Chapter 5: The Set-Up

The ‘perfect girl’ was Kimi Aoki, who arrived at Peter’s house the following Monday afternoon, long after Roger had left for work. He was gone when Peter woke up at his usual time.

He was finishing the data entry program Alan had asked for help with when he heard the smooth engine from Jeremiah’s El Dorado pulling into his driveway. He rose and stepped out to the front porch wearing his typical shorts and tank top. At home, he felt little need to try to conceal his titanium prosthetics inside long pants. He opened the door and gaped as the small, childlike figure exited the Cadillac with his friend and colleague.

Kimi looked like an Asian schoolgirl. She wore a pleated skirt, white dress shirt, and necktie. She also wore knee-high stockings and black loafers. He stared in astonishment as she approached him, wearing a colorful backpack over her shoulders. Jeremiah walked casually beside her, gently touching her arm and escorting her to the porch. He carried a paper sack in his free hand.

“Peter, meet Ms. Kimi Aoki,” he said as a perfect gentleman.

The boy gazed at the girl in amazement, and she glanced back at him with a shy. He tentatively held out his hand. “Please to meet you, um—”

“Konnichiwa,” she replied with a high-pitched musical voice, bowing deeply to him. Then, she took his hand boldly and shook it with exaggerated eagerness.

“Um—”

“Why don’t we go inside?” the older man suggested.

Peter nodded and held the door for them. Kimi marched into the house and began looking around as Jeremiah followed. Peter closed the door and watched the girl inspect the room before entering the kitchen.

“Um, Jeremiah?” he asked uneasily. The man turned back, holding the bag as if it were wrapped around a bottle. He gazed at the young man expectantly. “How old is she?”

“My ID says I’m seventeen,” she answered in perfect English. My real age is somewhat older, though,” she smiled brightly at him. “You have a charming home.”

“Um ... thanks,” he replied, looking back at her. Was it him? Or did she just suddenly age before his eyes? He couldn’t place it. Perhaps it was her posture or a slight change in her bearing. She now seemed more American and less exotic. “Whoa,” he muttered.

She laughed and twirled in front of him before bowing again. “At your service,” she added without a hint of an accent.

Jeremiah set the bag on the table, and she reached for it, removing a half-gallon bottle of clear liqueur. The Southerner sat at the table while she looked around the kitchen.

“Got any glasses?” she asked curiously while opening several drawers.

Peter stepped past her and fetched a clean glass from the cabinet above the sink.

“Thank you,” she replied, returning to the table and sitting down. “Grab one if you want to join me.”

“Thanks. I don’t drink,” he replied, watching her pour several fingers. “Is that Sake?”

She downed the drink in one gulp, tucked her chin, and closed her eyes tightly. “Gin,” she whispered after a second. “I need to get liquored up before I can flow into my role here,” she explained as she poured herself another.

“Your role...” he repeated curiously.

“Ms. Aoki is a foreign exchange student from Tokyo,” Jeremiah explained as the slight woman poured herself a third and fourth shot before setting the glass down. “She will be staying with another family in a few days, but they are on vacation. So, your mother and you graciously allowed her to stay in your home until her sponsoring family returns.”

“I need to appear timid and easily exploited,” she replied. “What better way than to get wasted when the folks aren’t around, eh?”

“Yeah,” he agreed slowly. “It’s just that I thought we were planning to set my dad up with a ... um,” he blushed. “We were planning to get him to compromise himself while in bed with—”

“A hooker?” she finished directly, grinning as his face colored. She chuckled and grinned at Jeremiah. “He’s cute!” Then she rose from the table and whirled around, letting her skirt rise to expose her bare ass. She regarded him with a seductive smile. “Sugar, I’m more than just a prostitute,” she claimed. “I’m an actress, enchantress, and role-playing sex toy. I cater to eclectic tastes.” She plopped down on his couch. “You want a young Japanese student or a bewitching dominatrix...? Son, I’d fuck the German Shepherd next door if you pay me enough.”

Wow! She is like a vampire. He just nodded and swallowed. “So, you are prepared to—”

She laughed again. “There ain’t much I haven’t seen or done, Peter. My last trick was a fat old guy who wanted to wear a diaper and breastfeed for an hour,” she gazed at him with mature eyes. “Some want it rough ... others want to be rough ... It’s all the same to me as long as I get paid.” She examined her perfect nails. “Jeremiah explained the big picture. You sit back and trust me. I’ll have your old man out by morning. Promise.”

She got up and skipped around the room. “Do you want to show me to my room?”

“Babe, you won’t believe this,” Peter breathed into his cell phone an hour later.

“Is she there?” Kathy asked eagerly.

“Yeah, but ... whoa!”

“What do you mean by... ‘whoa’?” she asked slowly, her voice a little cooler than before.

“I mean, when she first appeared, she was this tiny innocent...” he swallowed nervously. “But she’s older, you know? One minute she’s a cute Japanese student, and then she just ... changes,” he stammered.

“Changes...” he heard in his ear. “Like how?”

“I dunno, she’s like a ... chameleon! She looks the same but different, like a vampire succubus.”

“A chameleon, vampire, succubus,” Kathy repeated, her tone growing colder.

“Uh huh, weird, right?”

“So, she’s pretty,” she suggested.

“Well,” he paused, realizing the trap he had fallen into. “I mean ... she’s not my type,” he added defensively.

There was a long pause over the phone, and then he heard shuffling and a door closing.

“What are you doing, babe?” he asked.

“I’m coming over,” she replied as her car engine started.

“But—”

“Un-huh,” she replied. “No buts, sir. If some tiny Trollip has you tongue-twisted in your own home, I’m coming over.”

“Babe, it’s not like that,” he replied contritely.

“Of course, it isn’t,” she replied firmly. “So, it shouldn’t matter if I am there to keep an eye on things.”

Forty minutes later, she entered the house and inspected the main level intently. She removed her flip-flops and hung her bag by the door. She approached the table and looked at the tall bottle and the empty glass nearby. She sniffed the glass and curled her nose. Peter opened his door to peer at her and gestured for her to join him. He closed the door behind her and turned the bolt.

“So, where’s the chameleon, succubus vampire girl?” she asked. Her expression suggested she was less than cool with the entire thing.

He rolled his eyes. “She is in Ronnie’s room ‘relaxing before her performance,” he replied quietly. “I’m supposed to keep a low profile and only appear long enough to make introductions.”

“Why is there an open bottle of gin on the table?”

“It’s part of her thing,” he replied. “She’ll pretend to be too drunk to know better.”

“Pretend? The bottle is almost half gone.”

“I know,” he grinned. “She pounded so many shots that even Jeremiah was blown away. And she seems perfectly sober.”

“Hmmph,” she muttered, sitting on his bed.

“Babe, you aren’t seriously jealous, are you?” he asked warily.

“Should I be?” she replied frostily.

Ouch, she got me again! He gazed at her guarded expression and sighed, “You know how I told you there is a part of me that sometimes influences my thoughts and reflections?”

“Old Pete?”

“Exactly.”

She stared at him expectantly, “What does ‘Old Pete’ say about it?”

“He never says much of anything,” he replied after a thought, “It’s more like he feels stuff, and I share those feelings. It’s hard to explain. But anyway, the younger me is feeling defensive and nervous that you feel this way right now, and I’m ready to kill myself trying to prove my love is exclusively yours.” He sat in a chair facing her.

“And how does Old Pete feel about it?” she asked.

“He’s chill about it all and feeling kind of proud.”

“What is there to be proud of?” she asked darkly with her arms crossed.

“That we’re ‘collectively’ something worth being jealous over.”

His explanation caught her off guard, and she didn’t reply for several moments. The thought was lost when they heard water draining through the pipes from above.

“What is that?” she asked, glancing at the ceiling.

“I heard her filling Ronnie’s tub earlier, so I assume she took a bath.”

“When can I see her?”

He shrugged. “We don’t have to stay in here. But Jeremiah warned me to leave her alone so she can do her thing.”

“You think she’ll sweep your dad off his feet?”

He nodded energetically. “Oh yeah, if anyone can, it’s her. I’m telling you, babe—she’s a scary-ass witch!”

She got off his bed and headed for the door. “I’m gonna go introduce myself.”

He stood abruptly and moved after her. “Wai ... what? Babe, we’re supposed to leave her alone!” he whispered harshly at the door.

“Then stay here,” she replied before entering the living room and heading upstairs.

He watched her tentatively knock on his sister’s door and disappear inside. Oh shit!

After making coffee and preparing a cup for himself, she still hadn’t reappeared. He debated going after her but didn’t want to intrude on ‘girl talk.’ Instead, he returned to his room and sat in front of his computer trying to decide whether to finish his part of the inventory program or work on Dungeon Lords. Instead, he lost himself running through some melee sequences against some monsters and NPCs they had added to the original version (he was particularly proud of his Beholder).