Chapter 18

- Oliver

"Aaaand it's sent!" Cael announced, spinning their chair around with a flourish. "Documentation, expectations, my firstborn child, whatever they wanted. It's all in Helena's inbox now."

I sighed in relief, feeling the knot in my chest loosen just a fraction. "Thank god. Now we just wait."

Wait. I felt like I'd been doing nothing but waiting for a week now. The office smelled of stale coffee and sweat, and Jonas had that particular twitch under his eye that only showed up when he'd had too much caffeine and not enough sleep.

Blair didn't look up from her monitor. "In case you've forgotten, we still have a game to finish, so let's not just sit there hoping for an email."

She was right, of course. I groaned. Waiting was awful. No longer having a pretext to avoid returning to actual work felt worse. Cael's smile faltered a little. "Right. Back to the mines." He looked at his phone. "Day's almost over, though..."

When Blair didn't immediately break into a lecture about time management, I knew the team was as tired as I was.

"Alright, alright," I said, waving a hand. "Everyone go home. We start fresh tomorrow, whatever fresh even means at this point."

Without a word, everyone started grabbing their bags, coats slung over shoulders. Jonas gave me a lazy thumbs up on his way out.

Blair and I were the last ones left, the office quiet except for the hum of the AC. She glanced at me. "You good, Owner?"

"Yeah, just exhausted," I said, rubbing my eyes. "We did a good job. I'm confident in what we sent. Whatever happens now, it's out of our hands."

"No it's not," she said, smirking. "Worst case scenario, they say no. Who cares? We release the first levels as a demo to bump our numbers, and try publishers again. Or we do an early access."

"You make it sound so simple."

"It is simple. You're the one who makes everything complicated." She tilted her head, her ponytail swinging over one shoulder. "Go home, Owner. Sleep. You look like death."

"Not yet. I've got a thing tonight."

"Yeah?" Blair raised an eyebrow. She didn't press further, just grabbed her keys and headed for the door. "See you tomorrow."

I quickly stood up, grabbing my jacket, and locked up behind her. "Wait up," I called out, catching the elevator doors before they closed. She held them open, giving me a small, knowing look and, I could swear, the tiniest smirk in existence.

I knew her well enough to know what she was expecting. She was waiting for me to blabber about whatever was crowding my head, the way I always did when the silence got too loud. I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.

"I'm going on a double date," I said anyway, because apparently the storm in my brain left no room for self-control.

"Oh?"

"I mean, not in the traditional sense," I clarified, as if that mattered. "Claudia's bringing a guy with her, and I'm bringing my own thing, sort of. Sonia. It's complicated."

"New toy?"

"Something like that," I muttered, stepping out into the lobby. Why was I even feeling bad about calling Sonia my toy? Not only did everyone on Earth agree to the term at this point, when it came to women, but Sonia was definitely not offended by the label, quite the opposite. "I mean, yes, she's my toy, but it's not just that..."

"Because your girlfriend is bringing her own toy for you to vet?" Blair finished, pushing through the lobby doors ahead of me. "Or is she his toy too? She's more of a sub, right?"

My cheeks heated up. That would teach me to be so open about my private life at the office. "You think it's weird?" I asked defensively.

"You're weird. Jonas is weird, Cael is even weirder, no offense to them," Blair said, waving a hand, "but weird isn't the same as bad. Go be weird and stop worrying about it."

She waved over her shoulder and disappeared around the corner, leaving me alone with the evening air and the low hum of traffic.

"Alright then," I muttered to myself, pulling out my phone to text Claudia that I was a bit early and on my way. "Weird is good. Embrace the weird."

I made my way over to the parking lot, where I'd left the Panamera earlier that morning, the keys cool in my palm as I slid behind the wheel and let the engine's growl settle the last of my nerves. This was going to be fun. This had to be fun. This had to be fun, so it'd be fun. I didn't have to like the guy. Hell, it probably was too soon for Claudia to even know if she really liked the guy. I was still in control. She wouldn't pursue anything I didn't approve of.

I pushed that thought away, ashamed of how much comfort it gave me, and pulled out of the lot, tires chirping once against the asphalt before I merged into traffic toward the restaurant.

My phone started buzzing in the cupholder, Renee's name lighting up the screen. I let it ring. She'd been in town for the past four days, apparently eager to discuss something with me. She wouldn't say anything over the phone, and I'd been far too busy with the publisher to meet with her. I'd deal with Renee later. Tonight was about Claudia, Sonia, and whatever nervous energy I could keep from spilling over the table.

The restaurant was tucked into a quiet corner downtown, all exposed brick and low amber light. I spotted Claudia through the window before I even parked, laughing at something the man across from her had said. He was tall and handsome. That much I could tell even from outside, through the glass, blond hair cropped short, a jaw sharp enough to look like it belonged in an ad. Great. Of course he was.

I turned off the engine and sat there a second longer than I needed to, watching them through the glass like a stranger, before forcing myself out of the car. No point stalling. Though...

I called Sonia, letting it ring twice before she picked up. "Running late?" she asked, amusement already in her voice.

"No. I'm already there, actually. I was wondering if you were close by yet."

"Your girlfriend isn't there yet?"

I cleared my throat. "No, she is."

A silence. "Ah. Want to parade me in front of her, is that it?" Sonia's tone was dry, more curious than accusing.

I laughed, a little too quickly. "No. Not her..."

"I see," she said, a smile creeping into her voice now. "So I'm to be a prop for a dick-measuring contest? You're lucky I like being objectified. I'm just around the corner. I'll be there in a minute."

I hung up and stood there a moment, looking left and right for Sonia's car. When it pulled up, she stepped out, unhurried, like she owned the sidewalk. My mouth dropped open a little. She'd traded her usual severe blazer for something that barely qualified as a dress at all, a scrap of dark wine fabric that clung to her curves and left almost nothing to the imagination, the neckline plunging low enough to hint at the underside of her breasts and the hem riding high enough that a stiff breeze would've settled the argument about what she wasn't wearing underneath. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders instead of pinned back, and she'd swapped her glasses for contacts, which somehow made her look even sharper, not softer.

She followed my gaze, looking down at herself with a sigh. "Ah, this? Seems like someone forgot about commanding me to dress as slutty as possible whenever I'm to meet him."

"Shit..."

"Not what you had in mind for tonight, huh?"

"Not exactly, no," I admitted, dragging a hand through my hair. "But I guess we're committed now."

"Guess so," she said, looping her arm through mine. "Besides, it seems to fit nicely with your plans. Might as well look the part."

I snorted, stepping toward the door with her before I lost my nerve entirely. "Objectified enough?"

"Oh, I'm sure you can figure out ways to push me further before the night's over," she said, her voice light, and pushed open the door ahead of me, letting the warm noise of the restaurant swallow us both whole.

Claudia was facing us, and her eyebrows shot up the second she spotted Sonia. Her own mouth opened in surprise before she caught herself, schooling her face into something more polite. I could see her eyes sparkling, and I felt better already.

She stood up, surprising her date, whose hand shot out to steady his water glass before it toppled. "Hiiii!" she said, pulling Sonia into a hug like they were old friends. "You look incredible. I love the dress."

Finally, the man stood too, looking a little dazed, his gaze landing on Sonia and staying there a beat too long before he caught himself. "Sorry, hi. I'm Felix," he said, extending a hand my way. "It's an honor to meet the man." His voice was cheerful, easy, the kind of voice that made small talk feel effortless. I shook his hand, already feeling bad for having judged him on sight, jaw and all.

"Oliver," I said. "Good to meet you, Felix."

Everyone in the restaurant was stealing glances our way, Sonia drawing more than her fair share of them, and me the rest.

We sat. Claudia in front of me, Felix beside her, and Sonia settled in next to me, her thigh pressing warm against mine under the table like she'd already decided where the night was headed. I was hoping she wasn't wrong.

"I have to ask," Claudia said, leaning forward, chin propped on her hand, "how does a philosophy professor end up dressed like that?"

"By being an obedient toy," Sonia said smoothly, "with an owner who forgets his own commands. Occupational hazard, really."

Claudia laughed, delighted. "Oh, I know exactly what that's like," she said, shooting me a look.

"I bet."

I cleared my throat. "So, Felix," I said, "I hope you're not too scared by this unusual little dinner party."

He laughed, shaking his head. "Nah, man, Claudia already warned me. It's not that unusual to meet someone's partner before a second date," he said, shrugging easily. "Makes sense you'd want to know who's spending time with her, especially given, you know." He gestured vaguely at me, a little sheepish. "I mean... you own her, so..."

"So you want my blessing?" I asked, half joking, though the words landed heavier than I meant them to.

Felix shifted in his seat, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, no need to take anything too seriously yet anyway."

"We had one date. One," Claudia said, cutting him off with a laugh, swatting his arm. "Relax, Felix. Nobody's asking you to sign a contract."

"I'm happy to sign a contract!" Felix's grin was so earnest that Claudia burst out laughing, covering her mouth with one hand.

I scoffed, letting the tension drain out of my shoulders. "How'd you two meet, anyway? Fetlife?"

"Tinder, actually," Felix said, smiling.

Claudia raised a playful eyebrow, touching my leg with the tip of her shoe. "I told you, I'm not looking to replace you, or Renee. I already have plenty of kinky energy at home. Felix is just... nice. Normal nice. It's refreshing, honestly."

The guy didn't even flinch at being called normal, just laughed and raised his water glass like it was a toast.

"Vanilla," Sonia said, deadpan, like she couldn't even grasp the concept.

"Felix seems to be more of a cinnamon roll," Claudia said, grinning, "but I like that."

The guy was becoming less threatening by the minute. At least he wasn't playing on the same field.

"Well, second date and he's met the boyfriend. When does he meet the parents?" Sonia asked, arching a brow.

"Third date," Claudia said without missing a beat, and Felix nearly choked on his water, laughing. Sonia smirked at that.

"We just met. We had a nice time, we're curious to see where it goes, and as agreed with Oliver, I'm introducing him to whoever I want to date before going any further," Claudia finished. "That's all this is. No pressure, no drama."

"No drama," I echoed, trying to sound confident.

A waiter appeared, and the ordinary business of menus and wine gave everyone a moment to breathe, the four of us settling into something that almost passed for a normal dinner between friends.

"So," I said, once the waiter had gone, "what do you do, Felix?"

"I'm an accountant," he said, "though I moonlight as a rock-climbing instructor on weekends. Keeps me sane, honestly. Numbers all day, then a wall to punch instead of a spreadsheet."

"Explains the muscles," Sonia said, tilting her head to admire him with just enough appraisal to make me bristle a little.

I sighed, smirking. "Toy, get on your knees, mindless."

Sonia's eyes went blank instantly, and she slid down next to my chair without a sound.

"Damn..." Claudia breathed, eyes wide. "She didn't even consider it."

"Nope, she's all in," I said, glancing down at Sonia's blank, waiting face. For a second I caught Claudia's expression deflating a bit, something flickering behind her smile before she masked it.

Felix seemed both impressed at my display of power and unsettled, glancing between Sonia's blank face and Claudia's, like he couldn't decide which reaction was appropriate.

"Get back up, back to normal," I said, and Sonia rose from beneath the table like nothing had happened, smoothing the hem of her dress down over her thighs and reaching for her wine glass without missing a beat.

"Thank you," she said, taking a sip. "That's one way to make a girl feel appreciated," she added dryly, and Claudia laughed a beat too loud, reaching for her own wine like she needed something to do with her hands. Even Felix managed a laugh, though it came out a little strangled.

"So that's a thing you two do," he said, looking between me and Sonia. "Just, casually. At dinner."

"It's a thing we do everywhere," Sonia said. "Dinner. At home. Faculty meetings, hypothetically, though we haven't tested that particular boundary yet."

"She's kidding," I said quickly.

"Am I?" Sonia arched an eyebrow at me, entirely unbothered, and went back to her menu like she hadn't just floated the idea of me commanding her mid-lecture.

The food arrived somewhere in the middle of a conversation about rock-climbing gear, Felix explaining the difference between trad and sport climbing with the patient enthusiasm of a man who genuinely loved his hobby and didn't care if anyone else did. Claudia hung on every word, which told me more about how she felt about him than anything he'd actually said.

"Oh, before I forget," Sonia said, setting down her fork and dabbing at the corner of her mouth with her napkin, unhurried, "I'm leaving in a couple of days. A conference, technically, though it's really more of a retreat. Ten of us out at a lodge in the mountains for eight days, arguing about determinism and free will until the wine runs out and someone starts crying about Kant."

"Sounds thrilling," I said.

"It's the closest thing academics get to a vacation," Sonia added, "which tells you everything you need to know about academics." She set her napkin back in her lap, glancing at me sideways. "No phone reception up there either. Deliberate, I'm told. Something about forcing genuine engagement instead of doom-scrolling between panels."

"So I lose my toy for over a week," I said.

"You'll survive," she said, entirely unmoved. "You still have Claudia to play with, don't you? I'm sure you'll manage to fill the silence somehow."

"True," I said, catching Claudia's eye across the table. She smiled back, warm and easy, already halfway through her wine. "If my magic powers still work on her despite her finding another prince charming."

"You know they do," Claudia said, rolling her eyes fondly.

"Flash your tits."

I don't know if it was the mood or the wine, or maybe a bit of competitiveness with Sonia sitting there so composed, but Claudia's hands went straight to her top without a flicker of hesitation, tugging it down before Felix could even blink. Her breasts spilled free for a heartbeat, bare in the amber light, before she tugged the fabric back up, laughing at Felix's strangled noise.

"Can I ask something," he said, glancing at me with his cheeks still red.

"Go for it," I said, leaning back in my chair.

"Is it always like this? The commands and stuff. Or is tonight special because you're, I don't know, showing off." He said it without any edge to it, just an open question.

"Bit of both, honestly," I admitted, blushing. "Sonia likes it a lot, so it comes up more with her than with most people. Claudia and I have our own version at home. It's not a twenty-four-seven thing for anybody, if that's what you're picturing."

I studied him for a second, chewing slower than I needed to. He really did seem unbothered. Of course he did. Why was I even expecting him to act differently when humanity as a whole had long accepted the new rules of reality? Felix nodded, satisfied, and reached for his beer like the whole conversation had been about the weather.

"Can I ask you something too?" I said, before he could take another sip. "Are you seeing anyone else? Besides Claudia."

He shrugged, easy about it. "Yeah, actually. I've got a girlfriend, longer term, she's overseas right now for work, so we're mostly a video call and holidays kind of thing at the moment. And there's a guy I see sometimes, more just for fun than anything serious."

"Huh," I said.

"That bother you?" he asked, not defensive, just genuinely checking.

"No," I said, and found I meant it. "Honestly, it's kind of the opposite. Makes me feel better." I turned my wine glass slowly by the stem, looking at Claudia instead of him. "Like nobody's trying to become the main character of anybody else's life. Everyone's just... adding something."

"That's a nice way to put it," Felix said, smiling in that easy, uncomplicated way of his.

Claudia looked at me over the rim of her glass, something soft and grateful passing behind her eyes.

"Alright," I said, raising my glass, "to adding something, then. Whatever the hell that ends up meaning for all of us."

Claudia's phone buzzed against the table, screen lighting up between the bread basket and her wine glass. She glanced down, and her easy smile flickered into something a little more pointed.

"Renee. Again." She turned the phone so I could see the string of notifications stacked on the lock screen, half a dozen texts piled on top of each other. "She's been blowing both of us up for like four days now."

"I know," I said, guilty. "I just haven't had the bandwidth to deal with it, between the studio and the meeting and, well." I gestured vaguely at the table, at Sonia, at the general shape of my life lately.

"She says it's important. Keeps saying you specifically need to talk to her. Not me, you."

I sighed, rubbing my temple. "Tell her I'll call tomorrow. Tonight's already got enough moving parts."

"Or," Claudia said, setting the phone down and looking at me with the particular brightness she got when she'd already decided something and was just walking me toward agreeing with her, "I could just have her meet us here. She's part of this too, you know."

Felix looked between us, clearly trying to map the org chart in real time. "Sorry, who's Renee again?"

"My girlfriend," Claudia said, like that settled it, then immediately amended, "well, it's a bit of a triangle. Square, now, I guess? Wait, one more side with Sonia. Geometry gets complicated."

"Right," Felix said, nodding slowly, like a man filing information away for later rather than pretending to understand it now. "Cool. Got it."

"Pentagon," Sonia offered helpfully.

I looked at Claudia, who was already giving me the eyes, the ones that worked whether or not I technically owned her. "Fine," I said. "She can join us for dessert. Not the whole dinner. I want at least one course where I'm not being ambushed."

Claudia was already dialing before I'd finished the sentence, phone pressed to her ear, grinning at me the whole time. "Hey, it's me. Yeah, he's alive, he's just been swamped." A pause, Renee's voice buzzing faintly on the other end, too fast to make out. "We're at a restaurant. I'll send you the address. Come by for dessert."

She hung up and set the phone face down on the table with the satisfaction of someone who'd just solved a small logistics problem. "She sounded relieved. Also mildly murderous, but relieved."

"Wonderful," I said. "Something to look forward to."

The rest of dinner settled into something easy. Felix told a long, self-deprecating story about falling off a climbing wall in front of a first date and needing six stitches, and Claudia laughed so hard she had to set her wine down before she spilled it, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Sonia added her own dry commentary about tenure committees being scarier than any climbing wall, and even Felix's laugh sounded easier now, less careful, like he'd decided we were all safe enough to relax around.

I excused myself to the bathroom somewhere between the last of my wine and the first mention of dessert, mostly just to splash some water on my face and get one uninterrupted minute to myself. The night had been good, better than I'd expected, but it still took a certain amount of effort to keep four wildly different personalities balanced across one small table, and my brain needed a second to idle.

I was still drying my hands on my jeans when I came back around the corner near the hostess stand and nearly walked straight into her.

"Whoa, hey—" I caught myself, hands out, and Renee stumbled half a step back, her burgundy hair falling loose from whatever she'd tried to do with it, a leather jacket thrown over what looked like the first outfit she'd grabbed rather than picked.

"Oliver." She said my name like she'd been holding it in her mouth for a while, waiting for somewhere to put it down.

"Hey, you made it." I studied her for a second. Something was off. Her usual predatory calm, the thing she wore like armor, had a crack running straight through it. Her eyes kept flicking toward the dining room, then back to me, then somewhere past my shoulder entirely. "You okay? You look like you ran here."

"I've been trying to reach you for four days," she said, and there was an edge in it, sharp enough that a couple of heads near the hostess stand turned. She caught herself, exhaled, rolled her shoulders back like she was physically pushing the tension down. "Sorry. Sorry, that's not... I'm not mad. I just really needed to talk to you."

"I know. I'm sorry. I've been buried, I swear it wasn't personal." I leaned against the wall, giving her room to breathe. "What's going on?"

She didn't answer right away. Her eyes did another circuit, floor to my face to somewhere over my shoulder, and when she spoke again her voice had smoothed itself back into something more familiar, more controlled. "I've turned my life around. I quit Halcyon."

"Wait, you quit? Like, for real quit?"

"For real quit. Told my boss exactly what I thought of her taste and walked out." A small, genuine smile finally cracked through, the first one since I'd turned the corner. "Best decision I've made in years, honestly. I'm doing good. Really good."

"Good for you," I said, and meant it, watching her carefully. There was something underneath the smile. "You didn't fly across the country to tell me you quit your job, though."

"Can't a girl share good news with an old friend?" she said, too breezy, and I clocked it instantly, the way she was laying it on, warming the ground before she planted whatever she'd actually come to plant. I let her have it anyway. Curiosity was doing most of the driving at that point.

"So how are you?" she asked, tilting her head, buying herself another minute.

"Me? Oh, you know. Living the dream." I huffed a laugh. "Studio's hanging by a thread waiting on a publisher, my girlfriend just brought her new boyfriend to dinner, and I've got a second girl to worry about now. It's basically torture at this point." I shrugged. "But I'm managing. Somehow. Got a good feeling it's all going to work out."

"I'm sure you will," she said, and there was real warmth in it. Maybe whatever she had to talk about wasn't so bad after all.

"So," I said, watching her face, "please tell me you're not here to add to the pile."

She hesitated. Just a beat too long. "It's a little complicated," she admitted. "But I think we can come to an understanding. You and me."

"An understanding? Jesus, what kind of storm are you about to unleash on me?" I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you make my life hell, Renee. It's messy enough as it is." I joked, but something in her face seemed to break. She opened her eyes wide, her breathing catching for a second before she forced it even again.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said too fast, and forced a laugh. She seemed frozen in place for a moment, like she'd swallowed something wrong.

I gestured toward the table, where Claudia and the others were laughing about something, Felix's hands miming a fall from the climbing wall. "Come on," I said. "Let's get you a seat before dessert shows up."

She stared at the group like she was debating something else entirely. "I... I need to go!" She blurted, already backing away, and before I could get a word out she'd turned on her heel and was pushing through the door into the night, leather jacket flaring behind her.

I returned to the table, confused, sliding back into my seat under three sets of curious eyes. "She left," I said. "Ran away."

"What did she want?" Claudia asked, frowning.

"No idea. She barely said anything before bolting." I shook my head. "It was really weird."

---

Hey there! This was chapter 18 of 4 Billion Toys 2. I'll be posting chapters here regularly, but if you want early access to the next chapters, feel free to support me on Patreon!

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