Zenon's Game Chapter 316

"Please keep your voice down. You will cause a great deal of stress to the staff-"

"Where is he, Irvin?" I asked him.

"I can't lead you to Mr Chadwick. You look out of your mind, Mr Albert. If you're here to threaten the-"

"I'm not a threat," I said, though I had to admit that didn't sound very convincing, "I need to speak with Bryce."

Irvin was not going to budge. I sighed and pulled out my phone, dialing Bryce's number. It rang for a couple minutes before going to voicemail. I dialed the number again.

Irvin asked politely, "Would you like some tea while you wait?"

I glared at him. He raised his hands and stepped back, keeping a watchful eye on me.

I texted Bryce: call me now

No response. I tried one more time, keeping an eye on Irvin who was keeping an eye on me.

"Where is he?" I sighed, getting tired of this.

"I told you sir, he's unavailable."

I wanted to punch something and, if breaking any object here wouldn't put me into debt for 50 years, I probably would've.

But then, I saw a housekeeper walk up the stairs with a bathtub tray of snacks.

I clocked. "He's taking a bath, isn't he?"

Irvin's bushy eyebrows raised in surprise, which told me I was right. Before he could stop me, I bolted up the stairs and past the housekeeper.

"Is he in his room or a different bathtub?" I called out to her as I passed, not knowing how many absurd baths were in this house.

Knowing Bryce, he probably had a different bath for every mood.

"His bedroom," she squeaked back, stepping against the wall to stay out of our way.

"Keep up Irvin," I said, looking down at Irvin trying to chase after me.

I ran the next flight and went straight for Bryce's bedroom. It was unlocked and I jumped over his couch, directly to the doors of his bathroom.

I knocked and said, "Cover yourself."

And opened the door.

A zen atmosphere greeted me with warm, humid air. It felt like I was stepping into a sauna. Music was playing nature sounds and I smelt perfume in the air. Through the mist, I saw Bryce, lying in his bubble bath with an eye mask.

"Thank you, Melinda-" he pulled up one side of the mask and saw me, "ZENON?!"

Disappointed I'm not Melinda?

He splashed around in shock and I averted my eyes until he covered himself under the water again. With all the floating petals and bubbles, he didn't need to worry.

I faced him, "What is going on in here, Bryce?"

"I am in the bath, Zenon. Why are you invading my privacy?!" he exclaimed.

Someone cleared their throat on the other side of the door. I opened the door for them and saw Melinda and Irvin standing politely on the other side.

"I'm sorry sir," Irvin apologized to Bryce, keeping his gaze averted, "I tried to stop him."

"That's ok," Bryce grumbled, "He's hard to stop."

Melinda quietly stepped in, keeping her head down to avoid getting involved in our heated conversation. She placed the tray of snacks on the bath so that it balanced across the two sides.

This must be meditative for him. I peered over at a burning stick and picked it up.

I sniffed it, "This is for the smell?"

There was an earthy, woody smell in the room.

Bryce sighed, "You look like you're in a zoo. Put the incense down. It's an oud fragrance and it's very manly."

"Sure."

"Are you going to tell me why you rudely barged in or is this your way of saying you miss me?"

I deserved that.

"Remember the fight we had in Alpine when we went to pick up those stuffed animals for Candace?" I asked.

"Yeah, because you had some weird idea of putting notes on stuffed animals and hiding them in the grass as your first date. I'm really surprised there was even a second date," Bryce remembered, cupping some foam in his hands and blowing bubbles in his bath.

"Yeahh," I said, resisting the urge to point out how ridiculous he looked right now, "We drove there in your car. I need the keys to the car."

"Why?"

"I think there's a clue in there," I said.

"Well, Miss Marple, it went to the repair shop," Bryce replied, though I had no idea who Miss Marple was. "And then it got cleaned, so if you're looking for fingerprints-"

"I'm not looking for fingerprints," I said, wondering how Bryce thought I would know how to collect fingerprints.

I'm in high school ffs.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Jake's concert right now? Axel texted me that you guys were there..."

"It's not a concert. More like a karaoke night," I said, not wanting to inflate Jake's already large head even more.

Then, I just waited for Bryce to get the picture and help me. I needed Bryce to cooperate, but the guy moves at his own pace.

"So if you're not there now," Bryce continued to deduce the chain of events in the slowest way possible, "And you're here in my bathroom... then I'm guessing whatever you're looking for is urgent?"

I tried so hard not to ring his neck. "Yes."

Bryce sighed, "Look away. I will come out."

The emperor has spoken. I very willingly turned away and waited for the sound of water splashing as Bryce got out of his bathtub.

He said, "My-"

I handed him a towel from the rack next to me, almost hitting him with it.

"Thank you," he said, "And my robe?"

I gritted my teeth and handed him the purple robe with the letters RCIII woven in white on the back.

"And my slippers?"

"Get them yourself," I snapped.

"I thought I was pushing my luck," he admitted, padding towards his matching purple slippers.