I took another long sip of my beer and hoped that Quinn would call again.
#
After a few minutes, I picked up the phone to call Quinn. Then, I put it down. It wasn't like I did not have other people to call. Other women, too. It just seemed like she was the first one on my mind. I shook my head and moved away from the phone.
Then it rang. It was Quinn. I picked it up on the second ring.
"Owen, are you alright? I was driving to pick up a pizza and I think I saw cops outside of your apartment building," she said.
I forced myself to take a sip of beer and slow down. "Yeah, they were here, but everything is alright."
"Seriously? Why were there cops at your place?"
"I don't know, someone trying to mess with me." The first explanation that came to mind took hold. "I bet another Dark Flag player got ahold of my address and thought they'd rattle me a little bit. There's actually a tournament coming up and maybe they hope I'll cancel."
"People do that?" Quinn asked.
It made sense. The players who focused on taking me down were usually very serious gamers and hacking came easily to many people in that set. Finding my address from my IP would not be impossible. I made a mental note to adjust my security settings and encrypt my IP address.
I heard the front door opening. There was one other explanation to why the cops were searching my apartment for drugs. "Look, I gotta go. Everything's fine. Maybe I'll see you in Dark Flag later."
I hung up on Quinn and waited for Jasper to untangle himself from his leather messenger bag, suit coat, and scarf. No matter what the weather was like, he always dressed like a man out of GQ.
"Hey, Owen, didn't see you there. How's my playah?" Jasper asked.
"Your timing is perfect, per usual," I said. "The police were here not too long ago. Spent good quality time searching the place for drugs."
He dropped his bag hard onto the floor but laughed. "Seriously? And I missed it? I've been meaning to follow up about that proposal I sent over to the precinct."
"Yeah? I told them about that. Right after they handed me a search warrant and went through everything," I said.
Jasper grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. "How long did that take them? Did they thank us simple bachelors for making it easy on them?"
"They brought in a K-9," I said.
Jasper took a long time to open his beer and take a heavy gulp. "Man, what have you done to piss off the authorities lately?"
"Who says it’s me?" I asked.
"People love to jump to stereotypes when I talk about my gamer roommate. You know, cheese puffs, high octane sodas, and a shut-in in sweatpants. I could see how the cops might jump to 'deals pot on the side.'"
"Except I don't," I said. "I don't even smoke pot. It would be in violation of my contracts. It'd be my career, too, you know."
"You say that like I'm the one that's guilty," Jasper said. He leaned against the counter and crossed his leather dress shoes. "All I'm saying is one of our nosy neighbors probably got the idea from some movie and tipped off the police. Gets a bit boring around here. Man, I'm sad I missed all the action."
"Me too. Especially when the German Shepherd was very interested in the pocket of the sports coat you lent me," I said.
"Oh?" Jasper asked. He straightened up, then stopped himself and leaned back casually. "Where is it? I was going to wear it out tonight. There's a great new band over at The Alley."
"Is that your way of telling me you're not dealing pot on the side?" I stood up and crossed my arms, taller and wider than Jasper.
"Seriously, man? Why would I be doing that? Things are going great for me," Jasper said. He looked around the loft from one end to the other. "In fact, I've been meaning to tell you I signed up with this head-hunting company. They've got a lead on a job for me in L.A. Looks like I might be moving on soon."
"Really?" I asked. "And this just comes up now?"
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to jinx it. So, anyway, come out with us tonight. Help me celebrate," Jasper said.
"No, thanks," I said. "I think I'm going to get some fresh air. Apparently, I need to think about getting a new roommate."