Lab shrugged and followed me through the door, startling a couple of the unhoused that happened to dwell there. We calmed them down as best we could, and continued on our way to Mr. Chen’s shop. Once we got to the restaurant, we saw a line heading out of the door. I looked over at Lab and shrugged as we got in line.
Apparently, Mr. Chen had taken the liberty of capitalizing on my first visit. He’d somehow gotten a photo of me -likely from my interview on the Iron News Network- and had a life-sized cardboard cutout made. Cardboard me was saying something in Mandarin and I couldn’t read it, but the gesture made me cringe. Not that I was angry. Far from it, really. I’d just never expected something like this would actually happen to me.
Me. A second-rate nobody from Chicago with a lame-ass power that had so far caused me more trouble than it had given me in benefit. Someone went and created a life-sized cardboard cutout of me. Not Brighthawk. Not Diamond Ring. Not even No-Face. Me. Chen Shou had thought enough of me to get this made. I pointed my camera at it and snapped a picture, curious as to what “I” was saying. Running the photo through a translator, it said “My doors are just the beginning step to Heaven!”
I sighed, causing Lab to look up at me, a question on his face. “It’s just the cutout, dude. I didn’t expect Mr. Chen to do that.”
“Whaddya mean? You been here before?”
“Remember the guy that fell for an hour? This is where that happened. Mr. Chen promised me free food whenever I come. I told him that it was only gonna be me, and that I’d not do it more than once a week.”
“Oooo… This oughtta be good, then.” He stepped out of line and went to stand next to the cutout.
“Lab?” I said warningly. “What are- fuck.”
He made a show of examining the cutout and then tapped a gentleman on the arm. “Excuse me, sir?” The man looked down at Lab, somewhat startled. “Doesn’t that guy right there kinda look like the man on the cutout?” He pointed directly at me.
Fucking bastard.
The man looked shocked, then tapped the guy in front of him, muttering to him. Pretty soon, whispers and mutterings raced from our place in line all the way inside the building. Not five minutes later, Mr. Chen came out and grabbed my arm.
“Mr. Portal! Come in! No line for you, friend. Come in and sit. Sit!” He laughed and all but dragged me in, all the while, Lab sat there grinning like the fucking cat that got the canary, the bastard.
I stumbled beside Mr. Chen up to the front counter, where I saw several members of his family gathered, smiles on their faces. The others in line began clapping and fucking cheering for me. Me! I felt my face grow hot and flushed.
Mr. Chen had picked up one of his menus and was pointing at something. “See here? We have a new menu item. Named after you!”
I looked and saw my order from the second night I came. Orange chicken and General Tso’s. With crab rangoon and chicken on a stick. Twenty-five bucks. Came with a side of rice. Not a bad deal, really. But the name? A Portal to Heaven?
I nodded and smiled. “That’s incredible, sir. I’ll have that, then. Could it come out with that little man’s order right there? He’s a friend, and he will be paying.” He nodded and directed me to a table, and I waited for Lab to place his order.
About fifteen minutes later, Lab came and sat with me, still grinning. “Hello there, Mighty Portal.”
I snorted. “Shut the fuck up, dude. That was mean. I hope he charged you double.”
Lab grinned. “Nah. I did, however, get just about one of everything. They’ll be busy for a few.”
We sat there in relative silence for a while. I did, however, have to meet several excited patrons as they sat down, waiting for their own food. Most were simply amazed that a Super had visited this little hole-in-the-wall, but a few wanted to shake my hand and thank me for saving the life of their favorite restaurant’s owner. A couple of young kids wanted me to demonstrate my power, and I wowed them with a simple pair of small doors, reaching out to tap them on the shoulder. It spooked them, of course, and they jumped and squealed with laughter every time.
While I didn’t want any of my own, I knew that children were a treasure, and they deserved to be able to keep that sense of whimsy for as long as possible.
About a half hour after Lab sat down, the manager and his family brought out several trays filled with steaming entrees and appetizers. I heard conversation die down elsewhere as the other patrons openly stared in shock.
Lab’s food took up a good portion of our table, all of another, and half of a third. I shook my head, a silent laugh in my chest as my relatively small lunch was placed before me. Mr. Chen looked confused for a moment.
“I am certain there was more food in your meal, sir. Please accept my apologies.”
I laughed and gently touched his arm. “No need for that, Mr. Chen. Lab here always eats like this, and it makes anything look small. I assure you, this is more than enough for me, and he will eat all of this before we leave.”
“He’s right, Mr. Chen. This is a decent lunch for me. It might even fill me up.”
Was it just me, or did he look excited at the prospect of being full? Mr. Chen nodded and walked back to the kitchen. He had a fairly long line to take care of, after all.
I picked up the chopsticks and dug in. The orange chicken had that customary sweetness to it, and the General Tso’s was delightfully spicy. I sighed in appreciation as I ate. Lab, on the other hand, had taken a single bite of his and decided it was worthy. I shook my head with a smile as he grabbed a spoon and started shoveling food into his hungry mouth.
After a few minutes, Lab simply looked over at me and said, “Nervous?”
“Hm?” I stopped, a piece of chicken halfway to my mouth.
“Your leg, Jackson. Might want to keep it still, unless you want everyone around you to stare at it.”
I looked down. Sure enough, my left leg was bouncing like crazy. I took a deep breath and stilled myself, receiving a nod from Lab.
By the time I had taken the last bite of my chicken on a stick, Lab had finished his entire meal, soup included. Several of the patrons had taken out their phones and were videoing the absurdity. Lab simply smiled and waved at them as he ate. Thankfully, they were more focused on his gustatory accomplishments than me even being there, so I wasn’t in the spotlight.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Well? How was it, Lab?”
“Gotta tell ya, kid. You sure picked a winner with this place. I’m actually comfortably full. What’s more, it didn’t cost me more than two hundred bucks.”
“Holy hell. Mr. Chen actually did it.”
“What did I do, sir?” Mr. Chen asked as he walked up to the table, his jaw dropping as he saw the pile of empty plates.
“For starters, you filled his black hole of a belly. And secondly, your food is as delicious as ever. Thank you so much for taking care of us.”
“He’s right, man. I ain’t been this full in several years.”
“Several years? Hold on.” Mr Chen gave Lab a shrewd look. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“Thirty years ago. You were the one who put Roger Li out of business!”
“I…um…” Lab belched as quietly as he could. “Maybe?”
Mr. Chen laughed. “Li was shamed so badly, he had to go home to Mongolia! He works for his father as a sheep rancher now.”
I stared at Mr. Chen. “You knew the guy?”
“Yes. Li was a neighbor when I was a child. Always bragging on how good he was at business. Bah! I have surpassed my rival! Just wait until I prove it to him. You come once a month, I feed you. You eat a lot of food, Mr. Lab, but I can take care of you! Just call a week ahead, so I can make sure to have your dinner ready. Ha!” Mr. Chen walked back to the kitchen, shouting something in Mandarin to the people there, and we heard the ringing laughter.
Our meal eaten, we decided it was time to leave. “Bye, Mr. Chen! Thanks for having us!”
“Be safe out there, Portal! See you when you return!” he called out from the back.
I created a door on the wall, and Lab and I stepped through onto our street, to surprised gasps from the other patrons. I let the door vanish once we were through and we walked to our apartment. Once inside, I checked my phone for the time, seeing that I still had six hours until my date with Anna. I set an alarm for ten-thirty, then sat down to learn more about cybersecurity.
Once it went off, I sat back and rubbed my eyes. How had four hours passed by so quickly? I yawned and stretched, then got a shower and dressed myself. Eleven-fifteen. I paced in my room, my mind whirling with the myriad possibilities and potentials for the evening.
What if I said something stupid? What if I did something stupid? What if some moron decided that tonight was the time to be a thug? Anna’s power was probably no help to us there. Was I able to stay awake for long enough? Shit. I should’ve taken a nap. Did she really like me? I grumbled and scrubbed my hand across my face.
“Relax, you idiot. She told you she thought you were cute, and she seemed excited that she got to go out with you. No sense stressing out over this.” I nodded to myself and opened my bedroom door to find Lab standing there, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Y’done stressing out? Good. Get downstairs and chill. Your room is no place for you to be stressing out in.”
I sighed and headed down to the living room with my phone. He was right, though. I’d just work myself up if I stayed in there. I opened up a game on my phone and sat down to wait.
I didn’t wait long. About ten minutes later, a knock sounded at the door. I opened a peephole, seeing William and the top of Anna’s head. I let the doors vanish, thankful that they were silent, and tucked my phone in my pocket, scrubbing my sweaty palms on the front of my slacks.
As I opened the door, my greetings caught in my throat as I saw Anna. She was beautiful. She was pretty before, to be sure, but with what she had done? I was utterly speechless.
Anna had done her makeup in an extremely flattering light application, and her hair had been done up in a simple, but beautiful pixie bob. She was wearing a figure-hugging black evening dress that had a single wide strap on her left shoulder. It cut down across her chest just above her breasts, displaying the barest hint of cleavage. As my eyes ran down the length of her short, fit body, my jaw dropped involuntarily.
“Best close that mouth, Jackson. Might catch a fly.” William smirked at me.
Anna looked up at me through her lashes. “Hi Jackson.”
“Uhm… uh…H-hi, Anna. You, uh… You look amazing.”
“Thank you,” she said in a small voice, her head bobbing inward a bit.
“May we come in, Jackson?”
“Hm? Oh, shit. Sorry, yeah. Please, come in. Make yourselves at home. Can I get you some water?”
“Oh, no thank you. We won’t be here long. Anna says you needed to speak with me, Jackson? Something about picking my brain?”
I was so absorbed in Anna’s appearance that I didn’t quite hear him. Damn, but she was beautiful. “Hmm?”
William chuckled good-naturedly. “Come here, Jackson. Let’s talk.”
“Oh! Shit. Yes, I’m sorry. I… uh. Yeah. I have something to show you.” I started toward the stairs. “Hey Lab? Would you mind coming downstairs for a bit?”
“Yeah! Gimme a moment.”
Lab came down a few seconds later. “Whatcha need, Ja- William! Been a long time, man!” He thrust his catcher’s mitt of a hand at William, who shook it happily. “How’s that P250 treating ya? Still chugging along?
“Labrador! So good to see you again! Sadly, no. I was t-boned a couple years ago. While I survived with nary a scratch, the truck was totaled. Haven’t driven since. The work you did was simply stellar, however. I do appreciate it.”
“Oh damn. Sorry to hear that, Will. I know you liked that thing. I might be able to dig up a decent vehicle for you, if you’d like?”
William nodded appreciatively. “I think that might work. Once I’m done escorting these two to their destination, I can drop by and we can discuss it?”
“Yeah! I’d like that. We could catch up, too.” Lab directed his attention to me. “Now what did you need?”
I blinked rapidly. “Is there anyone you don’t know?” Lab shrugged, helpless. “Anyway. Would you please keep Anna company? I need to discuss something with William.”
“Oh! Certainly, certainly. Now, where’s the- oh my.” He let out a low whistle. “You look prettier than a field of butterflies, Anna.” He walked over and sat on the couch across from her, and they began talking.
Once I saw that he had her attention, I opened a door to my room, leading William inside.
“Jackson? I’m flattered, but you’re about to go on a date with Anna.” He smirked.
“Not now, William. This is serious.” He stood a little straighter, motioning for me to continue. I reached over and grabbed the glass of water, holding the large flower. It had already begun to make roots.
“William, I found this in my bed after having pulled it off a tree in a dream this morning. I put it in this glass of water after not even an hour, and now look. It’s starting to make roots. What the fuck is happening, man?”
William gingerly took the glass, examining it closely. “Tell me everything, Jackson.”
So I did. I recounted the dream in its entirety, including what happened after I woke up. He looked thoughtful.
“And you say you ate one?” I nodded. “Is the dirt still there?”
I pulled back the sheets, revealing the dirt in my bed. “I left it in case you wanted to see it.”
William nodded. “Okay. Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll come back after dropping you two off, grab these sheets and this glass. I’ll see about setting it into some soil; see what comes of it. In the meantime, if you find yourself in this other place again, just go along with it. See where the dream takes you. I have a theory, and we just have to wait to see if I’m right.”
“What? What are you thinking?”
“I’m not going to get into right now, but if I’m right? Things are going to change.” He set the glass down on my nightstand. “Let’s get you two to Japan, yes?”
I nodded and held up a hand. “Before we continue, you have to know that whatever this is, I’m not going to keep it a secret from Lab, okay?
William paused, his brows furrowed. “That’s reasonable. He’s your friend and roommate. This could affect him greatly.”
I nodded and opened a door downstairs.