I wasn’t going to be the one to make the first move. I knew it was petty, especially considering he was probably just busy with work, but there it was. I couldn’t help myself. I was just a little irritated that I’d been left waiting for so long.
My chat window started blinking. I felt butterflies in my stomach as I saw that blink. So familiar, something I’d seen countless times since I started playing Tales of Elassa, and yet it was something that made my stomach twist ever since I’d met this man.
It was hard not to reach up and click that notification immediately, but I was still feeling annoyed. I knew it was irrational, I knew it wasn’t exactly fair to him, but I couldn’t help myself. I felt abandoned and annoyed at the crazy roller coaster of emotion I’d been on waiting for him to come back online. I knew objectively that was mostly my issue, that was mostly me and my tendency to read a worst-case scenario into absolutely everything, but I couldn’t help the way I felt.
My chat window dinged again. Another private message.
“Are you going to answer that thing?” Samantha asked.
I looked over my shoulder and she pulled her headphones off. I didn’t realize my speakers were that loud. Loud enough for her to hear through her expensive gaming headphones, at least. I blushed and muttered an apology as I turned back to my computer. As I reached up and clicked on that message.
“Hi!”
“Hello?”
“Are you there?”
“Is something wrong? Did I do something?”
I went from anger and annoyance to guilt in an instant. Like I said, a roller coaster of emotions. He was excited to see me and I’d been ignoring him. Obviously I’d pushed him into his own worst-case scenario when he saw me online and I didn’t answer him right away. And yet I was also still a little irritated that he just expected me to answer him right away. That he expected me to jump when he decided he had time for me.
I knew it wasn’t an entirely fair thought, but I never said my mind was entirely rational. If I was completely rational then I never would’ve done something crazy like fall for a guy that I only knew through a videogame in the first place!
Okay, that was enough guilt. Time to let him know I was here.
“Sorry,” I typed. “I was away from my computer.”
“Good! I was hoping I’d catch you online today!” he said.
I arched an eyebrow. He was certainly very excited to see me online. And his excitement was feeding back into me. It was making all the worries I’d had over the past week about him not wanting to see me anymore melt away.
“Really? Why?”
“Well I’m actually kind of excited and kind of nervous about what I’m about to ask…”
Now I was really curious. He goes away for a week, probably busy with work or whatever, and when he comes back he has something to ask me that has him nervous? Color me intrigued.
“You have my attention,” I said. “Go ahead…”
“I want to meet you.”
I blinked. That’s what he was so worked up about? That’s what had him hesitant to talk to me? That wasn’t a big deal! I almost wanted to laugh. Men could be so ridiculous sometimes.
“Well that’s not a problem!”
“Really? I didn’t expect you to say yes so quickly!”
“Sure! Where do you want to meet? One of the dungeons? One of the inns? We could go and hang out in one of the elf zones, get away from human territory for a while if you’d like,” I said. “I’m getting kind of tired of human territory anyways.”
There was a pause. A definite hesitation. Something about that hesitation told me I’d just said something wrong. What could I possibly…
Oh.
No. He couldn’t possibly mean…
“I didn’t mean meet in game,” he said.
Well yes, it looked like he certainly could mean that. I blinked. He wanted to meet me? We’d only known each other for a couple of weeks. Sure it had been a whirlwind couple of weeks, but I was still hesitant.
It’s not like I’d never met
My chat window started blinking. I felt butterflies in my stomach as I saw that blink. So familiar, something I’d seen countless times since I started playing Tales of Elassa, and yet it was something that made my stomach twist ever since I’d met this man.
It was hard not to reach up and click that notification immediately, but I was still feeling annoyed. I knew it was irrational, I knew it wasn’t exactly fair to him, but I couldn’t help myself. I felt abandoned and annoyed at the crazy roller coaster of emotion I’d been on waiting for him to come back online. I knew objectively that was mostly my issue, that was mostly me and my tendency to read a worst-case scenario into absolutely everything, but I couldn’t help the way I felt.
My chat window dinged again. Another private message.
“Are you going to answer that thing?” Samantha asked.
I looked over my shoulder and she pulled her headphones off. I didn’t realize my speakers were that loud. Loud enough for her to hear through her expensive gaming headphones, at least. I blushed and muttered an apology as I turned back to my computer. As I reached up and clicked on that message.
“Hi!”
“Hello?”
“Are you there?”
“Is something wrong? Did I do something?”
I went from anger and annoyance to guilt in an instant. Like I said, a roller coaster of emotions. He was excited to see me and I’d been ignoring him. Obviously I’d pushed him into his own worst-case scenario when he saw me online and I didn’t answer him right away. And yet I was also still a little irritated that he just expected me to answer him right away. That he expected me to jump when he decided he had time for me.
I knew it wasn’t an entirely fair thought, but I never said my mind was entirely rational. If I was completely rational then I never would’ve done something crazy like fall for a guy that I only knew through a videogame in the first place!
Okay, that was enough guilt. Time to let him know I was here.
“Sorry,” I typed. “I was away from my computer.”
“Good! I was hoping I’d catch you online today!” he said.
I arched an eyebrow. He was certainly very excited to see me online. And his excitement was feeding back into me. It was making all the worries I’d had over the past week about him not wanting to see me anymore melt away.
“Really? Why?”
“Well I’m actually kind of excited and kind of nervous about what I’m about to ask…”
Now I was really curious. He goes away for a week, probably busy with work or whatever, and when he comes back he has something to ask me that has him nervous? Color me intrigued.
“You have my attention,” I said. “Go ahead…”
“I want to meet you.”
I blinked. That’s what he was so worked up about? That’s what had him hesitant to talk to me? That wasn’t a big deal! I almost wanted to laugh. Men could be so ridiculous sometimes.
“Well that’s not a problem!”
“Really? I didn’t expect you to say yes so quickly!”
“Sure! Where do you want to meet? One of the dungeons? One of the inns? We could go and hang out in one of the elf zones, get away from human territory for a while if you’d like,” I said. “I’m getting kind of tired of human territory anyways.”
There was a pause. A definite hesitation. Something about that hesitation told me I’d just said something wrong. What could I possibly…
Oh.
No. He couldn’t possibly mean…
“I didn’t mean meet in game,” he said.
Well yes, it looked like he certainly could mean that. I blinked. He wanted to meet me? We’d only known each other for a couple of weeks. Sure it had been a whirlwind couple of weeks, but I was still hesitant.
It’s not like I’d never met
Similar Books
