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He shook his head. “Snake, like you said, is a handle and isn’t used outside of gaming. Well, almost never,” he added. “Alex and I sometimes called each other by our handles when we were growing up. He was Dante—” He pointed to the poster next to Snake, not quite as large. “Dante is an avatar in DMC—”
Mia cocked her head and he snapped out, his voice impatient, “DMC, the game Devil May Cry.”
She studied the outrageous character on the poster, a swashbuckler with longish gray or blond hair, wearing a billowing red velvet coat over tight black leather that showed off a ripped body. He held an elaborate sword above his head, ready to lop off a head. He looked sexy and hard and determined. Is that how Alex Harrington saw himself?
“And you and Alex played games like World of Warcraft online, with other players?”
“Sure, that’s what gamers do, mostly.”
“Did you or Mr. Harrington ever wear those outfits when you were kids? Red velvet coats and such? Pretend you were them?”
“Sure, kids and teens do, mostly for Halloween and dress-up parties. But you shouldn’t think gaming is any part of Alex’s life now. We play together rarely now to amuse ourselves. We both have more important things to think about, Alex in particular. And, well, so do I, really.”
“Does that make you sad?”
He gave her a flash of a smile. “Sometimes, I admit it. My youth, great days.”
“How about Alex?”
“I’d say Alex is completely focused on becoming the next great mayor of New York City.”
“Of course.” He was leading her back to talk about Alex, but she didn’t want to let it go just yet. She sat forward, her eyes sparkling, and waved her hand at the other posters. “And who are they?”
“That’s Nero next to Dante, then Trish, Vergil, all iconic characters. And that’s Garrosh Hellscream, Deathwing the Destroyer, Uther Lightbringer—they’re all from World of Warcraft.” He made a sweeping gesture. “All of them are avatars or icons, or portraits or emblems—shorthand for the players’ characters.”
“And your own avatar, Snake, how does he fight? Does he have a superpower?”
“It’s all hand to hand for Snake, no superpower.” Kent got to his feet, grinning like a maniac, mimed having a sword in a tight grip above his head and swung it down, cleaving the air.
Mia froze. It was a snapshot, a single moment locked in time, and she saw the man with Serena that night—bringing down a sword and Serena staggering back, pretending he’s killed her, laughing. He was that man.
She didn’t know how she did it, but she applauded. “Talk about a death blow. You blow me away.”
To her relief, the phone buzzed on his desk. He stared at it, sighed, picked it up, slowly repeated, “Mr. Merkel’s waiting outside? Now?”
He looked at Mia, shrugged.
She let disappointment fill her voice. “Oh, I’m so sorry, we got so caught up in your display”—she swept out her hands—“I’ve let what little time we had slip away.”
He laughed, raised a finger, spoke quietly into his phone, and hung up. “We can take a few more minutes. I’d like to clear up any questionable impression I may have given you about Alex. As I told you, gaming is something he and I did together when we were young, and now we play only on rare occasions. Adulthood comes to all of us. Both of us have had adult responsibilities for many years now, people who depend on us.”
He sat forward, clasped his hands, and tried to look dead serious, even with the gaming icons staring down at them. “Alex is tremendously talented, a born leader. And he’s a man of principle, a man you can trust. I firmly believe he’s the mayor New York needs now, if he can get himself elected.”
The phone on his desk buzzed again. He sighed, rose. “I wish we had more time, but alas, duty calls.” He came around his desk, shook her hand, held it a moment longer than was customary. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mia. If you make an appointment next time, Irene can clear a block of time for you. I’ll convince you Alex is the man New York needs as mayor. Ah, maybe you’d like to have a drink with me sometime? I could teach you more about gaming.”
She smiled at him. “Yes, I’d like that.”
