The “Rival”

Matt’s eyes fluttered open to the sight of a handsome angel looking down on him.

“Am I in heaven…?” Asked the dazed gamer.

The “Angel” responded, “I hope not. Are you alright, Maddy?”

The young man's eyes finally refocused to reveal Dan leaning over him. Only milliseconds passed before his face resembled the color of tomatoes.

“I-Uh, Hi Dan… sorry.” Matt managed to sputter out.

“Nothing to worry about as long as you didn’t bang your head on anything,” Dan said gently.

‘No, but I want to slam my head into a wall right now…’ Matt cringed to himself.

Vanessa joined the two and took stock of the situation before issuing some instructions. “Oh my, That was quite the spill. Darlin’, be a dear and help the cutie over to the couch. Unfortunately, we need to keep the show going.”

“Right, think you can walk?” Dan asked the younger man, who nodded in response. Matt staggered for a moment as he got to his feet after forgetting about the heels he was in.

“I gotcha, no worries.” Dan reached under Matts's arm and began to walk him to the couch. While Matt felt like the most embarrassed person in the world, Dan whispered something. “I think I understand why you’re dressed that that. Don’t worry. You know I’ll support you no matter what, Maddy.”

Matt nodded, but internally his poor heart couldn’t take anymore. ‘Damn him, why does he have to be so fucking cool and hot!’

As the young man got deposited on the couch next to the large older gentleman, Vanessa continued hosting. “Sorry about that, folks. Let's go ahead and introduce our next contestant. This person has only known our gallant Master for a handful of years, but rather than befriending him; he’s declared Dan his rival. Please welcome the one and only Niall O’Brian!

It was Gabriel's turn to shudder at the idea of this next contestant. ‘Ese cabrón…’

**********

“Damn it… Damn it, damn it, damn it!” Niall cursed to himself as he picked up another glass of lager from the bar. “That showboat will get all the credit for the mess today. I knew I shouldn’t have left early!”

Usually, as the Assistant Manager, Niall and the rest of the IT leadership were typically given the excuse to leave the office early on Fridays as long as everything was fine. But today, of all days, Dan Whitaker decided to stay just a little bit longer and ended up being on-site to immediately address the incident with admission counts. And because the Manager was already taking care of the issue, there was no place for the Assistant Manager to swoop in and save the day.

“Careful, Niall, you won’t be walking home if you keep this up.” The bartender remarked.

Niall grunted. “I’ll be fine, Erin, besides it's the weekend. Let me vent.”

Sitting at the bar of The Short Green Guy was 31-year-old Niall O’Brian, who was unloading his daily troubles onto his older sister, Erin, who worked as a bartender there. A family friend owned the pub and offered to hire both of the O’Brian siblings when they came of age though only one took the offer.

Erin sighed and turned to her younger brother. “You know, if you keep stressing over other folks' work, your coworkers aren’t going to like you.”

“Bah, they already hate me. It’s why that bastard Dan got the management role before me…” Niall scoffed as he took another drink.

Erin rolled her eyes. “He has a management degree, and you didn’t go to college. Sorry hun, he has you beat there.”

“I knew the team, though! I was on it for years before he showed up!” The man raised his voice as he stood from his barstool. Other patrons stopped to stare momentarily before reminding themselves of who it was yelling. Niall airing his grievances was nothing new for the regulars, after all.

“You’re getting drunk, Niall. Sit back down and stop causing a commotion. If you don’t, you’ll be paying for a round.” Erin warned.

“...Sorry…” Niall muttered as Erin went to check on the other patrons.

Even after three years, Niall couldn’t help but feel bitter and betrayed. He had loved his former boss, Mr. Kovac. He had even aspired to be a manager just like him. But when Kovac hired Dan Fuckin’ Whitaker as his Assistant Manager instead of an internal hire like him, his attitude towards management changed. He began to get combative with the new hire and looked for ways to undermine him when he could. Fuckin’ Whitaker would just laugh it off as if his attitude was a joke. Then he had the gall to promote him as his new assistant manager when Mr. Kovac was promoted to be the new Director while Dan took his old Manager position. In his delusions, he felt as if Whitaker was mocking him, that he would always be in second place. Since then, Niall has focused on elevating himself where ever he could, much to the dissatisfaction of his team. Even the newer hire, Gabriel, hated him as far as he could tell from his phone conversation a bit ago.

Niall sighed as he went for another drink of his near-empty glass. ‘Why him… What am I doing wrong…?’

With that thought, Niall put down enough cash to buy out his tab and tip his sister, then left without saying goodbye.

It wasn’t even ten steps out the door that Niall began to feel woozy. ‘Fuck, did I drink too much after all…?’

The next thing he knew, he was falling to the ground, and his world went black.

**********

“‘Ding Dong’ Niall O’Brian, you may now take the elevator to the penthouse suite. Please come at once, or you will be guided there.” The electronic voice repeated.

Niall had ignored the message twice now. He just continued to lie on the floor of the hotel room. He just couldn’t fathom the position that he was in. Sprawled on his stomach was the pamphlet detailing the unrealistic competition show.

‘I don’t even know what the fuck a harem is.’ The redhead complained.

“‘Ding Dong’ Niall O’Brian, This is your final warning. Please take the elevator up to the penthouse suite, or you will be guided there.”

“I got a fuckin' headache. I’m sure as hell not getting up!” Niall yelled toward the ceiling.

A few seconds of extended silence passed after Niall finished yelling, then his body began moving independently.

Niall started panicking, “Woah, what the fuck is happening!?”

His body continued on its path to the elevator to begin its ascent to the penthouse.

“Okay! I get it! I swear I’m going! Give me my body back!” He yelled toward seemingly nothing.

Moments passed as jazz music began to play around him. The elevator doors opened wide to a large cast of men and a small redheaded woman who waved toward him.

Then she spoke, “There you are, slowpoke! Was getting worried for a sec that you didn’t want to join us! Please come on down and sit on the end.”

Now having his motor functions back, Niall slowly walked toward the group, still freaked out by his moment of immobility. His eyes scanned the couch and widened as he recognized two faces, Dan and Gabriel. The two sheepishly waved at him as he sat down, though he didn’t respond as words failed to form in his mouth. The “boy” next to where he sat fidgeted when Niall looked at him, but Niall mostly ignored it.

Vanessa cheerfully began speaking again as she sat back down on the loveseat with Dan. “Fitting that the Irish guy is lucky number seven. We have one last contestant for y’all, and this may be the biggest surprise yet. This person knows Dan arguably better than everyone here and has always looked up to him as a role model. Despite their age difference, they remained close over the years and maintained a bond that no one else here could emulate. Please welcome our final contestant, Samuel Whitaker!”

“My fucking brother!? Vanessa, this is going way too far!” Dan yelled, startling the host.

“Hush, Darlin’, Everything will make sense soon.” Vanessa grabbed his hand and stared into his eyes. “Trust me, we’re doin’ this for you.”

Like before, Dan could only nod and quiet down as he had been compelled. Internally, however, he wanted nothing more than to scream.