Read Serving of Poison :: Mental Preparation Strategy

Liam was snapped out of his fantasy by Ryan nudging his shoulder with his elbow. He asked again, “Liam, why? Why are you staring like that?” The man flinched as if he saw a ghost, he was still adjusting to reality. Liam then remembered that he always used to rehearse his missions in his head before performing them when he was working under his evil master. This strategy helped him plot against his targets by predicting everyone’s moves and all possible approaches he could take to complete a mission successfully, especially if the targets were particularily dangerous.

This mental preparation strategy got the better of him this time. The heroes were indeed at the restaurant and it looks like Ryan and Andrea did finish stacks of sushi dishes. Heck, even Liam’s heart was still pounding against his chest loudly like a drum.

The only difference between that fantasy and actuality is that Liam was stroking the smooth, sharp tip of his syringe with his thumb thoughtfully. He hadn’t poisoned anyone yet. The martial artist and leader started to show worry for him and that made Liam uncomfortable, he needed an excuse, fast.

“Oh, uh- I was just surprised at how quickly you guys ate, I couldn’t keep up so I zoned out, ha ha,” he chuckled nervously. Trying to get over what just happened and convince the others that everything was fine, he went ahead and asked, “So who won anyway?”

A confident chuckle echoed from the other side of the bar. Andrea flipped her wavy, short hair with style and said, “Isn’t it obvious? It was me of course!” as she raised a fist to display her victory. Ryan was having none of it and slammed the bar table with his palms.

“What! NOoo! It was clearly a tie since we got the same number of plates!” exclaimed the leader with feigned frustration.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever man. Sore loser.”

“What did you call your leader?!”

“You heard me. Looooser.”

“I can’t with you right now,” sighed Ryan as he crossed his arms around his chest, ending their playful bickering. Surprisingly, their banter helped Liam calm down a bit, seeing that everything was normal. Then, he flinched as an arm was placed around his shoulders. “Hey bro, are you sure you full? You hardly ate anything. You cold or something?” asked Ryan, pointing at the 4 plates of sushi that were stacked neatly by Liam’s side of the counter.

Realizing his shoulders were unintentionally stiff due to the shock from earlier, he tried to relax his body and replied, “Yeah, all good. Not really that hungry for sushi.” Ryan let go and used the same arm to pat his back roughly.

He laughed in response, “Ha, good! Then you definitely have room for ice cream.” He now turned his attention to Andrea and wrung his arm around her shoulders in similar fashion. “What do you say, Andrea? Up for round two?” She shoved his arm off of her and let out a burp. She put her fingers to her lips and blushed.

Glancing off to the other side she said, “I think I’ll pass on dessert.” She then held up her empty wrist, feigning to see the time at a watch and continued, “Besides, look at the time, I really should get home to my sister. I’m supposed to be babysitting.” Ryan shrugged in understanding.

“Okaayy, your loss”

“Ehhh, don’t get ahead of yourself, we’ll settle it next time.” Liam had silently crept to the front of the restaurant to pay their tab during that short exchange. He laid the cash on the counter without looking at the bill’s total, deep in thought.

He thought, “This is my best shot at completing the mission. It’s just us alone so if I don’t she’ll…” He did it again where he delved into his fantasies but not one where he was strategizing. He was thinking about what she would do to him if he failed his mission. This was his last chance. His master was kind enough to give him this last chance but the price of failure would be heavy.