Having gone through the check-up, Heather and Leon returned to the hospital room. They could do nothing else but wait for the laboratory report, and the boredom that ensued led them both to start scrolling through their respective phones. Heather, in particular, did not look like she had come to terms with being a patient.
“Hey, since you’re bored, why don’t you join me for a round of video games?” Leon suggested in an effort to persuade Heather to play video games.
“I don’t like League of Legends,” she replied. She had never shown much interest in the video games he played.
“No, no, we aren’t playing League of Legends; we’re playing Honor of Kings. Are you interested?” Leon quipped cheerily, as he had recently become a fan of Honor of Kings.
Heather narrowed her eyes at him. She truly had little to no interest in video games, but it seemed as though he was rather persistent, so she decided to try her hand at a round or two for the fun of it. In reality, he was angling to pull her into the realm of video gaming with hopes that she might see the value of it.
However, his efforts were futile. Adamantly maintaining the view that video games were a waste of her time, she bit out with emphasis, “As far as I’m concerned, video games are a waste of time and money.”
“But it will be time well-spent because of all the fun!” he argued passionately. He could see himself setting up a gaming workshop in order to develop a video game based on his own preferences.
“Look, it’s clear that both of us have very different views on this matter. Don’t try to force yours upon me, and I won’t try to dissuade you from playing your precious video games,” she said plainly, sounding so sensible that Leon allowed her to put a swift end to this debate.
He lowered his head with the manner of a child who had lost an argument and carried on gaming. He had to accede to Heather’s obstinate refusal to venture into video games. At the sight of his defeatist demeanor, she smiled. There were times when he was just like a kid, and she was starting to see him as family—like a little brother she never had.
Being cooped up in a hospital room left Heather with an abundance of free time. She spent a better part of it staring up at the ceiling, given that she had nothing to do but daydream. Catching sight of this, Leon tried to persuade her for another round as he pointed out, “It’s a waste of time to daydream, too, Heather. You might as well pick up a bit of gaming while we wait.”
She blinked slowly and corrected him, “I’m actually pretty comfortable spacing out like this. Thanks, but no thanks, I don’t think I’d start gaming anytime soon.” As she turned down his offer once more, she wondered briefly how he could be so patient and insistent on this matter.
He fell into yet another bout of disgruntled silence, growing irritated by her blatant refusal to indulge in video games. Does she really have no interest in gaming at all?
With that question in mind, he began to think about what she often did in her spare time, and concluded that she was a monotonous person. She showed no interest in all the things that trended among young adults, and instead emulated an old soul.
“Have you never done anything that isn’t a waste of time, Heather?” he asked, refusing to believe otherwise as he maneuvered his avatar through the game.
“I have,” she answered bluntly. “Which is why I try to stay away from doing such things, and gaming happens to be one of them.” She could not stress enough that she was impassive toward gaming, and the thought of it being a waste of time only bolstered such a lack of interest.
As far as she was concerned, achievements attained in a fictional setting were significantly different from those attained in the real world. If she had to have anything to do with gaming at all, she would much rather invest in a couple of game production companies than waste time traipsing around a fictional world. The former venture was a more profitable one, after all.
“What if video gaming is a job requirement? Would you consider it then?” Leon put forth the question in all seriousness, seeing as he had plans to have Heather invest in his gaming workshop.
“Well, I’ve not been confronted with such a job requirement before.” She paused in thought. Indeed, the sphere of her job scope would never intersect with that of video games, and she figured it was pointless for her to give an answer to a hypothetical scenario.
“What if I were to set up a gaming workshop for the fun of it? Would you consider investing in my venture?” he pressed on, and this time he was brazenly presenting his proposal. He thought it was about time he set himself to do something useful since he had no goals for the time being.
“I highly doubt if my complete lack of prowess for gaming would do my partner any good,” Heather countered coolly and rationally, thereby making it clear that she was not keen on the idea of a gaming workshop.
“Wow, that’s harsh, Heather,” he said in mock disappointment. Just then, he brought up the matter of starting an enterprise. “You know, we still have to set up our company after this.”
Upon hearing this, she grew reticent. She admittedly did not have enough confidence to set up a company in such calamitous times, and the commercial scene in Bradfort City was far too unpredictable for her to know how things might turn out. With all the uncertainty that played into the picture, it might be necessary for her to delay her plans for a start-up.
“Are you really planning to hold off on the launch of the business, Heather?” Seeing as he wasn’t able to leave Bradfort City anytime soon, Leon thought he might work on the plans he had agreed with Heather previously.
“I don’t know. There’s a lot on my plate at the moment, and I don’t even know if I have the energy to set up my own company,” she explained tiredly as she thought about all the things she still had to face after this. She was frustrated, and she wasn’t sure of her next move either. She had felt so lost before.
“It’s okay to push the plans back; it’s not as if we have to set up the company right away,” he consoled her, knowing that her hands were tied. After all, he knew better than most about the troubles that plagued her.
“We still have the Saffords to think about. They’ve put all their trust and expectations in me, and it would be unfair to them if we kept delaying our plans. It would only wear out their faith and patience at some point.” Heather had been the one who looked for the Saffords and convinced them to jump on the bandwagon in the first place, but as things were, she was afraid that she might be forced to go back on her word, which was something she loathed doing.
“Don’t worry, I’ll smooth things over with them,” Leon answered confidently. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Paige for a while. I wonder how she’s doing.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Standing Before Love (Myra and Sean)