Boy Meets Geek (5 page)

Not for the first time since I started interacting with this man I found myself staring at the screen while my brain short circuited. What the hell was going on here? Could that really be him? That couldn’t possibly be him! There was no way that a man who looked that good, a man this compelling and that nice, a man who seemed to know what I was thinking before I even thought it myself, could be that gorgeous!

And it instantly made me self-conscious as well. If I sent him an attachment through my account at Elassa.com then he’d see my profile picture. My mess of brown hair. A face that was definitely not anything to write home about. And I had a petite frame that definitely didn’t bear much resemblance to my buxom character in game.

Not to mention in my picture I was staring into the camera with a goofy expression that definitely wasn’t very flattering making the hand symbol of the Bendai sisterhood which figured largely in the books. The juxtaposition between that very serious hand signal and the weird look on my face wouldn’t be lost on him, but I looked absolutely ridiculous.

I couldn’t send him an email right now. I couldn’t send an email when he’d see that picture of me!

I alt tabbed back into the game fully intending to make an excuse.

“I’m waiting…”

There he was again with that infuriating casually insistent confidence. As though he expected me to send him my manuscript right now. And I found myself blushing, moving out of the game client again, and hitting send. It was as though I was under some sort of spell. It was as though he was able to get me to do whatever he wanted. I didn’t even realize what I was doing until I’d sent it, and immediately my hand went from my mouse up to my mouth. I stared in wide-eyed shock.

Damn it!

I moved back to the game. I waited to see what the damage was.

“Got it.” he said.

There was a pause. A pause that stretched into an eternity. A pause where I was sure he was looking at my picture, where he was sizing me up, where he was realizing that the sexy seductive elf priestess was nothing like the girl in my profile picture. He was probably looking me up and down and thinking how ridiculous he’d been to ever pay any attention to me. I’m sure he’d come back and say that he didn’t have time to read my manuscript. I’m sure the only reason he was interested in the first place was because I was a chick in a videogame and he was trying to butter me up or something. It had happened before.

“My my,” he said, adding a smiley face to the end. “You are a cutie my lady elf.”

Damn it. This guy kept blowing my expectations away! I blushed again. I blushed! And I felt a tingle at the tips of my fingers that I was pretty sure was from getting turned on and not an impending stroke as I started typing.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” I said with a wink emoticon.

Was I really doing this? Was I really flirting with a guy over the Internet on the basis of a picture? This was ridiculous! I hadn’t done this thing in at least five or six years. Not since I was a teenager using the Internet for the first time. Not since I’d first got involved in non-Elassa role-playing communities that were best forgotten all these years later.

And yet here I was, very much feeling like the giddy schoolgirl I’d been back then talking to a cute guy. Only now I had actual proof that he was a cute guy. At least I hoped he was a cute guy. I wasn’t completely naïve. I knew there was still a good eighty percent chance that picture was bullshit, but a girl could dream right?

“That’s all?”

I blinked. Was he expecting more? Was he really that cocky? Did he really need me to validate his looks? I have to admit that it took some of the shine off of the moment.

“Was there supposed to be more?”

“No, nothing…”

He seemed surprised. He seemed to be avoiding telling me something. And yet I’d just met him. I was still so surprised that he looked like that, I was still so surprised that he was the complete package, that I decided I wasn’t going to dig any deeper. Not yet. If he wanted to have his little mystery then let him have his little mystery. It was enough that we had what we had for now.

“Think I’m going to log off and have a read of your story,” he said. “Talk to you later?”

“Sure. Looking forward to it!”

“Me too.” And he winked at me.

It was amazing how punctuation could make me feel so amazing. It was really just a semicolon and a closed parenthesis, and yet that simple bit of punctuation was getting me worked up in a way that I hadn’t been in quite some time. Since the last guy I dated seriously, which had been a while ago since I didn’t really have time for dating what with my busy schedule. At least what with what I told myself was of my busy schedule, though it would probably look rather pathetic to anyone who actually had a busy schedule or real responsibility instead of a full plate of video game playing every night.

The chat window indicated he’d gone off-line. I paused for a moment, and then I added him to my watch list. He must’ve already done the same to me if he knew when I was online. That sent another thrill running through me. A man that gorgeous, a man who could write like that, a man who could make me feel this way with just a few words on the screen, and he’d obviously been interested enough to talk to me first!

It was weird, but I was starting to feel very much like that giddy schoolgirl even when I wasn’t talking to him. Just the thought of him was enough to set me off. It was an odd feeling, but not unpleasant. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but I knew that I liked it.

I closed out the game. Without him on there really was nobody for me to talk to at this time of day. Most of my friends didn’t start coming online until after the work day was over. As the game closed a window popped up advertising Elassa Con which was coming up very soon. I sighed as I looked at the pictures streaming past. It looked like everybody was having a hell of a time.

I’d been to a couple of local conventions, I even had a costume I put together that was slightly scandalous since it took a fashion cue from some of the more bikini oriented outfits that the sorceresses could wear in game, but I’d never been to the big convention. The one put on by a combination of all the different parts that made up the Elassa media empire.

People from the game were there. People from the TV miniseries were usually there. I even heard that Sean Taylor himself made appearances, although most of the people who liked Elassa were younger and I couldn’t imagine an old guy like him enjoying the convention. At least I assumed he was an old guy. I still had to go and look up his picture sometime. But not right now. I had other things to do.

With a wistful sigh I closed out the advertisement. However nice it would’ve been to go to that convention there was no way a girl who made what I made would be able to afford a ticket out to Indianapolis. There was definitely no way I was going to be able to afford the price to get into the convention, or the price of a hotel stay. I heard those got really ridiculous as the convention got closer, and there were even a special team of moderators on the forums to make sure that scalpers didn’t go around trying to sell hotel rooms via official channels.

No, it was definitely out of my price range.

I needed to forget about that stuff though. I had more important things to concentrate on. Like the fact that I had to get to work. All that talk about my novel, all the anger I felt towards Ryan, all of the encouraging words I’d gotten from this mysterious guy, had put me in a mood to write. Really write. Not stuff for the game.

I opened up my novel and got to work on it for the first time in a couple of months at least. The muse was upon me, and I was going to take advantage of the moment since I didn’t have much else to do until later in the evening when it was time to log into the game.

6: Waiting Game

I went absolutely crazy in more than one way over the next couple of days. I started working on my novel at a furious pace. Words flowed from my fingers into the computer. I hadn’t written this much on one of my own projects in ages, but I felt inspired. Maybe it was showing my book to someone. Maybe it was the inspiration I’d taken from his encouragement. Whatever it was, I was writing like a maniac and I was putting out thousands of words a day which was unprecedented even before I got sucked into Tales of Elassa and spent all of my writing energy on the game.

Conlan was driving me crazy in other ways too. Mainly by his absence. I’d only talked to him a couple of times and so it was totally weird that I’d miss him like this, and yet with each passing day that I didn’t see him on I grew more frustrated. His profile said he hadn’t been on since the last time we spoke a couple of days ago.

It was driving me nuts. I was busy writing, but I also kept myself logged into the game on the off chance that he’d show up. I kept myself logged into the chat client for the game on my phone so that if he showed up while I was in class or at my job I’d be able to catch him.

And still days went by with absolutely nothing. Like I said, I was starting to go crazy.

His absence was so pronounced that I started to wonder if there was something I’d done wrong. I was starting to wonder if he’d read through my story, realized that he absolutely hated what I did, and decided it would be easier for him to just never log onto that character again rather than disappoint me. It was amazing the lengths my mind went to coming up with a worst-case scenario, and yet I couldn’t help it.

So I was very surprised on Friday when I was sitting at my job, though I wouldn’t really call a job working as a receptionist for the history department much of a job at all since it mostly involved sitting at a desk that nobody came to unless one of the profs was trying to get into their physical mail.

Even that didn’t happen very often, which I thought was odd considering this was the history department and most of the profs who worked here looked old enough that they probably didn’t have the greatest grasp of technology or email. Not that I was going to knock it. The dean of the department was nice enough to let me do my own thing on the computer if we weren’t that busy, which was most of the time.

And so I was doing my own thing and working on my book when I saw an icon pop up in the bottom right-hand corner. My breath caught as I saw it. It was the Elassa chat icon. I’d installed the chat client on this computer ages ago and nobody had ever said anything about it even when the Dean walked by and saw me chatting. So I figured it was okay. I never asked outright, but whatever. Easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission and all that.

I felt a thrill and apprehension as I saw that icon blinking. Every time that icon popped up in game, on a computer, or on my phone it set my heart to racing. Of course that racing heart was inevitably followed by disappointment when it turned out to be Samantha or another one of my in-game friends and not him.

And so it was with a mixture of anticipation and resignation that I clicked on the icon and brought up the chat window. My breath caught and boy did my pulse really start racing in a major way.

“Hi.”

One word. One single word. And yet it was so weighted with significance because of the name it was attached to. Why was he only sending me one word? Where had he been? Why wasn’t he saying more? Did that mean he didn’t like it what he read? Why was I such a pessimistic mess?

Deep breath. Get control of yourself Jessica. Don’t overanalyze!

“Hi yourself.”

“Sorry I’ve been away,” he said. “I’ve been ridiculously busy at work. We’re getting ready for a big event here.”

“What kind of a big event?”

“Nothing special,” he said. “But it’s the biggest event we throw at my job, so it takes up a lot of my time. Haven’t had much time for anything other than work.”

My spirits fell. If he hadn’t had much time for anything other than work that meant he also hadn’t had much time for anything like reading.

“I understand,” I said. “You get busy at work sometimes!”

Of course it’s not like I really understood. I was self-aware enough to realize that I’d gotten a pretty cushy gig with my current job. I knew this was probably something I’d look back on with fondness when I eventually was forced into the real world. When I was eventually forced to get a job outside the university where they expected results.

“I did have a chance to read your story though,” he said.

Damn! If just the sight of his screen name showing up was enough to set my pulse racing, well him telling me that he’d read through my work was enough to make me feel lightheaded. It was enough to twist my stomach up into knots.

I imagined this gorgeous creature sitting back in a chair with a tablet in between doing stuff for his job, whatever that was, and thinking about me the entire time. It also sent a warm feeling coursing through me knowing he’d been thinking about me. Knowing I’d been on his mind even if he hadn’t been able to hop on and talk to me all that much.

“That’s cool,” I said. I was not going to fish for a reaction. Let him say what he was going to say.

“It was fucking amazing! I’m seriously blown away, and I don’t say that lightly,” he said.

“Really?”

“You’re just full of surprises Maia,” he said. “Brains, beauty, and talent. You really are the whole package. You’ve even inspired me to get to writing again! ”

I blushed. And glanced around the room to make sure nobody else was looking. Now that probably looked suspicious, the receptionist sitting at her computer typing away furtively, leaning close to the monitor, and then glancing around to make sure nobody was actually looking to see what I was doing.

If that didn’t get the dean interested in what I was doing on my work computer then I figured nothing would, but glancing in his office he wasn’t there anyways so whatever. There weren’t even any students or professors milling around in the hall outside.

I turned back to the chat window.

“You mean that?”

“Of course I mean that,” he said. “Why would I lie about something like that?”

“I don’t know what it is about you, but I feel like a giddy schoolgirl every time I talk you!” I said.

And I was astonished I’d feel like that even as I said it. There was just something about this man that short-circuited my brain. There was something about this man that made me say the most ridiculously inappropriate things. There was something about this man that made me type things that I was sure would lead to him getting scared and running away for good.

“I’m kind of glad to hear you say that, because I’ve been feeling the same way,” he said. “I’ve been so busy with work, but all I could think about was how much I wanted to sneak away and log into the game so I could talk with you!”

I didn’t think it was possible for me to blush anymore. I was so entranced with the chat client that I jumped when somebody cleared their throat. I looked up and saw an undergrad staring down at me and looking over to the screen. I blushed even more furiously, wondering if they’d seen what I was talking about. I quickly minimized the window and put on my best smile, though it was difficult with the way I was turning bright red.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Um, I need the form for dropping a class…”

“You need to go down to the registrar’s office,” I said. “We don’t do that sort of thing in this office.”

The guy muttered something under his breath. I caught a bit about how it was bullshit that we didn’t’ have his form but did have time for Elassa chat and I blushed as I realized he knew exactly what I was doing even if he didn’t know exactly what I was talking about. That was bad enough. Only as soon as he was out of the room I immediately brought that window back up. It was blinking furiously.

“Still there? Was it something I said?”

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m using the chat client at work and I needed to help someone.”

“That’s fine,” he said. “Will you be on tonight? I made sure to clear a hole in my schedule.”

I blinked. What kind of work was he doing that he had to clear a hole in his schedule to play a video game at night? What kind of work was he doing that he was getting ready for the busiest event of the year with whatever the hell it was he did and yet he could just clear a hole in his schedule like that? This man was definitely a mystery in more ways than one. A mystery that I fully intended to solve.

“I should be on later,” I said. “Why?”

“Well I want to take you out on a date,” he said. “Only I’m not sure if it qualifies as a date if we’re doing it in a videogame…”

My face broke into a huge grin and I felt butterflies dancing in my stomach even as it twisted into nervous knots. A date! Sure it was in a videogame, but when you were separated geographically I suppose it was the best I could hope for.

Besides, it’s not like meeting someone online was too different from getting to know someone in person. It wasn’t all that weird these days. Sure, meeting someone online in the middle of a videogame and then going on a date with them in that videogame was probably a little weird, but whatever. Fuck anybody who judged me for that.

“Sounds like a plan,” I said.

“What time should I pick you up?”

“I get off work at 4:30 today. I should be online shortly after that, so whenever.”

“Sounds like a plan. Look forward to seeing you then!”

And then he was gone.

I was so giddy that I tapped my feet against the floor and let out a triumphant shriek. And then I quickly schooled myself to seriousness as an older professor stuck her head in, looked around the office for a moment, settled on me with a raised eyebrow and then a smile, then disappeared.

I blushed again, it seemed like that was going to become a common thing if I was going to be spending much time around this guy, but I didn’t care. A date! Sure a date in-game, but I’d take it. Pretty much all of my social life was taking place inside that game these days anyways, so why should my love life be any different?

Besides, if my in-game love life was bringing me a man as incredible as this then I was all for it. I just hoped he really was what he said he was. That this wasn’t just some scam. That he wasn’t just playing me.

Sometimes I really hated that the worst-case-scenario centers in my brain were so overactive.