Annie woke up to the rumbling of the elevator, her eyes wide. “Where are we?” she muttered, still dazed.
“Elevator. We’re going to our room. I’m staying for a few days. I promised, remember?” he said.
“B-but this is a hotel,” she said.
“Yes. The company arranged it when I said I would talent-scout for a few days,” he said, smiling. “We’re even lucky enough to get an upgrade,” he added.
“W-wait? Company? Upgrade?”
“Annie,” he chuckled, still hugging her. “Look. We have a nice three-day reservation in a fancy hotel. We’re lucky enough to get an upgrade. It’s no hundred thousand dollar cash, but you have to admit, as far as consolation rewards goes, it’s an excellent one. We can leave and go back to Greendale if you want, but—”
She gulped. “Wait, you said we. Are you saying that, if I don’t want to stay, you’re going to abandon the fancy hotel room and come to my tiny apartment?”
“Naturally,” he said. “Annie. I want to spend time with you. And, if you don’t want to enjoy lounging in a nice, bubbling hot tub, I’ll be almost as happy squeezing into your small shower.”
“Really?” she muttered, still not used to the idea that someone might make sacrifices for her.
Ridiculous.
“I can walk,” she muttered.
“You don’t have shoes,” he reminded.
Her eyes widened. “Oh my god. I don’t have shoes. Or anything other than my underwear.”
“I see no problem,” he said with a chuckle. Then, he chuckled at her scandalized expression. “Annie. This is a fancy hotel. All you have to say to the concierge is that the airline lost your luggage, and they’ll trample each other to help.”
“Fine,” she said with a blush, but that expression turned into pure wonder when they finally reached their room.
It was a beautiful suite with a large bedroom and a smaller, yet still functional, living room. It wasn’t as fancy as the penthouse that they had the photoshoot with Lily, but it was cozier.
There was even a nice greeting basket with some high-end snacks and a bottle of chilled champagne.
“T-this is amazing,” she gasped.
“I know,” he whispered, and kissed her. Then, he took a step back, and passed her a fluffy robe. She removed the borrowed jacket, and put the pink bathrobe on. Her eyes widened. “So soft,” she whispered happily.
“Celebrating with style has its benefits,” he whispered as he kissed her again. “Now, as much as I want to ravish you, I want to have a shower, and not the fun kind. I want to get rid of the paint from my head. It’ll take a while since it dried,” he said.
“Good point,” she whispered. “I’m glad Britta helped me clean my hair while the rest of the group interrogated you.”
“Unexpected benefits,” he chuckled. Then, he pulled two hundred-dollar bills from his wallet and put them on the table. “Just in case the bellhop brings our luggage,” he said.
“Two hundred dollars?” she asked, surprised.
“It’s a fancy hotel, and starting with good tips ensures good service during our stay,” he said. “Travel hack.” Then, without waiting for her answer, he disappeared into the bathroom, which was luxurious.
It was also tacky, with extra hearts made of roses and other stuff, but since Annie would love them, he let them stand.
While he washed his hair carefully, he listened. The bellhop should arrive soon with their limited luggage, and he wanted to see if she would play along with the bit and let them believe that they are a married couple like she did in the show, or just mention that they were not married.
Admittedly, he wouldn’t mind that much if she didn’t play along. Staying practically locked in a room with her for three days while teaching her about the more interesting parts of sex wouldn’t be the worst time of his life. Trying to understand the System better was merely an added benefit.
Perception allowed him to hear without stretching himself too much.
“Here’s your luggage, Mrs. Calloway,” the bellhop greeted. “A bit light, if I may say.”
That startled Annie. He knew that, once Annie had a moment to think about what was going on, she could play along excellently, but she wasn’t the best when facing unexpected surprises. “Can you believe the airline lost our stuff? Everything but a carry-on, gone,” she gasped.
“Oh my god,” the bellhop gasped. “Does it mean you have nothing to wear for your honeymoon?”
He wished he could see Annie’s expression at that moment. The simple thing would be the correct the bellhop. “Yes, terrible. And I had so many surprises planned for my … husband,” she whispered.
She must have tipped the bellhop that moment, because his next words were much more enthusiastic. “I’ll have a talk with the concierge. I’m sure they can do something to save the situation. Do you have anything special planned?”
Annie paused. “C-can you arrange a g-golden bikini. From Star Wars?”
That made the bellhop chuckle. “Easily. Our hotel has many conventions, and it’s one of the top requests. Just feel free to share anything you want, Mrs. Calloway.”
With that, the bellhop left, leaving Annie behind, no doubt blushing badly.
He stayed in the shower. The idea of confronting Annie was fun, but at this moment, getting rid of every bit of paint was more important. When he left the shower with only a towel, Annie was on the couch, nibbling a chocolate-covered strawberry while also typing furiously; either explaining her plans to her friends or making some changes.
He sneaked up to her, and stole the strawberry from her hands. “Hey,” she gasped playfully, which he silenced with a kiss. And, when he pulled back, his muscles did the silencing, still glistening after the shower.
Annie tried to speak, but no words came out of her mouth. “Cat got your tongue, Annie,” he whispered.
She gulped. “Just… I had realized that you’re muscular, but seeing after a shower is different,” she whispered. He flexed playfully, which didn’t help her blush.
He kissed her again. But, he didn’t push too much.
“Look, Annie. You wouldn’t mind if I took a quick nap, right? The last two days had been exhausting, and the little nap I managed to catch during the planning session was not enough. Just an hour or two… And, don’t eat too much. I want to have a proper dinner together.”
He kissed and walked to the bedroom, dropping the towel to give a show. Before falling asleep, he made sure to call the hotel, whispering to keep Annie unaware, explaining to them that his partner was self-conscious about spending money, and gave them a limit of ten thousand dollars of clothing budget that they could charge while ‘gifting’ her.
It was a good way to get swindled, but it was the fun part of making a lot of money easily. Wasting was just as easy.
Before he could fall asleep, he heard a knock on the door.
Annie opened the door.
“Mrs. Calloway,” the visitor started. A female voice. “I’m the concierge assigned for emergency cases. I heard your luggage get lost,” she whispered. “We’ll handle everything. A new wardrobe—“
Annie stopped her. “Please, nothing expensive,” she said, then paused, no doubt thinking a newlywed worrying about finances might ruin her fake role. “Well, I think it’s my mistake that our luggage is lost; and while my lovely … husband is too nice to blame me, I don’t want to start by wasting money.”
“What a lovely perspective,” the concierge replied, her voice warm. After all, from her perspective, she saw a lovely newly married couple, the husband and wife working hard to protect each other in a crisis rather than fighting. “Not many newly married people can maintain that perspective. They want everything to be perfect, and when it isn’t, they blame each other.”
“I know. It’s a bliss,” Annie said. He was able to catch the slightest hint of panic in her tone as the situation slowly escalated, no doubt realizing that she had just lost the opportunity to correct the hotel. “If only the airline hadn’t lost everything, including our rings.”
“How long you have been married?”
“J-just yesterday,” Annie whispered, her tone suggesting that she had just realized how absurd the situation was. They just met a day ago. Ironically, it didn’t feel that way. Paintball had been a weird experience, overcharing their closeness.
“How cute. Now, why don’t we check the list quickly. You’re lucky that it’s off-season, so most of the stuff here is in deep discount,” the concierge said, giving Annie a reasonable excuse. “How about this white set? Very bridal. Your husband will love it,” the concierge whispered, and Annie giggled, excitement and stress mixing in.
Ethan closed his eyes, and let the sleep to take him.
Luckily, Endurance meant he didn’t need much sleep, and when Annie sneaked into his bed, he didn’t feel groggy when he opened his eyes. Though, even if he did, Annie wearing a sheer white lingerie set, complete with garter belt and stockings, would have jolted him awake.
The concierge was right. She did look perfectly bridal.
“Good evening,” he whispered as he spooned her. “We didn’t miss dinner, right?”
“G-good evening,” Annie whimpered, but that didn’t stop her from pressing her body against his naked one. “No, we still have a couple of hours until dinner,” she whispered.
“Good,” he said as he flipped, and pinned her underneath. “You look absolutely delicious…”
Her new underwear didn’t survive for long.
&&&
The rest of their stay had gone amazingly. Annie surrendered the excitement of the fiction of their stay.
He did his best to play into her little story while also acting just ambiguous enough to survive if confronted, like calling her his partner whenever they were in a place Annie could hear.
The other part of being newlyweds was easier to ‘fake’ by kissing aggressively in many public spots like the pool, defiling the massage room, and severely testing the sound isolation of the honeymoon suite.
Annie proved to be an even more excellent student than he expected. She was smart, she was hungry to learn, she didn’t carry any preconceived notions about sex to make her self-conscious about his teachings, and most importantly, she was insatiable.
Well, mostly. His growing stats meant that he could have pushed her past her brink by sheer endurance, but he didn’t need to. Not when their little dates around the hotel was just as fun. Her enthusiasm to teach and learn wasn’t just limited to sex, and they found themselves talking a variety of topics, from art to economy.
That alone was enjoyable enough, but whenever he needed a distraction, he left Annie with one of the hotel workers, and listened the stories Annie spun about them. Whenever confronted, Annie panicked, and added new details.
Of course, the only reason he was doing was because he could see that Annie enjoyed the charade just as much.
Soon, they had become a honeymoon couple that eloped because her family was obsessed with social climbing and forced Annie to marry the heir of a real estate empire.
Soon, other details were there, including a whirlwind romance where he had saved her from a bunch of armed thugs, an electrifying romance, and fighting two other suitors to gain her hand, even a surprising double cross from an old family friend that allowed them to escape…
He was particularly amused after noticing just how many details about the paintball adventure she was recycling.
It was fun to listen to Annie spin stories about jealous sisters and slutty bridesmaids, even a story about an experience with a stripper dressed as a cowboy.
Ultimately, they spent most of their time in their honeymoon suite, enjoying the terrace, the hot tub, the fireplace, and every other surface…
Then, it was the morning of the fourth day. The checkout. He could see that Annie was tense and emotional. He didn’t share that emotion, mostly because he was confident that when he offered her a summer gateway, she would accept.
As a very notable bonus, he got the reward he had been hoping for.
[Achievement complete. Repurpose the fake honeymoon into something spectacular that makes Annie fall in love while also making her stop obsessing over Jeff.
Challenge: Overwhelming]
[+50 Endurance
1 Random Diamond Skill
1 Random Diamond Reward]
[Bonus achievement complete. Netori effect in play]
[+50 Attractiveness
Matching skill found. Upgrade Expert Fitness
1 Random Diamond Reward]
He was surprised to get an upgrade from Fitness rather than legal knowledge from Jeff … then he remembered Jeff’s legal knowledge was not entirely impressive. His speeches, certainly, but his legal knowledge was spottier.
He started by picking the reward from Annie, going with the skill.
[Master Speech]
[Epic Skill: You have an impressive gift of glib, capable of delivering impressive speeches that could motivate people, change their mind, and if necessarily, manipulate them.]
That surprised him at first, but then he remembered Annie wasn’t exactly bad when it came to her speeches. Or maybe, it was some kind of resonance with Jeff. Either way, he was happy.
He picked the upgrade from Jeff. Technically, he didn’t need fitness for himself, but he didn’t forget one very important detail. He could use it on others, which gave him a shortcut to make the women around him even more beautiful and capable.
He didn’t need it … but he wouldn’t complain about having it.
[Master Fitness]
[Epic Skill: You’re the ruler of the gym, with the perfect understanding of how to combine diet and exercising to achieve almost-miraculous results that defy aging, both for yourself and for others. Professional athletes would beg for your training.]
A nice reward.
They walked to the car, with the hotel employees waving them away, wishing them a happy marriage. A nice benefit, it distracted Annie from her sadness through cringe, making her look at him in panic, expecting his anger.
Instead of doing so, he just lifted her in a bridal hold and waved at the hotel employees, his generous tips and Annie’s lovable attitude had turned them into a hotel favorite.
“Did you have fun, Mrs. Calloway?” he asked once they were driving.
She looked at him, shocked. “Wait, did you know about it?” she said. “Since when?”
“Since the second day,” he lied, letting her feel better about her subterfuge skills. “But, you were having so much fun, I didn’t want to interrupt.”
She paused. “I … I don’t want you to think that I’m a crazy person.”
“Annie. We met in a weird paintball battle for the destiny of an even weirder community college, and fought against a conspiracy from another college. That ship sailed ten minutes after we met,” he teased. “Luckily for you, I’m not the most normal person either.”
She slapped his arm, but still paused. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because you were having fun spinning crazy stories while also trying to hide it from me,” he said. “Though, I expected you to catch on. How many times I referred to you as my partner.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, yeah. You’re right.”
They drove in silence, then Annie looked back. “It was a nice suite … it was special three days,” she added, looking at him. “Thank you. I never felt like that. And, thank you for staying focused on me. I didn’t miss how many other guests were trying to slip their numbers to you.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” he said. “Just because I don’t believe in exclusive relationships doesn’t mean I’m an asshole that goes after every moderately attractive face.”
“Moderately attractive? Some of them were models.”
“Airheaded models,” he corrected.
That made Annie scoff playfully. “Don’t try to tell me you’re looking for inner beauty instead of outer beauty,” she teased.
“Of course not. I’m not that nice a person,” he admitted readily. “I look for both inner and outer beauty at the same time. Preferably with some exceptional qualities. Like you.”
That made Annie freeze and blush. “I … I’m a student in a college that emergency services doesn’t respond to. I’m not special.”
“You are exceptional,” he responded. Then, he sighed theatrically. “I wish I could stay here until I can convince you just how exceptional a person you are—“ he started, then paused, and slammed on the brakes as if it were a sudden realization. “But maybe I don’t have to,” he added.
Annie looked at him suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”
“What are your summer plans?” he asked.
“I need to juggle two jobs and some community volunteering? Why?”
“How about you come with me to Los Angeles for the summer?”
That made her scoff. “I can’t. I actually need to work to afford to live.”
“There are options. You can stay with me, so there’s no rent. Or, we can find you a rental if you really insist. I need a part-time assistant, and you’ll be excellent at it,” he said. He didn’t offer a free holiday, not because he didn’t want to, but he knew she would refuse it.
“I can’t work for you. It’s weird,” she rejected immediately.
“Not necessarily, but if you don’t want to work for me, I’ll arrange something else for you. I’m sure Haley will be happy to have a capable assistant. She must be going crazy because of all the work swamping her.”
“Haley, is she…” she asked, her tone making the question obvious.
“She’s the majority owner of the fashion website I’m currently working for. She’s also a friend that I see naked regularly, yes,” he admitted shamelessly. He knew that made Annie flinch a bit, but that was the extent of her reaction, neither panicking nor ending up in a spiral of insecurity.
The fake honeymoon that they spent three days non-stop fucking worked wonders to loosen her sensibilities, and more importantly, helped her to regain her self-confidence.
“You do … that and work together. Isn’t it weird?”
“Maybe for a big corporation, but it’s pretty much a highly successful but lean startup, so it’s not a problem,” he explained. “Look, as my assistant, we’ll mostly travel together and have fun.” He squeezed her hand. “If you don’t want that, I’ll arrange a job as a waitress at Cheesecake Factory. That way, you can actually work for someone else, and without rent, working part-time will be enough.”
“I don’t…” she muttered.
He sighed, feeling amused that the biggest challenge he was dealing with the girls to just to accept some help from him. “Annie, you need a real holiday to unwind,” he whispered. “Just come with me. I promise I’ll drive you back if you don’t enjoy it.”
He could see her expression dancing, and he was glad that he hadn’t hurry up to make that offer earlier. Without the little fake honeymoon, she would have rejected it. “Maybe,” she whispered. “Fine. You’re right. I need a real holiday.”
“Extended honeymoon. Perfect!” he celebrated, which made her blush.
“Fine, but we need to return to Greendale. I actually need to pack.”
Ethan chuckled, and started driving once again…