The House Always Wins - 14. Chapter 14

I went to work, installing the game console, and Olivia watched as I did that, talking about her son.

"I'm amazed," she said. "It seems that you've succeeded where I have not; to get a smile on his face."

I shrugged, plugging a cable in.

"He laughs plenty, if you ask me."

"Well, he used to be so serious and, what's the word...boring. No smiles, no joy."

Michael? Boring? I doubted that.

"Has he told you about...my efforts?"

I grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, he told me."

"I was just trying to get him out there again. Since Simon...you know about him, I take it?" I nodded, tightening a screw.

"Mmm...since Simon, he hasn't dated anyone. Not even once! That's what, two years, now?"

Testing me, Olivia?

"Three."

"Well then, that's even worse."

"He's just very careful," I answered. "He's cautious. Could you hand me that controller? Thanks."

She handed me the box.

"So...the way you met; I'm not entirely clear on that. This Internet thing; how does that work? That doesn't sound very careful to me."

I thought for a moment, trying to come up with an easy explanation.

"Umm...imagine it as a very big city, a worldwide city. All over that city, there are places where people can meet, to talk to each other or to just find information. The US military first developed it, and over time, regular people started to use it, creating places to get together, and talk. We call that ‘chatting'."

"Right," she answered, slowly. "But you can't see each other. So how can you know if someone is likeable?"

"Oh, these days there are things called webcams, so that we can see each other while we chat. That's how Michael and I first met. Well, that's not entirely true; he had one, I didn't. But that's not all of it. The way you chat on the Internet; people are much freer with their opinions, ideas, and such. Even without seeing each other. So by the time you actually see that person, or meet face-to-face, you already know them pretty well."

"I see," she frowned, clearly not understanding. "So he already knew that he liked you, and vice versa, before you even met?"

"Yep."

"This is a very strange concept."

I laughed. "Yeah, I know."

"He asked you to live with him quite quickly, though," she said, thoughtfully. "After seeing you only a few times?"

We hit a snag there - a big one.

"Umm...yeah. We talked a lot, also on the phone, hours and hours. When we finally met, I knew that I liked him. I liked him a lot. And there are some ways to umm...get to know each other."

God I hoped she wouldn't ask me to explain that.

"And Michael liked you, clearly."

"Oh yeah."

Oops...too enthusiastic. Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Umm...he said so. He's pretty direct - you know how he is."

That was a pure guess and I was treading on dangerous ground. But to my great relief, she nodded and smiled.

"Ah, yes. I think I understand now."

"Well anyway...when I got kicked out of the house, he invited me to stay here for a while; in the guestroom. Umm...I didn't really have a lot of options..."

"And he doesn't take no for an answer easily. Say no more."

"Exactly. And after a while, he asked me to stay, and by that time, we'd gotten to know each other pretty well, so I've stayed."

"I have to say that I'm glad that you met each other. You seem to be exactly what he needed."

I smiled shyly and plugged the last controller in.

"Okay, let's see what this baby can do." I definitely needed some brainless fun now!

**********

As soon as Olivia went to her room, claiming jetlag as a reason to go lie down for a while, I called Michael and brought him up to speed.

"Sorry," I said, "I had to go with it. She kept asking questions."

"Sounds like you did fine. She actually said that?"

"Said what?"

"That you're exactly what I needed?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm..." That sounded thoughtful.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'll be up around six. Go play with your new toys." He hung up abruptly.

Pffft...go play with your toys. What am I, ten?