Chapter 22 Drop Dead and Beaten

Alex woke up on her bed and found an arm hugging her chest comfortably. She removed the arm and felt for her phone by the bedside table. She picked it up and checked the time.

It's 6:30 in the morning.

Alex tried to sit up.

Her head still hurt a little as she sat against the pillow. She drank a lot last night.

Daniel was still asleep beside her his arms stretched on her body. He mumbled something in his sleep.

They joined Sebastian and Delphi drinking last night. They were with Daniel's eldest brother since Saturday, spending the weekend with them.

Alex and Daniel flew to see Sebastian and Delphi in Rhode Island the next morning with barely sleep as they left the plane at 6 am Saturday morning.

It was only a forty-five hour flight but Alex and Daniel's energy was spent with Sebastian's daughter Kleia who never left Daniel's side when he went to visit them that weekend.

Sebastian celebrated his 30th birthday with his wife Delphi and Daniel promised to celebrate with them. Actually, it was Kleia who pushed the idea to him when she mentioned that it's her dad's birthday the soonest when saw him during her Uncle Devin's wedding. And she made him promise to bring the game he created for her on her dad's birthday because it won't be Kleia's birthday until spring of next year.

Daniel rapped on Alex bedroom door Saturday morning and dragged her out of sleep to join him for a weekend with his brother, Sebastian.

Lacking sleep and still feeling too sleepy for she only had three hours shut down in her bed, Alex allowed herself to accompany Daniel to Rhode Island where she was able to sleep a wink of forty-five minutes on board and spend the next twelve hours of her life playing with the most energetic kid that happened to be Kleia.

She was able to get fully rested when night came but Sunday was another energy consuming day for Alex as she spent the next twelve hours playing with the little girl who had boundless energy and was bouncing like a ball and wasn't dropping anytime soon until evening came. The kid learnt to play the game that she and Daniel made for her and thoroughly enjoyed her little journey onscreen as she found her way to know words to level up.

When evening arrived and Kleia was tucked to bed, the couple took them to a couple of drinks where when it ended, they saw four bottles of wine consumed on the table before they headed to bed by midnight. And Daniel brought her up to her room but must have ended up on her bed feeling tired and drunk, too.

Alex touched her slightly sore head and turned to silently watched him asleep but it was already past six in the morning and they have to fly back to New Jersey to go to work.

It's Monday morning.

Alex tapped Daniel on the arms to wake him up and when he only grumbled, she shook him harder to wake him. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled upon seeing her first thing in the morning.

"It's great to see you first thing in the morning," he said with bouts of sleep. "Do you think we should get married soon so I can always see you first up in the morning?"

Alex instead told him of the time.

"It's already quarter to seven." Not making any further comment to his morning statement.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath.

And hastily jumped out of bed.

"We have a meeting at 9 am."

"We?" Alex asked him, wondering.

"Yes, we." He repeated looking at her. His hair was still rumpled, flying everywhere. "There's a new client who's coming down to meet us to talk about a joint project. I'm meeting up with them and you are part of the team."

Daniel said telling Alex the information.

He went to the bathroom and water ran inside. After fifteen minutes, he emerged out of it.

Alex was fixing their beddings when she saw him went out with only a towel wrapping his waist.

She felt her throat went dry.

His hair was slightly dripping on the floor as he rubbed his head with another towel. His chest was bare and she could see the six-packed abs that was usually hidden under his clothes.

When she looked back at him, Daniel was grinning at her.

"I forgot I slept in your bed. I'll return to my room."

He walked casually to the door.

Alex was frozen on the spot until she remembered she has to go ask Delphi for a new towel because Daniel used one on his waist and the other on his head. She walked to the door and bumped into him as he opened it.

"Oomph!"

Her nose hit his back. He smelled of vanilla and lavender.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"You're not doing this on purpose, aren't you?" he asked turning around to face her once he walked past the door.

Alex stared at his abdomen.

"Like what you see much, Alex?" he asked smiling naughtily at her.

Alex looked back and smirked at him.

"I'm going to see Delphi to ask for a new towel as you obviously used mine," she said pointedly looking down at his waist and tilted her head up to look at the towel on his head to prove her point.

"Just admit you find me sexy, Alex."

He further teased her.

"Duh. You're too skinny, Daniel if you want to know." She fired back at him. "So, stop dreaming."

He put the towel on her head and went back to his room smiling.

Alex glared at him as she stomped her way to find Delphi already having breakfast with Sebastian in the dining area. She asked for a towel and returned to her room to shower and changed her clothes.

She and Daniel had a fast breakfast and the couple sent them to the airport so they could get the 8 am flight back to New Jersey.

Daniel requested for the meeting to be moved to 1pm so he and Alex could rest a little from the flight and be done with lunch before meeting the new clients.

The secretary opened the door to reveal Reina and an unfamiliar guy taller than her wearing a tux into the conference room.

"Reina." Daniel greeted her and turned to look at the man beside her. "David." He said acknowledging him.

The man nodded to him.

"Welcome to Juggle House Publishing. Have a seat." He gestured them to the seats.

The two sat down.

Reina's face brightened when she saw Alex on the table.

"Alex," she greeted smiling at her. "Good to see you again." She motioned her arms to her right. "And this is my brother, David. We're here to form a joint project with you for a teenage videogame."

Alex smiled at them.

"Alex, here is my girlfriend. And she will be the one to cover the illustrations for the game." Daniel introduced her to them. "Alright. Let us begin."

For the next half hour, they discussed about their plans for the new game that they will be collaborating. It's an RPG game that they hoped will hit bestseller on the teenage market.

"We're excited with this new game." Reina enthusiastically shared to them. "It's actually an idea that hatched out of our little brother's geek whiz-dom."

"You have a little brother?" Alex asked her.

"Yes, but he's at school. He couldn't come today because they were taking exams," she explained. "Myron is a game addict like me and David and this game formed while we were playing one time…"

Reina continued to tell them the story.

"He's really insistent on joining us with this project. He helps us when it comes to music and other technical stuff. He's quite a geek himself."

"I'd love to meet your little brother," Daniel said perked with interest. Anyone who lives and breathes in his domain is a comrade de force. "He can join us in making the game. Tell him to meet us once his exam is over."

"We'll tell him that, Daniel."

David informed him.

They continued their meeting.

Later, Reina and David were introduced to the other members of the team who will be joining hands in the creative process of the game.

They went on a short break and continued after.

The days that followed after meeting Reina and David were rigorous ones. Everyone was excited to make the RPG game.

Myron Scott was a cute and lanky teenage game wizard who was introduced to the company. He easily vibe up with Daniel whom the latter found to be like a lost little brother, he never have.

But the teenage kid could be quite talkative.

"You know my sister keeps a photo of you in her room, Dan." He one day divulged this secret to him while they were making the game. "You were a previous classmate of her, right?"

Daniel nodded.

"Yes, she was a classmate of mine from nursery until middle school." He informed Myron. He watched the kid as he made sketches illustration for the game. Myron shared making the background illustrations with Alex. "Back in California when I still lived there. My parents moved us to New York when I went to high school."

"Mom and dad moved us to New Jersey when I was in Grade 10. It was a drastic moved but dad insisted on it." Myron shared with Daniel about his family.

Silence wrapped them the next minute as they continued working. Daniel fully appreciated Myron being an all around certified gamer with an artist hand. He was quite good for a kid.

"She must secretly liked you then," Myron burst out smiling at him as he drew a background setting.

Daniel only laughed at him.

Reina entered the room joined by Alex.

"What are you two talking about?" Reina asked as she walked towards them.

"Oh, nothing," Daniel shrugged looking at her.

"I was telling Dan that there was a picture—"

Reina looked sharply and suspiciously at Myron.

"I think I said too much," Myron said looking at his elder sister as he bit his lips. But his eyes lacked the guilt and was smiling connivingly while looking at Daniel.

Daniel kept his face straight. He felt flattered though. He never heard of someone liking him back at school.

"You think you said too much?" Reina asked very irritated at her younger brother. "I think Myron and I need to take our break."

She almost dragged him out of the room.

Alex looked at Daniel quizzically.

He shrugged his shoulders. He doesn't have any intention of admitting to Alex what Myron just told him. He has a pretty good idea, it would vex Alex. And he wouldn't want to see her jealous.

He and Alex continued with their work. They were later joined back by the siblings. They worked seamlessly over the next hours.

For the next succeeding days, the group that was formed to make the RPG teenage video game was in full play. They were catching up with the schedule. Everybody was busy doing their line of work.

The game was a series video game. And they were only to release the first version yet.

On the last day before the team were to release the first version of the game, there was a minor accident. Reina tripped on one of the wires and was brought to the company's clinic by Daniel because he was the closest to her when the accident happened. She had a swollen ankle and missed the first celebration of the company when they launched the teenage RPG video game called Slash X.

For Alex, the month was indeed a busy day but Christmas was soon coming up. She can rest in the holidays.

But when she came home that night, she had one simple statement as she saw her bed.

"I think I'm gonna drop." Alex said as she plopped herself on the soft bed.

The next five minutes, she was already dead to the world.