"So, I suppose you've got something for me."
"My name is...Well, you already know that."
"Yup. Just let me check the log for a second," she smiled, her eyes lingered on me a bit longer before looking down.
"Take your time."
As she started running her finger down a delivery list, she bit her lower lip.
"By the way... I had a lot of fun last night. I'm never going to forget it." She looked up, her smile turning decidedly wicked.
"You are the man, Alister. Literally the best I can imagine."
I offered a smooth smile in return.
"Yeah. I suppose I'll never forget last night, either."
'That is, if I could actually remember a single second of it.'
As she leaned slightly over the desk, I suddenly noticed two very distinct details. One, she was very clearly not wearing a bra beneath her crisp white uniform blouse.
I could see her nipples sticking out and making buttons on her shirt.
And two, her size was... exceptional.
'Ah,' I realized. 'Mystery solved.'
"Hey, just a heads up," I said, keeping my voice low. "You left your bra up in my room."
"Oh, thank God! I spent twenty minutes looking for it before I came back to continue my shift. You are an absolute lifesaver, Alister."
"Do you have any idea how long I have to wait to get those custom-made?"
"They don't exactly sell my size in standard shops, you know."
"Yeah, I can definitely see that."
I nodded, playing along just so I could finally pivot to the main issue.
"Listen... the thing is, I actually can't remember anything that happened last night. I don't even remember your name."
Her finger stopped moving down the ledger. She paused, slowly raising her head to look at me in disbelief.
"Really?" She raised her eyebrow. "So, you completely forgot how you dragged me up to your suite and fucked my brains out?"
Hearing that made me actually choke on my own breath.
"Wait... did we really do that?"
"You mean sex? Yeah. Several times, actually," she smirked, leaning a little closer across the table.
"You were absolutely crazy, you know that? I didn't even know a guy could go that many times in a row without pills."
'Well, there goes my virginity and I don't even fuckin' remember anything. At least, it's a plus that she's got looks and body.'
I took a slow, deep breath to steady my racing thoughts. "Right. So... besides the sex. Is there anything else crazy that I did?"
"Not with me," she shrugged, finally pulling a thick envelope from under the desk.
"I just saw you wander in from outside looking gorgeous. I literally abandoned my night shift because I couldn't reject a guy like you coming onto me."
She slid the envelope across the marble, placing a sleek business card right on top of it.
"Regretfully, I'm assuming it was just a wild, one-time thing," she smiled, tapping the card. "But call me if you ever want to catch up. Oh, and here's your package. It arrived about an hour ago."
"Thanks. See you around," I said, offering a polite nod.
I picked up both the envelope and the business card before turning away.
The second I stepped out of the hotel's revolving glass doors; I slipped the envelope securely into the inner breast pocket of my overcoat and casually dropped the card into the nearest dustbin.
I slid back into the driver's seat of my rented Mercedes and started the drive toward Heathrow Airport.
Before getting there, however, I made a quick detour to purchase a Muggle mobile phone.
The damn thing was hilariously bulky; I could even open up a skull with it.
And without an Extension Charm on my clothes, I could barely even fit it into my pockets properly.
...
~Twelve Hours Later
I stepped out of the sliding doors of Los Angeles International Airport, stretching my stiff neck with a heavy, aggravated sigh.
Man, that was a truly horrible experience.
I had been completely bored out of my skull for the last twelve hours straight.
Being crammed in a metal tube in the sky without the ability to stretch my wings or use my magic was pure torture.
The absolute first thing I am going to do when I get back is master Apparition.
The only silver lining was the time zone shift. It was currently just past noon here in sunny LA, while London was already completely shrouded in the dead of night.
"Alright," I muttered to myself, squinting against the bright California sun. "I need a massive number of US dollars for the next phase of my plan. For that, it's time to pay the local branch of Gringotts a little visit."
I flagged down a European cab driver right outside the airport terminal. Since I hadn't exchanged my currency yet, I simply offered him triple the standard fare in British pounds.
Half an hour later, the cab dropped me off in Bell Gardens.
I stood on the pavement, staring up at the Bicycle Casino, widely known on the streets as 'The Bike'.
It is one of the largest poker cardrooms in the entire world.
Even U.S. government acts as a partner in a legal gambling operation here, keeping their share of the profits.
But I wasn't here to play Texas Hold'em.
I was here because this sprawling, chaotic casino served a much more important purpose, it is also a place that hides the entrance to the American magical world.
"UH... I need to deal with those shitty goblins again."
...
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You can enjoy the advance chapters there, with character image attached to each chapter.
Special thanks to Coven Elite: Joshua rooney