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“There’s my old friend. I’ve been wondering where you’ve been hiding,” Shea teased. She stood and reached to take Harley out of his stroller. “You go ahead. I’ll just be here loving on this little angel,” she cooed in her sugary-sweet baby voice.
Farren laughed. “Okay, I’ll just be a few minutes.”
She stood from her seat and headed off in the direction of GameStop. When she got there, she made her way to the back of the store where the Overwatch display was. She grabbed her game and made her way back to the front to pay out.
When the cashier noticed her, he smiled. He was tall with the sides of his dark hair trimmed short while the top and back were a bit longer and gelled in a messy array, almost like a wide Mohawk. It was a nice style, one she remembered some of her guy friends in college having.
“How are you?” he asked, taking the game from her and signing on to the cash register kiosk. His movements were casual and unhurried.
“Good, thanks. You?”
He nodded. “Good, thanks for asking. You play Overwatch, or is this for someone else?”
“It’s for me,” she answered, her eyebrow lifted. “Why?”
He chuckled. “Just asking. I can give you my gamer tag if you want to team up,” he offered.
She pondered it for a moment. “Okay,” she agreed.
“Have you tried Players Unknown BattleGround yet?” he asked, pointing to a shelf behind him. He bagged her game and waited for her receipt to print.
“No, I’ve been a little preoccupied these past couple months. Is it good?”
She took her bag from him and waited on the receipt.
“I’ll write my gamer tag for Overwatch for you.” He grabbed a pen, and as he wrote, he asked, “Are you going to the gaming convention tomorrow over at the Convention Center?”
“I didn’t even know. But… I think I’ll be going out of town tomorrow.”
She shrugged.
“I see. Well, if your plans change or anything, hit me up. It’ll be fun.”
He handed her the receipt with his gamer tag, his name – Raphe – and his phone number.
“Thanks, Raphe.” She nodded and turned to leave.
“Can I at least get your name?” he called out to her.
“It’s Farren,” she called back over her shoulder, then disappeared out into the crowd in the hallway. She stuffed the receipt down into her bag with the game.
She headed back down toward the food court. As she approached, she saw Shea and Harley seeming to have a nice time together as Shea held him up and blew on his little belly, causing him to smile, flail his little arms about, and squeal in delight.
Farren looked over to the window of Victoria’s Secret. Maybe she should try a little harder, she thought. She couldn’t just stand back while Edith moved in on her man.
She walked into the store, and ten minutes later walked out with a bag of her own that she stuffed inside her GameStop bag. She made her way over to Shea and Harley, and when they parted ways again, Farren left for home to have a conversation with Rogan.
NINE
“Rogan, can I talk to you?” Farren asked that evening as he lay on the couch in the living room with Harley lying across his chest.
“Sure, baby, what’s on your mind?”
She knelt down on the floor in front of him and caressed the back of Harley’s head, then let her hand move down to rest on his bicep.
He shifted to sit up, rousing Harley in the process, but quickly got him settled back in across his lap. He looked to Farren and gave her his mostly undivided attention.
He could see the tiny shifts her eyes made, which was her tell that she was thinking hard about something, whatever it was. He remained quiet, giving her a chance to talk when she was ready.
