Chapter 3: [3]: Milf Radar Activated, The Ice Queen’s Doorstep
Morning came too fast.
Lucas woke up with crust in his eyes, morning wood pressing against his boxers, and a floating System notification two inches from his nose:
```
[QUEST TIMER: 15:22:41 remaining]
[TIP: Target typically exits apartment at 7:03 AM on weekdays.]
[Current time: 8:47 AM.]
[You missed her. Good job, Master.]
```
"Shit!" He bolted upright. "Why didn’t you wake me?!"
"I’m a System, not an alarm clock. Also, watching you panic is entertaining."
He scrambled out of bed, stubbed his toe on his desk chair, hopped around swearing, and pulled on the least wrinkled clothes he could find. Jeans. A t-shirt that might’ve been clean. Sneakers with the laces still tied from yesterday.
A warm hum settled in his chest as he moved toward the door. Not painful... just there, like a low-vibration massage behind his sternum.
"What’s that feeling?"
"Milf Radar. Free starter ability. Vibrates when an eligible milf is within 50 meters. Right now, that hum means your target is close. Probably in her apartment."
Lucas opened his door and peered down the stairwell. The hum intensified slightly. Mrs. Vance was definitely home.
Okay. Options. I can "accidentally" bump into her in the hallway... no, she’ll fine me for assault. I can pretend something’s wrong with my apartment. gets her into my space. I can drop something in front of her. cliché but might work. Or I can just... ask for help.
He paced his small apartment. The hum in his chest pulsed steadily, reminding him she was right there, thirty meters below, probably sipping coffee and judging existence.
"Asking for help shows weakness. But it creates an interaction opportunity. And I need an excuse to get close to her."
Decision made.
He walked to his kitchen sink. Turned the faucet. Water came out normally. No leak. He turned it off. Turned it on. Still no leak.
"Come on, pipes. Give me something."
The pipes gurgled innocently.
"Useless."
He’d have to fake it.
---
11:47 AM.
Lucas stood outside Apartment 1A, heart hammering against his ribs like it was trying to escape. The door was imposing... dark wood, brass knocker shaped like a lion’s head, a small window revealing nothing but cream-colored curtain.
The Milf Radar hum was strong here. She was inside. Close.
He raised his hand. Knocked.
Footsteps from within. Measured. Deliberate. Not rushing for anyone.
The door opened.
And there she was.
Elena Vance.
She was taller than he remembered... or maybe the threshold added height. Five-foot-nine of frozen disapproval staring down at him through steel-gray eyes magnified by thin-framed reading glasses. Her platinum blonde hair was scraped back so tight it had to hurt, exposing a severe jawline, sharp cheekbones, and a corded neck that rose from the collar of her high-necked navy blouse.
Her lips were thin, pale pink, pressed together in permanent evaluation. Like she was grading him and he’d already failed.
"Mr. Wright."
Not a question. An accusation.
Her eyes traveled down him once... quick, clinical, dismissing everything they saw and returned to his face. Already bored. Already done with this conversation.
"If you’re here about the noise complaint from Tuesday, I’ve already filed..."
"No! I mean, no, ma’am. Mrs. Vance." He was sweating. It wasn’t even hot. "My, uh... my kitchen sink. It’s, um. Leaking. I think? Could you maybe... look at it?"
Those gray eyes narrowed behind her glasses. Suspicious. She dealt with tenants trying to manipulate her daily... she could probably smell bullshit from three buildings over.
"You’ve been here eight months, Mr. Wright. In that time you’ve filed zero maintenance requests. And now, on a Saturday, your sink is mysteriously leaking."
"I swear it just started! Please! I don’t know who else to call, and I can’t really afford a plumber right now, and..."
The quest timer blurred in his peripheral vision: `18:42:33 remaining`
Elena sighed. The sigh of a woman burdened by the incompetence of everyone around her.
"Fine. Get your things. I have ten minutes."
She stepped out of her apartment, locking the door behind her, and started up the stairs toward his unit. Lucas followed, his legs moving on autopilot, his brain completely occupied by the view ahead of him.
Her hips swayed beneath that conservative pencil skirt despite her obvious attempt to minimize all movement. The navy fabric stretched across her wide hips, the shape her restrictive clothing had been hiding all along becoming very, very clear with every step she took.
Oh My... How have I never noticed her ass before? Oh right because she terrifies me and I usually look at the floor when she’s around.
[System Notification:]
```
[TARGET PROXIMITY: <2 METERS]
[Milf Radar Intensity: ████████░░ (80%)]
[Quest Timer: 18:41:09]
[REMINDER: Skin-to-skin contact >3 seconds. Required for quest completion]
```
She reached his door. Turned. Raised one perfect eyebrow.
"Are you going to unlock it, or shall I wait in the hallway until tomorrow?"
"Right! Sorry. Yeah. Unlocking. Doing that now."
His hands shook as he fumbled with his keys. The Milf Radar was practically screaming in his chest. She was right there. Inches away. Smelling like lavender and something darker... vanilla, maybe, underneath the no-nonsense exterior.
Focus, Lucas. Get her inside. Create opportunity. Touch her skin. Don’t think about how badly you want to grab that ass. Don’t think about it. Don’t...
He was absolutely thinking about it.
The door swung open. Elena stepped inside his apartment, and Lucas followed the Ice Queen into the dragon’s lair except he was the dragon, and she had no idea what was coming.
```
[LOCATION: Lucas’s Apartment (4B)]
[TARGET: Elena Vance — PRESENT]
[TIME REMAINING: 18:39:47]
```
This is either going to work or I’m going to die. Fifty-fifty odds.
