Guy was eager, his excitement turned to doubts as he recalled the quick notice and the problems came snowballing into his thoughts.
He set the manual on the table and found something decent from his hanger to sport for the event. Over the past few days, he was playing and Spectran dictated through the guidelines as he wished.
He did have unsettling encounters with Shawna. And luckily, his bad eyesight was there to save him sometimes. Would be better to just suck it up.
Depending on a burner phone now, Jillian gave updates about her new apartment. He looked up her social media account and found them all plain, nothing interesting except his likes on all her posts? He was afraid to unlike them now and accidentally liked a post from yesterday about the "man-sinkhole".
His cursed himself as he left a sheepish comment on impulse.
The ads did show on television as promised by the M-Tech CEO, he was ready for it, convincing himself it was a game. His forte.
He took a cab to the building and he marvelled at the remarkable garden maze and a hologram that switched on every five seconds. His head swivelled as he gazed up at the large M with reinforcements and the panel of several lights blinking into one marvellous spectacle, although he had seen it upclose_somewhat, it still did not lose its sparkle.
Workers in navy blue Tee-shirts with their trademark and everything else hung back at the entrance.
There was a blue carpet with posters of all the sponsors and paparazzi and fanatics hanging by the barriers screaming and cheering in front of the camera drifting through the lines to the top drones roving about and capturing an aerial view of the crowd that attended the event.
The sparks whistled as they cut through the dark sky to burst into a thrilling display of fireworks.
Perhaps he wasn't dressed well enough for the occasion in his white hoodie, jeans and shoes; Crikey, my phone's on the charger. He wiped his face and froze at all the other contenders stepping out of their cars wearing their best and wielding the souvenirs the staff passed on.
A senior staff reached out to him "I thought you'd never make it, there have been mails going out to you for the past eight days."
He said giving him a VIP pass with his photo on it.
Guy examined it; "How did you get my picture?"
"Doesn't matter, now" He passed on a T-shirt and he quickly put it on with the pass, it had a silver streak with the number 2 on it.
"Follow me, if you will" He gestured to the line of bureaucrats from M-Tech all dressed sharply with passes hanging on their breast pockets.
He smiled and nodded meeting a taller fellow who inclined to him,
His blue eyes ticked and he raised a hand "Huxley, Kane Huxley, best you back out of this one,"
"Sure" He said darting at his gold streak, when he shook hands with him, he was basically number one and the paparazzi wanted more of him as he walked smartly to the blue carpet waving and moving along as a staff instructed to get his picture while a reporter interviewed a random staff.
It was his turn and he quickly put on his shades at the lights, he felt better that the picture taking was over, it still felt like a dream and even better, he grinned at the flashing lights and met the taller correspondent immediately.
"Oh"
"An accent, I like it, how does it feel to be standing on the blue carpet of one of the most prestigious, first ever gaming tournament?" She inclined it to him.
Her blue smokey eyes eyed him and he tugged at his collar as his throat went dry and he grunted once the third winner, a girl named Eve O'Hara pushed closer.
She had short brown hair, notched eyebrows, hazel eyes and lips covered with black lipstick, she was skinny and wore her T-shirt with casual jeans and shiny baseball boots.
"I deserved to be here," Eve O'Hara said standing in front of him and the reporter gravitated to her with a smile as she buzzed on about her devotion to the brand and how she bought all their merchandise.
He huffed getting around them and met a round man who looked oddly like Josh Gad with glasses meandering to him in a royal blue tuxedo with black collars and a white vest, which caused his stomach to look more or less prominent, a pair of stylish jet black trousers and loafers that glimmered, he had a platinum streak and the tag number 4.
"I am number 4" He raised four beefy fingers.
"Seen that movie" Guy said.
He pumped a fist "Yes" And faced the reporter scratching his hair.
The last was skinny and tall with an oblong face, his black hair fell over his eye and he had a piercing on his eyebrow and chin. He has a brass streak with the number five and assumed an unoccupied look.
His robe was fashioned like a long jacket with collars and silver outlines, a flap that ran across with a line of buttons down with zips on the sides, pleated pants, studded boots and gauntlets.
"Is that_"
"Yes, the unbreakable gauntlets of Ogysdane, ruler of Okeanos"
"Actually, Ogsydane is a...nevermind" He shook his head and smiled. "And you are?"
He sighed "Charles, the fourth runner up apparently" He flicked his black hair glumly and his eyes bulged showing his eyeliner "But you can call me Bones"
"Bones, how fetching"
He nodded and met the reporter too.
Guy spotted the man of the hour at the extreme end in a dim club house holding a black tablet, only a crystalline light gleamed, the room looked small and he sauntered out in a brilliant blue suit.
His stomach knotted as his brown eyes looked his way with a brilliant smile flashing his teeth waving as the photographers focused on him.
Donnie closed Guy's jaw as he touched on
"If he steps five feet away from me, I am totally gonna pass out" He said in a fit of excitement breathing in and out.
"I want to clip his toenails and sell them on E-bay" Bones said attracting nasty looks from them.
"I'm sure I can get through this without acting like an obsessed freak" Eve said brushing her shoulders.
"Says the girl who just listed all the merchandise she has in her basement" Kane adjusted his cufflinks and she punched him.
"Here he comes, shut up everyone!" Donnie yelled.