are doing this for me.” He lifted her chin with a finger as she tried to look away. “You are incredibly brave. The bravest person I know.”

“I panic at nothing.” Cindy tried looking away at the abstract paintings of triangles, circles, and squares decorating the hotel room.

“No, you panic at something, we just don’t know what. And you were willing to risk that for me.” He gently pressed a finger against her cheek until she was staring at his eyes again. “Wow,” he said intimately. “You ask me to go into a place where I panic, like a roomful of clowns, I’m not sure I could.”

Cynthia laughed a sad chuckle. “I promise I will never drag you to the circus.”

“Thank goodness,” Jax sagged in pretend relief. “You are the perfect woman for me. I should marry you.”

Red rushed up both sides of Cindy’s neck to flush her checks, ears, and forehead. “Wha…”

Jax did a control fall to the floor in front of the bed, ending up on one knee and grasping both her hands. “Cynthia Amanda Cooper, will you marry me?”

“Ah.” She stared at their joined hands, pulling hesitantly away, but him firmly holding on, but gently. If she actually tried to pull away, she could. “Ah.”

“I meant to have a ring, but …” Jax shrugged, “you know me and being organized.”

“No, you don’t want to be married to me.” Cindy shook her head, whipping the purple hair side-to-side. “You can’t. It’s just hormones talking.”

“I think after four years, we are pretty much beyond the in-love hormone stage.”

“But I can’t be there with you. You are great and handsome and smart and–”

Jax interrupted, “And you are smart and beautiful and funny and caring and sexy.” He released one of his hands from where they were jointed and lifted a finger up to her lips where more protests were forming. “Stop, stop. Shhh. If we were at home, last week or the week before that and I asked, what would you have said.”

Cynthia waited until he lifted the finger away, then bit her lips, tensing her shoulders.

“Ah, ah.” He waved his finger side-to-side the first time she opened her mouth to speak. “The truth.”

She relaxed her shoulders, then leaned forward until their foreheads touched. “Yes. I would have said yes,” she said, “I’ve been ready to say yes since you fell shoveling my snow that first year.”

“Give a guy some hints,” Jax whined.

Cindy shrugged. “I let you move in the next week.”

“Okay, that was a hint. I got to admit that should be considered a hint.” Rocking back on his heels to switch to a full kneeling position. “I’m an idiot.”

“No, Jax, you are a doofus.” Cynthia ran her hand over his hair until she let her hand drop on his shoulder. “My doofus.” She leaned all the way forward to kiss him quickly on the lips, falling completely off the bed into his lap in the process. Laughing in each other arms, peppering kisses on each other between the twin full-sized beds in their hotel room until Jax’s phone rang.

His newly-minted fiancee let him roll away immediately. His medical equipment sales position lived and died on being available to his clients 24-7. Jax pulled the phone out of the holster on his belt and looked at the number before swiping to answer. “Yes? Jaxson Miller here.”

Cindy got herself off the floor, touching him on the head as she passed by where he sat to go to the bathroom and give him privacy, carefully not paying attention to anything he said. Just like he carefully ignored any paperwork and phone talk about her medical transcription job when he had to come into her home office for something. While most of Jax’s clients were hospitals and doctors where HIPPA did not matter since owning certain machines are a given, he had some direct customers where having equipment really was life and death and the medical information was protected.

 

A to Z Short Story List Breakdown

Rainbow Spectrum (A to F)
Marathon Party (G to M)
Trigger: Cutting (N to Q)
Bookstore Sort (R to T)

Panic at the Convention (U to Z)
4/24/2019 – U is for Uniform
4/25/2019 – V is for Volunteer
4/26/2019 – W is for Weasels
4/27/2019 – X is for Xander
4/28/2019 – Y is for Yuengling
4/29/2019 – Z is for Zillion

“I’m okay.”

“You sure hon?” Jax asked, turning the scratches away from her.

She nodded, rubbing her face, smudging her thick makeup. Jax, pulled his t-shirt over his head, quickly mopping his face to get the blood off, then passed it to her. “But–”

“I got more upstairs.” Jax gently tucked a lock of hair behind Cynthia’s ear.

“You’re half-naked.” She shook her head. “You can’t go out in public like that.”

“Seriously, after what you’ve seen in those halls?” Jax smiled until she smiled back ruefully. The cos-play added color to the halls outside, and a significant portion of it was the shades of humanity’s skin, if blue counted. “Besides, I don’t work out to get this chest just to hide it. What do I say?”

“Sun’s out, guns out. You big goof.” Cynthia laughed, and for the first time truly looked at the third person in the hall. “Hello?”

“Hello.” Basketcase nodded at the woman with purple hair. “I’m Reese.”

“I’m sorry to be a bother.”

He shook his head. “No problem. Keeps me from eating too much in the hospitality suite.”

“You have better things to do.”

“Not really.” Reese cocked a half-smile. “Talking to purple-haired anime fans is my job today. Especially when they are cute. A bonus for a rather boring job.”

“A job you want to be boring.” Jax inserted.

Reese nodded. “Amen to that. We got a good bunch. And it is Friday.”

Her eyes drifted down to his badge with the big yellow ribbon attached to the bottom like a prize at a state fair proclaiming him a volunteer with a second one, even bigger, in blue and black indicating security. “Basketcase?”

“My con name. I may volunteer just a little.” Reese held his two index fingers closely together, maybe an inch between them, then, keeping the fingers in parallel, he spread his arms as wide apart as they could go. A small laugh escaped from Cynthia at his antics. “For some reason my friends call me Basketcase. So what are your names, my purple-haired wonder and hunky shirtless guy?”

Cindy’s froze a second, looking up at Jax, who smiled easily. “I’m Jax. No con name.”

“Cynthia,” came as a whisper that Jax barely heard.

“Jax and his silent partner. Got it.”

“Cynthia. My name is Cynthia.”

“Nice to meet you Cynthia.” Reese waved at both of them from where he sat. “So, are you ready to face the world again?”

“No!” erupted from the woman, holding her boyfriend tighter.

Reese nodded his head slowly. “Okay.” His brown eyes darted, studying the couple. “Are you staying at the hotel? Do you want to go back to your room?”

“Yes, we are the fifth floor.” Jax responded.

“The quiet floor.” Reese stood up in pieces, arms first, then knees, feet, and rose like a titian out of the Earth or an old man from the sea. “I think we can get there without getting into the main halls. Do you want the elevator or stairs?”

Jax and Cindy stood, reflecting Basketcase’s moves without conscious attention. “I think stairs.” Jax said, reaching for Cynthia’s hand.

“Yes, please.”

“Let me think.” Reese moved his pointer finger through the air. Lifting it up one way, down another. Holding a finger at one point and bringing his left hand up to draw another line from it before waving both, erasing the lines only he could see, and starting over. The two watched the invisible mapping, until, at last, the convention volunteer said, “Got it. Least amount of people until the stairwell. Going to go through some dicey areas, just a warning.” He lowered his voice ominously. “We are going to cut through the gaming section with the D&D and Star War RPG enthusiasts. Are you ready to go where only nerds dare to go?”

Sounding equally serious, Jax responded, “I believe we are up to the task. We recently watched a Game of Thrones episode at a friend’s house.”

“If you think that is enough to prepare you for the horrors you are about to witness, you are sadly mistaken my friend. Hold your lady tight as we prepare for this journey.”

Cindy looked back and forth between the two men as Jax squeezed her hand and smiled reassurance. The two followed Basketcase down the cement-floored hallway until cutting out another side door into a main convention thoroughfare. The convention security volunteer quickly drilled them through the horde down a smaller hallway with a switchback, opening up into a larger space filled with dozens of round tables surrounding by five to ten people each, mostly men, rolling dice, scribbling on paper, and hiding behind screens. Several tables had piles of miniatures, everything from dragons surrounded by archers and men on horseback, to armies of mechs on hexagonal graph paper. Not a single person looked up from their games as the group skirted the edge until they exited the room through a set of double doors. Five steps ahead were the elevators with dozens of people waiting for the two lifts, but Reese turned immediately through another door of the maze and suddenly they were in the back hotel areas again with a cement stairwell.

“I think you can get back from here.” Reese waved up the steps. “Remember, it is dangerous to go alone.” He gave them a crazy look, smirking. “Good luck on the rest of your adventure.”

“Thanks, and good luck to you too, old wise man.” Jax shook the hand Reese tentatively offered as he stepped past them to return to the main floor.

 

A to Z Short Story List Breakdown

Rainbow Spectrum (A to F)
Marathon Party (G to M)
Trigger: Cutting (N to Q)
Bookstore Sort (R to T)

Panic at the Convention (U to Z)
4/24/2019 – U is for Uniform
4/25/2019 – V is for Volunteer
4/26/2019 – W is for Weasels
4/27/2019 – X is for Xander
4/28/2019 – Y is for Yuengling
4/29/2019 – Z is for Zillion