Gaming for Love (23 page)

“I need to leave,
Maggie. I’m sorry.” I look at the cake, covered in video game
controllers and characters and wish that things were different.

“You can’t go,
Yasmin. We haven’t had cake and it looks like Uncle Scott hasn’t
opened your present yet.” Alex looks so confused and my heart
aches, thinking that I may not see her again.

“I have to go, Alex.
But, I need you to know something. No matter what happens and what
you hear, I love you and I will always be here for you if you need
me.”

“I don’t
understand. Yasmin, please don’t go.” Alex is crying now.

I pull her close. “I
have to, sweetie, I have to go.” I turn to Danny. “Can you give
me a ride home?” He nods yes and I start to walk out of that house,
leaving the broken pieces of my heart behind.

“Before you go,
Yasmin, I want you to know that you can’t buy the software. We
won’t sell it to you,” Scott says to me in a cold voice.

“She needs that
program, Scott. Don’t do this to her.” I can hear the pleading in
Erika’s voice as everything starts to spin.

“I don’t give a
fuck what she needs.”

“You really are a
bastard,” Sean says as I collapse against Danny.

“Yasmin? Are you
okay?” I think it is Danny asking me, but I can’t tell. I am
barely holding on right now.

“Just take me home,
please.” I manage to say the words and make my feet work long
enough to get out of there. Danny drives me to my house and walks me
to the door. I convince him that I will be fine and he leaves. I fall
to the living room floor and cry until I can no longer keep my eyes
open. As I start to fall asleep, I realize that without the program,
I am going to lose everything soon. Not just Scott, who I lost
tonight. But, the store and my house, too. What will I do then?

Scott

It’s been a week
since my party and we’re officially launching the software today. I
haven’t had any contact with Yasmin and really anyone else since
the party. I have stayed in my house, playing video games and looking
for the signs I missed. I’m having trouble finding any, but I know
that they are there. She is just a better actress than Amber.

My phone rings and I
see Zane’s name on the screen. “Hey, man what’s up?”

“Just wanted to call
and congratulate you on your launch. I know you have been working on
this for a long time.”

“Congrats Scott!” I
hear Quinn yell in the background. “Put him on speaker.”

“Thanks you guys, I
appreciate the support.”

“How are you, Scott?”
Quinn asks.

“Great for a guy who
fell completely in love for the first time in his life only to find
out that the woman he is in love with was using him. Oh, yeah and the
girl before that used him too. I never realized how fucking pathetic
that I am.”

“Are you sure that
she was using you? She seemed really into you when she was here. And
she told Quinn that she loved you,” Zane says.

“Her friends said
that she has been talking about that program for over a month and
planning on using it to save her store. How could she not have known
who I was?”

“I don’t know,
Scott. But that scrapbook that she was making you looked pretty
awesome. She sent me some pictures of it,” Quinn tells me.

“What scrapbook?”

“The one that she
made you for your birthday.”

“Oh, I never opened
her present. We didn’t get that far.”

“You should look at
it, Scott.”

“Lay off him, Quinn.
He doesn’t need to forgive her just so you can stay friends with
her,” Zane says to her.

“Guys, don’t fight
because of me. Please. I will get over this and everything will go
back to normal.”

“Don’t worry about
us. When will you be back in Chi-Town?”

“The whole family
will be there in about three months. The charity that Erin and Dave
supported wants to honor them and we’re accepting the award.”

“That’s cool, man.”

“It would be if I
didn’t have to wear a tux and take out my piercings. The company PR
people say that I should look presentable at this thing. I
am
proud to be accepting this award, though. My family is going to
continue Erin and Dave’s contributions.”

“That’s bullshit
about the tux, but at least your family accepts you how you are even
if your company doesn’t.”

“I know. I lucked out
in the family department. Listen guys, it was great to talk to you
but I have to go get ready for the press conference. I’ll talk to
you soon.”

We say our goodbyes and
I go put on a suit. I glance at Yasmin’s wrapped present on my hall
table. What Quinn said has me curious, but, not enough to open it.
Seeing whatever Yasmin did just feels like looking at another lie.

* * *

Yasmin

“I can’t believe
that Scott hasn’t called you to apologize,” Erika tells me.

“I said things that I
should be apologizing for too,” I remind her. “I can’t believe
I told everyone about him tying me up.” I groan and drop my head
into my hands.

“That was pretty
intense. I will never look at a game controller the same way again.
In your defense, he did push you to say it,” Sam chimes in. I groan
again and keep my head buried.

We are having a girls’
night at Erika and Sean’s. They moved in together a couple of days
ago. It may have seemed fast to me if she hadn’t admitted to me
that they had been circling each other for the last couple of years
and had even hooked up a few times before officially getting together
last month. I’m really happy for them. They’re a great couple.

It has been two weeks
since the party. I feel the loss of Scott every day and I feel like
it is slowly killing me. I also miss the rest of his family,
especially Alex. She hasn’t been back to the store. I hope that she
is okay and that if she is not, that she calls me. I meant what I
told her, even though her family pretty much hates me, I care for
her—and them.

“That was some freaky
shit, though. I didn’t know you had it in you,” Candi teases me.
“You wouldn’t go to the sex shop with me but you act out some
kinky fantasy?”

“Can we talk about
something else please?”

“Back to the
apologies, I still can’t believe that he would think you were using
him. You are
so
not
that type of person.” Erika rubs my back as I start to sob.

I look up at my
friends. “That is what hurts the most. That he could think that I
am capable of that. That I’m like Amber or in his words, worse than
her. I love him so much.”

“I want to apologize
again for Justin starting this whole thing. You guys were right, he
is an asshole,” Sam tells me.

“Does that mean you
are finally willing to give Danny a chance?”

“Maybe I already
have.” Seeing our shocked expressions, she continues, “We went
out last night and it was awesome.”

I reach over and hug
her. “I am so happy for the two of you!”

“What you need to do
is find another man to fuck and get Scott out of your system. I know
he is one hot guy, but there are plenty of better ones out there,”
Candi says with certainty in her voice.

“Like Owen?” I ask
her. I know that they have seen each other at least once since the
party.

“I don’t kiss and
tell. Well, I do, but not this time.” And that is all she will say.

“I’m not ready for
someone else yet. Besides, I need to focus on the store.” Everyone
gets quiet and Erika turns on While You Were Sleeping. We watch it in
silence. I don’t think anyone knows what to say to me. I don’t
blame them.

I honestly don’t know
what I am going to do. Since I can’t buy the software, I didn’t
take the second mortgage so I don’t have to worry about that at
least. But ever since the other indies got the program, my internet
sales have dropped. Online customers keep asking when we will get it
and so do some of our regulars in the store. Everyone knows that in 3
weeks Amazon and B&N will have it. I am going to fight for my
store with everything I have left in me, but there’s not even much
of that.

If my parents were
alive, they would know what to do. I feel like a disgrace to their
memory. Rationally, my brain knows that I am doing all that I can to
save the store, but my emotions are not rational. I feel like if I
lose the store
or
the
house, that I will be losing a piece of them. I don’t have too many
of those left.

* * *

Scott

“I need some new
books,” Alex says as we are eating breakfast.

“I can take you to
Barnes and Noble before I start to work on my new program,” I tell
her.

“Can’t we go to I
Heart Books? Barnes and Noble has a good selection and the people are
nice, but I miss Erika, Sam, Danny
and
Yasmin.”

“No. We are not going
there.” It has been three weeks now and what she doesn’t know,
what no one knows, is that I drive by that store every night and
watch Yas close up. I don’t want to do it and I even tried to skip
one night, but my body didn’t get the memo and I was in the parking
lot across the street before I knew it. I think that she saw me one
night, she knows the Mustang, and I saw her stop for a moment and
look straight at me. She shook her head and walked to her car,
without another look.

“Please. You can wait
in the car. I miss it so much.”

Before I can say
anything else, my mom speaks up. “Do you want to go back to
volunteering there, Alex?” I look at her like she is crazy.

“Yes, I do. I miss
the kids from story time and the other regulars. Can I please?”
Alex looks so hopeful and I don’t want to take that away from her.

“If Yas-Yasmin will
have you back, I am okay with it.” I can’t say her nickname out
loud. It’s too much.

“Alright, then.
School is about to start so you can’t be there too often, but maybe
you can do one day after school and Saturdays,” my dad says.

“Can we go ask her
right now?” Alex jumps up out of her chair.

“I can’t take you
there, Baby Girl. I just can’t.”

“Whatever happened,
I’m sorry you are so sad, Uncle Scott. She’s such a good person,
though.”

I snort and my mom
steps in before I can say something that will upset Alex. “I’ll
take you, honey. Just let me grab my purse.”

I hope that Yasmin will
take Alex back. I know that she cares for her. Wait. How do I know
that? I thought that she cared for me and I was wrong. But, I don’t
think that I’m wrong about her feelings for Alex. She
did
stop and tell her that she would still be there for her when she was
leaving the party. If she is just playing Alex too, she better be
ready for Hell to rain down on her. I would destroy her without a
second thought and I know that my family would back me up.

* * *

Yasmin

I’m sitting at the
cash wrap, staring at my empty store. I sent Danny home early since
we have had maybe five people in to shop so far today. I officially
canceled my registration for school. If I have any hope of staying
open, I am going to have to work open to close and only have someone
with me for a few hours a day. I asked everyone to meet me at the
store tomorrow morning so that I can tell them that I have to cut
their hours even more. I know that they are expecting it, but it
still kills me to have to do it.

The door opens and I
slap a smile on my face to greet a customer. It’s not just a
customer, though. It’s Alex and Maggie. I jump off of the stool and
run for Alex. She meets me halfway and we hug, holding each other
tight. “I missed you so much, sweetie.”

“I missed you too! My
grandparents said that I can come back and help one day a week and on
Saturdays. Is that OK?”

“Yes, of course. I
would love for you to come back.” I kiss her on the forehead and
taking a deep breath, turn to face Maggie.

“Hello, Maggie.”

“Hello, Yasmin.”
Her voice isn’t as cold as I thought it would be, but it’s not
exactly warm.

“Thanks for letting
Alex come back here. I truly did miss her and she’s always welcome
here.”

“I believe that you
do care about my granddaughter. I don’t think your reaction to
seeing her could be faked.” She pauses and then sighs before
continuing. “But, as much as I like you, my son has to take
priority. He believes that you deceived him and I have to take his
side. Gary and the rest of the boys feel the same way. None of us
will have anything to do with you, other than dropping off and
picking up Alex. That’s just the way that it has to be.”

“I understand.” And
I do. I can’t stop the tears from forming, though. I look away, but
I know that Maggie can see. I don’t want to make this any more
difficult for her than it has to be, so I force myself to smile as I
say to Alex. “Do you want to start this Saturday? You can do story
time.”

“That would be
awesome. Can I look at books for a few minutes, Grandma?”

“Yes, I will wait for
you in the coffee shop next door. Take your time.” Maggie gives me
one last, sad smile and walks out of the store.

Alex spends an hour
looking at all of the new books that have come in and brings a stack
to the register. I ring her up and she turns to go, but then stops.
“No one will tell me what happened between you and Uncle Scott, but
I know that he thinks that you betrayed him. Did you, Yasmin? Please
tell me the truth.”

I look her in the eye
and reply honestly. “No, sweetie, I didn’t.”

“I didn’t think
so.” She hugs me and heads out the door.

I slump against the
counter. At least someone in her family believes me.

Scott

I am hanging out with
my family today at my parents’ house. It has been three weeks since
Alex went back to working at the bookstore. I know that she is
happier and I am glad. I haven’t gone into the store and I can’t
even take her there for her shifts, but I still drive by every night.
My dad just dropped her off there about a half hour ago, so I am
surprised to see Alex walk into my parents’ kitchen with Erika.