My gesture hadn’t worked. But opening up had, I guessed.
I went home prepared to decompress. Before long, Sal messaged me.
He hopped onto GameUp with me for a video call, sweat shining on his face. “I don’t have much time. She just went to the bathroom, so I wanted to set up the surprise, then this stupid errorcode popped up.”
“You spend time with her. Minimize my thumbnail. I’ll take care of this. Just grant me temporary control permissions and I’ll exit after.” My fingers flew across the keys. Error code 66. I researched, rebooted, and patched it as quickly as possible. This time, the game functioned. I clicked into her island, waiting for it to load, just to be sure.
At the creak of a door, Sal shot away from the desk and offered her the chair. “Hey, Janice. I want to show you something. Sit here.”
Oh god, I hoped it worked. I muted my mic and cracked my fingers.
She chuckled and twirled her hair. “What is it?”
“Your present.” He grinned, leaning over her.
The island loaded up on our screens. No error codes.
Thank god. I slumped in my seat. Even the sparkly lights blinked without clipping through. For a week’s work, we’d made it beautiful.
“It’s gorgeous.” She smiled, pointing out all the little details.
Yep, all was going smoothly. I sipped from my flavored water and monitored the island just in case. Quitting now would change their screen.
She held his hand on her shoulder and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, sweetie. So, what did you get me in reality?”
I choked on my water.
His smile faltered. “What do you mean?”
“Like, what non-virtual thing did you get me? Or do I have to wait until tomorrow?” She playfully scratched his hands.
“Uh, this, and dinner was it.”
And specialty coffee, I wanted to add, but that would probably only exacerbate things.
“Oh, great; that’s so sweet.” Her cheeks strained with effort. “My dream house. Virtually.”
He sank down on the edge of his bed. “I thought you’d like it.”
Of course she’d like it. It wasperfect.
“I do. It’s just that we’re getting to that point where people are asking if we’re moving in together, and instead of your keys, I got a virtual island,” she gestured.
He frowned. “Did you want to move in together?”
“No. And maybe that’s part of the problem.” She sighed and reached for his knee. “I like you Sal, and you’re a really nice guy, but I’m not sure we want the same things.”
I covered my mouth. What was she saying? He’d just pampered her all week.
“Could you ever imagine yourself in a house like this?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” He shrugged, his shoulders tense.
“I can’t picture it,” she said.
