Fight in Campaign Mode

"Then was Dawn Littlestone amiss in her responsibilit--"

"I'll have to interrupt you," Fred said tersely, about to raise a bottle of water to his lips but putting it back down again on the dais. "I don't really appreciate the implications that my right-hand woman was first, in on an embezzlement scam, and second, was incompetent in doing her due diligence.

"We received every vetting document from Mika that we receive from every new hire. We now know he submitted intricate forgeries. Dawn was instrumental in every success I've had for six years with no recognition but as soon as something like this happens, y'all suddenly learn her name because you're intent on vilifying her?"

"No, Mr. Okoli," Gaus tried to backtrack. "I meant, would you consider shuffling your staff after this debacle?"

"Richard, I'm going to wait for the day the Examiner has to print a retraction or correction for one of your stories," Fred replied, his voice cold and crisp, "and then I'm going to call your editor and ask, after years of you working there, whether they'd consider shuffling their news team."

Dawn's phone lit up as she sat in a back room within the office, watching the entire presser on live TV.

My favourite part about Fred, and I mean this, is his balls, Ellis had texted her. Which is fitting since Richard is staying true to his name as a real dick. Dawn started shaking with stifled giggles, drawing raised eyebrows from the team members who were huddled around the TV with her in a show of support.

I miss you, she stood up and texted back, keeping an ear to the conference.

I miss you a shit-tonne, Ellis replied. But I'll see you next Friday night. It would be two days after the election and he couldn't wait for their plans to spend the weekend locked up together in her apartment. When Dawn put her phone back on her belt, several bewildered faces stared back at her.

"Dawn," Sahrish said quietly. "I want you to know we all love you here." The staff nodded in agreement. "I'm just speaking for myself, and I'll believe you no matter what you say. Did you have anything to do with what happened?" When the smile fell off Dawn's face, Rosa jumped in.

"It's just that this is confusing. The guy you were with for a year backstabbed all of us and ran off, and you're here laughing at your phone. We need you to make this make sense." Dawn immediately saw how this looked to her friends.

"Guys, when you saw me devastated the day we found out, that was my real reaction. I was falling apart that night until someone reached out me and put it in perspective. You guys are the smartest, most hardworking people I've ever had the privilege of spending 90 percent of my day with." A few of her staff smiled.

"We didn't do anything wrong as a team," Dawn went on. "Fred and I didn't vet Mika any less vigorously than we vetted any of you. But now we've got six days to get Fred's name out there on as many free publicity outlets as we can reach. If anyone can pull off a giant stunt like this with almost no money to work with, it's a bunch of millennials."

Dawn was grateful no one pressed her as to who'd made her feel better, or how. Before anyone had a chance to try, Fred walked back in and asked to speak to her privately. She knew he was a smart man and was prepared for this conversation.

The scandal actually turned out to raise his profile in a way no one could have predicted, with the lead-up polls showing people were impressed with how he'd gone to bat for his staffer.

It not only painted him as a good boss; it also swayed public opinion to believe he was serious about his policies on workers' rights and agency. Fred didn't end up winning the election and becoming premier but he did take away enough seats from the ruling party that they found themselves in a weak minority government.

Oh, shit, what an upset! Ellis texted Dawn as soon as the TV news networks called the election. Fred robbed the premier! Dude can't even form a coalition with any other party. He's gonna need Fred's permission just to take a leak, nevermind pass a bill! Congratulations, babe!

Dawn replied with a string of heart emojis, willing herself to not tell Ellis she loved him over text. As streamers and confetti flew all around her in a brightly-lit Downsview Park, she stared at Ellis's picture on her phone, pondering how absurd it was that she had fallen so hard for him in a matter of days. Maybe she'd never loved Mika, or even cared for him at the level she thought she had.

What's your headline going to be? she texted instead.

Oh, I don't know, Ellis wrote. Okoli Grabs Premier by the Nutsack?

I thought it was a family paper, she laughed while typing, desperate to see him again.

You're right. I'll get copyediting to change it to, Okoli Grabs Premier by the Curlies.

A couple of evenings later, she could hardly contain her excitement when opening her apartment door for Ellis and then hiding behind it as he walked inside.

"Dawn?" he called out before spinning back. "Jesus Christ," he swore under his breath when he laid eyes on her in the blushing pink teddy she'd thankfully never got to wear for Mika.

"It's new," she smiled, twirling around after locking the door.

"I... I brought injera, gomen, and shiro wat from the new Ethiopian place near work," he gulped, reaching out to drop his takeout packages on the dining table and almost missing, "but I think I want something else as an appetizer." He plunked his duffel bag on the ground before prowling toward her and carrying her to her bedroom.

An hour later, Ellis was lost in thought while he looked at Dawn's teddy lying on the floor. He lay on his left side on the bed, weaving his fingers through hers as her arm wrapped around his bare waist from behind.

"I'd ask what you're thinking about, but it's probably Mario Kart," her warm breath blew between his shoulder blades and made the little hairs on his neck stand up.

"I'm thinking about whether you really want to be with me," he unexpectedly replied, turning around to face her. "Or whether I'm just your rebound." Dawn searched his eyes.

"I shot my shot for the second time with you last week, and you almost turned me down the way you did four years ago," she reminded him. "But if that wasn't enough, tell me what I need to do to prove I'm serious."

"Tell Fred about us."

"Did that a week ago."

"What?"

"I beat you to the punch, Vu," Dawn winked.

"When?"

"Fred didn't get to where he is by not being observant. You don't even have to be bright to wonder why the Examiner reporter who's been covering our campaign from the beginning was replaced in the remaining few days by some... Dick." She savoured Ellis's face as he began to chuckle, his eyes crinkling at the outside corners.

"We have his blessings, but he wonders how you're going to date me and still work the Queen's Park beat. My staff will be back in our old offices on Monday."

"I'm back to covering City Hall," he said, pulling her close.

"Isn't that a step down?" Dawn asked worriedly.

"It's lower-profile covering city politics than provincial politics," he admitted. "But they won't cut my pay or anything. Besides, it's Toronto. It's the fourth-largest city in North America so it's not like they're busting me down to writing the obits." He tilted his face down and gave her a string of adamant kisses, after which she was breathless.

"I love you, Ellis," Dawn whispered against his chin. His eyebrows shot up and he looked questioningly at her. "I mean it. It was my bad luck I didn't measure up when we first met but I can't help but think if we'd gotten together then, we'd still be together today."

"No, no, sweetie," Ellis said, touched to his core. "I was way too up on my high horse, judging you for a stupid mistake. My dad always said my stubbornness would get in the way of my happiness. I was too stubborn to listen, though." He enjoyed Dawn's smile when another thought occurred to him.

"Speaking of my parents, do you want to meet my mom this weekend? Maybe have dinner in Mississauga Sunday night?" he asked her.

"Are... are you sure?"

"Yup. She's going to notice me disappearing on the weekends a lot more and she's not going to believe I have a girlfriend unless I actually produce someone before her." He felt like Dawn's grin lit up the darkening room. "You laugh but she's accused me of meeting my nerd friends to do drugs when I was younger. I didn't have the energy to explain that's not what DnD is about."

Dawn swirled her fingertips in Ellis's wispy chest hair while chuckling, then kissed his arm.

"First of all, yes, let's go see your mom Sunday. Remind me to buy flowers on the way. Secondly, would you mind if I came with you to one of your DnD nights?"

"Holy shit, you really do love me, don't you?"

"I don't want to play just yet," Dawn laughed, "but I've always been curious as to why people are so crazy about it. How do you even organise a match?"

"They're called campaigns. It's a role-playing game and you're talking and using your imagination through it," Ellis explained.

"Tell me about it over dinner," Dawn said as she started to slide out of bed. "I'm starving and I haven't had injera and shiro in a long time."

"Not so fast," Ellis grabbed her upper arm and gave her a tug so that she fell back onto the pillow again. Then he placed a hand on the mattress on either side of her head and tenderly kissed her after hovering over her for a second. "I love you too, Dawn. Thanks for being the braver one of the two of us."

***Epilogue***

Ellis took his time putting together his next game night over the following six weeks, because spending every free minute with Dawn was a much bigger priority. As they walked along a downtown street one late July evening, he gripped his DnD kit in one hand and her fingers in the other.

"Okay, I've got my rulebook in here, my notebook with all my world-building notes, props, and music," he told her. "To keep it interesting and give newbies a chance to play with veterans, the app I'm on picks players at random based on what game they can make it out to."

"So we don't know who's going to be there?"

"Nope. They don't know I'm the dungeon master, either." He pointed to the next storefront before them. "Here it is." Dawn looked at the shop, then looked back at her boyfriend, trying to stifle her laughter.

"A comic book store?"

"I know, it's the biggest cliché ever but they pull in extra business hosting games, and we don't have to worry about continuously buying food like we would if we met at a restaurant or café. Come on."

"Does everyone use their real names once you meet?" Dawn queried, glancing at the limited-edition comic books under glass counters.

"Usually," Ellis said, waving to the store clerk and gesturing his girlfriend to the doorway at the back of the store. They made their way down a flight of musty stairs. "I always introduce--" The end of his sentence died on his lips when he entered the room and saw Mika standing at the other side of the table. Then Dawn walked in and froze.

Mika instantly bolted as soon as he saw her but Ellis dropped his valise and rushed forward to bodycheck him. The only way out was the way they'd just come in, and he didn't want Mika hurting Dawn as he rushed out. Both men were lean but Mika was more ferocious as he had more to lose.

He thrust a chair toward Ellis then took a swing at him, but Ellis dodged both. Then he pushed Mika toward the nearest wall and shoved him up against it.

"Three mil wasn't enough?" he grunted. "You just had to come back for a DnD night, you fucking fraud?"

"Well, money can't buy happiness," Mika gave him a twisted smile as his knee came up and made contact with Ellis's hip. Ellis groaned in pain and was forced to loosen his grip, which Mika used to his advantage.

"You got something out of it too, didn't you, Vu?" he mocked as brought his other knee up to Ellis's shoulder, making him double over in pain. Mika leaned down to his opponent's face. "That Dawn is a hawt piece of ass, isn't she? Glad to know you're enjoying my sloppy seconds."

"You fucking asshole," Ellis growled as he threw his whole body at Mika, who stepped out of the way and shoved Ellis into the table and chairs. Ellis briefly realised on his way down that the other players in the room had run out, but he was in too much pain to turn his head and look for Dawn. "They're gonna catch you," he managed as he felt a warm liquid dribble down his forehead.

"Yeah, my ass," Mika laughed. "I'm on the next train out of here. You were right, Vu--you definitely aren't a fighter."

With that, Mika turned tail and went through the door, then hopped up the stairs. Ellis slumped himself up against the nearest wall and tried to reach his cell phone in his pocket but his shoulder killed. Then he heard it.

A loud, sickly snap echoed through the stairwell, followed by earsplitting thumping down the stairs. Ellis stumbled to his feet while still holding his shoulder, only to see Mika's unconscious figure outside the door. At the top of the stairs was Dawn, trembling with adrenaline and fear.

"Baby, it's okay, he's still alive," Ellis called up to her after feeling for Mika's pulse. "But call 9-1-1. And the cops."

An hour later, Ellis and Dawn were seated in a corner of the comic book store with a fraud detective from Toronto Police, giving her their statements. A paramedic had checked Ellis out earlier, patched up his forehead, and given him ice packs for his shoulder and hip.

"I panicked and ran upstairs again, and that's when I heard fighting downstairs," Dawn told the detective. "If I knew Ellis was getting beaten up, I would have stayed and helped." Ellis couldn't resist letting out a little laugh at that one.

"But when Mika rushed at me while I was over there where I told you," Dawn pointed toward the display cases, "I guess I acted on reflex. I just tried to hit him, but then he stumbled backward and the stairs were right there."

"His nose is shattered," the detective told her. "I understand this was in self-defense, Ms. Littlestone, but where did you learn to do that?" Dawn looked sheepishly at Ellis.

"Reddit."

It was decided they didn't need to come down to the police division for further investigation, especially since they both had such public jobs. Mika was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital where he would be charged as soon as he regained consciousness, and as soon as police could determine what his real name was.

Another two hours later, Ellis watched Dawn quietly sip her hot chocolate in her apartment. The paramedics had given him the option of getting a full exam done right away at the hospital but he declined, telling them he'd rather to go urgent care if he had any issues in the morning.

Instead, he and Dawn picked up drinks from the café by the comic book shop and took a cab back to her place. As he sank into her couch with a groan and placed his iced coffee on his shoulder, he surveyed her face while she processed the night's events.

"I can't imagine what the headlines are going to be tomorrow," she said, her voice soaked with dread. "Okoli staffer breaks ex's nose?"

"You're burying the lede, sweetie," Ellis said, wanting to sit beside her but reluctant to move his body any more than he had to. "It should be, Littlestone single-handedly apprehends fugitive. You did what Toronto Police and the RCMP couldn't do."

Dawn observed Ellis over the next hour to make sure he wasn't showing any signs of a concussion, then put his ice packs in the freezer so they were ready to use again in the morning. She helped him undress and applied pain relief gel to his bruises, still unable to wrap her head around the strangeness of the evening.

"I can't believe he came back for a game night of all reasons," she marveled while gently massaging her boyfriend's hip as he lay in his underwear on the bed. "I thought he'd be settled in Europe by now."

"It's the arrogance," Ellis winced, despite how soothing the cold gel felt. "It was too easy for him, first ghosting you and then getting that head start of a few days. Police were already working with a cold trail by the time Fred reported him."

"He came back for the same reason rich people shoplift," Dawn understood after she returned from washing her hands.

"Nailed it. It was the cheap thrill."

Ellis smiled at the care Dawn showed when she first put some Ibuprofen and water on the nightstand beside him, then worked on wedging a throw pillow under his shoulder. He was torn between going back to Mississauga the next day to avoid being a burden to her, and staying because he'd miss her too much until being able to see her again the following weekend.

Finally, she fell into bed beside him with a loud sigh after shutting off the lights in the living room.

"What were you doing out there all this time?" he asked, reaching to hold her hand without moving his shoulder too much.

"Hiding your shoes so you don't try to sneak out tomorrow," she said nonchalantly while tying up her hair and slipping into bed.

"So what do you think of DnD?" he asked straight-faced. The room was now dark and he wished he could wrap his arms around her. Deep down, however, he knew he'd have thousands of more nights full of chances.

"Honestly, it sucks ass," Dawn deadpanned, smiling at how Ellis nearly snorted his water while laughing.

"I'll feel better in a week, and then we can sign up for another campaign," he promised after sitting up and clearing his throat. "You'll love it." Dawn leaned over and tenderly kissed his mouth, then dragged the covers overtop them.

"If it's all the same to you, baby," she whispered while lying back and holding his fingers, "I don't wanna hear the word 'campaign' again for a very long time."

***END***