Hero's Call

Chapter Thirteen

"Is there something else I can help you with?" the receptionist asked when she noticed Destructo leering at her dumbly.

He composed himself immediately and gave her a warm smile. "What's your name, miss?" He half sat on the edge of the desk, leaning slightly toward her. He focused all his energy into putting out a welcoming air. It had been a long time since he'd attempted to woo a young lady, but his methods seemed to come rushing back naturally.

"Xena," she answered him coquettishly, adding, "but not like the warrior princess."

Destructo thought she might be referring to an old Hero, but couldn't match the name to any he'd ever heard of. His lack of recognition didn't show on his face for a moment.

"A beautiful name," he said with a sly smile, "for a beautiful woman."

Xena the receptionist blushed. Her steel blue eyes twinkled as the porcelain skin of her face turned pink. The small patch of freckles under each eye darkened and made the primal fires inside Destructo roar. He had her on the hook, all he had to do was reel her in. Before he could say anything more, a sharp buzz cut through the empty waiting room, slicing through the sexual tension like a warm knife through butter. Xena, flustered and startled, hit the button on the intercom.

"Yes, Mr. Melendez?"

"Send in my appointment please," a voice said on the other end of the intercom.

"Right away," Xena answered and released the button on the intercom. She looked at Destructo with a playful gleam in her eye. "He'll see you now. Maybe I'll see you later?"

Destructo smiled. He pulled one of his old business cards out of his suit jacket and handed it to her.

"I could use some company for dinner," he said smoothly. "Call me when you leave this dreadful place."

Xena took the card and slid it into her purse that was hanging from one of the desk drawers. "Just down the hall."

Destructo thanked her and walked down the short hallway to the only other door in the office. He opened the door without knocking and stepped into Melendez's office. It was a pitifully small room complete with faux wood wall paper and a plastic ficus in one corner. Melendez himself was seated behind a cheap metal desk that was rusting at the corners. He was a portly fellow, bordering on morbidly obese. His gigantic belly was testing the structural integrity of the buttons on his white short sleeved button up shirt. His light brown skin stood in a stark contrast to his jet black hair and mustache. A bead of sweat was running down his forehead, Destructo noticed, and he wondered if it was too hot in the office or if the man's sheer size made even being alive an exertion. It could have gone either way.

"Have a seat, Mr. Destructo," Melendez wheezed, motioning to another of the cheap plastic chairs that was in front of his desk.

Destructo had provided his real name when he called to make an appointment and on all of the forms. This was one place he wanted to be sure knew who they were dealing with. He was dismayed, however, to find that no one seemed to remember who he was or what he had done in his life. It mattered not. He would shortly be making a name for himself once again. He took a seat as instructed.

"I see here you're looking to hire a squad of henchmen to assist in your plan for..." Melendez flipped to the next page of the forms, "world domination?" He eyed Destructo suspiciously.

"That's correct," Destructo answered him flatly.

Melendez's brow creased deeper.

"Only one squad?" he asked with interest. "Seems to me like taking over the world with a single squad of adequately trained henchmen would be pretty difficult. Do you disagree?"