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 Chapter Three: It's a Date. The Senshi and Override, now back in their regular clothes, headed back towards the antique shop, looking for Robyn. Override was wondering how she had managed to keep Duncan from following; he'd seemed very determined to interfere. They found their way back to the street, their rollerblades running smoothly along the pavement. The Senshi along with Mamoru and Override, who hadn't even had to join the battle, entered the little antique shop and called Robyn's name. "In here!" a voice called out from the shop's back room. The group followed it into a small room crammed with antiques, from Egyptian death masks, to African headdresses. Peering around a sarcophagus, they found Robyn in an animated discussion with the shop's owner, who they all recognised as the teacher from their morning lecture as he gently put a Band-Aid on the cut on her forehead. "...I tell you he's ripping you off. There were a half a dozen fake Ming vases here this morning. Not to mention a whole bunch of suspiciously new antique pikes, and they're gone now...Minako, Rei, tell him Andrew's pulling a fast one." Rei and Minako looked at each other, and then at Robyn, "Pulling a fast one?" they said in unison. "Oh, I'm sorry, umm, he had some vases here this morning right?" "Yes." "And they're gone now, right?" Rei walked back out into the front room and looked around. "Hei!" she called back. "But I didn't have any vases," Duncan said, sounding as though he'd gone over this before. "Okay," Robyn sounded exasperated, "look at your surveillance camera tape from today, and see if I'm telling the truth." "I will," he said. Makoto turned to Rei as she came back in the room, "What a coincidence, that the teacher from our lecture should be the guy whose store you found. But ...wow...just look at him, isn't he absolutely gorgeous?" Duncan turned and looked at Makoto. The side of his mouth quirked up, and he stared at her, as though trying to decide something. Evidently he made up his mind, because he bowed his head slightly and said, in Japanese, "Thank-you." The rest of the group had been a little irritated by Makoto's remark, it came so often, but the realisation that the man spoke Japanese caused her no small embarrassment. A bright flush started at the collar of her dress, and crept its way up until her entire face was a fiery red. Her friends, unable to contain themselves, began to laugh. "Well," Robyn said, interrupting, "you seem to be all right, so maybe we should leave." "Wait, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends? I recognise some of them, but not these two." Duncan pointed at Rei and Minako. Robyn looked confused, "Recognise them from where?" "My lecture this morning." "You're the medieval history lecturer at the university?" "Yes." "Figures," she said under her breath. "Well, Duncan, allow me to introduce you to Tsukino Usagi, and her boyfriend Chiba Mamoru, Mizuno Ami and Override..., as well as Hino Rei, Kino Makoto and Aino Minako." "Um," he looked at her as though expecting one more name. "Did you introduce yourself?" Override whispered, poking her playfully in the ribs. "Oh! Right. I'm Robyn, Robyn Goodfellow." As soon as he heard her name, he started to chuckle, and then laugh. The Senshi looked at each other, trying to figure out what he found so amusing. "I don't think it's that funny," Robyn said quietly. Finally Duncan settled down a little. "Did your parents realize they were naming you after a character in a Shakespeare play?" Robyn looked at Override and smiled, "I would assume not." "Why?" "Long story," Robyn and Override said in unison. Robyn rose, and the group got ready to leave, filing towards the door. "Maybe we could... get together sometime?" Makoto said, looking boldly at Duncan as he got up to walk them out. Duncan either didn't hear, or didn't want to hear, the personal note in her voice, "Hey, maybe we could all go to a movie tomorrow night..." he looked towards Robyn. She peered at him over her sunglasses, one eyebrow raised, "Sure, what's playing?" Duncan picked up a newspaper and checked the movie ads while the others waited by the door, "Titanic...again, and John Carpenter's 'Escape From Atlantis.'" "Oh, gotta see that!" Robyn stifled laughter and continued, "What time's it start?" "We can watch it at 7:00, or 9:00. Which would you prefer?" "Um, the seven o'clock one I think," Usagi said. "We must return home the next morning, so we should make it an early night." "All right, the theatre is halfway between my place and your hotel, so how about we meet there around...6:30?" "Sounds like a plan," Robyn sounded like she was trying hard not to laugh about something. "Well guys, we should go. We have a lot of touristing to get in tomorrow." She turned back to Duncan as the others filed out the door. "Ciao."  As she walked past Duncan towards the door, Robyn surprised herself by brushing against him. A spark of hope ran through her as he placed his hand on the small of her back and escorted her the rest of the way to the door.The group walked outside, heading for their hotel. Minako and Makoto were having a whispered conversation about Duncan's attributes. After a moment though, the two stopped whispering, and began teasing Ami about her four-day relationship with the enigmatic Override. Turning around, Override saw as Robyn looked cross-eyed at the Band-Aid on her forehead, and reached up to peel it off. The skin there was unblemished, and Override wondered again what Robyn had done to distract Mr. MacLeod. Not noticing Override looking at her, she looked over her shoulder towards Duncan's lit window. Sighing, she joined the others as they walked slowly back to their hotel. Day was cooling to evening around them, and that, combined with the sounds of the city, began to lull them to sleep. By the time they got to their hotel, everyone was ready for bed. They filed up to their rooms, collapsing, exhausted in their beds. All, that is, except Robyn and Override. After a brief discussion, the two friends headed downstairs to the hotel's bar. Crossing over to an empty table, they began to play pool. It was obvious that Robyn's mind was elsewhere when Override won his fourth game in a row. "You really like him don't you?" Override startled Robyn out of her silent reverie. "Wha? Quat? Nani?" She looked at her friend. After all the time they'd spent together, she couldn't hide something that obvoius from him, "Yeah. I don't know why... but for some reason he reminds me of Juan." "Juan? Oh, that spanish guy you dated for a while?" "Yeah, Juan Ramirez. I-I I just really like this Duncan guy, and I think that we can trust him. I really think that I can trust him." Robyn's eyes sparkled as she looked up at her oldest friend. "And besides, he is sooooo gorgeous." "You always did go for the ones with the long hair." Override said as Robyn finally managed to sink a ball. Just then, two guys who had been playing badly a couple of tables away walked over. "Would you like to play a friendly game?" The first one looked as though someone had rearranged his face more than once. "We're not very good. You'd have to teach us the rules first." Override said, "We really just play for fun." "Oh, so do we. We aren't much good either, but we can teach you a few things, can't we Joe?" "Sure Larry." Robyn and Override looked at each other and shrugged, although if Joe and Larry had looked closely, they would have noticed that the expressions on the pair's faces were not friendly. "Sure," they said in unison, "teams? Two against two?" "Yeah, sure. How about a friendly wager? Five dollars a ball?" Override looked a little uncertain, "Well, I don't know..." "C'mon, it'll be ok. It's not that much." Robyn pleaded. "All right Robyn." The balls were racked, and the two pairs started to play. Larry and Joe began by playing very poorly. Even Override and Robyn's horrible attempts at pool were beating them. After about a half an hour, Joe managed to sink his team's first ball. The eight. They lost, and the total was they owed Robyn and Override $25, and $5 was owed to them. "Okay, here's twenty bucks. Want to make it $10 a ball? I need to make back my cash." "How about $20? Then you can make your money back even if you only sink one ball," Robyn said. "Ummm, let me talk to Larry for a minute, ok?" "Sure." The two men walked out of normal hearing range and began to discuss the prospect. Little did they realize that Robyn and Override both had better than average hearing. "What a flaky chick. That's some really fuzzy logic she's got going there." This was Joe talking. "Who cares. She's willing to jump the price to $20 a ball. And look at how bad they are. We can wipe the floor with them, no sweat." "It seems too easy though." "Don't worry about it. They're just a couple of teenagers with cash to burn. They'll never miss it." "All right Joe. I guess. Let's go for it before they change their minds." The two turned back to find their opponents had already racked the balls, and were ready to go. "So?" Robyn asked. "Sure. Let's go for it. I need that 20 bucks back or I can't get a cab home." Larry seemed depressed about his loss. The game began again, and Robyn and Override noticed that Larry and Joe's game had improved dramatically. Larry and Joe in turn noticed that no matter how unlikely Robyn's shot looked as she made it, by some bizarre fluke the ball always found it's way into the pocket she had indicated. Override executed his shots with amazing geometric prescision. Override made an amazing combination shot that ricocheted off of three sides of the table and sank into the corner pocket. Then it was Robyn's turn. "Hmmm, five ball, corner pocket." Larry was certain that she would never make it. The only other ball on the table was the eight and it was between the five and the pocket she had indicated. And then, when she aimed towards the side pocket instead, he could barely keep from laughing out loud. Larry watched the shot take place in his mind's eye. The five ball would go into the side pocket, followed by the cue ball. That would loose these cocky teens the game, and Larry and Joe would be fifty bucks in pocket. Larry's heart sank however as the girl Robyn used the corner pocket to rocket the five ball around the eight. It was really wierd, how the ball went into the side pocket, and then jumped out the other way sending the five careening around the eight and then into the corner pocket. Her partner then had a simple, clear shot and sank the eight easily. The girl walked up to him. "You owe me two hundred dollars Larry." She still looked and sounded like a flaky teenager, but there was something about her that Larry didn't like. "Hey lady. Gambling's illegal in this state, and I don't have $200 anyway." She stepped in real close, and started to act all helpless and sad. There wasn't even an inch of space between them and Larry knew what she was doing. Everyone else in the bar knew he was a shark, and she was making them think that she was trying to get out of giving him money. There were other girls that had offered him things other than money to pay off their debts, but somehow he figured sex was the last thing on her mind. The guy had stepped in real close to Joe, and just looked at him. That had been enough to stop him in his tracks. "You have a $400 Rolex, Larry. You could give me that instead. And as for gambling being illegal, you're the one who started the betting. And I don't think you're going to go calling the cops are you Larry?" Larry was frustrated and angry. The chick was right. He couldn't call the cops, they'd just laugh and say he got what was coming to them. It was time to be a man. Pulling his hand out, Larry was about to slap her when he felt an uncomfortable pressure somewhere south of his bellybutton. He looked down and saw a knife the size of the one that Aussie actor used. It was nestled firmly against the family jewels. "As a friend of mine so loves to say: Go ahead, make it legal Larry. Please." Larry slowly brought his arm back, and unclipped the Rolex he was wearing. "H-here you go, just don't..." "Flinch?" Larry looked at her face and saw the calm expression. That was even scarier than if she had been one of those man haters. This one wouldn't even flinch if he did hit her. "Being a shark isn't all it's cracked up to be Larry. One day you're gonna meet a killer whale, and they just loooove the taste of shark." She stepped back, and the knife just disappeared. Where had it come from anyway? "K," she turned back into the bubbly teenager she had been moments before, "Bye Larry, bye Joe. See ya." Override and Robyn headed back up the stairs to their floor. At the first landing, Robyn couldn't contain herself any longer. She collapsed in a heap, and laughed so hard that tears began to stream out her eyes. "You were a little over the top there, weren't you Robyn?" Override was laughing too, but not as hard as Robyn. He at least was still standing. "I know, but I just couldn't help myself." Robyn was trying desperately to choke back tears. "He made it soooo easy. And he did deserve it." "Yeah but... I can see all that 'make it legal stuff,' that's Tal's favorite line, but where on earth did you come up with all that killer whale stuff?" "I have no idea." Robyn finally got ahold of herself, and the pair headed back up the stairs. "I've gotta get some sleep amigo. I'll see you in the morning." "G'night." Next --> |