FSE

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Chapter 8

Clutching the now empty dessert glass in front of me I stared at it intently, watching a drop of melted vanilla ice cream slowly trickle its way down the inside of the precious glass container.

...

...

I had just chatted up, made plans with and even complimented, Matthew Sanders. The one and only. Hunky daddy wolf, with lots of muscles, neat grey fur, his black hair in a tight pony tail... Perfectly sculpted ass.

Head of Rosewood Tech Corporation.

During a business meeting!

What the hell!

I repeat.

What.

The.

Hell.

I can just imagine it in front of me: The hunky wolf sitting at the head of a long table, several subordinates on each side. Sitting in their black suits and tie, papers and laptops in front of them, and they were all looking at him. He was talking sternly with them, barking orders and laying out names.

And then he gets a text, picks up his phone and just... grins. Wags his tail and types a reply, whit all his subordinates just stares at him. He'd go back to barking orders until he got another text. And repeat it until just now.

I, Lukas Rosenberg, have made a dangerous friend.

Let's hope I survive this encounter.

"Dude, Lukas, hello?" A black paw waved in front of my face and I snapped back to reality, shaking my head.

"Lol dude, I tried calling your name like five times. What're you doing?" Kieran stood next to me, leaning on the table on a paw and with a curious grin on his face.

"Oh Kieran, you're here already? I thought you didn't get on until 2pm..." I glanced down at the clock on my phone. 2:03.

Oh.

"Are you alright dude? You seem so out of it." Kieran flicked one of his wolf ears and coked his head from side to side. Looking all adorable and shit.

"Y-Yes, yes I'm fine. I was just... making plans with a friend for the weekend and I guess I just... dazed out for a bit."

I mumbled out and rubbed my eyes. I was losing my grip on reality faster than I could comprehend.

"Oh that's cool. What're you gonna do? Must be important if you make plans on a Tuesday." Kieran asked. Curious as ever.

"We... we're going to comic con actually." I said.

"What? No way dude! Me too!" Kieran shouted all of a sudden. Tail wagging briskly and ears at full attention.

"I didn't know you liked that kind of stuff. Will you be cosplaying?" He asked all giddy now. Wow, this was a side of the young wolf that I didn't know he had. Then again, there's plenty I don't know about the black wolf.

"Oh no, no. We're just going to wander around a little, you know, as friends does." Probably.

"Aw. Well my friend and I will be cosplaying! He'll be going as Titus and I will be Lord Anwell." Kieran announced proudly, tail flagged high and wagging.

Now why did those names sound familiar.

"You... uh... read A Throne Under the Aurora?" I asked carefully, not knowing what I should expect.

He practically screamed at me.

"Oh my god dude! You've read those books too?! That's so fucking awesome. Hey, hey, did you like the part where Marigold fooled the whole camp of bandits into drinking her sleeping drink saying it was really alcohol? And then they all turned purple, and they had to flee for their lives! Hahahaha oh that was so much fun to read." Kieran spoke in a most loud voice, yappering away.

"Uh, yeah. I remember." I said.

Looking up at the grinning wolf I couldn't help myself but stare in disbelief. Was this the same black furred wolf I knew? The Kieran I know would always just follow me around, ask me questions about this and that. Never revealing too much of himself.

"Dude that's wicked. I was hoping they would announce a release date for the third book at comic con this year, but I haven't heard anything about it yet. Man I could kill to get my paws on the next book already. I've already pre-paid for a deluxe edition and everything, but I'm itching to know when it'll be here. Y'know?" Kieran pouted like a kid being neglected his favorite toy.

Should I tell him? Maybe only the part about the announcement.

"Oh you haven't heard? There's going to be a book reading from the new book on Saturday, and a Q&A after." As I spoke, I could see the pupils in Kieran's eyes dilate wide. He gripped my shoulders and stared me right into the eyes.

"Say that again?" He spoke in a cool, strict voice. Lime green eyes on me. I felt like a felon in a court room.

"The... The author will be holding a... a book reading f-from the new book..." I stammered out.

Kieran was beside himself. "What! Really?! Oh my fucking god! I... I can't believe it! Do you know how hard it is to get to see Mister Hodges in real life? He almost never shows up at public announces, let alone read from his books. Shit I gotta call Eric. Like, right now." Kieran stormed off before I had a chance to stop him.

Huh. This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. First Ray, then Matt, now Kieran.

I'm secretly glad I didn't mention I just gave Matt a VIP ticket with backstage pass. And I'm -REALLY- happy I didn't tell him I personally know Ian, or 'Mister Hodges' as people knew him by his pen name.

Not even god knows if I could survive that encounter.

Kieran returned, looking confused.

"Well?" I asked. "How did your friend take it?" My words got a slow stare from the now quiet wolf. A moment ago it would've been impossible to shut him up. What the heck happened?

"Oh he's ecstatic, he's as hardcore fan as I am. But..." He said in a much calmer voice.

But what?

"Nothing of what you just said is online yet. I had Eric check it out and... He can't find any of those news anywhere."

Kieran turned his head sideways slightly, looking at me.

Well, shit. Talk about digging your own grave. Well here's to being discreet. I'd rather not lie to the wolf if I could avoid it.

"Oh... I see... Well. Uhm... how do I say this." Shit, shit, shit. Don't ruin this now. You know how hard a small lie now can come back and bite you in the ass.

"Kieran, can you keep a secret? Even from your friend, Eric? It's of utmost importance that nobody knows of what I'm about to say, okay? Because I don't want to lie to you, I need you to keep your word that you won't tell a soul."

I said, staring at the wolf. I know I made it sound as if life or death depended on it. But, fuck, this was complicated.

I didn't want to lie to Kieran, because he would eventually find out anyway. And then I'll get hell for it. But if I tell him, a hardcore fan of Ian's books, there's a chance that all of the internet will know about it before my shift ends.

Kieran nodded slowly.

"Okay? I promise I won't tell a soul." He said, looking serious.

Guess we'll see what promises means to him. Urging the wolf closer, I leaned in to whisper in a low voice.

"I... heard it from Ian. Mister Hodges." I said in a hushed tone.

"WHAT-...!" I slapped my hands to Kieran's half open muzzle to close it.

"Sshh! Don't shout it you dingus!" I glared at him long enough for the wolf to calm down. Only then did I release the wolf's muzzle.

"You... you know Mister Hodges?" He said, voice shaking.

I nodded.

"I've known him since before he became known as Mister Hodges. But you can't tell a soul about this! Got it?" I stared the wolf down.

It took a moment, but soon he was completely calm and he nodded.

"I promise I won't tell anyone, but dude! That's so awesome! I only know him by his Wikipedia page. But you're telling me you know him, as in, you've got his phone number and everything?" Kieran was starting to get excited again, his tail wag was increasing in speed.

Ian has a Wikipedia page? Granted I've never thought of googling my best friend, even after he became an author. I already knew his favorite color. Blue. And his favorite food. Salmon, with lemon pepper and caviar sauce. Swedish style. He used his right paw to hold the fork.

"Yeah, I guess. But let's back it up. Ian has a Wiki page?" I reached for my phone and popped up the internet, typing in google. 'Mister Hodges'

"Yeah dude, it's linked in the aTUtA fan page." Kieran watched me looking at my phone, and suddenly it felt like I was doing something inappropriate...

A dozen links already showed up and I clicked the first one, leading to an official looking wiki page.

Mister Hodges (Pseudonym for Ian Hodges), born 12th December in Rosewood, New York, USA, an American author known for his fantasy novels A Throne Under the Aurora sold in over 100 million copies around the world in over 6 languages.

I already knew this.

I scrolled down to read into more details. There wasn't much written about him.

Ian Hodges is a 28 year old arctic male fox, he has blue eyes and pristine white fur. He carries himself with an immersive grace despite being a paraplegic, which he has been for years now became lame in both legs after a horrific train accident. 47 of 51 passengers perish after truck crashes into train and derail a train.

I had to stop reading now, before tears would well up in my eyes.

"Rough shit about that accident that happened to him. Were you... friends with him already back then?" Kieran asked cautiously. Well, if he was going to hear it all it might as well be from me.

"...I was with him when it happened." I said quietly, clenching the phone in my hand.

"Shit. Dude..." Kieran swore and stood up, pacing the room. "I'm so sorry, Lukas. I didn't mean to-..." He started, but fell at a loss for words. "I shouldn't have asked. Fuck I feel like such a bastard."

I jumped when he punched the wall.

"It's okay Kieran. It happened so long time ago. Ian and I were lucky, all things considered. I heard the other two passengers committed suicide some time after the accident. But we're still here." Though it was fucking hard to remain here, day after day. Smoke, and fire...

"I can't even imagine... what it would've been like. How you are dealing with it, after so long. I heard it was really bad, lots of dead furs. That can't have been easy..." Kieran had to sit down now, his arms were shaking and he rocked his legs under the table.

"It was hell. I... I don't share this with others often, but I consider you my friend Kieran. I'll talk about it if you want to know." I clasped my hands together and leaned on the table.

Kieran held his arms close to his body. His ears were limp on his head and his tail had stopped wagging, I had a hard time judging what the wolf was thinking about.

He gave a curt nod.

I cleared my throat.

"It happened on the way to the airport. Ian was going to see me off, I was heading home for a week to visit my family after our freshman year in college. Just a social call, to ensure them I was doing fine, and then I was supposed to fly back here. And then... Everything shook. The train slid right off the track, and tumbled around until it lay on its side. I was knocked unconscious for, god like, a few minutes? Half an hour? It was hard to tell. And my leg..." I sighed. It felt awful to recall these awful events, but it felt good to talk about it. Like, it made me feel like there was other people in that wagon who still lived...

"My leg got caught in the articulated joint when it ripped apart. So there I lay, on the side turned train. Injured leg, fire and smoke and... dead people everywhere..." I felt an awful taste in my mouth, but I decided to carry on.

"I crawled over broken glass and other passengers, I crawled until I found Ian. He... was unconscious, I suppose I should be thankful for that, because he can't remember anything between the crash and waking up at the hospital. No one should have to remember... I dragged Ian's limp body across the wagon, until I came upon a hole where the rescue time was cutting up the train." I sighed, hiding my face in my hands.

I felt like I needed to throw up. But I don't regret telling Kieran about it.

He however, probably didn't appreciate it as much as I did.

"Dude..." He started. "I... wow. I don't know what to say." He bit his lip.

I smiled weakly.

"You don't have to say anything. I've heard it all. I'm just glad you let me share this with you, I feel like we're much closer now. And it's not like I'm any different than before." I know what I said was true. But I knew from experience that it was going to take some time for Kieran to process everything. He'll probably treat me much different now, like I'm handicapped. Or. Or something.

"That's some tough shit Lukas. You're very hardcore, you know? You probably rescued Mister... Ian. When you pulled him with you through all of that. And you always seem so calm and, earth bound, you know?" Kieran sounded... awed? Humble, really. He was rubbing his temples and let out a deep sigh.

"I... uhm... I should get back to work. Talk to you later?" Kieran mumbled out.

He got up on his feet and went out of the break room.

"Sure." I said quietly after him, watching his pert buns leave.

I should also do some work before I dwell on my thoughts for too long. It would be considered unhealthy.

Returning to the office, I sat down by the desk and reached for the mouse to the computer.

Oh, I almost forgot.

...

I got someone I'll bring

with me on Saturday,

so save that 2nd ticket

for me.

Unless you've already

returned it, which

would be okay too.

I wasn't really supposed to be texting this much while working, let alone slack off. I'm just going to have to work harder these last hours.

Right, yeah. Work hard! I can do this.

*Pling*