“Are you sure we shouldn’t have waited for her before getting these ice cream cones?” I asked Gunderson who was currently happily licking away at the ice cream cone he was holding in his hand.

“Nah, she’d do the same if the positions were reversed.” Gunderson said between licks of his increasingly melty chocolate ice cream cone with chocolate sauce and chocolate sprinkles. “She won’t mind, trust me.”

“Well, if you say so.” I reluctantly agreed, looking down at my own partially consumed ice cream cone I was holding. It was mint chip with a few remaining rainbow sprinkles decorating the top.

Gunderson and I both stood there in comfortable silence for a time. We diligently ate away at our desserts as we waited for the upcoming arrival of our highly anticipated VIP.

Bobbie Cowell, the other local supernatural was the name of this infamous or famous personage, depending on your perspective.

Still tentatively looking back and forth at each end of the highway we were both staring at, I turned to Gunderson and said, “So, is she usually this late to meetings we had to rush to get to?”

“Ah no, well actually to be honest, yes.” Gunderson said with a shrug. “She is never intentionally late, it’s just she is usually incredibly busy, and she’s traveling around most of the time.”

“Busy how? Why does it seem like she is so much busier than me, or even you?” I asked, not understanding the situation.

After taking a large bite out of the cone he was holding, Gunderson said, “She isn’t technically required to be as busy as she is, but she works extremely hard in her role as a supernatural. She is constantly clearing dungeons, hunting stray monsters, and helping with whatever quests she comes across.”

“Sounds like she’s a bit of a workaholic to me.” I reasoned.

“Hah, well you’re not wrong, but I’d say it’s more that she is ambitious and competitive. Remember, clearing dungeons, killing monsters, and doing quests all give you experience and other rewards that make you level and get stronger. There is a reason Bobbie is considered to be a rising star among supernaturals despite her relatively young age, she puts the work in.” Gunderson said while looking in my direction.

Is that what others expected of me?

Is that what Gunderson expected of me?

With these thoughts, and a slowly melting ice cream cone starting to coat my fingers, a loud echoing roar could be heard coming from one end of the highway.

“And that would be her.” Gunderson said, finishing off the rest of his cone with a quick bite and some aggressive chewing.

The load roaring sound turned out to be the extremely loud sound of some kind of engine barreling down the highway right towards us. Standing back up from leaning against the wall of the ice cream shop we were resting against. I took my place beside Gunderson as we stood patiently at the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for this storied girl's arrival.

As the vehicle in question came into view, I was left even more confused from taking in its appearance.

“What is that?” I muttered out loud, not really intending for Gunderson to respond.

“Hah, well I could tell you, but Bobbie might well cut me up into ribbons for taking away that joy from her.” Gunderson said with a smile.

They really seem to know each other well, despite Gunderson not being the IDPA agent responsible for mentoring and working with her. As far as I remember that person was supposed to be Knowles, which was starting to truly like the odd pairing Gunderson made it out to be.

As the strange loud vehicle quickly got closer, I could make out that it was some type of custom-built motorcycle, but it was a design I’d never ever seen before, anywhere. The frame was made of some kind of segmented copper plates arranged in the vague shape of what a motorcycle normally should look like, and then there were two sets of wheels sandwiched together where ordinarily there’d be only one wheel in the front and one in the back. It definitely didn’t look like modern mundane technology, but it also didn’t exactly look more advanced, just different.

The girl riding on top of this strange contraption was not wearing a helmet so it was easy to see the short blonde hair on her head whipping around in the wind as she and her bike pulled into the parking lot Gunderson and I were standing in. She pulled right up to the empty spot next to Gunderson’s eye-catching red convertible, and flipped her kickstand down, and let her bike remain idling as she sat up a bit straighter to get a good look at the two of us.

After a quick smirk at whatever she saw, she took off the sunglasses she was wearing and tucked them via their earpiece into the top of her shirt.

“Heyya there Herbert, been awhile.” Bobbie said with a friendly smile as she still remained comfortable seated on her bike. “I expected you to keep me waiting awhile, otherwise I would have rushed over here sooner.”

“Hah, very funny. It was one time alright. Besides, this meeting is an important one, I’m never late for those.” Gunderson shot back.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Smiling at his response, Bobbie turned to look at me instead. “So, this is the girl of the hour huh, bit cheeky of you to start eating your ice cream before I even got here.”

“W-wha-, but Gunderson said…” I nervously tried to blurt out, but was interrupted by Bobbie’s loud laughter.

“I’m just messing with you, new girl.” She said, continuing to laugh for a bit. “Seriously though, I don’t care. I’d honestly be doing the same exact thing if I was stuck waiting here for my late ass.”

“See.” Gunderson said to me with a light friendly elbowing into my arm.

Great, I already embarrassed myself in front of this girl, and revealed myself to be the shy nervous mess that I am. Not the best start, but there was still room to recover.

I cleared my throat with a light cough.

“Well, it’s um nice to meet you finally Bobbie, I’m Jenni.” I held out my hand for her to shake it.

“A little bit formal for my tastes, but sure I’ll humor you, new girl.” Bobbie said while stretching herself out from atop her bike to reach out and shake my hand.

She seemed strangely reluctant to get off of her bike, but I’m assuming there is an explanation there. Gunderson did hint that she was quite fond of talking about it, so it must mean a great deal to her. Maybe that’s how the two of them bonded, their mutual love for their personal vehicles. I should…

“Hey there, new girl. You still with us?” The loud feminine voice of Bobbie called out to me, piercing the thought bubble that I had encased myself. “Does she do this a lot, I have a feeling she does this a lot.”

“W-wah, n-no of course not. I was j-just um….” I muttered out frantically before hanging my head in defeat. “Yeah, kinda.”

This was going terribly.

“Ah, relax there new girl. I’m just giving you a hard time is all.” Bobbie said, finally getting off her motorcycle after turning it off somehow. I didn’t see her hit a switch or anything. Maybe it was just well concealed or something.

She casually walked over to where we were standing and started to lightly pat me on my shoulder.

“There, there. I promise I won’t bite your head off or anything, so just chill and relax a bit.” She said with a kind but uncertain grin on her face. “I just wanted to meet’cha and get to know you a little. This isn’t a job interview, and I’m not really your boss, despite how some of the the decrepit old ghouls and liches among our kind seem to think.”

“Ah, maybe don’t make those kinds of jokes about ghouls and liches around Jenni here. She’s still pretty new and liable to think you’re being serious.” Gunderson warned.

“Eh, I’m sure she knows I’m joking. Don’t you?” She asked looking to me for support.

“Uh right, yeah. I could tell that she was just joking about all that.” I answered uncertainly.

“See, you worry too much Herbert. I think that Jenni and I need some private girl time.” Bobbie declared, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “You can wait out here like the good boy that you are.”

Gunderson made an expression on his face as though he had just sucked on a really tart lemon or something.

“If Jenni is okay with that, I have no complaints.” He said carefully.

“Jenni?” Bobbie again looked at me, expecting some sign of agreement.

“Um, I’ll be fine Gunderson. You said you’ll just be out here then?” I answered and asked hesitantly.

“Sure.” Gunderson said reluctantly. “I’ll uh, be standing right here then.”

“Come on now Herbert, don’t pout.” Bobbie chided. “Just chill in your kick-ass convertible you got over there, listen to some tunes, and relax for a minute. Jenni and I need to discuss some private sup’ business.”

“Fine, fine.” Gunderson said waiving his hand dismissively toward us as he walked back over to his car to do as Bobbie suggested.

“Great, now that he’s gone, come on.” Bobbie said happily, her arm still draped on my shoulder in a sort of relaxed hug. “Let’s finally get inside so I can get some of their awesome mocha nut ice cream.”

Being practically dragged along, I went inside with Bobbie, still trapped within the confines of the arm she still had wrapped around me.

As we entered through the ice cream parlor's door, the attached bell went off with a nice little *Cling* sound.

Bobbie quickly dragged us over to one of the empty tables near the front window, which was suspiciously close to where she had parked her motorcycle.

Plopping down loudly into the chair, Bobbie loudly exclaimed, “Ahhhh, so good to finally rest my butt on an actual chair for once. Sooooo good.”

Her eyes seemed to close in pleasure at sitting in these rather plain, and not particularly comfy chairs. Does she really work so much that sitting in boring ordinary chairs was that much of a luxury?

Taking my own seat, I took the opportunity to grab some of the napkins out of the little metal dispenser they had on the table, and began to wipe down my now very messy hand that had melted mint chocolate chip ice cream all over it.

“So what kind did you get?” Bobbie asked nonchalantly. “Before it melted all over you. Did you even get to eat any of it beforehand?”

“Uh, I did, yeah. It was just a mint chip ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles.” I informed her.

“Mint huh, can’t say I’m a fan, but to each their own.” She said with a shrug, before grabbing up one of the pre-placed laminated menus on the table.

“I thought you already knew what you wanted?” I asked as I watch her read the menu.

“Sure, I at least want the mocha nut sundae, but I’m looking to see what else I might want to have with it.” She said with a devilish smile.

“Uh, you really going to have all that sugar and fat before it’s even supper time? That doesn’t seem all that healthy.” I calmly pointed out.

Bobbie's response to was to squint her eyes at me uncertainly before breaking out into loud echoing laughter that seemed to fill the whole room.

“W-what? It’s true though.” I said defensively, shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

“Sure, sure. I mean, you’re not wrong for most people I guess, but you really are so new aren’t you.” She said, wiping tears of laughter out of her eyes.

“Is it really that funny?” I asked grumpily, not super happy at being laughed at for my ignorance or whatever it was Bobbie found so funny.

“Sorry, sorry. I just thought you were messing with me at first, but then I realized you were seriously saying that out of concern for me or something.” She said with a small, but cocky grin on her face. “Oh new girl, we have so so much to go over together.”