flipped a couple of pages of the symposium paper to find a quote I needed. “I’m sure he would. He has little else to do with his time while he is between acting jobs.”
“At least he spends time with me! At least he’s interested in the things I’m interested in! All you want to do is work, work, work. You don’t care about me or anything I want to do. I wish I was living with Dad instead of you!”
“I refuse to get into a comparison argument of my parenting skills versus your father’s,” I answered, quickly typing up a couple more sentences. “And I hardly see how my lack of participation in a silly game can be thrown in my face as depriving you of attention.”
“Because! If you were playing it, too, we could be on the same crew. And you could help me with my weaving shop, and I could teach you how to sail a ship.”
“I don’t have time to learn how to sail a ship, and besides, I get seasick easily.”
“You won’t even try! You won’t even look at it!” she wailed, throwing her hands in the air in a gesture of sheer frustration.
I’m not a monster. I might admit to being a bit more caught up in my job than was normal, but I took pride in the fact that I had a solid work ethic, and took responsibility for making sure that my job, and the jobs of those I could help around me, were done to the best of my ability. Despite all that, the underlying plea in Tara’s voice generated an unpleasant ripple of guilt within me. I had no intention of wasting my time playing a nerdy online game, but if it would make her feel I was more involved in her life, it wouldn’t hurt me to at least see what it was about.
“All right,” I said, forestalling the emotional eruption I knew that was soon to follow. “If it will make you happier, I’ll take a look at the game.”
She was silent for a moment. “You will? You’ll sign on? The whole thing, the VR unit version? It’s majorly cool.”
I frowned. “How much does it cost?”
Her stormy brow cleared like magic. “You can use my account. We get four characters per account, and I’ve only made one. You can make one, just to see if you like it. It won’t cost you anything. Here, I’ll write down my password and user name.” She snatched up a sticky notepad and scribbled out the name Terrible Tara and the name of our deceased dog. “Later on you can get your own account so we can play together at the same time. Maybe I can get a second VR unit.”
“Whoa, I just said I’d take a look. I have no intention of doing anything more—”
She stopped in the doorway, her eyes dark with mutiny.
“I knew it! You won’t go into it with an open mind! You’ll just look and say it’s a silly time waster!”
“Hey, now. I am just as capable as the next person of keeping an open mind,” I said, giving her my best quelling look. It didn’t do any good. It seldom did.
“You will not. Your mind is already made up to think it’s silly.”
I held up my hand to stop her. “I admit to being a bit biased, but I will promise to give the game every chance. Happy now?”
“No,” she answered, her face still stormy.
“Are you questioning my word of honor?” I asked, frowning.
“Yes. No. Maybe. It’s just that you are so . . . so . . .”
“Dedicated to my job?”
“Dead,” she answered, throwing her hands up in a frustrated gesture. “Honestly, Mom, you don’t do anything fun! This VR game has all sorts of things that you’ll like, if you just give it a chance. There’s tons of economy stuff.”
“I do have interests beyond those of a fiduciary nature,” I pointed out, vaguely insulted.
“Name one,” she countered.
I glared at her and ignored the challenge. “I have said I would give the game a fair chance. That’s the best I can do.”
Her eyes narrowed as she chewed on her lower lip for a moment. “I know! You have to make officer.”
“I what?” My gaze strayed back toward the computer screen and my work.
“You have to
“At least he spends time with me! At least he’s interested in the things I’m interested in! All you want to do is work, work, work. You don’t care about me or anything I want to do. I wish I was living with Dad instead of you!”
“I refuse to get into a comparison argument of my parenting skills versus your father’s,” I answered, quickly typing up a couple more sentences. “And I hardly see how my lack of participation in a silly game can be thrown in my face as depriving you of attention.”
“Because! If you were playing it, too, we could be on the same crew. And you could help me with my weaving shop, and I could teach you how to sail a ship.”
“I don’t have time to learn how to sail a ship, and besides, I get seasick easily.”
“You won’t even try! You won’t even look at it!” she wailed, throwing her hands in the air in a gesture of sheer frustration.
I’m not a monster. I might admit to being a bit more caught up in my job than was normal, but I took pride in the fact that I had a solid work ethic, and took responsibility for making sure that my job, and the jobs of those I could help around me, were done to the best of my ability. Despite all that, the underlying plea in Tara’s voice generated an unpleasant ripple of guilt within me. I had no intention of wasting my time playing a nerdy online game, but if it would make her feel I was more involved in her life, it wouldn’t hurt me to at least see what it was about.
“All right,” I said, forestalling the emotional eruption I knew that was soon to follow. “If it will make you happier, I’ll take a look at the game.”
She was silent for a moment. “You will? You’ll sign on? The whole thing, the VR unit version? It’s majorly cool.”
I frowned. “How much does it cost?”
Her stormy brow cleared like magic. “You can use my account. We get four characters per account, and I’ve only made one. You can make one, just to see if you like it. It won’t cost you anything. Here, I’ll write down my password and user name.” She snatched up a sticky notepad and scribbled out the name Terrible Tara and the name of our deceased dog. “Later on you can get your own account so we can play together at the same time. Maybe I can get a second VR unit.”
“Whoa, I just said I’d take a look. I have no intention of doing anything more—”
She stopped in the doorway, her eyes dark with mutiny.
“I knew it! You won’t go into it with an open mind! You’ll just look and say it’s a silly time waster!”
“Hey, now. I am just as capable as the next person of keeping an open mind,” I said, giving her my best quelling look. It didn’t do any good. It seldom did.
“You will not. Your mind is already made up to think it’s silly.”
I held up my hand to stop her. “I admit to being a bit biased, but I will promise to give the game every chance. Happy now?”
“No,” she answered, her face still stormy.
“Are you questioning my word of honor?” I asked, frowning.
“Yes. No. Maybe. It’s just that you are so . . . so . . .”
“Dedicated to my job?”
“Dead,” she answered, throwing her hands up in a frustrated gesture. “Honestly, Mom, you don’t do anything fun! This VR game has all sorts of things that you’ll like, if you just give it a chance. There’s tons of economy stuff.”
“I do have interests beyond those of a fiduciary nature,” I pointed out, vaguely insulted.
“Name one,” she countered.
I glared at her and ignored the challenge. “I have said I would give the game a fair chance. That’s the best I can do.”
Her eyes narrowed as she chewed on her lower lip for a moment. “I know! You have to make officer.”
“I what?” My gaze strayed back toward the computer screen and my work.
“You have to
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