I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or not but I put my sunglasses back on.

"In the flesh!" I boomed, intending to ooze great confidence. Though, I shortly began to rethink if that was the right move to make.

"In the flesh?" Blitz echoed. "Real smooth."

"Come," Gina gestured with a wave of her hand. "I'll show you our table." She proceeded towards the counter.

As I trailed her, a  million thoughts popped up in my mind. "This is the eatery floor, right? Is the bakery above?"

"Yes and yes." She replied. So much for small talk.

"Bro!" Nic's deep voice fixed my gaze. He was seated at a round table for three at a window-side. He wore a black leather jacket, which not only showcased his muscles but also complemented his messy man bun haircut.

I took in the table's content as I sat down; cupcakes, cookies, and three cups of coffee.

"I don't know where to start," I admitted.

"Just dig in at random." Nic jeered.

"I'm not talking about the food. I know exactly which one to start with." I raised a coffee cup to my lips and took a long sip, putting my thoughts in order as I did so. "I mean the surprises, like Nic's thick hair."

"Bro, it just grew. Nothing surprising there."

"He says it so modestly like there wasn't at least a thousand different hair products involved," Gina smirked.

Nic's face paled. "That's an exaggeration, and you know that." He pointed a cupcake in Gina's direction, who smirked in response.

I continued airing my thoughts. "So why Cross-Bakes?"

She reached for a cookie. "Well, I work here part-time. Usually night shifts. Thought I'd make use of my employee discount for a change."

"And I'm telling you," Nic remarked between munches. "You don't need this job. Just save your energy and focus on med school. You're already doing great there."

She gave him a lop-sided smile. "I know, but I still want to work here till vacation is over. I'm getting better at baking and getting paid for it."

I watched as they shared a gaze. Nic smiled back at her.

I slurped my coffee really loud, attracting a bit more attention than just the two of them. "Is there something I should know?" I arched a brow as I slammed my cup on the table.

Nic cleared his throat. "Of course not."

"But," Gina removed her cap and found a free space for it on the table. She then gave me a poker face. "Care to tell us how long you've been having an affair with--what's her name?--oh yes, June Austere."

I suddenly tensed. Why didn't I see that coming?

"We're not dating yet, we just-"

"Yet?" Gina's voice was edgy.

I wrestled the urge to face-palm myself. "No, I mean, we just met yesterday. That was the very first time!"

"And you were grinning that wide in front of the cameras?" Nic laughed. "Bro! She hits different, doesn't she?"

My face was flushed at that point. 'Damn live streaming.' I thought.

"I swear it wasn't what it looked like." I tried for a defense. I was beginning to regret coming here.

Gina must have read my mood. "Alright, let's cut our favorite celebrity some slack." She shot me a smile, and my heart melted almost instantly. Feeling my blush intensify, I hid my face behind my raised coffee cup and maintained the most macho posture I could think of.

"I've got an idea," her eyes lit up. "Why don't we trade tales?"

"Yes. Let's do that instead." I concurred with the change of topic.

"I guess I'm down with that." Nic crossed his arms. "Who's going first? I say Jason so I can get enough time to plan how I'll tell mine."

"Ha ha, very funny." I dryly remarked before trying to sip more coffee only to find the cup was empty.

"Mmm, I kinda agree with Nic," Gina said.

I arched a brow.

She pouted. "C'mon, you guys know I love a good zero-to-hero story."

"I thought you were into romance and fantasy?" I quipped.

"You remember?" She smiled.

More than you know. Of course, that response got stuck in a hiccup or something, so it was just inward. A barely audible 'alright' escaped my nervous smile instead.

"What was that?" Nic's deep voice inquired.

I cleared my throat and straightened up. "I said alright. I'll go first."

"Proceed, good sir." He leaned back in his chair.

"Ready? So it was on the night of our after-grad party." I paused. "Well, Nic and I's after grad party when we had this huge fallout. I was searching online for available jobs on my way home when I discovered this 'passive income' article. So I clicked the link and checked the page out. See, not only was the guy a blogger who was teaching about passive income, but he was also making passive income as I viewed the ads on his blog."

"Smart." Nic tapped his temple with a finger.

"Right?" I leaned forward, making sure my voice wasn't too loud to attract attention. "So anyway, I thought 'lemme give this blog thing a try'. So I called Nic later that night and told him he could have the job."

"What?" Nic quirked. " Sorry, point of correction, you told me you were no longer interested in the job."

"Same thing." I looked down at the last cookie in the tray. I caught Gina looking at it, too. We had a short staring contest, and somehow, she won. I just watched her pick it up and begin to crunch.

"No, it's not." Nic sounded aggravated. "Saying I could have the job is like saying that you gave it to me, but you didn't g-"

"Relax, big guy." Gina chipped in. "I'm sure Jason didn't mean it that way. "

"Not at all, man." I affirmed.

Nic interlaced his fingers on the table. "Oh." He then cleared his throat. "Sorry if I overreacted."

"Na, it's cool, it was my bad. I shouldn't have coined it that way." I said.

Curiosity filled his voice. "What I'd really like to know, though, is how you're so rich this fast. I mean, isn't it barely a year since you went into blogging?"

"I was about to ask the same thing!" Gina crossed her arms and focused on me. "How did you blow so quickly? You'll soon be a billionaire, right? At least, that's what I heard on the news yesterday."

'Tuff crowd'. Blitz remarked.

I grinned. It wasn't every day you got a willing audience that wanted to hear you drone on about your achievements. "Alright, so I take it that you two are not on my membership site?"

"What's a membership site?" Nic mused.

"Umm. Okay, first take a look at this." I stretched my phone out to them as a search result on Google turned up. "That's the cover of my bestselling book, 'Tech of Eons'. "

"Dope design and spot-on title." Nic stared at the screen in admiration. "I think I remember buying a copy once. How much did you make from sales?"

"Well, it's thirty dollars for a copy. A book with the most detailed abilities and features of Tekeon as well as analysis and conjectures on his weapons. You become an instant Tekeon geek once you read this book and the market seems to love it since sales roped in over three hundred million dollars."

"Get out of town." Nic's eyes bulged in shock.

"Are you for real?" Gina shared a similar expression.

"Calm down kids." I tried to contain a grin. "I also have five million subscribers worldwide on my exclusive blog. At twenty bucks a month, that's a decent fifty million bucks a month. Of course, a lot of expenses go to renting a huge sever to control that much traffic amongst a few other things."

They both gawked at me.

"What? Is my hair on fire?" I rolled my eyes up before Nic spoke.

"You, my friend, are one lucky son of a-"

"Let me get this straight." Gina leaned a bit forward. "You have a free blog website and a members-only one?"

"Correct," I replied.

"So what's so special that people subscribe?"

"Well, everyone hears about Tekeon, but it's not so easy to see him in action. On my membership site, I upload up-close video clips of his amazing crime-fighting adventures, as well as high-definition photographs from almost every time he shows up."

"So you've got like a monopoly on Tekeon news?" Gina arched a brow.

I cringed. "I wouldn't exactly put it that way. Oh, there's also the brand
endorsement deals."

As much as I hated to admit it, I could see Nic green with envy out of the corner of my eyes.

"You know what? Brunch is on me." I said, hoping to soothe his nerves.

"No way, I'm paying for myself." He grimaced.

Talk about a thick atmosphere.

Fortunately, Gina knew how to break the ice. "Who's going anywhere? I haven't yet told you guys my story." She grinned as she brushed her blonde hair over her ear with a finger. "You boys ready?"

"Mademoiselle, you may proceed," Nick said teasingly.

However, before she could continue, the mummers in the eatery increased drastically. People started to get off their seats.

What's going on? I thought.

"Jason, we've got trouble." Blitz's voice rang in my head.

"What kind of trouble?"

"What?" Gina asked. I immediately realized I said that out loud.

"Nothing." I gave a wry smile. "Umm, I've got this urgent thing to take care of."

As I pushed my chair back to stand up, I heard the voice of the news reporter, Elise Sally, from a television on the wall of the eatery.

"Pandemonium strikes as witnesses report to have seen a red giant creature break into the S.P.E.R.E Bank & Holdings facility, southeast of New Chronos. Civilians are advised to steer clear of the area as more police support is on the way. I am reporting live, meters away from the scene, and the enormous broken wall confirms that the perpetrator is anything but ordinary. The question on everyone's mind is, 'How long until Tekeon shows up?'. Back to you, Jim."

I dug out a wad of cash from my pocket and slammed it on the table. "Brunch is on me, I insist."

"Off for a scoop?" Gina peered up at me with an inquisitive look.

"You know it." I spun and bolted towards the door. As I burst out into the open, I finally breathed normally again. I mentally awarded myself for keeping my cool in front of Gina. Perhaps the most herculean task I'd ever done was trying not to smile like a goof every time my gaze landed on her. She looked so mature and even more beautiful than ever.

I took a deep breath when I remembered the situation at hand. "Red giant creature? Blitz, what the hell am I up against?"

"When I said we've got trouble, I meant the 'doom-of-the-human-race' kind of trouble."

Shivers ran down my spine. "What are you talking about?"

"It's time you learned my origin story. Suit up, I'll tell you on the go."

***************************************

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