Mark woke up tired. It was afternoon already. He was losing game after game the day before, and he tried to win the last one. He lost three times before he finally made it. His head was in pain. He checked his phone and turned on the other side. He would get up after he gets hungry.
Mark's phone started to vibrate. It was not a message. Someone was calling him. Ariel.
Mark accepted the call, but he turned off his camera.
"Hi Mark, how are you doing?" It was her. She also turned off her camera as soon as she has seen his.
She did not wait for his response,
"Come to my place at 4. I have a plan."
"Ok."
"Great, bye." and the phone went dark again.
Mark set up his alarm clock, 3 pm should be enough for a quick shower, and then he will be at Ariel's place before 4. He appreciated that Ariel come up with something. Mark was afraid of tomorrow's meeting. He tried to think how to get the dog, but nothing was smart enough. His best plan was to get hired as a dogsitter when Adam will go for a vacation. But this would take too much time.
Mark tried to fell asleep. He could get at least two hours of sleep.
"I should sleep. I feel awful and look terrible." Mark thought.
He was trying to find a comfortable position, but he was too nervous to sleep. So, he was imagining himself being Ariel's official boyfriend. The respect he would get. But then he started to be afraid. Maybe he would screw this up. What might Ariel do to him then? Some girls posted on their socials negative comments about unhinged fans. Mark didn't know anyone who was a target of these comments, but he had seen some compilations of the best insults. It scared him.
This thought woke up Mark completely. He wanted to prepare himself for the meeting. He realized that he does not know anything about Adam. So he at least searched for Adam's pictures and videos from his social.
From the videos, Mark learned how Adam's house looks like. Adam did not have a lot of followers. He was a model and worked for an agency. Adam's videos had a low production quality and not too many interactions.
Then Mark looked at Adam's photos. The photos were better, probably from a professional photoshoot.
"Lucky to pose for these amazing t-shirts! Buy at ..."
From time to time, there was a picture of Fluffy. It seemed that he was also in ads.
"Fluffy is the star! Who else eats his meal so gracefully!"
Mark took a shower and selected his best clothes. He still had time, but he decided to go slowly to Ariel's house.
Mark arrived around 15 minutes early, so he strolled her street back and forth a few times. While doing that, he was feeling inappropriate, that he does not belong there. The houses were spacious with gardens behind, a lot more trees, and an open space.
When he reached the end of the street, Ariel called.
"Wait in front of the doors. I'm there in five minutes."
It was weird she could have texted.
Mark hurried in front of the door and waited.
"Hi, great, you are here."
Ariel appeared. She looked good, even though she wore only casual clothes.
"Yes, I'm."
"I have a plan. Adam has a photoshoot today and a small party afterward."
"You can hang around the entrance. As soon you see that person, follow him."
She showed a picture of a guy. His hair was orange.
"Perfect, at least I'll recognize him." thought Mark.
"He will wear headphones. Follow him, but you cannot talk to him at all."
"Why?"
"It's complicated, but you cannot talk to him."
Mark was a bit puzzled but nodded slightly.
"Here is a sport bag, find Fluffy and put him inside."
Ariel gave Mark a shoulder bag. It was light and soft.
"Inside, there are some pillows and a sausage. Fluffy will be hungry, eats the sausage."
"There are sleeping pills. He will fall asleep."
"Ok, that's smart."
Mark opened the bag and seen a sausage and some pillows.
"Great. Where I'll find Fluffy?" Mark asked.
"He should be in the garden. He should find the sausage himself, so if you open it,
go around and return. Fluffy should be there."
"What about the reward?" Mark asked.
Ariel frowned.
"We will talk about this later, don't worry."
"This reminds me, just leave the bag with sleeping Fluffy in front of the entrance and go away."
"Maybe call me at that time. I will be busy."
"Right, that makes sense."
"We can meet on Sunday evening to discuss everything."
"When someone asks you what are you doing there, tell him you are there to see Tom."
Ariel was thinking for a while.
"Ok, I think you know everything." Ariel examined Mark and shook her head.
"Don't you have better clothes?"
Mark shook his head.
"It's too late anyway. Have you ever worked?" Ariel's voice sounded like a bite.
"No, I never needed..." Mark felt judged.
He did not like it. His friends lived exactly how he did. He was not meeting other people,
only when he paid them for that. No one would ask him such a question in such a judgmental tone.
Mark was glad when Ariel disappeared. He didn't want to spend any more time with her. The mismatch between her social and this conversation was too much.
Mark took a bus to Adam's part of the town. Fortunately, Adam's house stood in the dead end. So Mark waited forty meters down the street. When he sees someone walking, he will follow. If he sees a car, he gets in front of the house before the person gets out.
Mark stood there, and his mind invented different scenarios of how everything can go wrong. After Fluffy is in the bag, they can catch him and call the police. Or he might mess up and be a failure in Ariel's eyes. Or they might notice his ugly clothes and laugh at him. Mark convinced himself that it ends in a disaster. And from all failures, he would prefer the one where Ariel is annoyed. He can cancel his subscription and never speak to her again. Then his chances of getting to Frozen Wolves would be slim. He was on the verge of leaving when another car passed. And inside, there was a guy with headphones. It was him.
"I can at least try." Mark hurried towards Adam's house.
Then he realized that he is too fast and that the guy with headphones didn't even get out of.
So he stopped and looked at his phone. His heart was racing.
Finally, the man left the car. He walked around him, but he probably did not see him.
The door opened, and the guy went through.
The door started closing. Mark caught them and went inside too.
The guy with headphones walked towards the house.
Mark decided to go around the house to the garden. He heard some music from the back. It made him stop.
"I cannot just walk there. I would be suspicious."
Mark created the plan. He will find a doghouse and leave the bag near.
Then, he will go to the toilet and wait there for some time.
Mark opened the bag, took a deep breath, and continued.
In the backyard, there was a pool and few people around it. While scanning the scene, Mark stopped, but no one noticed. In the opposite corner of the garden, there was the doghouse. He went close and thrown the bag to the ground.
Then he slowly walked towards the door inside.
In the house, there were groups of people, mostly talking.
The music was playing, and almost everyone had a beer in his hand.
Mark noticed a set of lights used for shooting.
Some people were working around it.
"I should ask them about the toilet. They don't know I don't belong."
"Sorry, toilet?"
Mark could not say a proper sentence. His heart was racing, and he was sweating profusely.
The man packing the lights seem a bit annoyed.
"Down the hallway and the second door to the right."
"Thanks."
Mark walked briskly towards the hallway and found the toilet.
He locked. Everything was luxurious and clean. He sat for a while.
He washed himself but still did not want to return. I can stay here.
No one will talk to me.
There was knocking on the door.
"Occupied!"
Mark checked his social and looked in the mirror.
Someone knocked again.
"Just a minute!"
He counted to twenty and flushed the toilet. Then he washed his hands.
Mark went outside. While walking around the pool, he heard a bark. So he turned and stood next to the wall, checking his phone. No one was approaching him, so he relaxed a bit and started to look around. The people were having fun. They were talking loudly, and some were swimming. The music was good.
He did not thought about it, but he seemed older than others. Also everyone's clothes were so much better than his. He was at some parties, but they were mostly about drinking. Moreover, the proportion of girls was better here.
When he was looking around, from the side, one guy approached him.
Mark prepared to run when he noticed him.
He made two steps along the wall.
"Have you seen Robin?"
Mark was thinking: "Ok. I can do this. I'm not exposed."
"Inside."
Mark's response was just a squeak. But afterward, he was relieved.
Nobody discovered him yet.
When the guy left, Mark did not want to meet him again.
"I was here for a long time. I'm taking the bag and going."
So he headed towards the doghouse and his bag.
In the bag, there was Fluffy, sleeping, it seemed.
So he closed the bag and went outside.
On the way out, no one stopped Mark. He was almost running on the street.
In his bag, Fluffy made some noises, but they were getting quieter.
"That would be awful if the sleeping pills don't work."
Mark got to Ariel's home. He dropped the bag on the grass next to the gate and called.
Ariel took it.
"You have it?"
"Yes."
"Great, go home and don't call now."
And she ended the call.
Mark got home, and he was almost singing. Everything will be great. He will be someone among his friends. With that, Mark started to watch a show.
Fifteen minutes after Mark called, Ariel came out of the gate and examined the bag. She checked the dog and then put her hands over her face. After a while, she called the police.