Page 1 of Master Baldor
Chapter 1
Shelby
I’d been stuck in a time loop with all manner of creatures after weeks of running my avatar through impossible situations in the new game release from Contech, Giants of Jotun. My YouTube fans expected me to play and discover everything the game had to offer. With the exciting game conquered, I was more than ready to see real people, not just avatars. Dahlia, my one and only non-online friend, was meeting me at Midgard.
Stepping out in the energy of the streets of Philadelphia was such a different vibe than the one I’d been living these past few weeks inside my headset in game mode. Out here, in the real world, I felt way more vulnerable than I did in the game fighting monsters three times my size.
In the game, it’s easy to identify the monsters. Out here, the monsters hid inside regular folks going about their lives. Don’t look at them, just keep walking. I hustled down the last street and into the innocuous building that housed the exclusive BDSM Club.
The long hallway that led from the entrance of the club was far from empty. Beautiful paintings of gods and goddesses from Norse mythology hung in neat rows. After checking in, I found Dahlia at a table in the bar, her back to me and busy texting. Tiptoeing stealthily to surprise her, I held my finger in front of my lips as a gorgeous woman dressed in black with dark make-up eyed me sneaking up on my bestie. She smiled and nodded.
“Boo!”
Dahlia nearly fell out of her chair, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I sat down opposite her. Her eyes darted daggers at me before she burst into laughter.
“I nearly had a heart attack.”
“You’re too young and healthy for a heart attack.”
Dahlia stood and gave me a warm hug. It felt so good, not having had human contact for weeks, and I held on a little longer than what I would consider an appropriate amount of time.
She pulled back, taking me in. “Are you okay? And who the heck are you supposed to be… Madonna?” she joked.
I let out a breath, thankful she didn’t give me time to answer her first question in a vulnerable moment. I didn’t like sharing that side of me with anyone if I could help it. You could say I had intimacy issues, or you could say it was survival instincts, which is what I called it.
Unlike my avatar for the video games, my real-life persona enjoyed dressing in regular old teen clothes, not that I was a teen, but at twenty-two years old, I looked like a kid and constantly had my identification requested in clubs. I learned to embrace this aspect of me and channel my inner 80s teen, which fit in perfectly with the younger me I indulged. I blew a twizzled curl out of my eyes in annoyance.
“If you’re going to insult me, Dahly, at least get the correct doppelgänger. And no, not Madonna, more Pia Zadora.”
“Pia who?”
I rolled my eyes at Dahlia’s ignorance of the iconic eighties people I adored. The brunette server came over and took my order, dropping off my strawberry daiquiri in record time. I sat back, taking a sip of the cool sweet liquid, enjoying its slushy texture as it slid down my throat.
“Damn, woman, why do you always look like you’re having sex when you drink those things?”
I almost choked on my daiquiri. “Because,” I managed to gasp, “this is as good as sex.”
Dahlia frowned. “I think you’re mistaken. Sex is always better. When was the last time you were laid, anyway? I think you need reminding just how good it can be.” She chuckled.
What the hell? She was all over me and I’d only just arrived. I didn’t say that meaningless sex like what she had was not worth my time, or that I thought her choices were less than desirable, despite my irritation with her statement.
“You know perfectly well it’s been since that crazy guy wanted me to be his baby. At least a month, maybe two? I’ve been gaming for my YouTube channel, and honestly, I’d still be navigating Jotun land if I wasn’t meeting you. I lose track of time when I’m in the zone.”
“That sucks.”
“What does? The crazy guy, or Jotun land?”
Dahlia gave me a look that said I should know what she meant. My social cues were fair at best and what may be clearly evident to her certainly wasn’t always obvious to me, but I didn’t tell her that. I didn’t tell anyone that. If it wasn’t apparent by now, I certainly wouldn’t be providing the information. The last thing I needed was for my only friend to have ammo she could use against me whenever she wished.
“The guy, obviously, what happened? You were so excited after that first date.”
Dahlia took a sip of her martini. I hadn’t told her how things had turned out with Peter because, even though Dahlia was my bestie, sharing aspects of my alter ego with her could be really hard for me. I was used to being judged, even if it was only me doing the judging. My Middle/Little was a point of contention for me in that I kept her secret. Even online I worked under an alias and my dating profile was also an assumed name. My Middle was special to me and keeping her safe and out of the public eye, where we couldn’t be judged, was important to me, and a primary reason for avoiding people and spending most of my time living in my head in the safety of my home.
I made a loud sucking sound as I drank in the last of my daiquiri through the straw. I held up my glass in the air when the sexy brunette server looked my way. Then gave my friend my attention.
“You’re right. At first, I was excited. His entire demeanor was perfect, and he seemed to know so much about the lifestyle and he paid attention to me like he really saw me. No one has looked at me like that before, and I thought maybe this time, I would find someone like-minded to explore my Middle with and have some fun sexy times. I like it when they pay attention to me. We even played video games, and it was fun, despite the fact he sucked at playing.”
“And?” Dahlia leaned forward. “Then what happened?”
