Echo Online 3: A GameLit Harem, page 1
By
Zachariah Dracoulis
Echo Online 3 Copyright © 2020 by Zachariah Dracoulis. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by Flame Croowz
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For Frank,
Live, laugh, dab.
1
T he drive home after quitting was… interesting.
Well, the drive itself was pretty pedestrian, which I honestly think contributed to my feeling of ‘Why isn’t everyone else freaking the Hell out right now?’ in a big bad way.
I mean, if I was freaking out, shouldn’t everyone else be?
Anxiety is weird.
“Jesus Christ…” I muttered to myself as I sat in the car, unable to muster the strength to head up to my apartment while my eyes spelled out the ‘million’ on the check in my hands for the umpteenth time.
I always looked before I leapt when it came to big life decisions, always, and for some God unknown reason I’d not only leapt without looking, but also counted on someone else to catch me on the other side.
Sure, I had the check in my hands, that wasn’t a bank statement though, and it sure as Hell wasn’t cash.
I knew I was just freaking myself out, and I even laughed at myself a couple of times, but that didn’t change the fact that I was officially unemployed.
Actually, not-so-officially.
Unofficially, even.
“Would you stop?” I pleaded with my vibrating phone, which had been getting harassed by Pete and the manager since I’d peeled out of the parking lot with some hard rock radio station blaring through my speakers.
It wasn’t going to stop, not until I answered it anyway, and they were about as likely to get me to answer that phone as they were to get me to go back to that kitchen.
‘Fuck ‘em,’ I’d told myself, ‘I don’t owe them anything.’
That self-assured optimism had started to die off pretty quickly though, mostly due to the incessant ringing, but also thanks to my overthinking.
I didn’t know if I was supposed to do some sort of exit interview, or if I needed to sign something, or if… something.
The movies made it look so easy, the act of just dramatically walking out, but the longer I sat in the car the more I wondered ‘Is it that easy though?’ and I definitely wasn’t getting any sort of answer staring at the check.
It’d crossed my mind to check my phone and find out what I was supposed to do after walking out, though that thought kept getting rejected by shame, both embarrassing myself to me and the NSA agent monitoring my searches.
Hell, I hadn’t even told the girls what had happened yet.
As far as they knew, I was still at work, needlessly grinding for that bread despite the millionaire status-granting check.
That was it.
The check was sending me mad.
That was the next train of thought I’d hopped onto.
‘Cast it into the fire.’ my inner Elrond called across the fiery chasm that was my overwhelming panic volcano, ‘Destroy it!’
Fortunately, there was no fire, although I’d be lying if I said the thought of throwing it into the bay hadn’t crossed my mind.
I don’t even know why, it wasn’t as if the check had made me quit my stable job, it’d just given me the ability to do so.
Truth be told, I probably needed to work through all my manic laughter and crushing anxiety with a psychiatrist, hopefully one that wouldn’t insta-diagnose me with bipolar.
“What are you doing, Buck?” I sighed after putting the check back in the glove compartment and giving my face a good rubbing, “C’mon, man, pull it together.”
It was getting to the point where I was seriously considering just getting out of my car and going to the nearest liquor store or dispensary, whichever came first.
That wasn’t a solution, not a long-term one at least, and I knew what I really needed to do was nut up, go upstairs, and work through my spiral with the girls.
I couldn’t do it though, due in equal parts to shame and not wanting to just unload on them.
It was a strange dilemma to say the least.
I needed someone to work through the crap with, but I didn’t want to be a burden to the only people I trusted with said crap.
“Big day,” I murmured, resting my head against my seat and staring at the soft grey fabric above me, “bi-”
“Hi!” a sing-song voice called through my window, making me jump so hard that I nearly smashed my head into the roof.
“Kelly…” I sighed with relief before opening the door and climbing out, “Hi, how you doin’?”
“Good, good,” Kelly replied, her baggy pajamas contrasting with how buzzy she looked, “got a text from Carl to see if you’d made your way home.”
“Was he worried?” I chuckled after grabbing my bag out from the back seat and locking the car.
“I wouldn’t say ‘worried’,” Kelly said, “I may have paraphrased some of what he said. The gist was that you walked out and sped off.”
“Yeah, I did do that,” I replied without trying to sound too proud of myself as I led the way out of the parking lot, “got to be a bit much, decided I didn’t have to be there.”
“You’ll be alright though?” Kelly asked with what sounded like genuine concern, “Financially and stuff?
“Definitely, I’ve got a bunch saved up,” I said, weighing up whether or not I wanted to tell her the whole truth, “plus, I just came into a bit of money.”
“Oh?” Kelly let out fascinatedly, “How much, if you don’t mind my asking?”
I hesitated to answer, but quickly decided that there wasn’t much of a reason to hide it from her, “Twelve big ones.”
“Twelve grand?” Kelly blurted out, “How?”
“Million,” I clarified, feeling pretentious as soon as I did, “and some app I… invested in turned out to be worth something.”
“Which app and how do I invest?” Kelly half-joked.
“You heard of Ripper?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“You own a piece of Ripper?” Kelly asked, apparently completely baffled by the information, “Like, the game?”
“Yep,” I replied with a semi-awkward nod, “ten percent. Well, I owned ten percent, but I sold eight.”
“For twelve… Wow.” Kelly huffed amusedly, “I’m honestly astounded that you even went in. Did you plan to quit or..?”
“Nope, hadn’t even occurred to me for a second,” I said, scratching the back of my head, “if I’m being honest, I still can’t believe I did it. Whole thing’s driving me a little crazy.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Kelly replied facetiously, “I doubt I would’ve even been able to drive into work. When’d you get the money? Couple days ago or something?”
“This morning, actually,” I chuckled, “just before I headed into work.”
“I honestly can’t decide whether that makes you going in make more or less sense.” Kelly laughed, “Seriously, how are you not just having the biggest party right now?”
“Well, I had work,” I joked, “guess there’s nothing really standing in the way now, is there?”
“Not a thing in the world.” Kelly replied with a smile, “It’d probably be really good for you too, relieve some of that crazy in a fun way.”
“I hadn’t thought about that…” I trailed off, remembering the various parties I’d used to get past freaky moments in my life, both good and bad, “Any suggestions?”
“I’m pretty wrapped up in Echo and Ripper at the moment, so all of my suggestions revolve around those.” Kelly said embarrassedly, confusing me somewhat, “Something real world. I don’t know your budget though. Or your interests come to think of it…”
“Neither do I,” I replied with a weak chuckle as we reached Kelly’s floor, “let me know if you come up with something.”
“Definitely,” Kelly laughed, stopping at her door while I slowly continued up, “I’ll let Carl know you’re not dead.”
“Good plan,” I said amusedly, “and thanks for the chat. Meant a lot.”
“We all need someone to talk to sometimes,” Kelly replied knowingly as she stepped into her apartment, “we don’t always admit it, but we do. Anyway, talk soon, and congratulations.”
“Thanks… again.” I called over my shoulder, newly chilled out and a whole lot more confident about the future, “See you around.”
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t get a response to that, and was instead left to quietly reflect on the conversation and, with my anxiety out of the way, bolster myself for how the girls were going to react.
To be perfectly honest though, I don’t know if I could’ve ever properly prepared myself for what awaited me beyond those doors.
2
“So, I have something…” I trailed off confusedly, my eyes struggling to comprehend what I was looking at from where I’d frozen in the girls’ doorway.
“Yes?” Sam asked, trying and failing to play it off coolly while standing in a kimono with what looked like a full-on erection.
“I just… Hmm…” I murmured as I was waved into the apartment and given the opportunity to look around for Jane, “Sorry, I’m just struggling a little here.”
“It’s a strap-on,” Sam sighed after locking the door, “you weren’t supposed to be home for a few hours.”
“So you figured you’d just greet whoever came to the door with that?” I chuckled, somewhat relieved to have the distraction.
“I checked the peephole first,” Sam replied before brushing past me on her way to the bedroom, “are you going to make this weird or what?”
“No, as long as you don’t plan on using that thing on me,” I called after Sam as I leaned against the kitchen bench, assuming that the girls would probably want some time to get sorted, “glad to see I can be substituted so easily though.”
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” Sam joked, straining with something in the other room, “anyway, what brought you home so early? Your boss fire you after that whooping we gave ‘em?”
“Opposite, actually,” I replied as Jane came out of the room in a bathrobe, her cheeks a rich shade of red, “I quit.”
“Really?” Sam asked before making her way out to the kitchen, still in her kimono but without her attachment, “I thought you loved it there?”
“I did,” I said with a nod, “until I didn’t. Carl’s being a dick, so as far as I’m concerned they can do without me.”
“You quit because one of your coworkers was a douche?” Jane asked, clearly as grateful as I had been for my distraction, “That seems more like something you’d head to HR about.”
“Not so much in commercial cookery,” I chuckled, “and definitely not when you’re a business day away from being a millionaire.”
“I…” Sam trailed off before huffing amusedly and nodding, “Alright, I can see that. Still though, you don’t think you should’ve thought about it a bit more. Or, you know, given your two weeks?”
“Maybe,” I said with a shrugged, “but the truth is Pete probably would’ve found a way to guilt trip me into sticking on. Besides, I’m happy to be out of there.”
“As long as you’re sure.” Jane replied unconvincingly before looking across the bench, “So… no ice cream?”
“Really, Jane?” Sam scoffed, “The man just quit his job and you’re asking if he got ice cream?”
“To be fair, I’m sure we would all love some ice cream right about now,” Jane said confidently before turning to me, “right?”
“I would not hate some gelato or something.” I chuckled as a bright idea started to form in my head, which I now realize had probably been developing since my talk with Kelly, “Maybe could do a real celebration?”
“For quitting?” Sam asked.
“No,” I laughed, “well, yes, maybe a little, but also the money. Seriously, as far as I was concerned I had work tonight and that’s why my brain didn’t leave room for anything else. Now that my night’s opened up a bit though…”
“Yeah?” Jane replied eagerly, “What are we gonna do?”
And just like that, I was stuck again.
“Um…” I trailed off, my brain skipping right past fart and directly to insta-necrosis, “Okay, so what would you two like to do if you had a bunch of money put away?”
“Could you define ‘a bunch’?” Sam asked near-instantly.
“I don’t know. Twenty grand give or take?” I replied unsurely, “I don’t really track my money all that much with automatic billing and such.”
Sam just blinked at me for a while after that, tilting her head slightly as if she was looking at an alien, before shaking her head and clearing her throat, “Alright, let’s go with ten grand… We could do a pretty solid night out?” she suggested, “You know, get a hotel room, spend a night on the town.”
“That’s… a really good idea,” I replied confidently, “I mean, the money’s only got to last us ‘til Monday, Monday afternoon at the latest.”
“Exactly,” Sam said with a nod, “plus, when was the last time you really got to let loose?”
I went to reply with something about a fairly killer party I’d been to, but stopped when I remembered that that was about five years prior, “You think we’ll be able to find a hotel this late though? Don’t you need to book those a bit in advance?”
“I’m sure there’ll be some exorbitantly expensive room that hasn’t been nabbed up yet,” Jane chimed in, “are we really doing this though? This seems kind of crazy.”
“Why not?” I laughed, “Worst case scenario, the check doesn’t clear on Monday and we’ve had a killer weekend.”
Jane still didn’t seem entirely convinced, but managed a sigh and a nod for Sam and my benefit, “I guess you should start calling hotels then. I’m going to get changed and pack.”
“There’s that enthusiasm I was looking for.” I lightheartedly jabbed, earning me a hefty eye roll as Jane made her way towards the bedroom, “You excited though, Sam?”
“Are you kidding?” Sam scoffed, “I’ve wanted to do something like this for over a year. It’s just one thing to go ‘I wish we were more spontaneous’ and another thing entirely to actually do it. This’ll be fun.”
“Plus, room service.” I chuckled, “The last thing I want to do tonight is cook.”
“See? I knew it was a good idea.” Sam said proudly as if she’d brought it up, “Anyway, you should go get ready. I don’t think they’ll have a dress code, but on the off chance that they do…”
“I’m sure I’ll be able to find something a bit less ‘working man’,” I half-joked on my way to the door, “make sure you come up with some stuff to do tonight!”
“You’ll get a list!” Sam called after me as she finally followed Jane, “A big list!”
I naturally assumed she was joking, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that sort of hoped that I would come back to an actual list of suggestions, especially seeing as I was pretty sure I was going to end up spending the majority of the next hour or so hunting down a room that wasn’t already reserved.
To make matters slightly worse, from the moment I left the apartment I felt alone again.
Nowhere near to the extreme that left me sitting in my car for God knows how long, but it was there.
For a minute I worried I was getting too codependent, but as I circled that rabbit hole I came to the comforting realization that it wasn’t so much that I needed them to hold my hand as it was I just liked having them around.
Even if we were all doing our own thing and working through our own stuff, I knew I’d like to simply have them to sort of center me with their presence.
The balance between love and total codependence is a delicate one, huh?
3
Surprisingly, I didn’t have to spend all that long looking for last-minute hotel accommodation, with the only part taking up any sort of time being booking online.
Turns out that having a decent amount of money sitting around and being in the midst of the school term gives you a wide net to cast.
Anyway, other than a brief moment where I struggled with what clothes to bring, the journey from the apartments to the hotel room was an uneventful one, leaving me to lose any and all expectations I had and to be floored by the room as we walked through the door.
“This place is bigger than my apartment…” I muttered, looking around at the spacious penthouse’s living room and the wall-sized window, “And that view? Damn…”
“Well, for five grand a night, you’d want to hope you got something better than home.” Sam chuckled as she and Jane dumped their small bags next to the couch, “Have to say though, I wasn’t expecting this.”
“What were you expecting?” Jane asked elatedly, her eyes locked onto the balcony, “Seriously, I don’t know how you’re staying calm right now.”
“Once you’ve hit the town in Vegas, everything else feels kind of… lesser.” Sam replied matter-of-factly before catching herself and turning to me, “Sorry, this is great, really, I’m not trying to downplay it or anything.”
“Honestly, I don’t think there’s a thing in the world that you could say that could ruin this for me.” I said with a smile before walking towards a door in the far left corner of the room, “As far as I’m concerned, I’m on holiday time.”
