Game Changer

by Rene Folsom

  Sleep didn’t come easy that night. I seemed to be hyperaware of the wind patterns my fan blades made as the breeze from them hit my body, illusions of colors flitting behind my eyelids.

  Usually, my sleep deprivation was due to characters who didn’t know how to shut the hell up. But this time, it was my own mind warring with itself…

  …over some silly man.

  *****

  The next day, I skipped my coffee run and went straight to the nursing home. With my sleepless night lingering in my bones, you’d think coffee would be the most important item on the agenda. But nothing was as important as seeing my grams, especially when my mind was such a clusterfuck over some guy.

  The pungent smell of cleansers and old people wafted through the air, waking me up like a slap to the face as I made my way down the hall, the heels of my boots echoing off the sterile walls.

  Peeking my head through the door, I made sure she was up before making a single noise. Being nine in the morning, I knew she would be awake. She was always an earlier riser, which was the opposite of my very nature.

  She sat by the window, staring out into the garden with that blank look on her face, one that told me she’d had a rough morning so far. I didn’t even have to say a word before she sensed my presence, turning in her chair and nearly leaping out of it to greet me.

  “Oh, thank the Lord you’re here,” she said, her desperation turning her voice into a near sob as she reached her arms out for me. She may not remember my name, but she’d never forget my face. Her heart never forgot me.

  “I’m here, Grams,” I assured her as she held me tight. Because of the Alzheimer’s riddling her memory, our daily visits always started out with this desperation of sorts. It was the norm. I was sure her mind constantly played tricks on her, making her believe I hadn’t been there in forever, leaving her alone in this world. In reality, she was my daily dose of love I so badly needed in life. I made sure she knew it too—even if I had to repeat myself every three minutes, she would know love. “I love these big hugs you give me every day.”

  “I’m just so glad you’re here.” Her hold on me increased before she finally eased back, never letting me go while she settled down into her chair again.

  Her hands still clasped in mine, I sat across from her and said, “I just thought I’d come spend the day with you, maybe get some of my work done while we hang out together. Is that okay?”

  A quick nod of her head and a vacant smile was good enough of an answer for me. She wouldn’t remember why I was here a few minutes later, just that she was glad I came. She never minded seeing my face around, but that wouldn’t slow the questions from rolling out of her mind.

  A few minutes had passed while I sat there just looking out the window with her, and I anticipated a question coming soon. She was always full of them, but the inquiry that came out of her mouth was still a bit unexpected.

  “What’s wrong, Deni?” It wasn’t the name that threw me off. She often called me by her daughter’s name—my stepmom—I can only assume because Denise was the one who took care of her for so many years until she passed along with my father and brother. Didn’t matter that I wasn’t blood related, she was still my grams.

  What threw me about this particular question was her concern. She could tell something was bothering me. Oh, how she could read my emotions so well, even when it was hard for her to piece the past few minutes together.

  She wouldn’t remember my answer, but it helped me to know she was always a great listener—allowing me to speak my mind whenever I needed to, nodding and encouraging at all the right times.

  Her hand reaching out to touch mine told me she was still waiting for my answer, still in the present, at least for a moment.

  “I… well, I met this guy. And to put it simply, I like him. But, we actually have a past—a past he doesn’t seem to remember. Granted, it was almost a year and a half ago, but still.” Glancing up at her, I looked her straight in the eye and asked, “Am I really that forgetful?”

  “Oh, honey. Don’t be so hard on him. He’ll come around, I’m sure.” She opened her mouth to say something more, but quickly clamped it shut, her stare magnetized to the window and the garden beyond. Only about a minute passed before she turned back to me, our hands still bonded together, and asked, “Is something wrong?”

  I just smiled, knowing our deep talk had passed. I didn’t begrudge her for it. No, just the opposite. She let me get things off my chest that I wouldn’t normally talk about with anyone else for fear they’d press for further information.

  With the smile still plastered on my face, I patted her hand and said, “No, Grams. Everything is perfect while I’m here with you.” Pulling my grip from hers, I opened my laptop and asked, “Would you like me to read something to you that I’m working on? It’s not finished yet, but it will help me get back in the groove.”

  She didn’t know it, but my grams had heard all of my stories. Even though she couldn’t keep up with the storyline, she still enjoyed every second of it. The look on her face told me just how much she loved being read to, especially since she could no longer read to herself.

  “I would love to hear it,” she said, this time with a genuine smile that reached her eyes.

  Settling back in the uncomfortable chair, I placed my laptop on my thighs and began to read, opening up a whole new world for my grams.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Liam: Bat Signal

  My reaction last week must’ve pissed Maci off, because I hadn’t seen or heard from her but once since. My texts and calls went unanswered and the rebuff was obvious, yet I still couldn’t seem to come to terms that things could end so abruptly without us even so much as talking.

  Exactly a week after I noticed the Batman tattoo, she was rushing out of Ramon’s just as I was arriving. She said she had a lunch meeting, but I didn’t buy it, especially since she was dressed in tattered jeans, which were pretty damn sexy, and a white shirt with Spiderman’s eyes just below her cleavage. The small scrap of fabric hugged every curve of her body perfectly. It was hardly business meeting attire. Hell, the way she dressed was a lot like myself, laid back and giving zero fucks about what others thought.

  I had to admit, my ego was slightly hurt at the brushoff she was giving me. Clearly, I was delusional to think we’d had some sort of connection. I wanted so badly to just storm off, my taste for an iced latte suddenly vanishing with the sight of her retreating form. But my ego had different plans, and I had to forge on as if nothing was affecting me.

  Making small talk with Ramon as I ordered both coffee and a deli sandwich, I asked, “So, Maci doesn’t seem to stick around for lunch often, huh? Not a fan of your delicious wraps?”

  “Ahh, she sometimes takes a lunch to go. But for the most part, she eats somewhere else,” he said, looking toward the door where she had left like he was worried to talk about her behind her back. “She’s a good kid.”

  I just nodded, wondering where Maci ran off to for lunch every day. I could’ve just asked her, but would she tell me? She seemed pretty tight-lipped about anything personal, and I had a strong feeling this particular daily rendezvous was pretty private.

  It would totally suck if she was seeing someone else, and I was just a mistake she wished she’d never gotten mixed up with. Her distance over the past week made me wonder—and led me to believe I should consider that as a possibility.

  No chick as hot, smart, and fun as her would be on the market, especially for a geek like me. I knew she was too good for me, but I’d be stupid if I gave up without a fight, especially after the night I shared with The Black Cat so long ago.

  Scarfing down my sandwich, I hightailed it back to the office, eager to get back to work. We were testing a new game in development today, and I was not in the mood to just watch. Usually, my job was to oversee the developers and testers, but damn if I didn’t want to get my hands busy and play myself from time to time.

  I missed the days when I was just a lowly
tester. Even when forced to play the shitty games that never made it past the first stage of development, my job was still loads of fun. Not that I didn’t enjoy my job now… I did. I just sometimes wished I could avoid all the corporate bullshit and have some fun for once. Life had somehow become a maze of meetings, figures, and babysitting, so today would be the perfect day to let my hair down and join the testers.

  “Ho—ly—shit. Is that a smile I see on your ugly mug?” Thad bellowed as I walked into his office.

  “I’m testing today,” I informed him in a don’t-you-argue-with-me tone of voice. Of course, the lackey didn’t fucking listen to anything I said.

  “No, you have that run-in with the web programmers at two, remember? Testing starts in a half hour, so there’s no way you can do both.” Again, the man was not listening.

  “Postpone it, or do it yourself. I can give you all my notes. But I’m testing today,” I said, standing my ground with my arms folded across my chest. Thad stood, eyeing me sideways.

  “Well, you’re the boss. I’ll just postpone the team. You’re obviously in a mood, and I’ll be damned if I miss this alpha-testing session on Sky’s latest idea if you’re going to be in on it.” Shaking his head, he scratched the back of his neck and stared at me before speaking again. “What the hell is up with you lately, huh?”

  “Later. Right now, I need to game.”

  “Fair ‘nuff.”

  I thought my words would be enough to dismiss him but, instead, Thad stayed up my ass until I settled myself into a chair with a controller in my hand.

  God, it felt good to get my hands on this newest game idea. The graphics were in basic form, but I could just see how the pieces were coming together.

  Noticing my character couldn’t grab certain items with his left hand, I paused and took a few notes, letting the developers know of the glitch, then continued playing, Thad peeking over my shoulder to see what I wrote.

  “Yeah, the other testers are catching a few minor things like that too, but overall, the development of this game is wicked,” he said, never distracting me from my current mission as I crept through the swampy grasslands in search of my next item.

  “Definitely have a winner with this one.” I asked Thad to jot down a few suggestions I had that may help the developers smooth out the graphics and easily completed my mission. “The only major suggestion I have is they need to make this a bit more of a challenge. It’s a tad too easy right now, and seasoned gamers will get bored.”

  Just as I shut off the console, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Thad got up, carrying my notes with him, and headed to the lounge where all the testers gathered after their trial sessions. Checking the one incoming text, I was floored to finally hear from her.

  Maci: I guess we need to talk. Tonight? Your place?

  Scratching my head in every literal sense of the phrase, I stood there and contemplated how to respond. Of course I wanted to talk. But my place?

  “Dude. You coming?” Thad hollered through the doorway.

  “Be right there,” I mumbled and quickly texted her back.

  Liam: Yep. I get home around six.

  Maci: I’ll bring pizza around eight.

  Liam: 10-4.

  Sending another text with my address and apartment number, I sauntered to the lounge with utter confusion filling my brain. She switched from cold to warm so quickly that it made my head spin. Now that I’d gotten some of my frustrations out by immersing myself in gaming, she managed to seep right in and muddle everything up again.

  Thank Christ I’d taken detailed notes, otherwise I’d be utterly useless in this little powwow session with the developers.

  It was nearing five by the time we dispersed from the lounge and, of course, Thad could tell something was eating me.

  “What has your panties in a wad now?” he asked, nearly slamming the door to my office.

  “I hate talking to you about chick issues, Thad. Why do you continue to push the subject?” I barked. I knew this shit wasn’t his fault, but damn it if the dude didn’t have any sort of experience in how to deal with women.

  “Tough shit. When your moods start coming to work with you, you lose the privilege of shutting me out,” he said rather forcefully while never moving from his spot in front of my door. “What gives, Liam? Does this chick make you this miserable all the fucking time?”

  Shaking my head, I inaudibly let him know that wasn’t the case with a slight wince. Of course she didn’t make me miserable. Did she? No. When we were together, we were great.

  “I saw her for the first time today since our date last week,” I blurted out.

  “And? That bothers you why?” he asked in confusion.

  “She’s the chick I fucked at the company New Year’s masquerade almost two years ago. Only I didn’t know it until last week when I got a glimpse at her tattoo.”

  “Hah! No shit. Wait… you’re serious? You mean to tell me you’ve been practically dating this girl for several weeks and didn’t know you’d slept with her before?” Taking a seat on the couch across from me, he stared at my nonresponsive face. “How does that even happen?”

  “You know how. We never took off our masks. It was so long ago, I never even considered running into her again. Plus, Sky wouldn’t spill the beans about who she was. I tried to pry without giving too many details,” I explained, placing my elbows on my knees and pulling at my hair in frustration. “I don’t think she knows. I don’t think she recognizes me at all, if she even remembers the night. We were both lightly drinking. I don’t think she intended for it to be more than a one-night stand.”

  “So, what’s the problem? Now you guys have something else in common. I don’t get what the issue is.”

  “When I saw the tat and realized it was her, I kinda freaked. Not because I didn’t want it to be her, but because I had no fucking clue what to say. I mean, how the hell do you even approach a conversation like that? Oh, hey, you may not remember me, but I’m the Phantom geek you randomly boinked at that stupid party I didn’t even want to host, let alone go to,” I mocked. “Yeah, that’d go over well.”

  “I don’t think you have any other choice but to have that awkward conversation. Either that or pretend it never happened. But you walking around like a fucking zombie over this chick is stupid.”

  He had a point. And yeah, maybe I could just pretend it never happened. After all, she didn’t need to know I thought of her almost every time I jerked off since that fateful night. Hell, no one needed to know that shit.

  “She texted me earlier, right as I finished testing. Said she wants to talk,” I said with air quotes. “At my place. Tonight.”

  “Fuck, man. Talking sucks. I’m sorry. That probably means she’s got some other dude stashed away somewhere. Either that or she realized what an a-hole you are,” he added with a chuckle.

  “Pot, meet kettle,” I said, sarcasm seeping from my voice.

  “Hey, I don’t have another dude on the side,” he joked, earning a hearty eye roll from me. “You’ll be fine. Just tell her. You’ll get it off your chest and she’ll either stick around or never want to see you again. Either way, you won’t continue to be jerked around like this.”

  “Wow, the pain in the ass who never keeps a date actually makes some sense,” I scoffed. “Thanks for listening. I guess I’ll head home and hope for the best.”

  As we parted ways in the parking garage, Thad’s voice echoed off the concrete surfaces as he hollered, “Hope you get a piece of that tonight, even if it means it’s farewell tail.”

  “Thanks for securing my faith in humanity, numbnuts,” I yelled back.

  Tonight, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, and the wait nearly killed me.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Maci: Coercion

  Over the past week, I contemplated what I would say to him. My anger grew with each day that passed where he didn’t remember me. I knew for a goddamned fact I wasn’t that easy to forget. Hell, all it took was one kiss from him f
or me to remember. So, why was it so fucking hard for him to recollect such a strong night of passion?

  I needed him to remember me. That night stuck with me for so long—ruined any and all dates I’d had since. The connection Liam and I had that night went far beyond just sex. Well, at least for me it did.

  After all his text messages, asking to see me again, wanting to know if I was okay, I wondered how I would approach him. Yeah, I thought I could just let it go… keep him in the dark about our past. But it bothered me way too much to realize how disposable I was.

  Then, seeing him at Ramon’s finally cracked my shell. He looked so cute. I ached to touch him. Yet, my tenacity got the best of me. Hardheaded was putting it mildly, and I often scolded myself for being so stubborn.

  God, he looked so good, wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a lone TARDIS in the center. My voice shook with the few words I managed to say, and I hauled ass out of there. How this man managed to beat down my confidence was beyond me, but I knew I had to do something, anything, to change the situation around.

  I would make him remember me. Not with words. Oh, no. I would make him remember what it was like to make love to me.

  With a plan forming in my head, I texted him. My heart hammered in my chest at the realization he could quite possibly turn me down. I really wouldn’t blame him if he did. It wasn’t like I was the easiest person to talk to over the past week. Hell, I pretty much blew him off. What he didn’t know though was how much I had to say with no words on how to say it.

  His response was almost immediate and had me smiling at the thought of seeing him again, this time… alone.

  *****

  I contemplated wearing my Black Cat mask, but that would give too much away. I wanted him to remember me for me, not my character that night.

  Braiding my hair, I made sure the colorful streaks were showing, knowing he would like that. It felt good to present myself in order to impress a man and his tastes. I couldn’t help but notice him eyeballing my Spiderman tee earlier that day, so I made sure to keep it on for our date. It was one of my shirts that left little to the imagination.