We check into a ridiculously large hotel called the Duncan Palace.
"Stop gawking Lizzy. Your poverty status is so painfully obvious. It's an embarrassment, " says Kiera rolling her eyes.
I ignore and keep taking everything in. I can't believe I'm here... with the OWNER OF YOUR CHOICE GAMES and one of the most beautiful men in the world.
Everything was already taken care of and all Dominic had to do was pick up the keys. The people at the front desk seem to already know him. We don't have any luggage as someone came to get it for us. This feels weird. I remember going on trips with my family and having two hefty old grips behind me. It seemed normal, but because Nick is wealthy, he doesn't seem to have to do anything for himself, save focus his energy on stuff he likes. Wow.
I put the earbuds in my ears and turn on Little Mix - You Gotta Not. This is my jam right now and Dominic seems like that certain 'man'. I feel like I'm in a music video as the song plays, because I see things passing by me that you only see in music videos. Sexy people, beautiful architecture. The air feels free. No one here is in need for money. Wow. A group of young women in bikinis run pass us laughing at winking at Dominic. Dominic turns his head to look at them run by and then looks at me and smiles.
"You wanna go with them Lacie?"
I smile. "Maybe later."
He laughs. OMG. He's laughing. Man. His sway on them hips. Have you ever been listening to an upbeat song and then watch people and realize they look like they're walking in rhythm to the music you're listening to? That's what his hips are doing. I laugh to myself as I stare at his cute butt in those red shorts. I feel eyes on me and look over at Kiera glaring at me. I look away. She trots up to walk right beside Dominic and grabs his arm and sashays with her non-existent curves. She does look way more beautiful but oh well. I'm happy to be here!
"Dominic!" says a clean shaven Indian man.
"Dalek!" Nick calls out.
The both of them hug after having their arms extended exaggeratedly. Must be a rich people's thing.
What kind of name is Dalek? Does he represent the nation of aggressive robots from Doctor Who?
He tells Nick to enjoy his stay again.
"Thanks babes," says Kiera.
We go into the elevator. No matter where Dominic is, Kiera always makes sure she's on the side where she can be between us. Dominic and her talk about God knows what. I have my earbuds in and I don't care anyway. Maybe a little, but I try not to.
I see a lot of beautiful guys too, but it's like they don't see me. Whatever. We reach the hotel room. Are we all staying in here?
Dominic opens the door and my breath catches.
My next song Ariana Grande- Side to Side (High-Rizers Remix) [Dubstep/Future Bass] plays. Four shallow porcelain steps lead down into a pearly open area. Directly in front of us all the way on the other end is a large open window with white curtains billowing in towards us. The rims of the railings in the room are all gold.
Kiera squeals and runs towards the windows. It seems to take her all of four seconds to reach it.
"Nicky! There are cruise ships out there having a party!"
"Oh yeah?" Nick says, walking down and taking a left to head for a really large rich wooden door.
I follow him even though I want to check out that window. I try to stay as far away from Kiera as possible. There's a foyer to the right of this door. The doors come together to form an arch. When closed, they look like a semicircle. Nick opens them both and the threshold looks like an archway. How beautiful.
"This is my room Lacie."
"Wow," is all I can remark.
He looks over at me sweetly and says,
"You wanna see yours?"
"Yes please."
He leads me down that hallway and at the very end there are two regular but really tall doors.
He opens the one to the right and the first thing that hit me is the scent. It's a soothing and wonderfully calm odor. I inhale like I'm in a febreze commercial. Sia- Alive plays in my head. It's the largest and most luxurious room I've ever had the pleasure of staying in. It's so large two cars and some pickup trucks could fit in here. Wow.
"Like it?"
"What? Nick... I... wow."
He just laughs, pleased with himself I'm sure.
"Relax for a little. We're meeting everyone soon to eat."
"Can I see your room?" I say running up to him, jumping up and down like a dumb dolphin... ... or... or walrus. -_-
"Yeah come on then," he replies.
I walk behind those swinging man-hips.
He shows me his California king bed. However, there are five other rooms in this one. He shows me one which is a studio, complete with lighting equipment and gaming computers. The next room is just a very glorified walk in closet. The other two rooms consist of a really large kitchen that looks more like a restaurant in my opinion, and beautiful bathroom that looks similar to the one he has at his home in Pennsylvania. On the other side of this room which houses many rooms, is a gym.
"We have everything we need in this room! Why would we ever want to go outside?!" I proclaim with a chuckle.
"I don't know LaCie, to work and network."
"I was joking Dominic. You don't do jokes very well, do you?"
"Where's Kiera?" He asks, completely ignoring my observation.
I look over to the window and realize that she's not there. Of course she's not, otherwise why would Dominic ask where she is? I'm such an idiot.
We find her outside of the hotel room on the phone. Dominic silently signals to her as if to ask her, "Who are you talking to?"
She finishes the call and says,
"Just making sure everyone's ready. They're going to meet us down by the beach."
She grabs her bag from the doorway and kisses Dominic on the lips. I roll my eyes inwardly.
"Lacie did you see your luggage," Dominic asks.
"Um," I reply looking around the airplane hangar of a room.
"There. Just make sure you have everything that you need because we're gonna be out for a few hours."
I have my little mini book bag on my back that I carry around with me with my lip gloss, phone charger, phone, tissues and other essentials.
"I do."
"Nicky come on. They're waiting on us!" Yells Kiera.
"Lacie. Here. You have experience with handling video equipment I know. There's going to be a lot going on and I need you to take it down. There's 128 gigs of footage in there, so that should be enough for you to use for the blog and I might need you to edit some of that later. This video camera so high-tech you can take notes while you're filming a section. That's one of the main reasons I bought it."
He stands really close to me and leans in to show me how the camera works. It's a small little thing and so as I'm holding it, he has his hand over mine to steady it and hold it up better. I feel shivers running down my spine.
"What are you doing?" Asks Kiera as she walks in closer to us.
"Kiera would you shut up or do something?! Clearly, I'm in the middle of something I know you can see that," Nick blurts out frightening the both of us. Whoa. I try my hardest not to smile. Keira glares at the both of us and rolls her eyes before walking off, or should I say stomping off through the door.
"OK Lacie, you listening?"
"Yes Nick. I'm listening," I reply submissively and with the shiver in my voice. I'm so embarrassed. It's a good thing his hand is steadying mine because otherwise this camera would be shaking like a leaf in hurricane weather.
As he touches the camera's LED screen, he says,
"If you're filming something that you want to take note of, just tap the icon here and it will allow you to type a note while it's recording."
"That's actually pretty cool," I say.
"Yep. What's even better is that when you're ready to edit, whatever software you're using will register those stopgaps or notes as markers in the editing software; or at least the new editing software do. Alright let's go. I don't have to tell you to make sure it's recording."
"Haha no."
He smiles back at me.
"No seriously or I'll fire you."
What? I can never tell if he's joking or not.
"Hey don't you want to do an intro?" I ask.
"Yeah why not."
"You want to go by the window?" I suggest to him.
He walks over to the window with the ethereal curtains and steps out onto the balcony. We both look over the railing at the ocean and the beach out yonder. The sky is blue with sparse clouds and the wind blows as though caressing our faces in a warm welcome. Dominic turns his whole body to face me.
"Well get on with it," he says.
"You ready?" I ask teasingly.
"Yeeesss," he replies.
This time though, he seemed annoyed and back and boss mode.
are use my fingers to signal 5,4,3,2,1 and then point my finger to him to let him know he's a go.
"Yo, this is Dominic Boveri, and this is day 1 in Florida. We're gonna walk around and see if we can find some interesting people who'd be willing to share their life stories. My goal with this game is to study people and capture the realism of their situations in life so the players aren't just playing a game, but experiencing life from another real person's perspective not just some idea thought up in an office of what a person's life struggles entail."
He nods a quick sharp nod to let me know that's enough. He's so cute. Ugh!!!
"Alright let's go," he says as he hurries away, not waiting for me.
This place is like a theme park. I get my device out and start taking pictures to send to Sandy. She's had a rough time so I want her to feel like she's here with me. I send the picture of the ostentatious golden spiral staircase. Right next to it is a spiral escalator; something I've never seen in all my life. Of course, Dominic opts for the staircase which is so wide it could hold three Cadillac cars side-to-side. I trot down the stairs. Why? Well, for one, because I want to, and two, because I want to show him an Kiera I can. I wait at the bottom for them. My knees are screaming, "Hell's wrong with you man? You know you can't be doing this! What you think we are, the Ringling Brothers?"
I smile at that but then my face drops as I see how elegantly Kiera and Nick are descending the stairs. Everyone else is for that matter. I'm the only plump bunny that saw the need to trot down the thing at breakneck speed. I sigh. I feel like an idiot. As Nick and Kiera catch up to me, I walk beside them.
A car is waiting for us which then takes us to the restaurant. The restaurant looks like a castle. The noise is a bit much, but I try to take it in and enjoy it. I do some videoing which helps me to focus some positive energy into something.
At the greeter, all Dominic seems to say is his name and he's immediately ushered in. Wow.
"You don't have to take this you know," says Kiera in a commanding tone. "Just relax. We're only eating. Something you're good at and I'm sure you'd like to enjoy."
Wow. She had to add that in. I say nothing. I'm going to make a habit of ignoring that kind of behavior.
Arturos, Wendy, Rodney, Iman, Zane, Rachel, Yamen, and two others are there. So we're a total of twelve. The other two people look Asian, a man and woman. They're all already in a vibrant and upbeat conversation. They greet Nick with loud vocal accolades. Art gives me a look but I can't read what it is. Food is already on the table. A server comes to take our order. I tense. She takes Dominic's first, then Kiera, then me.
"Hi, how may I serve you?"
"Hi!" I say with a sweet smile.
She smiles widely back at me and replies,
"Haha hi. Glad to see you're having fun."
"I am."
"That's awesome! People say they stay here for weeks and never get to finish all the activities. Is this your first time?" She asks, seemingly genuinely interested.
"Yes it is."
"Oh you're gonna love it."
"Thanks!" I respond.
I look at the menu and choose a salad. I'm going to be very careful with what I eat around these people and for myself. I feel more self conscious around them though.
"The Pacific Salad?" the server named Jessica asks.
"Yes please."
"Lacie come on. Enjoy yourself. Try one of the seafood dishes. You don't get to come here all the time," says Nick.
I smile.
"I'm not really hungry," I reply, meaning it.
I'm not. I mean, I was, but sitting here feeling like I'm being judged for even having food close to me makes me lose my appetite.
"You're gonna end up stuffing your face later anyway while we're not looking," chimes in Kiera.
"Kiera shut up," Nick says coming to my defense.
This toughens my resolve.
"A salad is what I want thank you so much Jessica and a pina colada."
"Sure thing. I'll have your orders out very soon guys," she says with a smile to us newcomers.
"Thanks Jessica," I say.
------
My food had come a few minutes ago and I choose to take out the camera, rest it on the table, and capture our discussion.
Everyone mostly talks about what they've done so far and what they want to do. Dominic refocuses the conversation into places that they could hit and people they can talk to. I now know why the two Asian people are sitting with us. They came South Korea with next to nothing and now own multiple successful businesses. Their story is very interesting as well as how they met. Apparently they're married and happily so.
We're supposed to take a tour of all their businesses in the area. They tell us how each of them have a tale and I'm captivated by their storytelling prowess.
Most of the time I sit at the table quiet, so happy to be invisible while the garrulous crew go over what they need to. This is something I love about being the videographer and journalist. Blog writer? I guess is what I am. I got a text on my phone and when I check it, thinking it's Sandy, I see a text from Arturos.
Art: you don't look like you're having fun
Me: i'm in work mode .I'm not here to have fun 🙄
Art: you're allowed to have a little bit of fun you know.
Me: you're not the one that undergoes the daily threat of being fired.
Art: i'm not saying you shouldn't work I'm just saying that you don't have to be dismal about it.
Me: easy for you to say with your chiseled jaw line and stable position in the company 😑
Art: I can be fired just as easily as you can Lacie. I don't let work hang over my head like a foreboding cloud.
Me: Wendy is staring at you
I'm a little peeved with him and I continue videoing. Is he that naïve?
When we finish our dinner we all get up and everyone leaves a tip. Almost everyone. I have next to no cash. Dominic had told us that we didn't have to do that but I guess it's a traditional thing where everyone leaves a tip to help out the waiters and waitresses. Well this makes me feel like a cupcake. The lowest bill I see on the table is a 20. Oh boy. The lowest bit of cash I have on me right now is a five and I can't just not leave a tip while almost everyone has left one on the table.
"Lacie you don't have to leave one," says Dominic.
"I want to," I reply.
"Do you have the money?" He asks.
If I wanted to I could've taken that as an insult, but I know deep down in my heart that's not how he meant it.
"No I really don't but everyone else-"
"-then don't be stupid. If you don't have money don't spend it. That's the broke mentality and stop caring so much about what other people think. Reserve that for me. Because I'm the one paying you remember?"
I smile at this. He smiles a little too and we head out.
The couple takes us on a tour through one of their chain companies. The woman tells us of how she was the youngest and she was also the shame on her family. Her mother had her from an affair and her family basically disowned the mother and her. Life in her home became too hard to bear and so she her mother and her were forced to leave. She stayed with another member of her family who treated her like A stray dog. Her mother had left her there because she claimed she didn't want shame to follow her daughter. The husband of that household had tried to violate the little girl who is now this beautiful and successful woman standing before us, and when she spoke up about it, he denied it. His wife hated her so much that she took her husband's side even though she knew better.
For the life of me I can't remember her name and I only know her and her husband as Mr. and Mrs. Wen.
Dominic talks with the group and mentions notes to me of what I was supposed to focus on for the blog.
I really am enjoying myself. Being behind the camera, and knowing that I'm going to be responsible for the creative aspect of documenting the making of this game, gives me a purpose.
At the end of the day we join them for some tea. Kiera had been talking in Nick's ear the entire day. I realize it's part of her job description. She has a schedule book at her side at all times and every time she mentions something to him, she jots down or crosses out something in the schedule book.
"Is 7 o'clock OK for Mr. Samuel tomorrow?" She asks professionally.
"Yeah that's fine," Nick replies.
She seem so at ease with him; like she knows how to handle him. Who am I Kidding?? It's because she does know how to handle him.
"Mr. Boveri, do you want to write her in as a level 16?" asks Zane.
"No. We need more. Keep her story. Lacie will give you the details. Just focus on developing her character for her preteen and teenage years. Try to capture how it must've felt for her in each situation. Don't worry I'll schedule a meeting between her and you so you can further discuss it in detail. Rachel is also going to be there and Tina is coming in tomorrow."
"Yes Mr Boveri."
As Zane walks away, my curiosity gets the best of me. I go up next to Dominic and ask him,
"Should I be there? And what happened to Tina today?"
"Tina is fine. She just gets sick after a flight. She'll be ready to work tomorrow and no you don't have to be there. Make sure you have all your stuff we're getting ready to head out."
I hate that he always seems to be looking everywhere but at me when he speaks to me, like I'm just an object he's recording his reports into. Well I am what's akin to a secretary, so what do I really expect?
We are on our way back to our hotel in a black SUV. It's just Dominic, Kiera, and me. I feel tired but productive. Today was an amazing day but my legs are on fire. I think to myself oh that's a good thing because it only means I got a good workout.
In the hotel, Nick goes to take a shower while Kiera is in her room on the bed making calls for tomorrow. I'll give it to her, she is very diligent. Well so am I!
Interesting... Someone moved my luggage and placed it neatly beside my bed. I unpack my laptop thankful that it is still there. I had for the balcony with the billowing curtains and sit down. I haven't even seen earlier that there was a chair in the corner.
I can hear Kiera laughing with Dominic inside, or at least she's the only one laughing.
I try to drown them out by plugging in my earbuds in listening to my music; Levitate by Imagine Dragons. It's such a positive song and I can see my future when I listen to it. I can visualize me in a hot body again, even better than what I've ever had in my life. I can visualize me being successful, having a car that is beautiful and reliable and having confidence. I can visualize me in the studio recording all my songs am a YouTube channel growing bigger than I ever thought it would. When I open my eyes I'm nearly scared out of my fat body when I realize Nick is right next to me. I unplug my ears and laugh nervously. He's leaning unto the balcony railing just overlooking the view below in total serenity. I look up at him to my right and smile.
"You writing?" he asks with no emotion.
"Yeah. I was just getting in the headspace."
"Is that what you call it?" He says chuckling.
He's teasing me! Sucker.
"Well what would you call it?"
"I don't know. To me it looks like you just smoked 50 lbs of weed and you're lit as hell."
"Woooooow," I say laughing.
He laughs under his breath as well. He's so cool.
"I know you're a creative person and you can capture the essence of today."
"Of course! Mrs. Wen had an interesting life," I reply.
"Yeah. The idea is to pick apart the details of her life and decisions she made that shaped her outcome," Dominic added now turning to face me with his back leaning against the railing and his elbows propped unto it.
"So your idea is to educate people as to how to become successful with these games?" I ask.
"Yeah. Well I mean... many people miss out on becoming successful because they make a whole bunch of excuses. I want to show them that no matter what situation... that you can take even the worst of situations and make something great out of yourself. I did. "Have you noticed that more and more people are looking up how to be happy? They don't just want to be entertained. There's enough of that to go around. People are tired of being entertained and watching the entertainers get rich off of them. My game offers a simulation of both. Not only are you entertaining yourself but you're also edifying yourself by playing the game; seeing which choices yield bad results and which choices yield good results. If they can become interactive with the characters life in their story, become that character, it becomes a constant reaffirmation to them in real life that it can be done."
Just listening to him talk inspires me. I'm so glad I had the mind to press record on my laptop before he started talking about all of that. I more so did it for me because I thought he was just gonna chill with me. It would be nice to have something to look back at like a private conversation between the both of us.
"Nick, I really think what you're doing is revolutionary especially in the gaming market. Teaching people to be successful through gaming is something that no one has really mastered. The fact that they can see how their choices have led to either success or failures in the game is really amazing."
"Yeah, and they could be just about anything. It's a tall project Lacie, but it's never been done and I'm going to do it," he says.
For a minute he just stands there looking at me.
"Haha what?" I ask giggling nervously.
He smiles.
"I don't know. It's kind of nice having you here. You have a very... calming and yet bright personality."
My belly does flops and I can feel my face get hot. How my supposed to reply to that? That was the nicest thing he's ever said to me.
"Well," I say shakily. "I... I'm very honored to be here."
"Are you?"
"Haha, yes Nick."
He pulls up a chair that I didn't see was in the other corner of the balcony. What the hell are these chairs, paranormal furniture? I feel so freaking nervous right now. He's really close, now sitting on my right with our elbows basically touching. I try not to make it obvious that I'm having a hard time swallowing, but there goes that unmistakable gulp. So embarrassing.
"Do you mind if I sit here with you to help you add in some stuff?" He asks staring over at me with that boyish look. He effortlessly wears a constant expression that's camera ready no matter what. How can I say no, even though I prefer to work alone?
"Why are you even asking? You're the boss."
"Because I'm a gentleman Lacie," he says smiling, not breaking eye contact.
I shift in my chair.
"Well you're welcome to," I say, trying my best not to reveal how insurmountably nervous I am.
"Thank you," he says sweetly.
I start to turn my laptop to make it easier for him to see.
"I'm fine. I can see."
"Oh ok," I say, taking one more whale of a swallow.
I get the camera and go over the highlighted points of today. He points out what he wants me to focus on but the rest the time he just allows me to write. He just sits there for a while as I write looking out at the view. Are sitting here together like this in total silence... I don't know but it feels like we're bonding or something. Why is he not in with Kiera?
"Won't Kiera be missing you?" I ask as I look at him to see what his expression will be.
He just blinks rapidly as if he's annoyed.
"She's not my wife you know," he says clipped.
"I know but she's your girlfriend and she already has it out for me so I don't think she'll appreciate you sitting out here," I say concerned.
Why did I have to say something? Why! Why! Why!
He slowly turns his head to the left to look over at me in silence. I look over at him feeling so sorry that I opened my big mouth.
"I can take a hint when I'm not wanted."
"No! Nick it's not that! Wait!" I shriek as I stand up to stop him from leaving.
"Lacie, chill. I'm joking. I have to get inside anyway. I'll let you finish up. If I don't see you for the rest the night then have a good night and try to get some rest. It's after nine right now and we're supposed to be meeting at 6 AM."
I frown. I hope he doesn't see me doing it. It's dark enough but I don't know what to say at this point.
"You did good today," he adds.
"Thanks. You did too," I say trying to sound happy but I'm not.
I really feel like I offended him. I'm such an idiot. Sometimes you say things with a good intention and it ends up coming out all wrong; giving you the complete opposite result of what you wanted. Who knows how long he would've sat there with me if I hadn't said a word.
Anyway, I get back to work and bury myself in the task.
11:45 pm
I walk back to my room and find Kiera sitting on my bed.
"I wasn't aware we switched rooms," I said.
"We didn't," she replies staring at me.
"Something I can help you with?" I ask her with an attitude.
"What were you and Dominic talking about?"
"Why don't you ask him?" I retort. "I'm tired can you get the hell off of my bed please."
"Lacie?" She says sitting up but not getting off my bed.
I fold my arms, waiting for her to finish.
"I can make your stay here very uncomfortable or I can make it tolerable. It's up to you."
"Kiera?" I slip back with the same saucy tone. "If I'm such a fat ugly nobody, why do you find me such a threat? Why does it matter whether or not Dominic is talking with me? Do you think he likes me? Because if you think that Dominic would fall for someone like me then your self-esteem is not as high as you make it out to be. But since you want to know so badly, he likes having me around. His words."
She's quiet. I don't feel like looking at her face but I can feel the air change.
"Okay. It's always more comfortable having the help around," is all she says.
"Wake up and open your eyes Kiera. You're the help too."
"I don't know why you're being so hostile. I've only tried to help you."
"What? By throwing insults at me all throughout the day? I know I'm fat. It's not a secret and I am working on making myself better," I say.
"You shouldn't have let yourself get to that point the first place!" she chides.
"Yeah, well it happened. I'm not a time lord. I can't go back in time and undo it. I can only move forward."
I feel proud of myself and quite frankly I'm too tired for this. My inhibition is very low when I'm tired and I'm less tolerant to nonsense.
Kiera sighs and gets up.
"You really don't want to get in my way. Also make no mistake, I am in no way shape or form jealous of you. However things can really get bad for you if you allow yourself to shoot too high. Do you know what happens when that happens? It hurts Dominic. You make him look stupid and you waste his time as well as everybody else's time. I only want you to be aware of that."
That's the last thing she says to me for the night before she heads out of my room and into her's. I wonder why she's not sleeping with Nick. Anyway, I don't let that get me down. My stomach is growling. Well, all I had today was that salad and I walked a lot. In some sense I feel really good. If I repeat the same thing tomorrow I'll shed the pounds in no time. I lay on my bed and thank God for this wonderful opportunity and I pray for Nick; that God will give him the strength to make his vision a reality.
Yaaaaay! I did it! Haha! Hi kittens! Here's a long chapter. Phew. Hope you liked. Lol. Love you guys! ;)