A dinner for two.

As we are finishing up, I get a message. 'Hey, I want us to celebrate. I got us a place in a grill restaurant in Nuenen. Can you meet me there?' I answer, 'Yeah, see you there.' I get changed and leave with a simple wave.

I drive over what is officially called a highway to Nuenen and go over who could, in theory, end up in my harem, but, being as blind to their flirtation as I want to be, I might be able to think of one or two. There was a girl named Robin on one of the vacations I hadn't managed to escape my family, who I think was flirting with me. Sadly, I can't remember her last name. Maybe she never gave it to me. Roos has been flirting with me on and off all my life. She is practically my sister. So I feel some itch at that idea. My mind wanders how to accelerate the process to complete the final prophecy.

As I park my car. I look at the app.... I shouldn't. I can accelerate the process with more quests. Whoever I pick needs to have a label if I get an additional target.... fuck it, I can add labels if I need one now.

I open the app. I look up Robin using an alphabet sort. There is only one...... well, either that means the Robin I thought was a girl is this Robin, or she gave me a fake name or changed it.... still surprising I didn't interact with Robins given how common the name is. I won't grab them, nor will I make Roos a target for now. I throw my phone in the cupholders to comb my hair. As I leave the car, I grab my still-opened phone. As I realise, I panic to check, and I have Robin selected. Great, his class is a friend. Good, a gender neutral thing. I'd better give them a quest. Wait, gender unknown.... my luck or rather fate, is an interesting ****. Better use this to confirm.

Name: Robin

Surname: Naaktgeboren

Gender: Unknown

Age: 31

Fetishes: None.

Level 1 (0 / 10 xp)

Class: Friend

Perks: None

Current quest: add quest

Perk points: 1

Robin will receive the following quest: 'Memories of past fun are best shared. The summer of 2008 was a blast. Daliances best told not withheld.'

Reward: reunion with a lost flame.

Well, if it is me, it is incorrect. Or not, it does not feel great. I hope I am wrong.

I head into the restaurant and silence my phone. Couldn't I have simply hidden it in my glove box and left it out of sight, out of touch? No, it could be stolen. People are bastards. Not that I have heard of many thieves here. And I lived for the better part of my life. I spend my time in the parks, sometimes the one in front of the monastery, the swim lake, the forest next to where Intratuin is now. I love this place.... I just wish those memories weren't entangled with the memories of home.

I spot Anne as she waves me over, no sign of Jamilah. Wait, I never specified her to be here, so she is not, because Anne wants to be my number one. I sit and ask if she has ordered already. "Yes, I ordered a chef's choice platter to share, for you ginger beer, and me a fresh iced tea." I nod, glad that we don't have to go back for our cars later. Wait, where is her car? I didn't see her car. She caught on to my confusion. "Jamilah lives near here. She dropped me off. And I am not drinking because of the reward afterwards. I hope you are sure you can be a dad."

"I will do better than my parents beyond that; I make no promises. Beyond that, no promises. I already made a mistake. I found a way to end the wider spread than it has..... to do that, I have to hand out as many quests as I can..... I thought an extra person would help. And I added Robin with a quest that is basically asking a question. Are you a person I had been flirting with in the past? The reward is a reunion with a past flame. That half confirmed it for me. Robin is unsure if they identify as male, female or non-binary." I look like a guilty school kid at the table as I finish my response.

Anne lifts my head with a hand under my chin. She whispers: "Sweety, I don't care, I am above that. You made me that way. You love it that way. I am your horny plaything. Corrupted by the love you have given me. I might not be a horny slut, but this harem stuff, the enhancement of my sexual interests and expanding them to your liking. Definitely counts in my heart. I realised that when you said, you added Robin and suggested they might see themselves as a girl in love with you, and I didn't care. I did not care. You already made me putty in your hands." She leans back. "I did not care." A sigh leaves her. "My future now and forever is with you and the tools at your disposal."

I realise how fucked up I had been behaving. How badly I had been treating my ever-supportive Anne. A headache replaces the guilt. A pain unlike any other.