***This is A Preview***

We'd been in the club for no longer than twenty minutes and Emil had already done three shots off of a bartender's belly and was now dancing shirtless in the middle of the room.

I secretly admired his easygoing attitude.

I assumed he was straight yet he seemed to have no problem at all with guys grinding up against him. In a gay club, Emil was enjoying himself whilst I was sitting in a booth, sipping on a dirty Martini by myself.

I was only four years older than him, why was I being such a drag? Was it because of my job, my responsibilities? Or was it more about him being able to do whatever he pleased because he was rich?

Fuck this!

I yanked off my shirt and threw it into a corner. Emil was pleasantly surprised to see me join him and the three smoking-hot guys he was dancing with.

He made an effort to focus all of his attention on me which made me... uncomfortable. Not because I didn't like it but because I liked it a bit too much.

Suddenly, he leaned in and yelled over the music, "If I would ask, do you think any of these guys would come home with me?"

I blinked at him in astonishment. Surely, this was a joke. I told him, "I think they'd all come home with you."

"Would you?" he asked next, catching me completely off guard.

I wasn't going to let him fuck around with me, so I said, "Actually, it's you that is coming home with ME and we're leaving... now!"

To my surprise, he didn't argue and said goodbye to his new friends. They were definitely not happy to see him go.

I got us an Uber and Emil was quiet all the way home. Before disappearing back into his bedroom, he said, "Thank you for joining me this evening. I had a lot of fun."

Actually, so did I.

I quickly checked my email and saw that Calvin Furst's PA had asked to move his meeting with Karina to lunchtime.

Whilst I moved my boss's schedule around to accommodate the CEO of AcuTech and the Lord of Silicon Valley, a notification on my phone pulled me out of my concentration.

It was SummerSon; one of my Digipals on Karina's beta version of the platform. I was helping Karina test the virtual world before the public launch and I'd brought my VR headset with me but hadn't had time to connect with my friend since arriving in The City.

SumSo had chosen to remain anonymous, which of course I respected. I really, really enjoyed exploring the Verse with him, even though he was usually only available late at night.

I opened the platform's cross-compatible text chat feature and saw that he was online.

[And? What is he like?

Before leaving for the airport, I'd told SumSo about Emil without mentioning that he was my boss's brother.

[He's a bit of a handful but I have to admit that I like him.

I watched the little dots blink as SumSo wrote back.

[LIKE him, like him?

[What? No! We just met.

[But there's potential?]

[I don't think he's into guys, so...

[There's a way to find out. 😘

[😱 Hell no!

[Come on, dude. Live a little!

[I need to get back to work.

[Dude, when do you have fun?

[I'll see you in the Verse soon, OK?]

[Enjoy your new friend! 😛🍑

[OMG, WTAF? 😂

***

I sat at the kitchen counter with my first coffee of the day, when I heard a clicking sound.

I looked up from my laptop to find Emil taking pictures of me, wearing nothing but an open robe and black briefs.

"Can you please stop that?" I demanded.

"Did you know that you look at your screen like you're angry at it?" he said, continuing to make the shutter snap.

"Don't make me come over there," I repeated, standing up.

"Karina Hagen's Executive Assistant is now giving me the same angry look," he said in a documentary-like voice.

Click, click, click.

As I ran in his direction, he took a few steps back but kept on taking pictures. Just when I was about to grab his arm, I tripped over the thick woolly rug and fell towards him.

We hit the floor with me on top. His camera lay by his side and the look on his face was almost like...

No, it must be my imagination.

I quickly scrambled to my feet and helped him up. He said nothing and made his way to the coffee machine.

"Shall I show you around The City a bit before you start your internship tomorrow?" I asked.

"I've been here many times before, you know?" he said with a cheeky smirk.

"Not to the places I plan to show you," I shot back.

"Alright then," he said. "Surprise me."

"Don't forget to pack your camera."

***

"Christian Taylor; a friend of mine was commissioned by the Elysium hotel group to do this mural," I said, admiring the building's side wall for the gazillionth time.

"It's stunning," Emil said from behind the lens.

"Students from the conglomerate's 'Living City Art' outreach program are selected to add to the piece in these squares surrounding it."

"So it's changing all the time?" Emil said with a look of wonder.

"Yes. This one was completed last week by a very talented young artist from Harlem."

"I love your love for art," Emil muttered, checking the pictures he had taken.

"What?!"

"What I meant was that your enthusiasm for this piece shows a very unique taste," he quickly corrected. "Anyone else would've taken me to an art museum yet you brought me here."

My phone rang, it was Karina. She only called when it was urgent.

"Hi, Karina. How can I help?" I said, answering on the second ring.

"Hey. How are you, how's Emil?"

"We're good actually. I'm giving him my curated tour of The City," I answered to the point. This was clearly not the reason for her call.

"I need a massive favor," Karina said, letting out a long breath.

Fuck, I wasn't going to like this, was I?

"Spencer Young is in The City but he's leaving for Hong Kong tonight," Karina said slowly.

Oh, shit. I knew that Spencer was always shopping for new investments for his firm and his clients had very deep pockets.

"I need you to pitch the platform to him."

"But Karina, I'm your PA! I'm hardly the right person for that!"

"Listen, all you need to do is talk to him about your personal experiences. I need the meeting on record to use as leverage with Calvin Furst."

"I don't know... I... I..." I said, my anxiety flaring up.

"If you want, ask Emil to go with you," she said. Why did that immediately calm me down?

***

Continue "Metaman" on Galatea:

https://read.getgalatea.com/michael20 OR link in my bio.